6. In pride, in reas'ning pride, our error lies;
All quit their sphere, and rush into the skies.
Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes ;
Men would be angels, angels would be gods.
Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell,

Aspiring to be angels, men rebel :

And who but wishes to invert the laws
Of ORDER, Sins against th' ETERNAL CAUSE.

LESSON CXXV.

The Nature of True Eloquence.-D. WEBSTER.

1. WHEN public bodies are to be addressed on momentous occasions, when great interests are at stake, and strong passions excited, nothing is valuable, in speech, farther than it is connected with high intellectual and moral endowments. Clearness, force, and earnestness, are the qualities which produce conviction.

2. True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech. It cannot be brought from far. Labor and learning may toil for it, but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases may be marshalled in every way, but they cannot compass it. It must exist in the man,-in the subject,—and in the occasion.

3. Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation, all may aspire after it; they cannot reach it. It comes, if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native force.

4. The graces taught in the schools, the costly ornaments and studied contrivances of speech, shock and disgust men, when their own lives, and the fate of their wives, their children, and their country, hang on the descision of the hour.

5. 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. Then, patriotism is eloquent; then, self-devotion is eloquent.

6. 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, godlike

action.

LESSON CXXVI.

The Perfect Orator.-SHERIDAN.

1. IMAGINE to yourselves a Demosthenes,* addressing the most illustrious assembly in the world, upon a point whereon the fate of the most illustrious of nations depended-How awful such a meeting! how vast the subject!-Is man possessed of talents adequate to the great occasion ?—Adequate ! Yes, su perior.

2. By the power of his eloquence, the augustness of the assembly is lost in the dignity of the orator; and the importance of the subject, for a while, superseded by the admiration of his talents.

3. With what strength of argument, with what powers of the fancy, with what emotions of the heart, does he assault and subjugate the whole man; and, at once, captivate his reason, his imagination, and his passions !To effect this, must be the utmost effort of the most improved state of human nature.

4. Not a faculty that he possesses, is here unemployed; not a faculty that he possesses, but is here exerted to its highest pitch. All his internal powers are at work; all his external, testify their energies.

5. Within, the memory, the fancy, the judgment, the passions, are all busy: without, every muscle, every nerve is exerted; not a feature, not a limb, but speaks. The organs of the body, attuned to the exertions of the mind, through the kindred organs of the hearers, instantaneously vibrate those energies from soul to soul.

6. Notwithstanding the diversity of minds in such a multitude; by the lightning of eloquence, they are melted into one mass-the whole assembly, actuated in one and the same way, become, as it were, but one man, and have but one voice-The universal cry is-LET US MARCH AGAINST PHILIP,†—LET US FIGHT FOR OUR LIBERTIES—LET US CONQUER, OR DIE !

• Pronounced De-mos'-the-nees, the famous Grecian orator. He was born at Athens, 381 B. C. Though neglected by his guardians, and impeded in his education by weakness of lungs and an inarticulate pronunciation,his assiduity overcame all obstacles, and enabled him to rise superior to every difficulty, and to become the most illustrious and eloquent orator of antiquity. The abilities of Demosthenes, raised him to the head of the gov ernment in Athens. He roused his countrymen from their indolence, and incited them to oppose the encroachments of Philip, king of Macedon, and his son Alexander the Great. Antipater, the successor of Alexander, demanded all the Athenian orators to be delivered up to him, and Demosthe nes, seeing no hope of safety, destroyed himself by poison, B. C. 322. †Philip, king of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great.

LESSON CXXVII.

Rolla's Address to the Peruvians.-SHERIDAN.

1. My brave associates, partners of my toil, my feelings, and my fame! Can Rolla's words add vigor to the virtuous energies which inspire your hearts? No-you have judged as I have, the foulness of the crafty plea by which these bold invaders would delude you. Your generous spirit has compared, as mine has, the motives, which in a war like this, can animate their minds, and ours.

2. They, by a strange frenzy driven, fight for power, for plunder, and extended rule-we, for our country, our altars, and our homes.-They follow an adventurer whom they fear, and obey a power which they hate-we serve a monarch whom we love-a God whom we adore.

3. Whenever they move in anger, desolation tracks their progress! Whenever they pause in amity, affliction mourns their friendship! They boast they come but to improve our state, enlarge our thoughts, and free us from the yoke of error ! Yes they will give enlightened freedom to our minds, who are themselves the slaves of passion, avarice, and pride.

4. They offer us their protection-Yes, such protection as vultures give to lambs-covering and devouring them! They call on us to barter all of good we have inherited and proved, for the desperate chance of something better, which they promise. Be our plain answer this :

5. The throne we honor, is the people's choice—the laws we reverence are our brave father's legacy—the faith we follow teaches us to live in bonds of charity with all mankind, and die in hopes of bliss beyond the grave. Tell your invaders this; and tell them too, we seek no change; and least of all, such change as they would bring us.

LESSON CXXVIII.

The Hermit.-BEATTIE.

1. Ar the close of the day, when the hamlet is still,
And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove;
When nought but the torrent is heard on the hill,
And nought but the nightingale's song in the grove :
'Twas thus by the cave of the mountain afar,

While his harp rung symphonious, a hermit begi

No more with himself or with nature at war,

He thought as a sage, though he felt as a man.
2. "Ah! why, all abandon'd to darkness and wo;
Why lone Philomela,* that languishing fall?
For spring shall return, and a lover bestow,
And sorrow no longer thy bosom enthral.
But if pity inspire thee, renew the sad lay,

Mourn, sweetest complainer, man calls thee to mourn ; O sooth him whose pleasures like thine pass away: Full quickly they pass-but they never return.

3. "Now gliding remote, on the verge of the sky,

The moon half extinguish'd her crescent displays :
But lately I mark'd, when majestic on high

She shone, and the planets were lost in her blaze.
Roll on, thou fair orb, and with gladness pursue
The path that conducts thee to splendor again:
But man's faded glory what change shall renew!
Ah fool! to exult in a glory so vain !"

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4. "Tis night, and the landscape is lovely no more:
I mourn, but ye woodlands, I mourn not for you;
For morn is approaching, your charms to restore,
Perfum'd with fresh fragrance, and glitt❜ring with dew.
Nor yet for the ravage of winter I mourn;

Kind nature the embryo blossom will save:
But when shall spring visit the mouldering urn!

O when shall day dawn on the night of the grave!" 3. ""Twas thus by the glare of false science betray'd, That leads to bewilder; and dazzles to blind; My thoughts wont to roam, from shade onward to shade, Destruction before me, and sorrow behind.

O pity, great Father of light, then I cried,

Thy creature who fain would not wander from thee! Lo, humbled in dust, I relinquish my pride:

From doubt and from darkness thou only canst free."

6. “And darkness and doubt are now flying away;
No longer I roam in conjecture forlorn :
So breaks on the traveller, faint and astray,
The bright and the balmy effulgence of morn.

• Phi-lo-me'-la, a nightingale.

See truth, love and mercy, in triumph descending,

And nature all glowing in Eden's first bloom! On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending. And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb.”

LESSON CXXIX.

The Mariner's Dream.-DIMOND.

1. In slumbers of midnight the sailor boy lay,

His hammock swung loose at the sport of the wind
But, watch-worn and weary, his cares flew away,
And visions of happiness danced o'er his mind.
2. He dreamed of his home, of his dear native bowers,
And pleasures that waited on life's merry morn;
While memory each scene gayly covered with flowers,
And restored every rose, but secreted its thorn.
3. Then fancy her magical pinions spread wide,

And bade the young dreamer in ecstacy rise ;—
Now far, far behind him, the green waters glide,
And the cot of his forefathers blesses his eyes.

4. The jessamine clambers in flowers o'er the thatch,
And the swallow chirps sweet from her nest in the wall;
All trembling with transport, he raises the latch,
And the voices of loved ones reply to his call.

5. A father bends o'er him with looks of delight;

His cheek is impearled with a mother's warm tear ; And the lips of the boy in a love-kiss unite

With the lips of the maid whom his bosom holds dear. 6. The heart of the sleeper beats high in his breast,

Joy quickens his pulses, his hardships seem o'er ; And a murmur of happiness steals through his rest— "O God! thou has blessed me; I ask for no more." 7. Ah! whence is that flame which now bursts on his eye: Ah! what is that sound which now larums his ear? "Tis the lightning's red glare, painting hell on the sky! 'Tis the crushing of thunders, the groan of the sphere' 8. He springs from his hammock-he flies to the deck-→ Amazement confronts him with images dire~~~