THB GREEK EMIGRANTS SONG.

147

2. The wind is blowing off the shore,

And out to sea the streamers fly :
My music is the dashing roar,

My canopy' the stainless sky;
It bends above, so fair a blue,
That heaven seems opening to my

view.
3. I will not live a cowering slave,

Though all the charms of life may shine
Around me, and the land, the wave,

And sky, be drawn in tints divine :
Give lowering skies and rocks to me,

If there my spirit can be free.
4. Sweeter than spicy gales, that blow

From orange-groves with wooing breath,
The winds may from these islands flow;

But 'tis an atmosphere of death :
The lotus' which transform’d the brave

And haughty to a willing slave.
5. Sõfter than Minder's winding stream,

The wave may ripple on this coast,
And, brighter than the morning beam,

In golden swell be round it toss'd-
Give me a rude and stormy shore,

So power can never threat me more.
6. Brighter than all the tales they tell

Of Eastern pomp and pāgeantry,"
Our sunset skies in glory swell,

Hung round with glowing tăpestry-
The horrors of a winter storm
Swell brighter o'er a freeman's form.

a

Căn' opy, a covering over the ancients to make strangers who throne, or over a bed; a covering ate of it forget their native country, over the lead.

7. The spring may here with autumn twine,
And both combined

may

rule the year,
And fresh-blown flowers, and racy wine

In frosted clusters, still be near-
Dearer the wild and snowy hills

Where hale and ruddy Freedom smiles.
8. Beyond the wild, dark-heaving sea,

And ocean's stormy vastness o'er,
There is a better home for me ;

A welcomer and dearer shore :
There hands, and hearts, and souls are twined,
and free the man, and free the mind.

JAMES GATES PERCIVAL.

SECTION XII.

I.

50. OPPOSITE EXAMPLES.

I

ASK the young man, who is just forming his habits of life,

or just beginning to indulge those habitual trains of thought out of which habits grow, to look around him, and mark the examples whose fortune he would covet,' or whose fate he would abhor. Even as we walk the streets, we meet with exhibitions: of each extreme."

2. Here, behold a pātriarch, whose stock of vigor threescore years and ten seem hardly to have impaired.' His erect form, his firm step, his elastic limbs, and undimmed senses, are so many certificates of good conduct; or, rather, so many jewels

1

Covet, (kův et), to wish for with each extreme, the first and the last, eagerness; to desire possession of. or the worst and the best.

· Abhcz, (db hår'), to shrink with 5 Pā' tri arch, the father and ruler shuddering from; to hate extremely. of a family; one who governs his

• Exhibition, (eks'hi bish'ún), the family or descendants by paternal act of displaying or holding forth to right. view ; that which is presented or Víg or, active strength or force held forth to be seen ; a show; an of body; strength of mind; energy. example.

Impaired, Im pård'), injured; • Ex trēme', the end; the last; lessened.

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OPPOSITE EXAMPLES.

149

and orders of nobility with which nature has honored him for his fidelity to her laws.

3. His fair complexion shows that bis blood has never been corrupted ; his pure breath, that he has never yielded his digěstive' apparātus* to åbūse ; his exact language and keen apprehension, that his brain has never been drugged or stupefied by the poisons of distiller or tobacconist.

4. Enjoying his appetites to the highest, he has preserved the power of enjoying them. As he drains the cup of life, there are no lees: at the bottom. His organs will reach the goal of existence together. Painlessly as a candle burns down in its socket, so will he expire; and a little imagination would convert him into another Enoch, translated from earth to a better world without the sting of death.

5. But look at an opposite extreme, where an opposite history is recorded. What wreck so shocking to behold as the wreck of a dissolute man ;-the vigor of life exhausted, and yět the first steps in an honorable career not taken : in himself a lāzar-house' of diseases ; dead, but, by a heathenish custom of society, not buried.

6. Rogues have had the initial letter of their title burnt into the palms of their hands : even for murder, Cain was only branded on the forehead; but over the whole person of the debauchee or the inebriate, the signatures of infamy '' are written.

7. How nature brands him with stigma" and opprobrium !" How she hangs lābels all over him, to testify her disgust at his existence, and to admonish others to beware of his example! How she loosens all his joints, sends trēmors along his muscles, and

Di gěst've, causing the dis- * Lā' zar-house, a hospital; a solving of food in the stomach. house for persons affected with un.

· Ap pa rā' tus, things provided pleasant and dangerous diseases. as a means to some end.

8 Initial, (in ish'al), the beginning 3 Lees. (lez), the coarser parts of a

or first. liquor, which settle at its bottom; Debauchee, (deb'o she'), a rake; sediment; dregs.

a dissipated person ; a drunkard. Goal, the point set to bound a 10 In' fa my, the complete loss of race; the mark; the final purpose character; public disgrace. or end.

11 Stỉg'ma, a mark made with a Enoch, (én8k), see Bible, Gen. burning iron; any mark of infamy. chap. 5, v. 24.

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bends forward his frame, as if to bring him upon all-fours with kindred' brutes, or to degrade him to the reptile's' crawling!

8. How she disfigures his countenance, as if intent' upon obliterating all traces of her own image, so that she may swear she never made him! How she pours rheum' over his eyes, sends foul spirits to inhabit his breath, and shrieks, as with a trumpet, from every põre of his body, “Behold a Beast!” •

9. Such å man may be seen in the streets of our cities every day; if rich enough, he may be found in the saloons, and at the tables of the “Upper Ten;"• but surely, to every man of purity and honor, to every man whose wisdom, as well as whose heart, is unblemished, the wretch who comes cropped an bleeding from the pillory,' and redolent with its appropriate per'fumes, would be a guest or a companion far less offensive and disgusting

10. Now let the young man, rejoicing in his manly proportions, and in his comeliness, look on this picture, and on this, and then say, after the likeness of which modèl he intends his own erect stature and sublime countenance shall be configured."

H. MANN.

II.

51. THE VOTARY OF PLEASURE.

I

2

SAW , gallant youth depart

From his early home, o'er the world to roam :
With joyous eye, and bounding heart,

Did he speed along, through the mingled throng ; 1 Kỉn' dred, related; of the like the most wealthy and fashionable nature or qualities.

persons in a city. Rěp'tile, anything that creeps ; 'Pi'lo rý, a frame to confine as, a snake, a worm, etc.

criminals by the neck and head for * In těnt', having the mind punishment. strained or bent on an object; eager 8 Rěd' o lent, diffusing or spreadin pursuit of an object.

ing odor, fragrance, or sweet scent; Rheum,(r8m), a thin, white fluid, smelling. produced by the glands in disease. • Comeliness, (kům' li nes), the

Saloons, (sa 18nz'), large and ele- quality of being handsome or well gant rooms for the reception of com- proportioned ; gracefulness. pany, for banquets and balls, or for 10 Con fig' üred, arranged or dis public amusement.

posed in a certain form, figure, or • Upper Ten, a term applied to shape.

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THE VOTARY OF PLEASURE

151

And he reck'd not of aught that lay in his course,
As he onward moved with the impetuous' force
Of a spirit free and unrestrain'd,
That ne'er would rest till his goal was gain'd.
“Whither, O youth," a yoice inquired,

With an earnèst tone, and a stifled groan,
“ Art bound so swift, as thou wast fired

In thy inmost mind with an impulse blind?"
“I am bound for the realm, be it far or near,"
The rover replied, as he check'd his career,
“Where pléasure is found, and mirth, and glee,

And a ceaseless flow of gayety.”
3 I saw that youthful form once more,

When the gval was gain'd, and its end attain'd;
I knew its brief pursuit was o'er,

From its alter'd mien, and its faded sheen.
in the bounding heart, and the joy-beaming eye,
Were succeeded by tears, and the deep-drawn sigh.
Of beauty, and manly pride, and grace,

There scarcely linger'd a single trace. 4. “Oh, what,” the voice inquired again,

“Hath wrought this chānge, so sad and strānge ?
Didst thou at length, O youth, obtain,

In its full měasure, thy heart's fond treasure ?
Didst thou gain the realm where the pleasures of sense
In profusion' flow, unrestrain'd and intense ?*
Didst thou reach the sphere where mirth and glee

Are blended with ceaseless gayety?"
5. “Too soon,” exclaim'd the stricken form,

With downcast eye, and a bitter sigh,
“While hope was young, and passion warm,
Did

my ardent soul reach the fatal goal.
Ah! my spirit hath been with the giddy thrõng,
And shared in the revel, the cup, and the song.
But its tone is gone ; 'tis stricken now ;-

The curse of pleasure is on my brow.” CHARLES H. LYON.

Im pět' ū oŭs, rushing with force abundance; great supply or plenty. and violence; hasty ; fierce.

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