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their country, hang on the decision of the hour. Then, words have lost their power, rhetoric' is vain, and all elaborate oratory contemptible. Even genius itself then feels rebuked, and subdued, as in the presence of higher qualities.

4. Then, patriotism3 is eloquent; then, self-devotion is eloquent. The clear conception, out-running the deductions' of logic, the high purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every feature, and urging the whole man onward, right onward, to his object—this, this is eloquence; or, rather, it is something greater and higher than all eloquence-it is action, noble, sublime, gòd like action. DANIEL WEBSTER.

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142. ARNOLD WINKELRIED.

TAKE way for liberty!" he cried;
Made way for liberty, and died!
It must not be this day, this hour,
Annihilates the oppressor's power!
All Switzerland is in the field,
She will not fly, she can not yield,—
She must not fall: her better fate
Here gives her an immortal date.

2 Few were the numbers she could boast;
But every freeman was a host,

And felt as though himself were he
On whose sole arm hung victory.

It did depend on one indeed :

Behold him-Arnold Winkelried!

There sounds not to the trump of fame
The echo of a nobler name.

1 Rhot' oric, the science of oratory; the art of speaking with propriety, elegance, and force.- - E låb' o rate, wrought out with great labor; highly finished.- På' tri ot ism, love of one's country.- Con cep' tion, apprehension; idea.- De důc' tions, inferences drawn from assertions; conclusions.- Lög' ic, the art of thinking and reasoning justly.-' Annl'hi låte, to reduce to nothing; to destroy." Host, an army; a great number.

FEELINGS EXCITED BY A LONG VOYAGE.

8 Unmark'd he stood amid the throng,

In rumination' deep and long,

Till you might see, with sudden grace,
The very thought come o'er his face;
And by the motion of his form,
Anticipate the rising storm;

And, by the uplifting of his brow,

Tell where the bolt would strike, and how.

4. But 'twas no sooner thought than done!
The field was in a moment won:-
"Make way for liberty!" he cried,
Then ran, with arms extended wide,
As if his dearest friend to clasp;
Ten spears he swept within his grasp:
"Make way for liberty !" he cried—
Their keen points met from side to side;
He bow'd among them like a tree,
And thus made way for liberty.

5. Swift to the breach his comrādes fly—
"Make way for liberty !" they cry,

And through the Austrian phalanx3 dart,
As rush'd the spears through Arnold's heart,
While instantaneous as his fall,
Rout, ruin, panic, scatter'd all;

An earthquake could not overthrow
A city with a surer blow.

Thus Switzerland again was free;
Thus death made way for liberty!

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JAMES MONTGOMERY.

То

143. FEELINGS EXCITED BY A LONG VOYAGE.

an American visiting Europe, the long voyage he has to make is an excellent preparative. From the moment you

1 Rumination (rỗ mi nå′ shun), meditation; thinking over and over again.- An tic' i påte, foresee, or expect.-- Phål' anx, a square body of soldiers, close and compact.

lose sight of the land you have left, all is vacancy until you step on the opposite shore, and are launched at once into the bustle and novelties of another world.

2. I have said that at sea all is vacancy. I should correct the expression. To one given up to day-dreaming, and fond of losing himself in reveries, a sea voyage is full of subjects for meditation; but then they are the wonders of the deep, and of the air, and rather tend to abstract the mind from worldly themes.

3. I delighted to loll over the quarter-railing,' or climb to the main-top2 on a calm day, and muse for hours together on the tranquil bosom of a summer's sea; or to gaze upon the piles of golden clouds just peering above the horizon, fancy them some fairy realms, and people them with a creation of my own, or to watch the gentle undulating billows rolling their silver volumes, as if to die away on those happy shores.

4. There was a delicious sensation of mingled security and awe, with which I looked down from my giddy height on the monsters of the deep at their uncouth gambols. Shoals of porpoises tumbling about the bow of the ship; the grampus slowly heaving his huge form above the surface; or the ravenous shark, darting like a specter through the blue waters. My imagination would conjure up all that I had heard or read of the watery world beneath me; of the finny herds that roam its fathomless valleys; of shapeless monsters that lurk among the very foundations of the earth; and those wild phantasms that swell the tales of fishermen and sailors.

5. Sometimes a distant sail gliding along the edge of the ocean would be another theme of idle speculation. How in'teresting this fragment of a world hastening to rejoin the great mass of existence ! What a glorious monument of human invention, that has thus triumphed over wind and wave; has brought the ends of the earth in communion; has established an in'terchange of blessings, pouring into the sterile1 regions of the north all the luxuries of the south; diffused the light of

Quar' ter-rail' ing, the railing on the sides of a ship, extending from the main-mast to the stern.-2 Måin'-top, top of the main-mast.--3 Phantasm (fån' tazm), something imagined; a ilea or notion. -* Stèr' 'le, barren; unfruitful.

FEELINGS EXCITED BY A LONG VOYAGE.

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knowledge and the charities of cultivated life; and has thus bound together those scattered portions of the human race, between which nature seemed to have thrown an insurmountable barrier.

6. We one day descried some shapeless object drifting at a distance. At sea, every thing that breaks the monotony' of the surrounding expanse attracts attention. It proved to be the mast of a ship that must have been completely, wrecked; for there were the remains of handkerchiefs, by which some of the crew had fastened themselves to this spar, to prevent their being washed off by the waves.

7. There was no trace by which the name of the ship could be ascertained. The wreck had evidently drifted about for many months; clusters of shell-fish had fastened about it, and long sea-weeds flaunted at its sides. But where, thought I, are the crew? Their struggle has long been over; they have gone down amid the roar of the tempest;—their bones lie whitening in the caverns of the deep. Silence-oblivion, like the waves, have closed over them, and no one can tell the story of their end.

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8. What sighs have been wafted after that ship! what prayers offered up at the deserted fireside of home! How often has the mistress, the wife, and the mother, pored over the daily news, to cătch some casual intelligence of this rover of the deep! How has expectation darkened into anxiety-anxiety into dread-and dread into despair! Alas! not one memento shall ever return for love to cherish. All that shall ever be known is, that she sailed from her port, "and was never heard of more."

9. The sight of the wreck, as usual, gave rise to many dismal anecdotes. This was particularly the case in the evening, when the weather, which had hitherto been fair, began to look wild and threatening, and gave indications of one of those sudden storms that will sometimes break in upon the serenity3 of a summer voyage. As we sat round the dull light of a lamp, in the cabin, that made the gloom more ghastly, every one had his tale of shipwreck and disaster. I was particularly struck with a short one related by the captain.

'Mo not' o ny, sameness.- Ob liv'i on, forgetfulness.—' Se rên' i ty, clearness; calmness.

144. FEELINGS EXCITED BY A LONG VOYAGE—CONCLUDED.

"AS I was once sailing," said he, "in a fine stout ship across

the banks of New'foundland,' one of the heavy fogs that prevail in those parts rendered it impossible for me to see far ahead, even in the daytime; but at night the weather was so thick that we could not distinguish any object at twice the length of our ship. I kept lights at the masthead, and a constant watch forward to look out for fishing-smacks, which are accustomed to lie at anchor on the banks.

2. "The wind was blowing a smacking breeze, and we were going at a great rate through the water. Suddenly the watch gave the alarm of 'a sail ahead!' but it was scarcely uttered till we were upon her. She was a small schooner at anchor, with her broadside toward us. The crew were all asleep, and had neglected to hoist a light. We struck her just amidships.3 The force, the size, and weight of our vessel, bore her down below the waves; we passed over her, and were hurried on our course.

3. "As the crashing wreck was sinking beneath us, I had a glimpse of two or three half-naked wretches rushing from her cabin; they had just started from their beds to be swallowed shrieking by the waves. I heard their drowning cry mingling with the wind. The blast that bore it to our ears swept us out of all further hearing. I shall never forget that cry! It was some time before we could put the ship about, she was under such headway. We returned, as nearly as we could guess, to the place where the smack was anchored. We cruised' about for several hours in the dense fog. We fired several guns, and listened if we might hear the halloo' of any survivors; but all was silent-we never heard nor saw any thing of them more!"

4. It was a fine sunny morning when the thrilling cry of "land!" was given from the masthead. I question whether Columbus, when he discovered the new world, felt a more delicious throng of sensations than rush into an American's bosom when

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'Newfoundland (nu' fond land').- Småck' ing, strong; powerful; noisy.-' A mid'-ships, the middle part of the vessel.—* Cruised (krůzd), sailed.

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