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BEARING ARMS AGAINST ONE'S COUNTRY,

No cause can justify so black a deed (1),
Whatever private views and passions plead :
These, when the angry tempest clouds the soul,
May darken (2) reason, and her course control;
But when the prospect clears, her startled (5) eye
Must from the treacherous gulph with horror fly,
On whose wild wave, by stormy passions tost (4),
So many hapless (5) wretches have been lost.
Then be this truth the star by which we steer,
Above ourselves our COUNTRY should be dear.

THOMSON.

CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

I would not enter on my list of friends

(Though graced (6) with polish'd manners and fine sense, Yet wanting sensibility) the man,

Who needlessly (7) sets foot upon a worm.

An inadvertent step may crush the snail
That crawls at evening in the public path;

But he that has humanity, forewarn'd (8),

(1) Deed, action, acte.

(2) To darken, obscurcir. (3) Startled, effrayé.

(4) To toss, ballotler, cahoter.

(5) Hapless, malheureux.

(6) Graced, embelli, doué de.

(7) Needlessly, sans nécessité, inutilement.

(8) To forewarn, prévenir, avertir.

CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

Will tread aside (1), and let the reptile live.
The creeping vermin loathsome (2) to the sight,
And charged perhaps with venom, that intrudes,
A visiter unwelcome (5) into scenes

Sacred to neatness (4) and repose, the alcove,
The chamber, or refectory, may die :

A necessary act incurs no blame.

Not so, when held (5) within their proper bounds,
And guiltless (6) of offence, they range the air,
Or take their pastime in the spacious field:
There they are privileged. And he that hunts (7)
Or harms them there, is guilty of a wrong;
Disturbs the economy of nature's realm,
Who, when she form'd, designed them an abode.
The sum is this: if man's convenience, health,
Or safety, interfere, his rights, and claims
Are paramount (8), and must extinguish theirs.
Else they are all the meanest things that are
As free to live, and to enjoy that life,
As God was free to form them at the first,
Who in his sov'reign wisdom made them all.
Ye therefore who love mercy, teach your sons

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(1) To tread aside, marcher de côté, éviter. (2) Loathsome, dégoûtant.

3) Unwelcome, incommode.

(4) Neatness, propreté.

(5) Held, passé de to hold, tenir, retenir.
(6) Guiltless, sans crime, innocent.
(7) To hunt, poursuivre, chasser.

(8) Paramount, supérieur, qui domine.

261

To love it too (1). The spring time of our years
Is soon dishonour'd and defiled (2) in most (5)
By budding ills (4), that ask a prudent hand
To check them. But alas! none sooner shoots (5),
If unrestrain'd, into luxuriant growth (6),
Than cruelty, most devilish (7) of them all.
Mercy (8) to him that shows it, is the rule
And righteous limitation of its act,

By which Heav'n moves in pard'ning guilty man :
And he that shows none, being ripe in years,
And conscious (9) of the outrage he commits,
Shall seek it, and not find it, in his turn,

THE TWO FOUNTAINS.

I saw, from yonder silent cave,
Two fountains running side by side :
The one was Mem'ry's limpid wave,
"The other cold Oblivion's tide.

(1) Too, aussi. N. B. Devant un adjectif, too signifie

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(2) To defile, corrompre.

(5) In most, dans la plupart.

(4) Budding ills, maux naissants, germes d'un mauvais caractère.

(5) To shoot, pousser, croître, s'élancer.

(6) Growth, la crue, venue, croissance, maturité.

(7) Devilish, diabolique.

(8) Mercy, clémence.

(9) Conscious, qui sait ce qu'il fait.

THE TWO FOUNTAINS.

"Oh Love!" said I, in thoughtless dream,

As o'er my lips the Lethe pass'd,
"Here in this dark and chilly stream,
Be all my pains forgot at last. "

But who could bear that gloomy blank (1),
Where joy was lost as well as pain?
Quickly of Mem'ry's fount I drank,
And brought (2) the past all back (2) again;
And said: "Oh Love! whate'er (5) my lot,
Still let this soul to thee be true-
Rather than have one bliss (4) forgot,
Be all my pains remember'd too!"

Oh Memory! how coldly

Thou paintest joy gone by (5)!
Like rainbows (6) thy pictures
But mournfully shine and die.
Or, if some tints thou keepest,
That former days recall,

As o'er each line thou weepest (7),
Thy tears efface them all.

263

(1) Gloomy blank, triste vide.

(2) Brought back, passé de to bring back, ramener, rappeler.

(3) Whate'er pour whatever, quel que soit.

(4) Bliss, bonheur, délice.

(5) Gone by, passé.

(6) Rainbow, arc-en-ciel, composé de rain, pluie, et bow,

arc.

(7) To weep, pleurer.

But, Memory, too truly

Thou paint'st the grief that's past;
Joy's colours are fleeting (1),
But those of Sorrow last (2).
And while thou bring'st before us
Dark pictures of past ill,

Life's evening closing o'er us (3)
But makes them darker still.

MOORE.

DESTRUCTION OF OUR LAST HOPE,

INDIAN AIR.

Like one who doom'd o'er distant seas
His weary path (4) to measure,

When home at length (5) with fav'ring breeze
He brings the far-sought (6) treasure;
His ship in sight of shore goes down (7) –
That shore to which he hasted ;-
And all the wealth he thought his own
Is o'er the waters wasted.

Like him this heart, through many a track
Of toil (8) and sorrow straying,

(1) Fleeting, passager.

(2) To last,

durer.

(3) To close o'er, renfermer, envelopper.

(4) Weary path, chemin long et ennuyeux.

(5) At length, enfin.

(6) Far-sought, cherché au loin.

(7) To go down, couler à fond, sombrer. (8) Toil, peine, trouble.

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