18. THE WHITE-HEADED EAGLE.

1. Formed by nature to brave the severest cold; feeding equally on the produce of the sea and of the land; possessing powers of flight capable of outstripping even the tempests themselves; unawed by any thing but man; and, from the ethereal heights to which he soars, looking abroad, at one glance, on an immeasurable expanse of forests, fields, lakes, and ocean below him, the white-headed eagle appears indifferent to the change of seasons, as, in a few minutes, he can pass from summer to winter, from the lower to the higher regions of the atmosphere, the abode of eternal cold,—and thence descend, at will, to the torrid, or to the Arctic regions of the earth. He is, therefore, found at all seasons in the countries he inhabits, but from the great partiality he has for fish, he prefers to live near the ocean.

2. In procuring fish, he displays, in a very singular manner, the genius and energy of his character, which is fierce, contemplative, daring, and tyrannical;-attributes exerted only on particular occasions, but, when put forth, overpowering all opposition. Elevated on the high dead limb of some gigantic tree that commands a wide view of the neighboring shore and ocean, he seems calmly to contemplate the motions of the various feathered tribes that pursue their busy vocations below,the snow-white gulls slowly winnowing the air; the busy shore-birds, coursing along the sands; trains of ducks, streaming over the surface; silent and watchful cranes, intent and wading; clamorous crows, and all the winged multitudes that subsist by the bounty of this vast liquid magazine of Nature.

3. High over all these hovers one whose action in'stantly arrests his whole attention. By his wide curvature of wing, and sudden suspension in air, he knows

him to be the fish-hawk, settling over some devoted victim of the deep. His eye kindles at the sight, and, balancing himself, with half-opened wings, on the branch, he watches the result.

4. Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, descends the distant object of his attention, the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears in the deep, making the surges foam around. At this moment the watchful eagle is all ardor; and, leveling his neck for flight, he sees the fish-hawk emerge, struggling with his prey, and mounting in the air with screams of exultation.

5. These are the signal for our hero, who, launching into the air, instantly gives chase, and soon gains on the fish-hawk. Each exerts his utmost to mount above the other, displaying in these rencounters the most elegant and sublime aerial evolutions. The unencumbered eagle rapidly advances, and is just on the point of reaching his opponent, when, with a sudden scream, probably of despair and honest execration, the latter drops his fish; the eagle, poising himself for a moment, as if to take a more certain aim, descends like a whirlwind, snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears his ill-gotten booty silently away to the woods.

WRITTEN SPELLING.-SYNONYMS.

Write a synonym for each of the following words:

19. SANTA FILOMENA.

Written in honor of Florence Nightingale, the philanthropist. Read this poem in the class and then require the girls of the class to memorize it for recitation.

1. Whene'er a noble deed is wrought,
Whene'er is spoken a noble thought,
Our hearts, in glad surprise,

To higher levels rise.

2. The tidal wave of deeper souls
Into our inmost being rolls,

And lifts us unawares

Out of all meaner cares.

3. Honor to those whose words or deeds
Thus help us in our daily needs,

And by their overflow

Raise us from what is low!

4. Thus thought I, as by night I read
Of the great army of the dead,
The trenches cold and damp,

The starved and frozen camp,—

5. The wounded from the battle-plain
In dreary hospitals of pain,
The cheerless corridors,

The cold and stony floors.

6. Lo! in that house of misery,
A lady with a lamp I see

Pass through the glimmering gloom,
And flit from room to room.

7. And slow, as in a dream of bliss,
The speechless sufferer turns to kiss

Her shadow, as it falls
Upon the darkening walls.

8. As if a door in heaven should be

Opened and then closed suddenly,
The vision came and went,

The light shone and was spent.

9. On England's annals, through the long
Hereafter of her speech and song,

That light its rays shall cast
From portals of the past.

10. A Lady with a Lamp shall stand
In the great history of the land,
A noble type of good,
Heroic womanhood.

11. Nor even shall be wanting here
The palm, the lily, and the spear:
The symbols that of yore

Santa Filomena bore.

LONGFELLOW.

20.

THE FOURTH OF JULY.

To be marked by the class, under the direction of the teacher, for emphasis, pauses, and inflections; then to be memorized by the boys of the class for declamation.

1. On the Fourth of July, 1776, the representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, declared that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States. This declaration, made by most patriotic and resolute men, trusting in the justice of their cause, and the protection of

Providence and yet not without deep solicitude and anxiety-has stood for seventy-five years, and still stands.

2. It was sealed in blood. It has met dangers and overcome them; it has had enemies, and it has conquered them; it has had detractors, and it has abashed them all; it has had doubting friends, but it has cleared all doubts away; and now, to-day, raising its august form higher than the clouds, twenty millions of people contemplate it with hallowed love; and the world beholds it, and the consequences which have followed, with profound admiration.

3. This anniversary animates, and gladdens, and unites all American hearts. On other days of the year we may be party men, indulging in controversies more or less important to the public good; we may have likes and dislikes, and we may maintain our political differences often with warm, and sometimes with angry feelings. But to-day we are Americans all in all, nothing but Americans.

4. As the great luminary over our heads, dissipating mists and fogs, cheers the whole hemisphere, so do the associations connected with this day disperse all cloudy and sullen weather, and all noxious exhalations in the minds and feelings of true Americans. Every man's heart swells within him;-every man's port and bearing become somewhat more proud and lofty, as he remembers that seventy-five years have rolled away, and that the great inheritance of liberty is still his; his, undiminished and unimpaired; his, in all its original glory; his to enjoy, his to protect, and his to transmit to future generations.

DANIEL WEBSTER.

de tractors, slanderers. dis'si pate, scatter.

au gust', awful; majestic.

ex ha laʼtions, vapors.

DEFINITIONS.

lu'mi na ry, a body that gives light.

nox'ious, poisonous.

trans mit', hand down.