bosom of the earth. He is dissatisfied with the present, and the only being that regrets the past, and dreads the future. Pride seals his ruin. Many arts has he invented, neglecting only the 66 one great art"-that of being happy.

Sweet as refreshing dews or summer showers

To the long-parching thirst of drooping flowers ;-
Grateful as fanning gales to fainting swains;
And soft as trickling balm to bleeding pains,
Are gentle words "spoken in kindness."

O happy searcher who hast found thy duty!
O blessed soul! if thou at length doth see

That the great law of Goodness, Truth and Beauty-
Nature's one secret-is not to do but be!

Life is but a scene of labour,

Every one's his task assigned,
We must each assist our neighbour
When we see him lag behind;
We must strive by education
Man's condition to improve,
And bind men of every station
In a bond of mutual love.
All must then be up and stirring,
With determination true;

Young men, old men, rich men, poor men,
Ye all have your work to do.

Countless chords of heavenly music,
Struck ere earthly time began,
Vibrate in immortal concord
To the answering soul of man.
Countless rays of heavenly glory
Shine through spirits pent in clay,
On the wise men at their labours,
On the children at their play.
Man has gazed on heavenly secrets,
Sunned himself in heavenly glow,
Seen the glory, heard the music-
We are wiser than we know.

Beyond the grave there is doubtless a sphere,
Where all will be right which so puzzles us here;
Where the false glare, the glitter and tinsel of time
Fade and die, in the light of that region sublime;
Where the soul disenchanted of flesh and of sense,
Undeceived by its happiness, its show and pretence,
Will be clothed for the life and the service above,
With purity, truth, faith, meekness and love!

He who cultivates peace with others does them a kindness, but he does himself a greater by the returns to his own breast. If you brighten a knife, it will smocth the stone on which you brighten it.

Pride, however disguised, is littleness;
And he who feels contempt for any thing
But sin-hath faculties unused.

If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows that he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them; if he be compassionate towards the afflictions of others, it shows that his heart is like the noble tree that is wounded itself when it gives the balm; if he easily pardons and remits offences, it shows that his mind is planted above injuries, so that he cannot be shot; if he be thankful for small benefits, it shows that he weighs men's minds, and not their trash; but, above all, if he is willing to suffer for others, it shows much of a divine nature, and a kind of conformity with Christ himself.

The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessed;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
"Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's,
When mercy seasons justice.

The Grace of God, like the dew, falls everywhere; but it drops in greatest abundance in the valley, and remains longest in the shade.

Some high or humble enterprise of good

Contemplate, till it shall possess thy mind,
Become thy study, pastime, rest and food,
And kindle in thy heart a flame refined:
Pray Heaven for firmness thy whole soul to bind
To this thy purpose-to begin, pursue,

With thoughts all fixed and feelings purely kind-
Strength to complete, and with delight review-
And grace to give the praise where all is ever due.
Ah! what avail the largest gifts of Heaven,
When drooping health and spirits go amiss?
How tasteless, then, whatever can be given!
Health is the vital principle of bliss,
And exercise of health: in proof of this,
Behold the wretch who flings his life away,
Soon swallowed in disease's sad abyss;
While he whom toil has braced, or manly play,

Has light as air each limb, each thought as clear as day.

It is not what people eat, but what they digest, that makes them strong. It is not what they gain, but what they save, that makes them rich. It is not what they read, but what they remember, that makes them learned. It is not what they profess, but what they practise, that makes them righteous.

Goodness, Truth, and Beauty, are three sisters,
And never can be sundered without wrong.

Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense,
Lie in three words-health, peace, and competence.
But health consists with temperance alone;
And peace,
O, virtue! peace is all thy own.

To be resign'd when ills betide,
Patient when favours are denied,
And pleas'd with favours giv'n-
Most surely is true wisdom's part:
This is the incense of the heart,
Whose fragrance smells to heaven.

When all within is peace,

How nature seems to smile!
Delights that never cease,
The livelong day beguile.
From morn to dewy eve
With open hand she showers
Fresh blessings, to deceive

And soothe the silent hours.
It is content of heart

Gives nature power to please;
The mind that feels no smart,
Enlivens all it sees :

Can make a wintry sky

Seem bright as smiling May,
And evening's closing eye
As peep of early day.

True dignity is his whose tranquil mind

Virtue has raised above the things below;

Who every hope and fear to Heaven resigned,

Shrinks not though Fortune aims her deadliest blow.

Certainly it is heaven upon earth to have a man's mind move in charity, rest in Providence, and turn upon the poles of truth.

Gratitude is the music of the heart, when its chords are swept by the breeze of kindness.

Who lives to nature, rarely can be poor;
Who lives to fancy, never can be rich.

Who does the best his circumstance allows,
Does well-acts nobly;-angels could no more.

There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune:
Omitted, all the voyage of their lives

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

What stronger breast-plate than a heart untainted?
Thrice is he arm'd that hath his quarrel just:
And he but naked-though locked up in steel-
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.

All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul:
That chang'd through all, and yet in all the same,
Great in the earth, as in th' ethereal frame,
Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees,
Lives through all life, extends thro' all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates unspent.

Slave to no sect, he takes no private road,
But looks, through nature, up to nature's God;
And knows where faith, law, morals all began,
All end, in Love of God, and Love of Man.

Look not mournfully into the Past: it comes not back again. Wisely improve the Present: it is thine own. Go forth to meet the shadowy Future, without fear and with a manly heart.

Gladdening the hearts of weary wayfarers
With golden numbers, and this work-day world
Making most beautiful, with living light

Of Poesy divine.

Oh deem not, 'midst this worldly strife,

An idle art the poet brings;

Let high philosophy control,

And sages calm the streams of life,
"Tis he refines its fountain-springs,

The nobler passions of the soul.

When the evening comes round, and our duties are done,
And a calm stealeth over the breast;

When the bread that is needful is honestly won,

And our worldly thoughts nestle to rest;

How sweet at that hour is the truth-written page,
With fancy and fiction allied!

The magic of childhood, the solace of age,
Is a book for the home fireside.

Doth not true song

To the whole world belong?

Is it not given wherever tears can fall--
Wherever hearts can melt or blushes glow,
Or mirth and sadness mingle as they flow-
A heritage to all?

The world is full of poetry; the air
Is living with its spirit; and the waves
Dance to the music of its melodies,
And sparkle in its brightness

(CONTAINING ALL THE ESSENTIALS FOR ELOCUTIONARY PRACTICE.)

INFLECTIONS OF THE VOICE.

In conversation-especially when this is animated-the voice naturally rises and falls. On the contrary, it is too common to read in a dull, monotonous tone, which is not only disagreeable, but renders reading, in a great measure, useless. The term rising inflection, or the rising slide of the voice, does not mean raising the voice, nor does falling inflection signify lowering it; these terms refer to musical sounds, and not to degrees of vocal force.

The acute accent (') denotes the rising inflection, and is used when the sense is not complete. The word thus marked is generally followed by a comma. The grave accent (`) shows the falling inflection or cadence, and it is chiefly used at the completion of a sentence, or when this is long-at the end of its principal parts.

Examples.*

Did he say haté, or hatè?
Did he say tréat, or treat?
Did he say fine, or fìne?
Did he say note, or nòte?
Did he say flúte, or flùte?

He said hatè, not haté.
He said treat, not treat.
He said fine, not fine.
He said note, not note.
He said flùte, not flute.

The following expressions to be treated similarly:-Mét or mèt-fin or fìn-blót or blòt-lórd or lòrd-úrn or ùrn-father or father-fást or fast-fáre or fàre-dráwl or drawl-wásh or wàshtrué or truè-púll or pùll-pérfect or pèrfect-mérry or mèrryvírtue or virtue-mirror or mirror.

In the great majority of words which contain the letter H, either at the beginning, middle, &c., the H should be pronounced. As this is generally neglected, the following examples of both the mute and aspirate H are given for additional practice:

Words in which (as well as in their derivatives) the initial His mute:-Heir, herb, honest, honor, hospital, hostler, hour, humble, humor.

Other words having H silent, though not initial:-Asthma, diphthong, dishabille, isthmus, naphtha, rhapsody, rhetoric, rheumatism, Rhine, rhinoceros, rhomb, rhubarb, rhyme, rhythm, shepherd, Thames, Thomas, triphthong. Also such words as ah, catarrh, Micah, Sarah, &c.

The preceding words having H mute, and those in the next two groups, might be used as exercises on the inflections as well as on the aspirate, when this occurs. Thus:

Did he say heír, or herb?

Did he say asthmá, or diphthòng?
Did you say áil, or hàil?

Did you say Wales, or whales?

He said hèrb, not heír?
He said diphthòng, &c.
I said hail, not aíl.

I said whales, not Wáles, &c.

*It will greatly promote the Pupil's progress if these and the subsequent examples be frequently read aloud-slowly at first.-(Vide Intervals of Inflection.)