hear ye yon lion roaring in his den? "Tis three days since he tasted flesh; but to-morrow he shall break his fast upon yours, and a dainty meal for him ye will be!

7. If ye are beasts, then stand here like fat oxen, waiting for the butcher's knife! If ye are men-follow me! Strike down yon guard, gain the mountain passes, and there do bloody work, as did your sires at old Thermopyla! Is Sparta dead? Is the old Grecian spirit frozen in your veins, that you do crouch and cower like a belabored hound beneath his master's lash? comrades! warriors! Thracians! if we must fight, let us fight for ourselves! If we must slaughter, let us slaughter our oppressors! If we must die, let it be under the clear sky, by the bright waters,—in noble, honorable battle!

KELLOGG.

54. FOR A' THAT, AND A' THAT.

1. Is there for honest poverty,

That hangs his head, and a' that?
The coward-slave, we pass him by;
We dare be poor for a' that!

For a' that, and a' that,

Our toils obscure, and a' that;
The rank is but the guinea's stamp-
The man's the gowd for a' that.

2. What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hodden-gray, and a' that;

Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A man's a man for a' that!

For a' that, and a' that,

Their tinsel show, and a' that:

The honest man, though e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.

3. Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord,

Wha struts, and stares, and a' that;
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:
For a' that, and a' that,

His riband, star, and a' that;
The man of independent mind,

He looks and laughs at a' that.

4. A prince can make a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a' that;
But an honest man's aboon his might—
Guid faith, he maunna fa' that!
For a' that, and a' that,

Their dignities, and a' that;

The pith o' sense and pride o' worth
Are higher ranks than a' that.

5. Then let us pray, that come it may,-
As come it will, for a' that,—

That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth,
May bear the gree, and a' that!

For a' that, and a' that,

It's coming yet, for a' that;

When man to man, the warld o'er,

Shall brothers be for a' that!

ROBERT BURNS.

NOTE. This fine sentence, by Prof. Wilson, characterizes the genius of the preceding piece. "The poor man," he says, "as he speaks of Robert Burns, always holds up his head and regards you with an elated look."

55. TRIBUTE TO ROBERT BURNS.

[ABRIDGED.]

1. Wild heather-bells and Robert Bùrns!
The moorland flower and pèosant !
How, at their mention, memory turns
Her pages óld and pleasant!

2. I call to mind the summer' dày,
The early harvest-mowing,

The sky with sun and cloud at pláy,
And flowers with breezes blowing.

3. How oft that day, with fond delay,
I sought the maple's shadow,

And sang with Burns the hours away,
Forgetful of the meadow.

4. Not his the song whose thunderous chime
Eternal échoes rénder-

The mournful Tuscan's haunted rhyme,
And Milton's starry spléndor!

5. But who his human heart has laid
To nature's bosom nearer?

Who sweetened toil like him, or paid
To love a tribute dèarer ?

6. Through all his tuneful art how strong The human feeling gushes!

The very moonlight of his song

Is warm with smiles and blùshes!

7. Give lettered pomp to teeth of Tíme,
So "Bonnie Dòon" but tarry!
Blot out the epic's stately rhyme,
But spare his "Highland Màry!"

JOHN G. WHITTIER.

1. James Russell Lowell was born in Cambridge, Mass., in 1819. His mother was a woman of remarkable mind, possessing in an eminent degree the power of acquiring languages. He graduated at Harvard College, studied law, was admitted to the bar, but never practiced.

2. In 1855, upon the resignation of the poet Longfellow, he was appointed Professor of Modern Languages at Harvard. In 1877, he was sent as Minister to Spain, and afterwards represented the United States in Great Britain.

3. He has published several volumes of poetry and prose. His essays upon the British Poets gained him a high place among critics. His "Biglow Papers" display

rich humor, incisive wit, and shrewd common sense,— and there are in them jets of song indicative of the highest poetical quality.

4. Nature has been most liberal of gifts to Lowell. He combines wit, humor, tenderness, pathos, vigor, fire, love of nature, and rich powers of imagination. He is always truthful, hearty, and manly, and his wonderfully versatile powers have been used in the cause of truth and humanity.

5. Read "The Wind Harp," "Father Ambrose," "The Fatherland," "The Vision of Sir Launfal," "The Commemoration Ode."

57. THE FIRST SNOW-FALL.

1. The snow had begun in the gloaming,
And busily all the night,

Had been heaping field and highway
With a silence deep and white.

2. Every pine, and fir, and hemlock,

Wore ermine too dear for an earl,
And the poorest twig on the elm-tree
Was ridged inch-deep with pearl.

3. From sheds new-roofed with Carrara
Came chanticleer's muffled crow;

The stiff rails were softened to swan's-down,
And still fluttered down the snow.

4. I stood and watched by the window
The noiseless work of the sky,

And the sudden flurries of snow-birds,
Like brown leaves whirling by.