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3. Was all this treasure gained, only to be lost? Were all these faculties trained, only to be thrown into utter disuse? Was this instrument the intelligent soul, the noblest in the universe-was it so laboriously fashioned, and by the most varied and expensive apparatus, that, on the very moment of being finished, it should be cast away forever? No; the dead, as we call them, do not so die. They carry their thoughts to another and a nobler existence. They teach us, and especially by all the strange and seemingly un-toward circumstances of their departure from this life, that they, and we, shall live forever. They open the future world, then, to our faith.

4. O, death!-dark hour to hopeless unbelief! hour to which, in that creed of despair, no hour shall succeed! being's last hour! to whose appalling darkness, even the shadows of an avenging retribution were brightness and relief-death! what art thou to the Christian's assurance? Great hour! answer to life's prayer great hour that shall break asunder the bond of life's mystery.

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5. Hour of release from life's burden-hour of reünion with the loved and lost-what mighty hopes. hasten to their fulfillment in thee! What longings, what aspirations, breathed in the still night, beneath the silent stars- what dread emotions of curiosity what deep meditations of joy- what hallowed impossibilities shadowing forth realities to the soul, all verge to their consummation in thee! O, death! the Chris tian's death! What art thou, but a gate of life, a pon tal of heaven, the threshold of eternity?

Death gives us more than was in Eden lost.
This king of terrors is the prince of peace.
When shall die to vanity, pain, death!
When shall I die? - When shall I live forever!"

DEWEY.

CXI.-BRUTUS ON THE DEATH OF CÆSAR.

CEN'SURE, n., fault-finding; blame.

EX-TEN'U-ATE, v. t., to lessen. OF-FENSE or OF-FENCE', n., transgres- NONE (nun), a., not one; not any.

sion.

When a noun ends in s, the s of the possessive case is sometimes omitted for the sake of euphony; as, "Brutus' love," "For Jesus' sake." When mine is used adjectively, as below, the absence of accentual force will permit the shortening of the sound into min.

ROMANS, Countrymen, and lovers! Hear me for my cause; and be silent, that you may hear. Believe me for mine honor; and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe. Censure me in your wisdom; and awake your senses, that you may the better judge.

If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Cæsar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Cæsar was not less than his. If, then, that friend demand why Brutus rose against Cæsar, this is my answer: Not that I loved Cæsar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Cæsar were living, and die all slaves, than that Cæsar were dead, to live all freemen?

As Cæsar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honor him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There are tears, for his love, joy, for his fortune; honor, for his valor; and death, for his ambition,! Who is here so base, that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude, that would not be a Roman? If any,-speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile, that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.

None? Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Cæsar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol; his

glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy; nor his offenses enforced, for which he suffered death.

Here comes his body, mourned by Mark An'tony; who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the com'monwealth : as which of you shall not? With this I depart: That, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the saine dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death. SHAKSPEARE.

CXII.

WOLSEY TO CROMWELL.

IN'VEN-TO-RY, n., a list of goods.

PRITH'EE, Corruption of pray thee.

Avoid saying deps for depths. Pronounce Wolsey, Wool'zy; heard, herd.

CROMWELL, I did not think to shed a tear

In all my miseries; but thou hast forced me,

Out of thy honest truth, to play the woman.

Let's dry our eyes: and thus far hear me, Cromwell; And, when I am forgotten, as I shall be,

And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention

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Of me must more be heard, say, then, I taught thee;
Say, Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory,
And sounded all the depths and shoals of honor,
Found thee a way, out of his wreck, to rise in,—
A sure and safe one, though thy master missed it.
Mark but my fall, and that which ruined, me !
Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition!
By that sin fell the angels: how can man, then,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by 't?
Love thyself last; cherish those hearts that hate thee:
Corruption wins not more than honesty;

Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,

To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not;
Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,

Thy God's, and truth's; then, if thou fall'st, O, Cromwell,
Thou fall'st a bless'ed martyr!

Serve the king.

And

Prithee, lead me in:

There, take an inventory of all I have,

To the last penny; 'tis the king's; my robe,
And my integrity to Heaven, is all

I dare now call mine own. O, Cromwell, Cromwell!
Had I but served my God with half the zeal
I served my king, he would not, in mine age,
Have left me naked to mine enemies!

SHAKSPEARE

CXIII. SPEECH OF VAN ARTEVELDE.

Ax or AXE, n., an iron tool.

SCOURGE (skurj), v. t., to lash.

VEN'OM-OUS, a., poisonous.

PEAS'ANT, n., a rustic laborer.

Pronounce Navarre, Na-var'; against, a-gĕnst'; heaven, hěv'vn; weapon, wěp'p.

WHAT, then, remains,

But in the cause of nature to stand forth,

And turn this frame of things the right side up?
For this the hour is come, the sword is drawn ;
And tell your masters vainly they resist.
Nature, that slept beneath their poisonous drugs,
Is up and stirring, and from north and south,
From east and west, from England and from France,
From Germany, and Flanders, and Navarre,

Shall stand against them like a beast at bay.

The blood that they have shed will hide no longer
In the blood-slāken soil, but cries to heaven.
Their cruelties and wrongs against the poor
Shall quicken into swarms of venomous snakes,
And hiss through all the earth, till o'er the earth,
That ceases then from hissings and from groans,
Rises the song-How are the mighty fallen!
And by the peasant's hand!

Low lie the proud,

And smitten with the weapons of the poor,

The blacksmith's hammer and the woodman's ax !
Their tale is told; and for that they were rich,
And robbed the poor; and for that they were strong,
And scourged the weak; and for that they made laws
Which turned the sweat of labor's brow to blood,—
For these their sins the nations cast them out.

These things come to pass

From small beginnings, because God is just.

HENRY TAYLOR.

CXIV.-MARIE ANTOINETTE.*

SCABBARD, n., a sheath.

Mare Antwalinit

MITI-GATE, v. t., to soften.

SOPH'IS-TER (Sof-), n., an artful rea-CAV-A-LIER' (-leer), n., a knight.

soner.

DIS-AS'TER, n., a sad mishap.

DAUPHIN-ESS, n., the Dauphin's wife. (See definitions, p. 136).

Pronounce Versailles, Ver-sālz'; sphere, sfère; even, e'vn ; chivalry, shiv'al-ry.

1. It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the Queen of France, then the dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she just began to move in, glittering like the morning star, full of life, and splendor, and joy. O, what a revolution! and what a heart must I have, to contem'plate without emotion that elevation and that fall!

2. Little did I dream, when she added titles of veneration to those of enthusiastic, distant, respectful love, that she should ever be obliged to carry the sharp antidote against disgrace concealed in that bosom. Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her, in a nation of gallant men,-in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have

*Born 1755; beheaded 1792. Pronounce Mă-re' An-twah-nět'.

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