PENN'S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS. 41 He then paid them for the land, and made them many presents besides from the merchandise which had been spread before them. Having done this, he laid the roll of parchment on the ground, observing again, that the ground should be common to both people. He then added, that he would not do as the Marylanders did, that is, call them Children or Brothers only; for often parents were apt to whip their children too severely, and brothers sometimes would differ; neither would he compare the friendship between him and them to a chain, for the rain might sometimes rust it, or a tree might fall and break it; but he should consider them as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two parts. He then took up the parchment, and presented it to the Sachem, and desired him and the other Sachems to preserve it carefully for three generations, that their children might know what had passed between them, just as if he himself had remained with them to repeat it. The Indians, in return, made long and stately harangues-of which, however, no more seems to have been remembered, but that "they pledged themselves to live in love with William Penn and his children, as long as the sun and moon should endure." And thus ended this famous treaty ;-of which it has been remarked, with so much truth and severity, "that it was the only one ever concluded between savages and Christians that was not ratified by an oath-and the only one that never was broken!" JOSEPH ADDISON. Principal Works.-The Campaign, On the Battle of Blenheim, Travels in Italy, Essays in Tatler, Spectator, Guardian, and Freeholder, Plays, The Omnipresence of the Deity. THE TRAVELLER'S HYMN OF GRATITUDE. How sure is their defence! In foreign realms, and lands remote, Through burning climes I passed unhurt, Thy mercy sweetened every soil, The hoary Alpine hills it warmed, And when in dreadful whirls we hung I knew thou wert not slow to hear, Nor impotent to save. In midst of dangers, fears, and death, Thy goodness I'll adore; And praise thee for thy mercies past, My life, if Thou preservest my life, Thy sacrifice shall be; And death, when death shall be my docm, JOSEPH ADDISON PROVIDENCE. THE Lord my pasture shall prepare, When in the sultry glebe I faint, Though in the paths of death I tread Though in a bare and rugged way, 43 READING TO ADVANTAGE. HUMAN nature is so constituted that no practice will be long and regularly continued, unless it is attended with some degree of pleasure; while, on the other hand, the heart and the affections, the imagination and the memory, co-operate with the understanding, in deriving all possible advantage from the study we admire. In a course of reading, therefore, the first and most important object is, to form a strong attachment to those books which either our fancy or our circumstances direct us to peruse. In order to acquire the power of fixing the attention, it may be necessary in the outset to summon a considerable degree of resolution; but there is no study so dry as not to be eventually rendered a source of delight by habit. Let the student persevere in reading at regular intervals either a certain quantity, or for a certain period of time, and he will infallibly find, that what he entered upon as a task he will continue as a pleasure. In the use of books, it is never to be forgotten, that nothing is of real value, except what the mind makes its own by reflection and memory. Reading is, indeed, most justly called the food of the mind, as, like food, it must be digested and assimilated, and it must show its nutritive power by promoting the growth and strength of ideas. READING TO ADVANTAGE. 45 The best method, therefore, of epitomizing books, is from recollection to express the author's ideas in our own words. In this exercise the memory is exerted, and the style is improved. We make what we write our own; and we rise above an employment that is merely manual and mechanical. A proper variety too, will greatly contribute to render reading agreeable; for, though it is true that not more than one or two books should be commenced at a time, yet when these be finished, it will be proper, if any weariness be felt, to take up another written in a different style, or on a different subject; to change. from poetry to prose, and from prose to poetry. Of all that is conducive to improvement from reading, none perhaps is more effectual than familiar conversation. This interests the mind, and stimulates it to additional inquiry. It is also of essential use in removing whatever difficulties may have arisen, and in rivetting in our minds the ideas we have collected; and he who would read advantageously, must in some measure attend to the time of the day and the season of the year. The morning is universally allowed to be the best time for study. Those faculties, which before dinner are capable of engaging in the most acute and sublime disquisitions, are found, after dinner, to be comparatively dull and stupid. In weather which drives us to the fireside for comfort, we find that delight in books, which at other times we seek in sunshine, and the sweets of rural scenery. |