And unapproached, beside the altar stone,

With the white banner, forth like sunshine streaming,
And the gold helm, through clouds of fragrance gleaming,
Silent and radiant stood?-The helm was raised,
And the fair face revealed that upward gazed,
Intensely worshipping :-
:-a still, clear face,
Youthful, but brightly solemn !-Woman's cheek
And brow were there, in deep devotion meek,
Yet glorified by inspiration's trace

On its pure paleness. That slight form!

Was that the leader through the battle storm?
Had the soft light in that adoring eye,

Guided the warrior where the sword flashed high?

3. From Macaulay's Miscellanies.

He saw that Hastings had been guilty of some most unjustifiable acts. All that followed was natural and necessary in a mind like Burke's. His imagination and his passions, once excited, hurried him beyond the bounds of justice and good sense. His reason, powerful as it was, was reduced to be the slave of feelings which it should have controlled. His indignation, virtuous in its origin, acquired too much of the character of personal aversion. He could see no mitigating circumstance, no redeeming merit. His temper, which, though generous and affectionate, had always been irritable, had now become almost savage by bodily infirmities and mental vexations. Conscious of great powers and great virtues, he found himself, in age and poverty, a mark for the hatred of a perfidious court and a deluded people. In Parliament his eloquence was out of date. A young generation, which knew him not, had filled the house. Whenever he rose to speak, his voice was drowned by the unseemly interruptions of lads, who were in their cradles when his orations on the Stamp Act called forth the applause of the great Earl of Chatham. These things had produced on his proud and sensitive spirit an effect at which we cannot wonder. He could no longer discuss any question with calmness, or make allowances for honest difference of opinion. Those who think he was more violent and acrimonious in debates about India than on other occasions, are ill-informed respecting the last years of his life. In the discussions on the Commercial Treaty with the court of Versailles, on the Regency, on the French Revolution, he showed even more virulence than in conducting the impeachment. Indeed, it may be remarked, that the very persons who represented him as a mischievous maniac for condemning in burning words the Rohilla war, and the spoliation of the Begums, exalted him into an inspired prophet as soon as he began to declaim, with greater vehemence, and not with greater reason, against the taking of the Bastile, and the insults offered to Marie Antoinette.

General Exercises for Analysis and Parsing.

4. From Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.

The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,
Upon the place beneath; it is twice blessed:
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;

And early power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this-
That in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much,
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;

Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

5. From Byron's Childe Harold.

The Goth, the Christian, Time, War, Flood and Fire,
Have dealt upon the seven-hill'd city's pride;
She saw her glories star by star expire,

And up the steep, barbarian monarchs ride,

Where the car climbed the capitol; far and wide
Temple and tower went down, nor left a site:-

Chaos of ruins! who shall trace the void,

O'er the dim fragments cast a lunar light,

And say,

“here was, or is," where all is doubly night?

Alas! the lofty city! and alas!

The trebly hundred triumphs! and the day
When Brutus made the dagger's edge surpass
The conqueror's sword in bearing fame away!
Alas, for Tully's voice, and Virgil's lay,
And Livy's pictured page!-but these shall be
Her resurrection; all beside-decay.

Alas, for earth, for never shall we see

That brightness in her eye, she bore when Rome was free!

General Exercises for Analysis and Parsing.

From Campbell's Pleasures of Hope.

Unfading Hope! when life's last embers burn,
When soul to soul, and dust to dust return,
Heaven to thy charge resigns the awful hour!
Oh! then, thy kingdom comes! Immortal Power!
What though each spark of earth-born rapture fly
The quivering lip, pale cheek, and closing eye!
Bright to the soul thy seraph hands convey
The morning dream of life's eternal day-
Then, then, the triumph and the trance begin,
And all the phoenix spirit burns within!

7. From Milton's Paradise Lost.

They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld
Of Paradise, so late their happy seat,

Waved over by that flaming brand; the gate
With dreadful faces thronged, and fiery arms.

Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon;
The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide;
They, hand in hand, with wandering step and slow,
Through Eden took their solitary way.

8. The Perfect Woman.-Wordsworth.

And now I see with eye serene,
The very pulse of the machine;
A being breathing thoughtful breath,
A traveller between life and death;
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect woman, nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a spirit still, and bright
With something of an angel light.

9. From Pope's Essay on Man.

Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate,
All but the page prescribed, their present state;-
From brutes what men, from men what spirits know,
Or who could suffer being here below?

The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day,
Had he thy reason, would he skip and play?
Pleased to the last he crops the flowery food,
And licks the hand just raised to shed his blood!
Oh, blindness to the future, kindly given,
That each may fill the circle marked by Heaven,
Who sees with equal eye, as God of all,

A hero perish, or a sparrow fall.

General Exercises for Analysis and Parsing.

233. Idiomatic and Peculiar Constructions.

1. Analyze and parse the following examples :

The learned pagans ridiculed the Jews for being a credulous people." That the barons and freeholders derived their authority from kings is wholly a mistake. It is certainly as easy to be a scholard as a gamester. I am not sure of there ever having been such a mand as Casper Hauser.⚫ The boy has more excuses than can be considered' in the allotted hour. Six times six are thirty-six. He received sixty-two and a half cents for every three pounds he furnished. The thought of being good ought to arouse us to action. The higher one is, the farther he can see. Cursed is he that setteth light' by his father or his mother. The distance fell a little short of twenty miles. The wind blows cold. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name. To be good is to be happy. I rejoice in your success as an instructor.' He introduced me to the president-an honor which I shall not soon forget. They struck one another. The rain and the sunshine have each its appropriate work to do. It is man's to err. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. There shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel. Were you at Beecher's last evening's lecture? In Henry the Eighth's reign England and Wales were completely united. This book was purchased at Little and Brown's. Whom have they elected chairman? What do you call it? By the world, I would not care a pin if the other three were in. For one to steal is base. To confess the truth, was in fault. Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman unto thy gates, and shalt stone them with stones till they shall die. He was so much affected as to weep.'

·-

2. Parse and explain the words in italics:

To affect to be a lord in one's closet would be romantic madness. I am not aware of his ever having been a teacher. Was this owing to there being twelve primary deities among the Gothic nations? Wheat is worth a dollar a bushel. The whole affair is of no account whatever. All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.

"Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see,

Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be."

Whoever (202, 17) may oppose, we shall press the measure vigorously. Excuse me this once.

And all the air a solemn stillness holds,

Save (224, 4) where the beetle wheels his droning flight.

A messenger came rushing from the crowd. The fire turned the cup black. The knife was ground sharp. The more I read it the better I like it. "Who are you?" was his greeting to this strange intruder. "I will not hurt you," was the answer. Let there be light. Everything depends upon who compose the committee. We found four persons; namely, two men and two women. He is both witty and wise. Parrots will talk like persons. The boy is like his father. He gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers. He bids whoever thirst to come. Though he was rejected, he had the boldness even to renew his application. They talked the night away. They ran the train at the rate of fifty miles per hour. This is what do you call it? I know not whom to send.

FIGURES.

NOTE.-A figure is a deviation from the ordinary form, construction, and application of a word. Hence figures are divided into those of Etymology, Syntax, and Rhetoric.

234. Figures of Etymology.

1. A figure of Etymology is a deviation from the ordinary form of a word.

2. Figures of Etymology consist either in a defect, an excess, or a change, in some of the elements of a word.

3. Aphoresis cuts off a letter or syllable from the beginning of a word; as, 'gainst, 'gan, for against, began.

4. Syncope removes a letter or syllable from the middle of a word; as, o'er, e'er, lov'd, for over, ever, loved.

5. Apocope cuts off a letter or syllable from the end of a word; as, th', tho', for the, though.

6. Prosthesis adds a letter or syllable to the beginning of a word; as, adown, enchain, for down, chain.

7. Epenthesis adds a letter or syllable to the middle of a word; as, preventative, retractation, for preventive, retraction. This figure seldom occurs in English.

8. Paragoge adds a letter or syllable to the end of a word; as, withouten, bounden, for without, bound.

9. Synæresis contracts two syllables into one; as, thou'rt, 'tis, for thou art, it is.

Figures. Figures of Etymology. Apheresis. Syncope. Apocope. Prosthesis. Epenthesis. Paragoge. Synæresis.