"Tell to our sons how their fathers have died"; Nerveless the iron hand, Raised for its native land, Lies by the weapon that gleams at its side. 3. Over the hill-sides the wild knell is tolling, From their far hamlets the yeomanry come; As through the storm-clouds the thunder-burst rolling, Circles the beat of the mustering drum. Fast on the soldier's path Darken the waves of wrath, Long have they gathered, and loud shall they fall; Sharp rings the rifle's crash, Blazing and clanging from thicket and wall. 4. Gayly the plume of the horseman was dancing, Proudly at morning the war-steed was prancing; Voiceless the trumpet horn, Torn is the silken-fringed red cross on high; Low on the turf shall rest, Ere the dark hunters the herd have passed by. 5. Snow-girdled crags where the hoarse wind is raving, Far as the sunshine streams over the plain, Woke all the mighty land, Girded for battle, from mountain to main. 6. Green be the graves where her martyrs are lying, - Wraps the proud eagle they roused from his nest. Long o'er the foaming brine, Spread her broad banner to storm and to sun; Wide as o'er land and sea, Floats the fair emblem her heroes have won!* O. W. Holmes. LESSON XXVII. AFTER THE BATTLE. 1. O, what words can describe, what language can depict, the horrors of a battle-field! Fearful it is when the booming of the cannon, the clash of arms, the shouts of commanders, the cheering of the men, and the wild neighing of steeds, in a horrible medley, rend the skies; but when these sounds have passed away, when the bloody work is finished, and we are left alone with the dying and the dead, then the human tongue fails, and language is powerless to portray. 2. On such a scene as this the setting sun now casts his *The Battle of Lexington occurred on the 19th of April, 1775. the first battle of the war of the Revolution. This was last, lingering rays. The snow-covered plain, which in its spotless purity his early beams had gilded, now lies crimson and reeking with the blood of the slain. The battle is over; the cries of victory have died away in murmuring echoes among the hills; and here, resting from their toils, lie the weary laborers in this bloody field. 3. All gory and mangled they lie,-some whose hearts are beating still, though the tide of life is fast ebbing away; and others with the moisture of death upon their brows, his stiffening hand upon their limbs. 4. O fond mother! here you will find your darling, the pride of your heart; him whom you have borne in your arms and pressed to your bosom. Come, look upon him now! Is this cold, lifeless form, with matted locks and distorted features, your gallant, fair-haired boy'? 5. Loving wife! here, too, is your husband, the father of your children, the strong arm upon which you leaned, the true heart where you ever found love and sympathy: the lips are cold now; they return not your kiss. 6. Devoted daughter! come, seek thy father; for he, too, lies here. See, the gray locks are stained with blood, and the eyes are dim and sightless. Place your hand upon his heart; it beats no more! Then he is dead; and from thy life hath passed away one of its greatest blessings. Long, long wilt thou mourn the loss of his protecting love,— that love which was born in thy birth, and grew with thy growth, unselfish, untiring. 7. Yes! husbands, sons, fathers, lovers, brothers, all lie upon the red plain, weltering in their blood. My heart grows sick within me as I gaze upon the scene of carnage. O sun! withdraw thy lingering rays; and do thou, O night! envelop with thy sable mantle, and shut out from my sight, the horrid spectacle ! Mrs. B. W. Williams. QUESTIONS. What is the character of this piece? Ans. Pathetic, or mournful. What principles of modulation apply in the reading of it? (See page xv.) With what tone of the voice should it be read? With what movement? What quality of voice should be employed? (See page xix.) LESSON XXVIII. THE VANITY OF RICHES. 1. As Ortogrul of Basra was one day wandering along the streets of Bagdad, musing on the varieties of merchandise which the shops offered to his view, and observing the different occupations which busied the multitudes on every side, he was awakened from the tranquillity of meditation by a crowd that obstructed his passage. He raised his eyes and saw the chief vizier, who, having returned from the divan, was entering his palace. 2. Ortogrul mingled with the attendants, and, being supposed to have some petition for the vizier, was permitted to enter. He surveyed the spaciousness of the apartments, admired the walls hung with golden tapestry and the floors covered with silken carpets, and despised the simple neatness of his own little habitation. 3. "Surely," said he to himself, "this palace is the seat of happiness, where pleasure succeeds to pleasure, and discontent and sorrow can have no admission. Whatever nature has provided for the delight of sense is here spread forth to be enjoyed. What can mortals hope or imagine which the master of this palace has not obtained? The dishes of luxury cover his table, the voice of harmony lulls him in his bowers; he breathes the fragrance of the groves of Java, and sleeps upon the down of the cygnets of the Ganges. 4. "He speaks, and his mandate is obeyed; he wishes, and his wish is gratified; all whom he sees obey him, and all whom he hears flatter him. How different, Ortogrul, is thy condition, who art doomed to the perpetual torments of unsatisfied desire, and who hast no amusement in thy power that can withhold thee from thy own reflections! 5. "They tell thee that thou art wise; but what does wisdom avail with poverty? None will flatter the poor, and the wise have very little power of flattering themselves. That man is surely the most wretched of the sons of wretchedness who lives with his own faults and follies always before him, and who has none to reconcile him to himself by praise and veneration. I have long sought content, and have not found it; I will from this moment endeavor to be rich." 6. Full of his new resolution, he shut himself in his chamber for six months to deliberate how he should grow rich: he sometimes proposed to offer himself as a counselor to one of the kings of India, and sometimes resolved to dig for diamonds in the mines of Golconda. One day, after some hours passed in violent fluctuations of opinion, sleep insensibly seized him in his chair. He dreamed that he was ranging a desert country in search of some one who might teach him to grow rich; and as he stood on the top of a hill shaded with. cypress, in doubt whither to direct his steps, his father appeared on a sudden standing before him. 7. "Ortogrul," said the old man, “I know thy perplexity. Listen to thy father; turn thine eye on the opposite mountain." Ortogrul looked, and saw a torrent tumbling down the rocks, roaring with a noise of thunder, and scattering its foam on the impending woods. "Now," said his father, "behold the valley that lies between the hills." Ortogrul looked, and espied a little well out of which issued a small rivulet. 8. "Tell me, now," said his father, "dost thou wish for sudden affluence, that may pour upon thee like the mountain torrent, or for a slow and gradual increase, resembling the rill |