prevailed; leaves and blossoms dared only whisper and murmur. Presently a dead branch cracked, and then fell from an old oak-top, frightening the leaves and blossoms, which took refuge in the bosom of the Wood-stream. A moment more, and all was still.

Bon'-ice, a garment worn around the waist; a kind of waistcoat.

b TRU-ANT, idle; wandering.

GOR-GES, ravines; hollows between hills.

d

FLÄUNT'-ED, displayed; spread out.

e GREET'-ING, salutation.

BE-NUMB'ED, chilled by the cold.
PEN'-SIVE, sad and thoughtful.

[This lesson is given as one of the best illustrations we could offer of the use of figurative language, as it shows, in a simple way, the great extent to which this kind of word-painting is often carried. The great charm of figurative language, in addition to its beauties of description, consists in the pleasure we receive in detecting its slightly hidden meaning-similar to what we experience in solving riddles and charades. The early writings of all nations are highly figurative.

In this lesson, first the flowers, shrubs, and trees, and then the Meadow-stream, the Mountain-stream, and the Wood-stream, are personified; and the streams tell their stories. The MEADOW-STREAM tells her origin: the "bodice of rushes" is the tall grass, etc., that lines her borders. What is meant by "the song of the stream?" By her "shining tresses ?"

What is stated as the origin of the MOUNTAIN-STREAM? Point out the beautiful metaphor here used. (The cap on the bald heads of the mountains, with vails, etc.) Point out the examples of personification in the 6th verse. In the 7th verse. Of perzonification and metaphor in the 8th verse. (Where the assertion is that one thing is another-as that the fountains are the children of the kisses of the sun," it is a metaphor: where the statement is that one thing is like another, it is a simile.) What is meant by the statement that "the fountains on the mountain-heights are the children of these kisses of the sun?" Explain the real meaning intended to be conveyed in the 9th verse. Point out the examples of personification in the 11th verse. One example of simile.

The story of the WOOD-STREAM. Why is the ocean said to be the mother of all the streams? (Because the great source of all the streams is evaporation from the ocean. In the 13th verse the "fairy" is the sun that sat on the silver lining of the cloud, and carried the Wood-stream, and her sisters, in the form of vapor, up into the air.) Why are the Wood-stream's "sisters of the mountain" said to be "cold and haughty?" Explain the farther meaning of the 14th verse. Explain the meaning of the 15th verse throughout-as, who are the children of the plain that are destroyed, etc. Also, point out the examples of personification, metaphor, and simile in this verse. Explain the 16th and 17th verses. Why are all the streams said to seek their "old home in the mighty deep?" Describe the conclusion.]

LESSON LXIX.

LIFE COMPARED TO A RIVER.

1. RIVER, River, little River,

Bright you sparkle on your way,
O'er the yellow pebbles dancing,
Through the flowers and foliage glancing,
Like a child at play.

2. River, River, swelling River,

On you rush, o'er rough and smooth,

Louder, faster, brawling, leaping

Over rocks, by rose-banks sweeping

Like impetuous youth.

3. River, River, brimming River,
Broad and deep, and still as Time;
Seeming still-yet still in motion,
Tending onward to the ocean,

Just like mortal prime.

4. River, River, rapid River!

Swifter now you slip away;

Swift and silent as an arrow;

Through a channel dark and narrow,
Like life's closing day.

5. River, River, headlong River,
Down you dash into the sea;
Sea, that line hath never sounded,

Sea, that ship hath never rounded,
Like eternity.

Anon.

[What figure of speech is embraced in the subject of this lesson? (See p. x.) Why? Describe each separate simile in each verse. What other figure of speech at the beginning of each verse? What figure of speech in the third line of the first and second verses? What is meant by "mortal prime," third verse?]

LESSON LXX.

THE BEAUTIFUL GATE.

1. Ir is a fair tradition, one of old,

That, at the Gate of Heaven called Beautiful,
The souls of those to whom we ministered
On earth, shall greet us, as we enter in,
With grateful records of those lowly deeds
Of Christian charity, wherewith frail man
Proffers his humble loan unto the Lord.

2. Oh, think, if this be true, how many eyes,

Whose weeping thou hast stilled, shall glisten then;
How many hearts, whose burden thou hast shared,
And heavy feet, whose steps were turned by thee
Back to their homes, elastic through the joy
Of new-found hope, and sympathy, and love,
Shall welcome thee within the Gates of Bliss-

The Golden City of Jerusalem!

What is

[This lesson is introduced, as the first example in the book, of blank verse. blank verse? (See p. viii.) Are the lines, in this lesson, of uniform measure? How many syllables in each line?

There was a gate of the temple at Jerusalem called "Beautiful." (Sce Acts, iii., 2.) What is meant by the "Golden City of Jerusalem ?'']

LESSON LXXI.

A PICTURE OF BROADWAY, NEW YORK.

N. G. SHEPHERD,

TWELVE O'CLOCK: NOON.

THE sunlight falls from the fair blue sky
On buildings stately, and grand, and high,
Whose distant roofs seem to touch the clouds
That gaze below on the passing crowds.
Hung with laces and lawns so fine,
With silks and satins that shimmera and shine,
Shawls of Cashmere, and robes of wool
Wondrously woven, crowded full

Are the polished windows with all things rare.
From the costly cloth made of camel's-hair
To the plumes of the ostrich white as snow,
And the silky down of the marabou :b

Purple clusters from Spanish vines;
Tropical fruits and luscious wines;
Jewels that sparkle, of every kind:
Luminous pearls that the divers find
Down in the depths of the sea so blue,
Scintillant diamonds like drops of dew,
Wine-dark rubies,d and emeraldsd fine,
Milky opals that gleam and shine
Like sullen fires through a pallid mist,
With the carven nyxd and amethyst.d

FOUR O'CLOCK: P.M. 'Tis four o'clock, and the crowded street Is all alive with the tread of feet;

Hither they come and thither they go;
Like a mighty river they ebb and flow,
With a rushing sound as of falling rain,
Or of wind that ripples the grassy plain.
The old and the young, the sad and the gay
Jostle each other on bright Broadway.
Hard-featured men with sinistere faces,
Women adorned with jewels and laces-

There are men with beards and men who have none,
Every condition under the sun :

The man of fashion and indolent ease,

The sun-browned sailor from over the seas,
The cold, proud lady of stately mien,

The child who is sweeping the cross-way clean,
The whiskered fop with the vacuousf stare,
The gambler standing outside his lairs
Hither they come and thither they go;
Like a mighty river they ebb and flow,
With a rushing sound as of falling rain,
Or of wind that ripples the grassy plain.

3.

Hark! down the street there is something coming,
A mingling of fifes and noisy drumming;
With gleam of sabre and bayonet bright
That, glancing, flash in the warm sun's light;
Nearer they come with soldierly tread,
And the calm blue heavens high overhead
Ring with the shout of the clamorous throng,
As each solid column is marched along.

4.

In her elegant carriage, dressed with care,
Sits the haughty Madame Millionaire.h
A queen she looks as she rides in state,
And the strong-limbed horses seem elate
With the thought of the lady, fine and gay,
Who rides behind them on bright Broadway.
With their iron-clad hoofs the stones they spurn;
The folks on the sidewalk gaze, and turn

To gaze again as she passes by

When lo! on the air breaks a piercing cry,
And some one lifts from the cold, hard stones
A shapeless bundle of broken bones,

And they bear it off in a jolting cart,

'Mid the noise and din of the busy mart.

By the marble building lofty and grand,
Around whose windows the people stand
And stare at the costly show within,
Sits a woman, poorly clad and thin,
With hand outstretched, and a pleading face
So wan and wasted that you may trace
Each separate bone through the shriveled skin,
And count them all from the brow to the chin.

Two hours have passed-from factories grim,
With windows smoky, dusty, and dim,

Through whose crusted panes the sunshine falls
On the grimy floors and the blackened walls,
Comes a sudden current of human life-
Mother and daughter, sister and wife-
Glad to escape from the heated rooms,
The whirring spindles and noisy looms-
From the squalid, narrow, and gloomy streets
Which the light of heaven but seldom greets-
From the fetid air they have breathed all day,
To the life and vigor of bright Broadway;
And on they pass with the hurrying crowd,
While swells the murmur prolonged and loud.

SEVEN O'CLOCK: P.M.

The lights are lit in dwelling and store:
In countless numbers, score upon score
Of those that crowded the brilliant mart!
Are gone to their homes in the city's heart;
Yet the throng in the street seems hardly less
In the crush and tumult, hurry and press.

EIGHT O'CLOCK: P.M.

One! two! three! four!

Over the roofs of the city pour

The hollow notes of the deep-mouthed bells;
Louder and louder the chorus swells;