LESSON CII

5.

10.

SPELL AND DEFINE.-1. REL' 10, that which remains. 2. AL LU SION, a reference to something not directly mentioned. 3. IL LUS' TRA TIVE, explanatory. 4. As sO CIA' TION, Connection of ideas. IN EX PRESS I BLE, unspeakable. 6. VIV ID NESS, sprightliness; vivacity. 7. TRANS PA REN CY, clearness. 8. DIO' TION, manner; language. 9. CON CEN' TRA TED, brought to a point or center. VERS I FI CA' TION, verses made into poetic measures. neat; elegant. 12. SAT IRE, keenness and severity of language. 13. FAST, close; near by. 14. EX AG GER A' TION, that which exceeds the truth. 15. A POLISH, to annul; destroy. 16. IN ERT', dull; sluggish. 17. UN ED' I FY ING, uninstructive. 18. AN NI HI LATE,

to reduce to nothing; to destroy.

11. TERSE

1. THOMAS GRAY, a distinguished English poet, author of the celebrated "Elegy written in a country Church Yard," was born in London, in 1716, and died in 1771.

2. JOHN DRY' DEN, one of the most celebrated English poets, was born at Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, in 1631, and died in 1700. 3. ALEXANDER POPE, a celebrated English poet, born May, 22, 1688, and died May, 30, 1744.

4. JOHN MIL' TON, the celebrated author of "Paradise Lost," was born in London, 1608, and died in 1674.

5. SI LO' A, or SI LO' AM, is the name of a pool or stream of water near Jerusalem. John, vii. 11.

6. OR A CLE, from the Latin oraculum, and that from os, oris, the mouth, signifies that which is spoken, or uttered by the mouth. The word was applied among the Romans to the responses of the gods, when consulted in regard to the future. It was, also, used to designate the place, where such responses were usually given; as the oracle of Jupiter Ammon, the oracle of Delphi. By an easy transition, the word came to be applied, as in the quotation in the piece following, to the sanctuary or most Holy Place in the temple, where was deposited the ark of the covenant.

CLASSICAL STUDIES.

JOSEPH STORY.

1. There is not a single nation from the North to the South of Europe, from the bleak shores of the Baltic, to the bright plains of immortal Italy, whose literature is not embedded in the very elements of classical learning. The literature of England is, in an emphatic sense, the production of her scholars; of men who have cultivated letters in her universities, and colleges, and grammnar-schools; of men who thought any life too short. chiefly because it left some

relic of antiquity unmastered, and ay other fame humble, because it faded in the presence of Roman and Grecian genius.

2. He who studies English literature without the lights of classical learning, loses half the charms of its sentiments and style, of its force and feelings, of its delicate touches, of its delightful allusions, of its illus. trative associations. Who, that reads the poetry of 'Gray, does not feel that it is the refinement of classical taste, which gives such inexpressible vividness and transparency to its diction?

3. Who, that reads the concentrated sense and melodious versification of 'Dryden, and Pope, does not perceive in them the disciples of the old school, whose genius was inflamed by the heroic verse, the terse satire, and the playful wit of antiquity? Who, that meditates over the strains of 'Milton, does not feel that he drank deep at

"Siloa's brook, that flowed

Fast by the oracle of God,"

that the fires of his magnificent mind were lighted by coals from ancient altars?

4. It is no exaggeration to declare, that he who proposes to abolish classical studies, proposes to render, in a great measure, inert and unedifying, the mass of English literature for three centuries: to rob us of the glory of the past, and much of the instruction of future ages; to blind us to excellencies which few may hope to equal, and none to surpass; to annihilate associations which are interwoven with our best sentiments, and give to distant times and countries a presence and reality, as if they were in fact his own.

QUESTIONS.-1. In what estimation has classical literature ever been held by men of learning? 2. What does he lose, who studies English literature without a knowledge of classical literature? 3. What impressions are produced in reading the poetry of Gray! 4. What, in reading Dryden, and Pope, and Milton? 5. What is meant by "flows fast by the oracle of God" 6. What is it no exaggeration to declare?

LESSON CIII.

SPELL AND DEFINE.-1. GORGEOUS, showy; splendid. 2. HAL' LOWED, made sacred; consecrated. 3. AQUE DUCTS, water pipes or channels. 4. CHAL' LENGE, call out or invite. 5. LIM' PID, pure; clear. 6. COL ON NADE', a series or range of columns. 7. U TIL' I TY, usefulness. 8. RES' CU ING, delivering. 9. MON' U MENTS, memorials; anything that reminds. 10. TRA DI' TION, that which is handed down, from age to age, by oral communication.

1. PER SEP O LIS, a celebrated city of ancient Persia.

2. NE RC, a Roman emperor, chiefly remarkable for his crimes and cruelties, was born A.D. 37, and put an end to his own existence, A.D. 68.

8. A' QUA CLAU' DI A, an aqueduct built by the emperor Claudius, and conveying water from the river Arno to Rome.

4. TAD' MOR, afterwards called Palmyra, was a city founded by Solomon, in the desert of Syria, near the river Euphrates. Its ruins still remain.

5. BABY LON, a celebrated city, the capital of the ancient Babylonian empire, situated on the Euphrates river.

ENDURING MONUMENTS.

EDINBURGH REVIEW.

1. The tomb of Moses is unknown; but the traveler slakes his thirst at the well of Jacob. The gorgeous palace of the wisest and wealthiest of monarchs, with the cedar, and gold, and ivory, and even the great temple of Jerusalem, hallowed by the visible glory of the Deity himself, are gone; but Solomon's reservoirs are as perfect as ever. Of the ancient architecture of the Holy City, not one stone is left upon another; but the pool of Bethesda commands the pilgrim's reverence at the present day.

2. The columns of 'Persepolis are moldering in dust; but its cisterns and aqueducts remain to challenge our admiration. The golden house of 'Nero is a mass of ruins; but the 'Aqua Claudia still pours into Rome its limpid stream. The temple of the sun at "Tadmor, in the wilderness, has fallen; but its fountain sparkles as freshly in his rays, as when a thousand worshipers thronged its lofty colonnades.

3. It may be that London will share the fate of

mark its site, save

'Babylon, and nothing be left to mounds of crumbling brick-work. The Thames will continue to flow as it does now. And, if any work of art should still rise over the deep ocean of time, we may well believe that it will be neither a palace nor a temple, but some vast aqueduct or reservoir; and if any name should still flash through the mist of antiquity, it will probably be that of a man who, in his day, sought the happiness of his fellow men, rather than their glory, and linked his memory to some great work of national utility and benevolence.

4. This is the true glory which outlives all others, and shines with undying luster from generation to generation-imparting to works something of its own immortality, and in some degree rescuing them from the ruin which overtakes the ordinary monuments of historical tradition or mere magnificence.

QUESTIONS.-1. What is said of the tomb of Moses, and of the well of Jacob 2. Can you mention other monuments that have withstood the ravages of time? 3. The name of what character will most probably continue to be remembered? 4. What is the kind of glory that outlives all other?

LESSON CIV.

SPELL AND DEFINE-1. PERCH' ED, alighted. 2. I' VI ED, overgrown with ivy. 3. Nook, corner. 4. GAL' LANT, brave; heroic. 5. KNIGHT, an order of nobility; a champion. 6. CAP' TIVE, prisoner. 7. LIN'E AGE, race; family; descent. 8. PA' GEANT, show; spectacle. 9. E RECT, upright. 10. BIER, a hand-carriage for the dead. 11. DUN'GEON, a close prison.

Articulate distinctly tch in watch, thr in throne, &c.

THE OWL IN THE RUIN.

1. What dost thou say, thou watcher gray,
Perched on the ruin òld?

Why dost thou look from thy vied nook,
On my eyes with gaze so bòld?

J H. A. BONE

Hast thou aught to tell of what befell,

When those walls were strong and high,—
Of the lady bright, or the gallant knight,

Or the captive left to díe?

"Tu-whit tu-whoo!" came gloomily

From a darksome branch of the ivy tree.

2. Ere now I've read, and heard it said,
That in days long since gone by,

On this gloomy spot, great deeds were wrought
By men of lineage high:

Speak! where are they, the brave and gay,
Who once in the pageant shone?

Why are wall and tower, once proud with power,
Now ruled by an owl alone?

"Tu-whit tu-whoo!" came mournfully,

As the light breeze rustled a cypress tree. 3. Thou sittest there, in thy mansion drear, Mourning for days long fled;

Thou art of the past, thy lot is cast
'Mid relics of ages dead.

Thou shalt not sway o'er the ruins gray,
That our hands have helped to rear;
Erect and grand our walls shall stand,
Till Time lies on his bier.

Then a rustle was heard in the ivy tree,
And a voice gave answer solemnly:

4. "Dungeon and bower, cottage and tower,
I claim them all as mine;

The roof shall fall, and the moldering wall
Shall be clasped by the ivy vine.

Death does not spare the brave nor fair;--
Decay still rots the stone:-

While they unite their strength to smite,
I still shall find a throne."

QUESTIONS.-1. What reply is given to the questions in the 1st stanza? 2. What question is contained in the next? 3. For what is the owl represented as mourning? 4. What is claimed in the last stanza?

What rule for the falling inflection on old, bold, 1st stanza? What, for the rising on die? What is there peculiar in the 1st, 3d, 5th, and 7th lines of each stanza?