with the greatest ease; and he often swallows their fragments along with the flesh. 189. The horse is quick-sighted; he can see things in the night which his rider cannot perceive; but when it is too dark for his sight, his sense of smelling is his guide. 190. In summer, horses in the country feed on grass, or on grass and oats; in winter, they eat oats, corn, and hay. When grazing in the pasture, they always choose the shortest grass, because it is the sweetest; and as they have cutting teeth in both their jaws, they can eat very near the ground. LESSON XIII. The semicolon is sometimes used for a question, and sometimes as an 'exclamation. EXAMPLES. 192. Hast thou not set at defiance my authority; violated the public peace, and passed thy life in injuring the persons and properties of thy fellow-subjects? 193. Oh, it was impious; it was unmanly; pitiful! it was poor and 194. Have not you too gone about the earth like an evil genius; blasting the fair fruits of peace and industry; plundering, ravaging, killing without law, without justice, merely to gratify an insatiable lust for dominion? 195. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind; a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? [This 196. Has Mercury struck thee with his enfeebling_rod; or art thou ashamed to betray thy awkwardness? sentence should be read as directed in Lesson 4.] 197. By such apologies shall man insult his Creator; and shall he hope to flatter the ear of Omnipotence? Think you that such excuses will gain new importance in their ascent to the Majesty on high; and will you trust the interests of eternity in the hands of these superficial advocates? 193. And shall not the Christian blush to repine; the Christian, from before whom the veil is removed; to whose eyes are revealed the glories of heaven? 199. Why, for so many a year, has the poet and the philosopher wandered amidst the fragments of Athens or of Rome; and paused, with strange and kindling feelings, amidst their broken columns, their mouldering temples, their deserted plains? It is because their day of glory is passed; it is because their name is obscured; their power is departed; their influence is lost! 200. Where are they who taught these stones to grieve; where are the hands that hewed them; and the hearts that reared them? 201. Hope ye by these to avert oblivion's doom; in grief ambitious, and in ashes vain? 202. Can no support be offered; can no source of confidence be named? 203. Is this the man that made the earth to tremble; that shook the kingdoms; that made the world like a desert; that destroyed the cities? 203. Falsely luxurious, will not man awake; and, springing from the bed of sloth, enjoy the cool, the fragrant, and the silent hour, to meditation due and sacred song? 204. But who shall speak before the king when he is troubled; and who shall boast of knowledge when he is distressed by doubt? 205. Who would in such a gloomy state remain longer than nature craves; when every muse and every blooming pleasure wait without, to bless the wildly devious morning walk? 206. Farewell! May the smile of Him who resides in the heaven of heavens be upon thee; and against thy name, in the volume of his will, may happiness be written! 207. 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 interchange of blessings, pouring into the sterile regions of the north all the luxuries of the south; diffused the light of knowledge and the charities of cultivated life; and has thus bound together those scattered portions of the human race, between which, nature seems to have thrown an insurmountable barrier! 208. Who that bears a human bosom, hath not often felt, how dear are all those ties which bind our race in gentleness together; and how sweet their force, let fortune's wayward hand the while be kind or cruel? 209. If it was intended for us as well as you, why has not the Great Spirit given it to us; and not only to us, but why did he not give to our forefathers the knowledge of that book, with the means of rightly understanding it? LESSON XIV. THE COLON. The Colon consists of two periods placed one above the other, thus: Sometimes the passage ending with a colon is to be read with the voice suspended; but it should generally be read with the falling inflection of the voice. In this lesson the falling inflection is required. Be careful to let this pause be a TOTAL CESSATION OF THE VOICE, - longer than that indicated by a comma, or by a semicolon. EXAMPLES. 210. The smile of gayety is often assumed while the heart aches within though folly may laugh, guilt will sting. 211. There is no mortal truly wise and restless at the same time: wisdom is the repose of the mind. 212. Nature felt her inability to extricate herself from the consequences of guilt: the gospel reveals the plan of Divine interposition and aid. 213. Nature confessed some atonement to be necessary: the gospel discovers that the atonement is made. 214. Law and order are forgotten: violence and rapine are abroad: the golden cords of society are loosed. 215. The temples are profaned: the soldier's curse resounds in the house of God: the marble pavement is trampled by iron hoofs: horses neigh beside the altar. 216. Blue wreaths of smoke ascend through the trees, and betray the half-hidden cottage: the eye contemplates well-thatched ricks, and barns bursting with plenty: the peasant laughs at the approach of winter. 217. The necessaries of life are few, and industry secures them to every man: it is the elegancies of life that empty the purse the knick-knacks of fashion, the gratification of pride, and the indulgence of luxury, make a man poor. 218. Your tree was as fruitful, and in as good order as his it bore as many blossoms, and grew in the same soil: only it was not fostered with the same care. Edmund has kept his tree clear of hurtful insects: you have suffered them to eat up yours in its blossom. 219. My dear children, I give you these trees: you see that they are in good condition. They will thrive as much by your care as they will decline by your negligence: their fruits will reward you in proportion to your labor. 220. But Abraham pressed him greatly: so he turned, and they went into the tent: and Abraham baked unleavened bread, and they did eat. 221. A bee among the flowers in spring is one of the most cheerful objects that can be looked upon. Its life appears to be all enjoyment: so busy and so pleased: yet it is only a specimen of insect life, with which, by reason of the animal being half domesticated, we happen to be better acquainted. 222. 'Tis a picture in memory distinctly defined, with the strong and unperishing colors of mind: a part of my being beyond my control, beheld on that cloud, and transcribed on my soul. 223. Bare trees and shrubs but ill you know could shelter them from rain or snow: stepping into their nests they paddled themselves were chilled, their eggs were addled soon every father bird and mother grew quarrelsome and pecked each other. 224. Yet such is the destiny of all on earth: so flourishes and fades majestic man. 225. Let those deplore their doom whose hopes still grovel in this dark sojourn: but lofty souls, who look beyond the tomb, can smile at fate, and wonder why they mourn. 226. If for my faded brow thy hand prepare some future wreath, let me the gift resign: transfer the rosy garland: let it bloom around the temples of that friend beloved, on whose maternal bosom, even now, I lay my aching head. 227. We do not understand these things: we are told that your religion was given to your forefathers, and has been handed down from father to son. We also have a religion which was given to our forefathers, and has been handed down to us: it teaches us to be thankful for all favors received, to love each other, and to be united: we never quarrel about religion. LESSON XV. THE COLON,- continued. In this lesson the passages ending with a colon are to be read with the voice suspended. (See Lesson 9th.) 228. Do not flatter yourselves with the hope of perfect happiness there is no such thing in the world. 229. He was often heard to say: I have done with the world; and I am willing to leave it. 229. Be not a niggard of your speech: how goes it? 229. Those will be bad days to acquire and cultivate the spirit of devotion: but the spirit of devotion, acquired, and cultivated, and confirmed before, will convert those bad days into good ones. 230. But, when old age has on your temples shed her silver frost, there's no returning sun: swift flies our summer, swift our autumn's fled, when youth, and spring, and golden joys, are gone. 231. A divine legislator, uttering his voice from heaven; an almighty governor, stretching forth his arm to punish or reward; informing us of perpetual rest prepared hereafter for the righteous, and of indignation and wrath awaiting the wicked: these are the considerations which overawe the world, which support integrity, and check guilt. 232. Not to the rosy maid, whom former hours beheld me fondly covet, tune I now the melancholy lyre: but 'tis to thee, O Sickness! 'tis to thee I wake the silent strings. 233.* A boy at school is by no means at liberty to read what books he pleases: he must give attention to those which contain his lessons; so that when he is called upon to recite, he may be ready, fluent, and accurate in repeating the portion assigned him. 233. A poet is by no means at liberty to invent what system of the marvellous he pleases: he must avail himself * See note on page 33. |