Oh, may my falls be bright as thine!
May Heaven's forgiving rainbow shine
Upon the mist that circles me,

As soft, as now it hangs o'er thee!

QUESTIONS.-1. What thoughts were suggested to the poet on viewing the Mohawk! 2. With what prayer does the piece close!

LESSON CXLIII.

SPELL AND DEFINE--1. VE' TO, negative; prohibition. 2. DIS APPRO BA' TION, disapproval; dislike. 3. AT TRIB' UTE, impute. 4. INTRE PID' I TY, fearlessness; undaunted courage. 5. AP PRE OI A' TION, estimate; valuation. 6. IN SIG NIF I CANCE, unimportance. 7. INTIM I DA TED, frightened. 8. MEN' ACE, a threat. 9. AG GRAND' IZEMENT, exaltation. 10. IM PU TA' TION, charge; the act of attributing. 11. E' GO TISM, self-praise; self-estimation. 12. AB SORB' ED, wholly taken up with. 13. GROV' EL ING, creeping; mean.

PUBLIC VIRTUE.

HENRY CLAY.

1. I rose not to say one word which should wound the feelings of the President. The senator* says, that, if placed in like circumstances, I would have been the last man to avoid putting a direct veto upon the Bill, had it met my disapprobation; and he does me the honor to attribute to me high qualities of stern and unbending intrepidity.

2. I hope, that in all that relates to personal firmness, all that concerns a just appreciation of the insig nificance of human life,-whatever may be attempted to threaten or alarm a soul, not easily swayed by opposition, or awed or intimidated by menace,--a stout heart and a steady eye, that can survey, unmoved and undaunted, any mere personal perils that assail this poor, transient, perishing frame, I may, without disparagement, compare with other men.

3. But there is a sort of courage, which, I frankly * Hon. Mr. Rives, of Virginia.

confess it, I do not possess; a boldness to which I dare not aspire; a valor which I can not covet. I can not lay myself down in the way of the welfare and happiness of my country. That I can not, I have not the courage to do. I can not interpose the power with which I am invested, a power conferred, not for my personal benefit, nor for my aggrandizement, but for my country's good, to check her onward march to greatnesss and glory. I have not courage enough,-I am too cowardly for that.

4. I would not, I dare not, in the exercise of such a trust, lie down, and place my body across the path that leads my country to prosperity and happiness. This is a sort of courage widely different from that which a man may display in his private conduct and personal relations. Personal or private courage is totally distinct from that higher and nobler courage which prompts the patriot to offer himself a voluntary sacrifice to his country's good.

5. Apprehensions of the imputation of the want of firmness, sometimes impel us to perform rash and inconsiderate acts. It is the greatest courage to be able to bear the imputation of the want of courage. But pride, vanity, egotism, so unamiable and offensive in private life, are vices which partake of the character of crimes, in the conduct of public affairs. The unfortunate victim of these passions can not see beyond the little, petty, contemptible circle of his own personal interests.

6. All his thoughts are withdrawn from his coun⚫ try, and concentrated on his consistency, his firmness, himself. The high, the exalted, the sublime emotions of a patriotism, which, soaring toward heaven, rises far above all mean, low, or selfish things, and is absorbed by one soul-transporting thought of the good and the glory of one's country, are never felt in his impenetrable bosom.

7. That patriotism which, catching its inspirations from the immortal God, and leaving at an immeasur able distance below all lesser, groveling, personal in

terests and feelings, animates and prompts to deeds of self-sacrifice, of valor, of devotion, and of death itself, that is public virtue, that is the noblest, the sublimest of all public virtues!

QUESTIONS.-1. What does Mr. Clay say of the high qualities at tributed to him by Mr. Rives? 2. What sort of courage does Mr. Clay disclaim? 3. What difference does he make between private and public courage? 4. What does he set down as the greatest courage? 5. How are pride, vanity, and egotism, in the conduct of public affairs, to be regarded? 6. What does he commend, in the last paragraph, as the noblest of all virtues!

LESSON CXLIV.

5.

SPELL AND DEFINE.-1. FO REN' SIC, relating to courts or legal proceedings. 2. AUS PI' CIOUS, favoring; fortunate. 3. IM PAS' SIONED, moved by feeling; animated. 4. SUA SIVE, persuasive. DRA' PER IES, hangings. 6. CON SIGN' ED, given; handed over. 7. DISCRIM I NA' TION, discernment. 8. COM BI NA' TION, union; association. 9. MAG NAN'I MOUS, noble-minded. 10. TRA DI' TION al, delivered orally from parents to children. 11. AD MO NI' TIONS, warnings.

1. AG A MEM NON, commander-in-chief of the Grecian forces against ancient Troy, who is styled by Homer, "king of men."

DEATH OF HENRY CLAY.

REV. C. M. BUTLER. D. D.

"How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod."-Jeremiah, 48th chap. 17th verse.

1. Before all hearts and minds in this august assemblage, the vivid image of ONE MAN stands. To some aged eye he may come forth from the dim past, as he appeared in the neighboring city of his native State, a lithe and ardent youth, full of promise, of ambition, and of hope. To another he may appear as in a distant State in the Courts of Justice, erect, high-strung, bold, wearing fresh forensic laurels on his young and open brow.

2. Some may see him in the earlier, and some in the later stages of his career, in this auspicious theater of

his renown; and to the former he will start out in the background of the past, as he appeared in the neighboring Chamber,-tall, elate, impassioned, with flashing eye, and suasive gesture, and clarion voice,-an already acknowledged Agamemnon,-king of men; and to others he will again stand in this chamber, "the strong staff" of the bewildered and staggering State, and "the beautiful rod," rich with the blossoms of genius, and of patriotic love and hope; the life of youth still remaining to give animation, grace, and exhaustless vigor to the wisdom, the experience, and the gravity of age.

3. To others he may be present as he sat in the chamber of sickness, cheerful, majestic, gentle,-his mind clear, his heart warm, his hope fixed on Heaven, peacefully preparing for his last great change. To the memory of the minister of God, he appears as the penitent, humble, and peaceful Christian, who received him with the affection of a father, and joined with him in solemn sacrament and prayer, with the gentleness of a woman, and the humility of a child. "Out of the strong came forth sweetness!" is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod !"

"How

4. But not before this assembly only, does the venerable image of the departed statesman this day distinctly stand; for more than a thousand miles, east, west, north, and south, it is known and remembered at this place and hour, a Nation's representatives assemble to do honor to him whose fame is now a Nation's heritage, a Nation's mighty heart throbs against this Capitol, and beats through you.

5. In many cities, banners droop, bells toll, cannons boom, funeral draperies wave. In crowded streets, and on surrounding wharves, upon steamboats, upon rail-cars, in fields, in workshops, in homes, in schools, millions of men, women, and children, have their thoughts fixed upon this scene, and say mournfully to each other, this is the hour in which, at the Capitol, the Nation's representatives are burying HENRY CLAY.

6. Burying HENRY CLAY'! Bury the records of your country's history-Bury the hearts of living millions-Bury the mountains, the rivers, the lakes, and the spreading lands from sea to sea, with which his name is inseparably associated, and even then you would not bury HENRY CLAY; for he lives in other lands, and speaks in other tongues, and to other times than ours

7. A great mind, a great heart, a great orator, great career, have been consigned to history. She wil record his rare gifts of deep insight, keen discrimination, clear statement, rapid combination, plain, direct, and convincing logic. She will love to dwell on that large, generous, magnanimous, open, forgiving heart.

8. She will linger with fond delight on the recorded or traditional stories of an eloquence that was so masterful and stirring, because it was but himself struggling to come forth on living words, because though the words were brave, and strong, and beautiful, and melodious, it was felt that behind them there was a soul braver, stronger, more beautiful, and more melodious than language could express.

9. She will point to a career of statesmanship which has, to a remarkable extent, stamped itself on the public policy of the country, and reached in beneficent, practical results, the fields, the looms, the commercial marts, and the quiet homes of all the land, where his name was with the departed fathers, and is with the living children, and will be with successive generations, an honored household word.

10. I feel as a man the grandeur of this career, but as an immortal, with this broken wreck of mortality before me, with this scene as the end of all human glory, I feel that no career is truly great, but that of him who, whether he be illustrious or obscure, lives to the future in the present, and linking himself to the spiritual world, draws from God the life, the rule, the motive, and the reward of all his labor.

QUESTIONS.-1. In what various aspects to different persons may Mr. Clay be supposed to have appeared at the time of his death? 2. What does the speaker say of burying him? 3. How will history regard his memory? 4. What is the only truly great career!