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3. Its remains still exist; I make it an annual visit. I carry my children to it, to teach them the hardships endured by the generations which have gone before them. I love to dwell on the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the early affections, and the touching narratives and incidents which mingle with all I know of this primitive family abode.

4. I weep to think that none of those who inhabited it are now among the living; and if ever I am ashamed of it, or if ever I fail in affectionate veneration for him who reared it, and defended it against savage violence and destruction, cherished all the domestic virtues beneath its roof, and, through the fire and blood of a seven years' revolutionary war, shrunk from no danger, no toil, no sacrifice, to serve his country, and to raise his children to a condition better than his own, may my name, and the name of my posterity, be blotted forever from the memory of mankind !

LESSON LXXXIX.

SPEAK GENTLY.

ANONYMOUS

1. SPEAK gently; it is better far
To rule by love than fear;
Speak gently, let not harsh words mar
The good we might do here.

2. Speak gently; love doth whisper low
The vows that true hearts bind;
And gently friendship's accents flow,—
Affection's voice is kind.

3. Speak gently to the little child,

Its love be sure to gain;
Teach it in accents soft and mild,
It may not long remain.

4. Speak gently to the aged one,

Grieve not the care-worn heart;
The sands of life are nearly run—
Let such in peace depart.

5. Speak gently to the young, for they
Will have enough to bear;

Pass through this life as best they may, "Tis full of anxious care.

6. Speak gently, kindly, to the poor,
Let no harsh tones be heard;
They have enough they must endure,
Without an unkind word.

7. Speak gently to the erring; know
They may have toiled in vain;
Perchance unkindness made them so-
Oh, win them back again.

8. Speak gently; He who gave his life
To bend man's stubborn will,

When elements were in fierce strife,
Said to them, "Peace, be still! "

9. Speak gently; 'tis a little thing

Dropped in the heart's deep well; The good, the joy, which it may bring, Eternity shall tell.

LESSON XC.

THE OCEAN STORM.

ANONYMOUS.

1. THE storm is dreadful! The heavens are one vast black cloud. The sheeted rain comes down in torrents. The fair earth is deluged. The sea, the broad-breasted sea, is tossed in terrible commotion, and the whole round world seems wrapt in eternal midnight. God reigns! let all the earth stand in awe of him. Hark! it is his voice, the rolling thunder! See! it is his eye, the fearful lightning! The smit rock declares his power, and the monarch oak, rent from the adamantine hills.

2. Alas! on such a night, for the poor sea-boy. No friendly star lights his dread course. The wind-spirit howls. Wild raves the maddened ocean. The demons of the storm make merry of his fate. Look! now tossed on mountain billowsnow sunk to the lowest depths—" a thing of elemental sport” -the frail bark hurries to destruction. O! God, have mercy on the poor sea-boy! Hark! he shrieks" help! help!" he cries, "help!"--but ah! no help is nigh.

3. The monsters of the deep stand ready for their prey, and the victim in despair awaits his awful fate. The booming gun, and the shriek of human agony are vain. He who rules the storm, permits the destiny, and the doomed ship strikes on the fatal rock.

4. "Oh, sailor-boy! woe to thy dreams of delight!

In darkness dissolves the gay frost-work of bliss
Oh, where is the picture that fancy touched bright—
Thy father's fond pressure-thy mother's fond kiss?

5. Oh, sailor-boy! sailor-boy! never again

Shall home, friends, or kindred thy wishes repay;
Beloved and lamented-down deep in the main,

Full many a score fathom, thy frame shall decay.

6. "On beds of green sea-flowers, thy limbs shall be laid;

Around thy white bones the red coral shall grow; Of thy fair yellow locks threads of amber be made, And every part suit to thy mansion below.

7. "Days, months, years, and ages, shall circle away,

And still the vast waters above thee shall roll;
Earth loses thy pattern forever and aye—
Oh, sailor-boy! sailor-boy! peace to thy soul."

LESSON XCI.

THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET.

WOODWORTH.

1. How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view!
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild wood,
And every loved spot which my infancy knew;
The wide-spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it,
The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell,
The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,

And even the rude bucket which hung in the well: The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket, that hung in the well.

2. That moss-covered vessel I hail as a treasure;

For often, at noon, when returned from the field, I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure,

The purest and sweetest that nature can yield. How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing, And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell;

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Then soon with the einblem of truth overflowing,
And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well:
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket arose from the well.

3. How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it,
As, poised on the curb, it inclines to my lips
Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it,
Though filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips.
And now, far removed from the loved situation,
The tear of regret will intrusively swell,
As fancy reverts to my father's plantation,

And sighs for the bucket which hangs in the well:
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket, which hangs in the well.

LESSON XCII.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

BUNGAY.

1. SENATOR SEWARD is the Daniel O'Connell of America, not in stature, for the the former is petit-the latter was prodigious; not in wit, for the Yankee seldom perpetrates even a pun, while the Irishman was a "book in breeches,” and every page gleaming with wit; not in eloquence, for Seward requires preparation, and speaks without much unction; O'Connell spoke spontaneously, and every word was a throb; not in faith, for the defender of the " higher law is almost a Protestant, while the great agitator, as all know, was altogether a Catholic.

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2. Yet there is a resemblance, notwithstanding their dissimilarities. Seward stands at the tip-top of his profession as a

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