So, without sound of music

Or voice of them that wept,

Silently down from the mountain crown
The great procession swept.

Perchance the bald old eagle,
On gray Bethpeor's height,
Out of his rocky eyry,

Looked on the wondrous sight.
Perchance the lion, stalking,

Still shuns that hallowed spot,

For beast and bird have seen and heard

That which man knoweth not.

But when the warrior dieth,

His comrades in the war,

With arms reversed and muffled drum,

Follow the funeral car.

They show the banners taken,

They tell his battles won,

And after him lead his masterless steed,
While peals the minute gun.

Amid the noblest of the land

Men lay the sage to rest,
And give the bard an honored place
With costly marble dressed.

In the great minster transept,*

Where lights like glories fall,

And the sweet choir sings, and the organ rings
Along the emblazoned wall.

* Minster transept. A minster is a cathedral church. The ground plan of these is usually in the form of a cross, with one long aisle and a short one crossing it. The cross aisle is called the transept. The transept divides the long aisle into two unequal parts; the longer of which is called the nave, and the other the choir.

This was the bravest warrior
That ever buckled sword;
This the most gifted poet

That ever breathed a word;
And never earth's philosopher
Traced, with his golden pen,

On the deathless page truths half so sage
As he wrote down for men.

And had he not high honor?
The hill side for his pall;
To lie in state while angels wait
With stars for tapers tall;

And the dark rock pines, like tossing plumes,

Over his bier to wave;

And God's own hand, in that lonely land,
To lay him in the grave;

In that deep grave, without a name,
Whence his uncoffined clay

Shall break again-most wondrous thought!-
Before the judgment day,

And stand with glory wrapped around

On the hills he never trod,

And speak of the strife that won our life

. With the Incarnate Son of God.*

O lonely tomb in Moab's land,
O dark Bethpeor's hill,

Speak to these curious hearts of ours,
And teach them to be still.

God hath his mysteries of grace —

Ways that we can not tell;

He hides them deep, like the secret sleep
Of him he loved so well.

* Luke 9, 30. 31.

CL. THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION.

cen-ten'-ni-al, happening once in a hundred years; hundertjährlich. ex-hi-bi'-tion, a public show; display; Ausstellung.

ex-plic'-it, clear; klar.

u-sur-pa'-tion, seizure and possession without right; Anmaßung. rep-re-sent ́-a-tive, one who represents another; Vertreter. out'-skirt, suburb; Vorstadt.

ap-pro'-pri-ate, to set apart; eigens bestimmen. ar-chi-tect ́-ure, the art of building; Baukunst. im-pos'-ing, impressive; Staunen erregend.

or-nate, beautiful; schön; geschmückt.

me-men'-to, that which awakens memory; Denkmal. per'-ma-nent, lasting; bleibend.

ex-ten'-sion, enlargement; Erweiterung.

com-mo-di-ous, convenient; bequem; passend.

ag-ri-cult'-ur-al, relating to farming; landwirtschaftlich. hor-ti-cult'-ur-al, pertaining to the culture of gardens; zum Gartenbau gehörig.

ed'-i-fice, a building; Gebäude.

ap-per-tain', to belong; zugehören.

1. On the 4th of July, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed in the Old State House in Philadelphia. This famous document set forth in explicit terms the usurpations of the English government, and proclaimed the independence of the United States of America.

2. This event is a memorable one in the history of the world, and especially interesting to us as Americans. To properly celebrate it, the great Centennial Exhibition was held in Philadelphia in 1876. To that great birthday party came the representatives of nearly all nations, laden with the products of their soil, their labor, and their skill.

3. On the outskirts of Philadelphia is the magnificent Fairmount Park, which contains about three thousand acres of land. There are meadows and grassy hills, and beautiful groves, and smooth, wide roads, and lovely, shady walks, and through it runs the placid Schuylkill River. More than two hundred acres of this park were appropriated for the

Centennial buildings, and for the general purposes of the Exhibition.

4. On these grounds there were erected five principal buildings and many smaller ones. The Main Exhibition Building was an immense structure of iron and glass, and embraced in its limits many miles of walks and promenades. It was 1876 feet long-more than one-third of a mile—and 464 feet wide; and, therefore, covered twenty acres.

5. This great hall was divided into sections for the various nations, and the representatives of each arranged the exhibit according to their own tastes and judgment. This immense space was crowded with the goods and manufactures of every possible kind, from all quarters of the globe.

6. Here was seen whatever was most curious, beautiful, and useful, that man's ingenuity had taught him to make. or adapt to his needs. The hundreds of gay banners and flags, the thousands of busy sight-seers, the tens of thousands of rare and beautiful articles, and the vast roof of glass sparkling under the bright rays of the sun, combined to form a scene of splendor and magnificence which surpassed the wonders of romance or fairy tale.

7. A short distance from the Main Building was Machinery Hall, which covered fourteen acres. In this were exhibited all kinds of machines, the greater part of which were in full operation, so that visitors could see what work they were intended to do, and how they did it.

8. Here were seen the printing of papers, the binding of books, the weaving of many fine fabrics, and grinding, sawing, rolling, stamping, pounding, with the buzz and the clash and the clatter of thousands of wheels and belts. The power which moved all these acres of machinery came from a single steam-engine.

9. This engine was an object of the greatest interest to all classes of people, and probably excited more admiration than any other single object in that great collection of

wonders. People knew very well that each movement it would make would be precisely like the previous one, still they stood and looked as if they were charmed at the display of its great power and the beautiful regularity of its motion.

10. The Main Building and Machinery Hall were both plain and simple in their style of architecture; but Memorial Hall, or the Art Gallery, is an imposing and ornate structure of granite. It covers an acre and a half of ground, and is built entirely of stone and iron, so that it is absolutely fireproof. This building cost a million and a half dollars, and remains as a memento of the Great Exhibition, serving as a permanent art gallery.

11. Here were collected thousands of the finest pictures and statues that the artists of the world had produced; but so many fine works of art were sent to the Exhibition, that this immense gallery would not hold them; and it was found necessary to erect a great extension, which was more commodious than the permanent building.

12. The three buildings already mentioned were devoted to the exhibition of the products of human ingenuity and skill; in the other principal buildings were presented the wonders of nature. One of these, Agricultural Hall, covered ten acres of ground, and was filled with everything that related to farmers' work in every part of the world.

13. Horticultural Hall is a peculiar edifice, and presents a striking and beautiful appearance. It is built of iron, marble, and glass, and is a permanent ornament to the beautiful park. Here were seen many kinds of plants, flowers, and trees, intended for the adornment of house and grounds. Growing in a climate as soft and mild as that of their native land, might be seen oranges, lemons, palms, and all sorts of luxuriant tropical plants; while, in parts of the great building, were seen the most delicious and lovely fruits and flowers, filling the air with their fragrance.