desired that the cup might pass from him, nor would suffer more to wet his lips than the most solemn and sacred duty to his country and his God required.

2. To his latest breath did this great patriot maintain the noble character of a captain the patron of peace, and a statesman the friend of justice. Dying, he bequeathed to his heirs the sword which he had worn in the war for liberty, and charged them "never to take it from the scabbard but in self-defence, or in the defence of their country and her freedom; " and commanded that "when it should be thus drawn they should never sheathe it nor ever give it up, but prefer falling with it in their hands to the relinquishment thereof," words the majesty and simple eloquence of which are not surpassed in the oratory of Athens and Rome.

-

sage

in all ages

3. It will be the duty of the historian and the to let no occasion pass of commemorating this illustrious man; and, until time shall be no more, will a test of the progress which our race has made in wisdom and in virtue be derived from the veneration paid to the immortal name of Washington. LORD BROUGHAM.

1. ONE day, a rich man, flushed with pride and wine, –
Sitting with guests at table, all quite merry,-
Conceived it would be vastly fine

To crack a joke upon his secretary.

66 Young man," said he, "by what art, craft or trade,
Did your good father earn his livelihood?"
"He was a saddler, sir," the young man said,
"And in his line was always reckoned good.” -
"A saddler, eh? and had you stuffed with Greek,
Instead of teaching you like him to do!
And pray, sir, why did not your father make
A saddler, too, of you?"

At this each flatterer, as in duty bound,

2. At length, the secretary, bowing low,

Said (craving pardon if too free he made), "Sir, by your leave, I fain would know Your father's trade.".

"My father's trade?

Why, sir, but that's too bad;

My father's trade!- Why, blockhead, art thou Lad! My father, sir, was never brought so low.

He was a gentleman, I'd have you know." "Indeed! excuse the liberty I take,

But, if your story's true,

How happened it your father did not make

A gentleman of you?"

Anon

XCII. THE DREAM OF SOCRATES.

1. THE day when Soc'ra-tes✶ was to drink the hemlock had come. Early in the morning his beloved disciples assembled around him; with chastened sorrow they stood about the couch of the philosopher; some of them were weeping. Then the wise martyr lifted up his head, and said: "Why this mournful silence, my beloved? I will tell you of a cheerful thing, a dream which I dreamed last night.". "Couldst thou sleep, and even dream of joyous things?" said the good Apõllõdō'rus; "I could not close my eyes."

2. Then Socrates smiled, and said: "What would my past life be worth,39 if it could not even sweeten134 my last sleep? Dost thou not think, Apollodorus, that I have devoted it to celestial love?" Several voices, tremulous with grateful emotion, answered this question. Apollodorus could reply only by silence and fast-flowing tears.

3. " Know, then," said Socrates, "that to him who devotes his life to her service she sends down the lovely Graces." Secretly and invisibly they beautify his hours-be they hours of joy or hours of suffering with heavenly lustre, and surround them with ambrosial fragrance. But, above all, the sweet sisters are busy about him in the last hour of his life; for this

* See an account of Socrates, page 111.

EI

is the most serious of all, and hath greatest need of the heavenly light. Thus the last hour of the day is the most beautiful; the beams of evening brighten it like a stream of glory from Elysium.

ΕΙ

4. "I dreamed I saw a beautiful youth entering my prison. On his countenance were visible that serene gravity and calm composure which justly befit a divine form. In his right hand he held a burning torch, that spread a rosy lustre, like evening light, over the darkness of my prison. The more cheering and sweet this brightness and the aspect of the youth were to me, the more miserable and dreary the night of my prison appeared. 5. "Slowly the divine youth lowered the torch. But methought I seized his arm, and cried: What wouldst thou do?' He answered: ‘I extinguish the torch.' -'O, no!' implored I; it spreads a sweet light through the darkness of my prison.' But he smiled and said: 'It is the torch of terrestrial life. Thou needest it no longer; for so soon as it is extinguished thy bodily eye will close forever, and thou wilt rise hand in hand with me to a higher world, where a pure eternal lustre will surround thee. How couldst thou, then, feel the want of the self-consuming earthly torch?'

6. “‘O, then turn the torch!' cried I, and awoke. I was alone in the night of my dungeon. Alas! I grieved that all had been a dream. But, behold, here comes the cup which will realize it." The jailer entered with the boy who carried the cup of poison. The voice of weeping and lamentation arose among the disciples of Socrates, and even the jailer wept.

From the German of Krummacher.

1. A CULPRIT, from the stony prison brought,
Stands at the solemn, stern judicial bar;
A thief of many seasons, traced and caught,
The plunder in his gripe. With mouth ajar,
He strives to look untouched by evil thought,

But his eye steals around for friends afar.

2. "Who owns the boy?" No answer

"His tenth offence, sir.".

Well, what has he done?" "Cut off this watch, these seals."- -"He's very bold: Where is his daily living earned, or won?".

"In the streets, both night and day, sir, hot or cold.” . "Where are the poor child's parents?"

66

He has none."

3. None-none! No par'ent! Like the cuckoo's young,
Cast on the lap of chance, for life, for bread;
Amongst the starved and sinful roughly flung;
By felons taught; by nightly plunder fed!
Help, angels! who his birth-day cărol sung,
Teach him, or take him quickly to the dead!

Household Words.

XCIV. DUTIES OF THE AMERICAN CITIZEN.

1. LET us cherish, fellow-citizens, a deep and solemn conviction of the duties which have devolved upon us. This lovely land, this glorious liberty, these benign institutions, the dear purchase of our fathers, are ours; ours to enjoy, ours to preserve, ours to transmit. Generations past, and generations to come, hold us responsible for this sacred trust.

2. Our fathers, from behind, admonish us, with their anxious paternal voices; posterity calls out to us from the bosom of the future; the world turns hither its solicitous eyes - all, all con jure us to act wisely and faithfully in the relation which we sustain. We can never, indeed, pay the debt which is upon us; but by virtue, by morality, by religion, by the cultivation of every good principle and every good habit, we may hope to enjoy the blessing through our day, and to leave it unimpaired to our children.

3. Let us feel deeply how much of what we are, and of what we possess, we owe to this liberty, and these institutions of gov

*Here is supposed to commence a conversation between the judge and the police-officer who has brought before him the juvenile culprit. The reader will imitate the supposed tones of voice of the two characters; the one tone being that of authoritative inquiry, the other that of deferential reply.

ernment. Nature has indeed, given us a soil which yields bounteously to the hands of industry; the mighty and fruitful ocean is before us, and the skies over our heads shed health and vigor. But what are lands, and seas, and skies, to civilized men, without society, without knowledge, without morals, without religious culture? and how can these be enjoyed, in all their extent, and all their excellence, but under the protection of wise institutions and a free government?

4. Fellow-citizens, there is not one of us, there is not one of us here present, who does not at this moment, and at every moment, experience in his own condition, and in the condition of those most near and dear to him, the influence and the benefit of this liberty, and these institutions.

5. Let us, then, acknowledge the blessing, let us feel it deeply and powerfully; let us cherish a strong affection for it, and resolve to maintain and perpetuate it. The blood of our fathers let it not have been shed in vain; the great hope of posterity - let it not be blasted. DANIEL WEBSTER.

The following account of Charles the Second is a specimen of what is called irony. The word is from the Greek, and signifies a mode of speech in which the meaning is contrary to the words. When we say of a notoriously indolent youth, "He is wearing himself out with hard work," there is irony in the remark. It cannot be called false, because the spirit or intent is true, although the form is not. Irony does not aim at deception; it is, however, a rather dangerous weapon. Language, as a general rule, should be true in the letter, as well as the spirit.

1. THERE never were such profligate times in England as under Charles the Second. Whenever you see his portrait, with his swarthy, ill-looking face and great nose, you may fancy him in his court at Whitehall, surrounded by some of the very worst147 vagabonds in the kingdom (though they were lords and ladies), drinking, gambling, indulging in vicious conversation, and committing every kind of profligate excess.

2. It has been a fashion to call Charles the Second "The Merry Monarch." Let me try to give you a general ideä of Some of the merry things that were done in the merry days when