the doctor, "there are four of the five senses against one upon the question whether there be a soul.” 15. The clergyman then asked if he were a doctor of med icine. "Yes.". "If he ever saw a pain?” he ever heard a pain? pain?" "No." "No.". "If "" "No." "If he ever tasted a "If he ever smelt a pain?". No."- "If "Yes." "Well, then," said the cler he ever felt a pain?" gyman, "there are also four senses against one upon the question whether there be a pain; and yet, sir, you know that there is a pain, and I know that there is a soul."— ANON. EI CXXIV. - LOKMAN. 1. LOKMAN, surnamed the Wise, lived in very early times, probably in the days of King David and King Solomon, and his name is still famous in the East as the inventor of many fables and parables, and various stories are told of his wisdom. It was said that he was a native of Ethiopia, and either a tailor, a carpenter, or a shepherd; and that afterwards he was a slave in various countries, and was at last sold among the Israelites. 2. One day, as he was seated in the midst of a company who were all listening to him with great respect and attention, a Jew of high rank, looking earnestly at him, asked him whether he was not the same man whom he had seen keeping the sheep of Lokman said he was. "And how," said the other, "did you, a poor slave, come to be so famous as a wise man?" one of his neighbors. 3. By exactly observing these rules," replied Lokman: "Always speak the truth without disguise, strictly keep your promises, and do not meddle with what does not concern you." Another time, he said that he had learned his wisdom from the blind, who will believe nothing but what they hold in their hands: meaning that he always examined things, and took great pains to find out the truth. 4. Being once sent, with some other slaves, to fetch fruit, his rompanious ate a great deal of it, and then said it was he who had eaten it; on which he drank warm water to make himself sick, and thus proved that he had no fruit in his stomach; and the other slaves, being obliged to do the same, were found out. 5. Another story of him is, that his master having given him a kind of melon, called the coloquin'tida, which is one of the bitterest things in the world, Lokman immediately ate it all up without making faces, or showing the least dislike. His mastcr, quite surprised, said, "How was it possible for you to swallow so nauseous a fruit?" Lokman replied, "I have received so many sweets from you, that it is not wonderful that I should have swallowed the only bitter fruit you ever gave me." His master was so much struck by this generous and grateful answer, that he immediately rewarded him by giving him his liberty.* 6. At this day, "to teach Lokman" is a common saying in the East, to express a thing impossible. It is said, too, that he was as good as he was wise; and, indeed, it is the chief part of wisdom to be good. He was particularly remarkable for his love to God, and his reverence of His holy name. He is reported to have lived to a good old age; and, many centuries after, a tomb in the little town of Ramlah, not far from Jerusalem, was pointed out as Lokman's. AIKIN. The German army of liberators, on their return from France, are said to have burst into a national chant of welcome to the Rhine, on coming in sight of that celebrated-river. The chorus of this song is well adapted for the purpose of simultaneous reading on the part of a class. SINGLE VOICE. IT is the Rhine! our mountain vineyards laving, I see the bright flood shine! Sing on the march, with every banner waving - *See a poem founded on this incident, page 182. CHORUS. The Rhine! the Rhine! our own imperial river! Be glory on thy track! We left thy shores, to die or to deliver; We bear thee Freedom back! SINGLE VOICE. Hail! hail! my childhood knew thy rush of water, That sound went past me on the field of slaughter, CHORUS. Roll proudly on! — brave blood is with thee sweeping, Where sword and spirit forth in joy were leaping, SINGLE VOICE. Home! home! — thy glad wave hath a tone of greeting, Even now my children count the hours till meeting. CHORUS. Go, tell the seas that chain shall bind thee never, Sing through the hills that thou art free forever- 1. LOUIS BRUNE was by profession a porter on the quays of Rouen; but it might almost be said that his trade consisted in saving lives at the risk of his own. It has been legally attested that he had saved the lives of forty-two persons previously to the year 1833. 2. Being constantly near the river-side, he had necessarily numerous occasions of exercising his benevolent propensities; but how many, having the same opportunities, would, like Brune, have risked their own life to save that of others? Who would, like him, have eagerly watched on the shore, in the hour of danger, for some noble deed to accomplish? ΕΙ 3. On the 28th of January, 1838, the river Seine, which had been frozen for several days, was covered with skaters. It was in vain that they were told of the expected tide, which must certainly break the ice: neither the danger which they ran, nor the warnings and efforts of the local authorities, succeeded in producing any effect upon them. Brune, whose wife and aged mother were then ill, remained all day on the quay, in expectation of the disaster which he knew to be inevitable. 4. In vain pressing messages to return home came from his family; he firmly refused to leave the spot; and not even for his meals could he be induced to desert the post he had assigned to himself. Nor was it long before a rushing sound was heard; the ice was breaking in every direction, and the precipitate flight of the imprudent crowd increased the disaster. 5. A gentleman and his wife, who were enjoying the exercise of skating, suddenly disappeared in a large opening which the breaking ice had formed beneath them. Brune, who was eagerly looking out, rushed over the ice that bent beneath his tread, plunged into the river, seized the gentleman, and brought him safely to the shore. 6. No sooner had he accomplished this, than he once more precipitated himself into the river, and was fortunate enough in seizing the lady, who had already disappeared under the ice; but, benumbed by the cold, and his strength failing him through his unwonted exertion, he in vain endeavored to rise to the surface; he laid hold of the masses of ice, but merely cut his hands in the attempt. 7. Notwithstanding the most desperate efforts, he was on the point of perishing with her whom he endeavored to save, when a rope was thrown to him; he seized it, and, though not without difficulty, reached the shore with his burden, amidst the applause of the assembled crowd. 8. That the heroic Brune was appreciated by his countrymen, may be seen from the fact that the town of Rouen erected a house for him at the public expense, with an inscription simply зtating that this house had been offered to Louis Brune by the town of Rouen. Amongst other marks of distinction conferred upon him, may be mentioned the decoration of the Cross of the Legion of Honor, which he publicly received. 9. His useful life was shortened by his zeal for humanity He died universally mourned and respected. The most distinguished persons of the town assisted at his funeral, and his memory is still held in the deepest veneration by his fellow citizens. Chambers. CXXVII. WILLIAM TELL SHOOTS THE APPLE FROM HIS SON'S HEAD. Gesler. I HEAR, Tell, you 're a master with the bow, And bear the palm away from every rival. Albert. That must be true, sir! At a hundred yards He'll shoot an apple for you off the tree. Gesler. Is that boy thine, Tell? Tell. Gesler. Hast thou more of them? Tell. Yes, my gracious lord. Two boys, my lord. Gesler. And, of the two, which dost thou love the most? Tell. Sir, both the boys are dear to me alike. Gesler. Then, Tell, since at a hundred yards thou canst Bring down the apple from the tree, thou shalt Approve thy skill before me. Take thy bow and make thee ready To shoot an apple from the stripling's head! Tell. What monstrous thing, my lord, is this you ask? |