142. A belief in the Superintendence of Providence, 151. An Evening in the Grave-yard, Lonth's translation of Isaiah. 401 Mrs. Barbauld. 413 113. Death-scene in Gertrude of Wyoming, Campbell. 253 172. The Winter Night, Burns. 396 DRAMATIC PIECES. DIALOGUES, ADDRESSES, AND SOLILOQUIES. Shakspeare. 431 Dr. Aikin. 438 Shakspeare. 441 lbid. 442 198. The Street-scene, between Brutus and Cassius, 205. Soliloquy, on the Immortality of the Soul, 185. Specch of Catiline, in reply to Cicero, 188. Speech of Catiline, on his banishment, 207. Battle of Flodden Field; and Death of Marmion, Croly. 426 Shakspeare. 454 HUMOROUS PIECES. 41. Address to the Mummy in Belzoni's exhibition, London, New Monthly Mag. 105 79. Report of an adjudged case, not to be found in Comper. 185 New Monthly Mag. 408 425 Ibid. 186. Battle Hymn of the Berlin Landsturm, 190. Extract from the Essay on Criticism, 193. Lines on the entry of the Austrians into Naples, Thomson. 464 : THE AMERICAN FIRST CLASS BOOK. LESSON 1. A devotional spirit recommended to the young.—Cappe. DEVOTION is a delicate and tender plănt: as much as it is our duty and our interest to be possessed of it, it is not easily acquired, neither can it be carelessly maintained.* It must be long tended, diligently cultivated, and affectionately cherished, before it will have struck its roots so deep as to grow up and flourish in our hearts; and all along, till it attains to its perfect vigor and maturity in heaven, it needs to be defended from the adverse influences of things seen and temporal, of a vain imagination and an earthly mind. The best season for acquiring the spirit of devotion is in early life; it is then attained with the greatest facility, and at that season there are peculiar motives for the cultivation of it. Would you make sure of giving unto God his right, and of rendering to the great Creator and Governor of the world the glory due unto his name, begin to do it soon; before the glittering vanities of life have dazzled and enslaved your imagination, before the sordid interests of this world have gotten possession of your soul, before the habits of ambition, or of avarice, or of voluptuousness, or of dissipation, have enthralled you; while your minds are yet free, and your hearts yet tender, present them unto God. It will be a sacrifice superlatively ácceptable unto him, and not less advantageous to yourselves. Beseech him that he will awaken in you every sentiment of piety; beseech him that he will direct and prosper your endeavors to acquire, * Pron. měn-tāned. to keep alive, and to improve, the genume spirit of devotion. Entreat him that he will give you to behold himself in whatever else you see, and to discern his providence in all the events that you observe, or that you experience. Put your hearts into his hands, and importuné him, (if importunity it can be called,) to lay them open unto all the blessed influences of the discoveries he has made of himself and of his will, in his works, or in his ways, or in his word. Implore him to give you and preserve to you, the liveliest sensibility to all things spiritual and divine; and while thus you ask it, seek for it, in the conscientious* use of the appointed means of grace, and by every method that intelligence and prudence and experience recommend to you. Let it be a perpetual object with you every day, to be improving in this heavenly temper. The spirit of devotion will be very hard to kindle in the frozen bosom of old age, and not very easy to introduce through the giddy heads into the busy hearts of manhood or advanced youth. If you wish then to reach that better world, where devotion, pure and ardent, is one of the most striking characters of its inhabitants, and, at the same time, one of the most essential ingredients in the happiness that they enjoy, you cannot be too early, and you cannot be too constant, in your endeavors to acquire and maintain the spirit of devotion. It is an acquisition well worth all that it can cost you to attain it for if the genuine spirit of devotion occupies your heart, it will preserve you from the corruptions that are in the world; it will give you courage to be singular, when to do your duty it will be necessary to be singular; it will make all your duties easy, and most of them it will make pleasant to you; it will shed the sweetest light upon the pleasing scenes and incidents of life, and will diffuse its cheering rays even over the darkest and most gloomy. The pleasures that you may take will be infinitely more enjoyed by you, if God, the Author of them, has possession of your hearts; and the pains you cannot shun will be far less grievous to you, if God, who maketh darkness and createth evil be regarded by you as the wise and kind Dispenser of your lot. "Remember," then, while you are yet entering upon life, "remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil day comes, and the years draw nigh, in which ye shall say, I have no pleasure in them." Those will be bad days to acquire and cultivate the spirit of devotion; but the spirit of devotion acquired and cultivated *Pron. kon-she-čn'-shus. + Pron. men-tåne. and confirined before, will convert those bad days into good ones. If you would be happy when you die, be pious while you live. If you would be cheerful when you are old, be religious while you are young. These objects you will acknowledge are well worthy your pursuit; and to your own convictions I appeal, that there are no other means by which you can attain these objects. To those who have let that golden opportunity slip by them; whose youth is past, and the spirit of devotion not attained; whose manhood is arrived, and that temper not yet formed; whose old age is come, and their hearts still sensual, frivolous and vain; I have no comfort to administer, for I have no authority to comfort you. Your best friends can only pity you and pray for you, that God will take away your stony hearts, and give you hearts of flesh. He can do it no doubt; will he do it? is the question. Never, my young friends, never let that question be asked concerning you. Surely you do not envy their condition, concerning whom it may be justly asked. Take heed that you do not come into their place. To conclude: do not fear to admit the sentiments, and to cultivate the spirit of devotion; there is nothing tedious, dull, or irksome in it. It is pleasant even as pleasure's self. Though I am about to adopt the language of a poet, it is not the language of imagination merely that I speak; what has been said of liberty, with some degree of truth, may, with the most perfect truth, be said of the genuine spirit of devotion, it alleviates trouble and enhances pleasure, "It makes the gloomy face of nature gay, LESSON II. Paternal Instruction.-LAW. PATERNUS had but one son, whom he educated himself. As they were sitting together in the garden, when the child was ten years old, Paternus thus addressed him :-' -Though you now think yourself so happy because you have hold of my hand, you are in the hands, and under the tender care of a much greater Father and Friend than I am, whose love |