Which nerved a Brutus to the desperate deed,* Which 'venged a Pompey, and made a Cesar bleed. 4. What though the mighty spirit surely knew To curb tumultuous factions as they grew? What though thou snapp'dst asunder the dark chain How wert thou 'quited? History shall respond ;- LESSON CLII. DETRACTION. Base envy, with 'ring at another's joy, Which hates the excellence it can't destroy. 1. SPEECH, that delightful channel of thought,-that electric chain of society, by which the animating thrill and simultaneous glow of reciprocated sentiments and feelings, are felt, that choice gift of Providence, which so eminently distinguishes man from the mere animal creation,--is too often prostituted to the worst of purposes. DETRACTION enters the loveliest scenes of human excellence and domestic bliss, and there, beneath the flowers of Eden itself, awaits ́an opportunity of darting forth from her concealment, to infix her poisonous fangs in the heart of her innocent victims. 2. Detraction seldom comes to the light, and innuendof is a form of speech, with which she is particularly conversant. For her features are so revolting when seen in their native form, and her voice so discordant and disgusting when she speaks openly and without reserve, that it is some time since she saw the necessity of altering her plans. 3. It happened on a certain occasion when Detraction was privily on the alert, watching an opportunity for effecting her * See Note 1, page 194. INNUENDO, an oblique hint; a remote intimation. malevolent designs, that CANDOR appeared, and so angelic was her mien, and melodious her voice, that many were enamored with her person, and hung with rapture on her lips. While she spake, a holy serenity reigned around; the very air was impregnated with the balmy odors she shook from her wings, -the sweet influence of amity and love was felt by each heart, and beamed in every eye. 4. It seemed as though the Prince of Peace was again ushered into the world, and the cherubic band had once more at, tuned their harps to the heart-ravishing song,-"Peace on earth; good will toward men!" Detraction retired in confusion, she could not endure the music, nor exist in such an atmosphere. But though foiled, and greatly chagrined at the success of her rival, she continued unconquered,—still she retained her enmity, and to accomplish her design had recourse to stratagem. 5. She determined to construct and henceforth wear a mask in imitation of the features of Candor, and at the same time to affect, as well as she could, the silvery tones of her voice. And in this visor,* and with.borrowed language, she now generally appears. We often hear her descant with much assumed kindness, and apparent good nature, on the excellencies of an individual, till she arrives at the close of a sentence, which is usually rounded by some emphatic and fearfully expressive monosyllable. Thus the best of characters are too often assassinated by the hand of affected friendship, just as Joab said to Amasa,† “ Art thou in health, my brother?" and while he saluted, slew him. LESSON CLIII. EXPLANATORY NOTE.-1. QUARANTINE, properly signifying forty, is a term appropriated to the period of forty days, during which a ship arriving in port, and suspected of being infected with a malignant, contagious disease, is obliged to forbear all intercourse with the city or place. The period of restraint, however, is usually determined by the proper officers. * VISOR is a head-piece, or mask, used as a disguise. VALUE OF REPUTATION. PHILLIPS. 1. WHO shall estimate the cost of priceless reputation,— that impress which gives this human dross its currency,—without which we stand despised, debased, depreciated? Who shall repair it injured? Who can redeem it lost? O, well and truly does the great philosopher of poetry esteem the world's wealth as "trash" in the comparison. Without it, gold has no value; birth, no distinction; station, no dignity; beauty, no charm; age, no reverence;-without it every treasure impoverishes, every grace deforms, every dignity degrades, and all the arts, the decorations, and accomplishments of life, stand, like the beacon-blaze upon a rock, warning the world that its approach is dangerous, that its contact is death. 2. The wretch without it, is under eternal quarantine1 ;—no friend to greet,--no home to harbor him. The voyage of his life becomes a joyless peril; and in the midst of all ambition can achieve, or avarice amass, or rapacity plunder, he tosses on the surge,-a buoyant pestilence. But, let me not degrade into selfishness of individual safety, or individual exposure, this universal principle; it testifies a higher, a more ennobling origin. 3. It is this which, consecrating the humble circle of the hearth, will at times extend itself to the circumference of the horizon,--which nerves the arm of the patriot to save his country, which lights the lamp of the philosopher to amend man,--which, if it does not inspire, will yet invigorate the martyr to merit immortality,-which, when one world's agony is passed, and the glory of another is dawning, will prompt the prophet, even in his chariot of fire, and in his vision of Heaven, to bequeath to mankind the mantle of his memory! 4. O, divine, O, delightful legacy of a spotless reputation! Rich is the inheritance it leaves; pious the example it testifies; pure, precious, and imperishable, the hope which it inspires! Can there be conceived a more atrocious injury than to filch from its possessor this inestimable benefit,-to rob society of its charm, and solitude of its solace; not only to outlaw life, but to attaint death, converting the very grave, the refuge of the sufferer, into the gate of infamy and of shame! 5. I can conceive few crimes beyond it. He who plunders my property takes from me that which can be repaired by fime; but what period can repair a ruined reputation? He who maims my person, affects that which medicine may remedy; but what herb has sovereignty over the wounds of slander? He who ridicules my poverty, or reproaches my profession, upbraids me with that which industry may retrieve, and integrity may purify; but what riches shall redeem the bankrupt fame? What power shall blanch the sullied snow of character? There can be no injury more deadly. There can be no crime more cruel. It is without remedy. It is without antidote. It is without evasion. 6. The reptile, calumny, is ever on the watch. From the fascinations of its eye no activity can escape; from the venom of its fang no sanity can recover. It has no enjoyment but crime; it has no prey but virtue; it has no interval from the restlessness of its malice, save when, bloated with its victims, it grovels to disgorge them at the withered shrine where envy idolizes her own infirmities. LESSON CLIV. THE PLEASURES OF MEMORY. WILLIS GAYLORD CLARK. 1. 'Tis sweet to remember! I would not forego The charm which the past o'er the present can throw, The day may be darkened, but far in the west, In vermilion and gold, sinks the sun to his rest; With smiles like the morning, he passeth away; Thus the beams of delight on the spirit can play, When in calm reminiscence we gather the flowers Which love scattered round us in happier hours. 3. 'Tis sweet to remember! when friends are unkind, When their coldness and carelessness shadow the mind; Then, to draw back the vail which envelops a land Where delectable prospects in beauty expand; To view the green fields, the fresh waters to hear, Whose once fairy music enchanted the ear; To drink in the smiles that delighted us then, And list to the voices of childhood again; O, this the sad heart, like a reed that is bruised, Binds up, when the banquet of hope is refused. 4. 'Tis sweet to remember! and naught can destroy The balm-breathing comfort, the glory, the joy, Which springs from that fountain to gladden our way, When the changeful and faithless desert or betray. I would not forget! though my thoughts should be dark, O'er the ocean of life I look back from my bark, And I see the lost Eden, where once I was blest, A type and a promise of heavenly rest. LESSON CLV. EXPLANATORY NOTE.-1. CHI-CHIEN, a term signifying Mouth of a Well, is the name given to the ruins of a very ancient city in Yucatan. Throughout that country, as well as in others in Central America, are found the remains of ancient cities and monuments, much dilapidated, and overgrown with weeds and shrubbery. They indicate a high state of civilization on the part of their builders. THE RUINS OF CHI-CHEN. B. M. NORMAN. 1. On arriving in the immediate vicinity of the ruins of the ancient city Cш-CHEN, I was compelled to cut my way |