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EXERCISE CLVII.

DUTIES OF AMERICAN CITIZENS.

FRANCIS WAYLAND.

1. Whatever we would do for our country must be done for THE PEOPLE. Great results can never be effected in any other way. Specially is this the case under a republican constitution. Here the people are not only the real, but the acknowledged, fountain of all authority. They make the laws, and they control the execution of them. They direct the Senate, they overawe the cabinet; and, hence, it is the moral and intellectual character of the people, which must give to the " very age and body of our institutions their form

and pressure."

2. So long as our people remain virtuous and intelligent, our government will remain stable. While they clearly perceive, and honestly decree justice, our laws will be wholesome, and the principles of our constitution will commend themselves every where to the common sense of man. But, should they become ignorant and vicious; should their decisions become the dictates of passion and venality, rather than of reason and of right, that moment are our liberties at an end; and, glad to escape from the despotism of millions, we shall flee for shelter to the despotism of one. Then will the world's last hope be extinguished, and darkness brood for ages over the whole human race.

3. Not less important is moral and intellectual cultivation, if we would prepare our country to stand forth the bulwark of the liberties of the world. Should the time to try men's souls ever come again, our reliance under God must be, as it was before, on the character of our citizens. Our soldier must be men whose bosoms have swollen with the conscious dignity of freemen, and Who, firmly trusting in a righteous God, can look unmoved on embattled nations leagued to. gether for purposes of wrong.

4. When the means of education everywhere throughout our country, shall be free as the air we breathe; when every family shall have its Bible,-then, and not till then, shall we exert our proper influence on the cause of man; then, and not till then, shall we be prepared to stand forth between the oppressor and the oppressed, and say to the proud wave of domination: Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther.

5. The paramount duty of every American citizen is, to put in requisition every possible means for elevating universally the intellectual and moral character of our people. The intellectual stores of the English language are open before every man, in which he may find all the knowledge that he will ever need to form his opinions upon any subjects, on which it will be his duty to decide. A man who can not read is a being not contemplated by the genius of our constitution. Where the right of suffrage is extended to all, he is certainly a dangerous member of the community, who has not qualified himself to exercise it.

6. But, though the entire mass of our population should be intellectually educated, still only a part, and by far the least important part of our work, will have been accomplished. We have increased the power of the people, but we have left it doubtful in what direction that power will be exerted. We have made it certain that a public opinion will be formed; but whether that opinion shall be healthful or destructive, is yet to be decided.

7. We have cut our channels, by which knowledge may be conveyed to every individual of our mighty population; it remains for us, by means of these very channels, to instill into every bosom an unshaken reverence for the principles of right. Having gone this far, we must go still farther; for we must be aware, that the tenures by which our liberties are held, can never be secure, unless moral, keep pace with intellectual, education.

EXERCISE CLVIII.

NOTE-This piece is well suited to reading in concert. To give it the better effect, the class may be divided into two parts: one side reading the stanzas under the title "EARTH," and the other respond. ing with those under the caption "HEAVEN.”

EARTH AND HEAVEN.

EARTH.

G. F. RICHARDSON.

1. There is grief, there is grief,-there is wringing of hands, (pl.) And weeping and calling for aid;

For Sorrow hath summoned her group, and it stands
Round the couch where the sufferer is laid.

And lips are all pallid, and cheeks are all cold,

And tears from the heart-springs are shed; Yet who that looks on the sweet saint to behold, But would gladly lie down in her stead.

2. There is grief, there is grief,-there is anguish and strife, (pl.) And the sufferer is striving for breath;

For the spirit will cling, O! how fondly, to life,

And stern is the struggle with death!

But the terrible conflict grows deadlier still,

Till the last fatal symptoms have birth ;

And the eye-ball is glazed, and the heart-blood is chill,
And this is the portion of earth!

HEAVEN.

3. There is bliss, there is bliss, in the regions above,
They have opened the gates of the sky;
A spirit has soared to those mansions of love,
And seeks for admittance on high.

And friends long divided are hasting to greet
To a land where no sorrow may come,
And the seraphs are eager a sister to meet,

And to welcome the child to its home.

4. There is bliss, there is bliss, at the foot of the throne,
See the spirit all purified bend;

And it beams with delight, since it gazes alone,
On the face of a father,—a friend!
Then it joins in the anthems forever that rise,
And its frailty or folly forgiven,

It is dead to the earth, and new-born to the skies,
And this is the portion of Heaven!

EXERCISE CLIX.

SPEAK GENTLY TO THE ERRING.

I.

F. G. LEE

(p.) Speak gently to the erring,-ye know not all the power, With which the dark temptation came, in some unguarded hour; Ye may not know how earnestly they struggled, or how well, Until the hour of weakness came, and sadly thus they fell.

II.

Speak gently of the erring,-oh! do not thou forget,
However darkly stained by sin, he is thy brother yet:
Heir of the self-same heritage, child of the self-same God,
He hath but stumbled in the path thou hast in weakness trod.

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Speak kindly to the erring,—for is it not enough,

That innocence and peace are gone, without thy censure roúgh!

It surely is a weary lot, that sin-crushed heart to bear;

And they who share a happier fate, their chidings well may spare.

IV.

Speak kindly of the erring,-thou yet may'st lead him back
With holy words, and tones of love, from misery's thorny track
Forget not thou hast often sinned, and sinful yet must be ;
Deal kindly with the erring one, as God hath dealt with thee!

EXERCISE CLX.

1. CHAR-LE-MAGNE' (Charles, the Great), King of the Franks, and afterwards Emperor of the West, was born, A. D. 742. Though con. tinually engaged in war, he was a great friend and patron of learning, and, in private life, was a very amiable and estimable man. He died in 814.

2. AL-EX-AN'-DER, the Great, the celebrated son of Philip, King of Macedon, was born, B. C. 356. After a life previously unsurpassed in warlike achievements, he died of a disease brought on by intemperate habits, B. C. 323.

3. CE-SAR, Caius Julius, the first Roman emperor, and one of the greatest generals of antiquity. He wrote an account of his wars in Gaul, which is still extant. He was assassinated in the Senate House, B. C. 43, in the 56th year of his age.

4. HAN'-NI-BAL, the celebrated leader of the Carthaginians, after a brilliant military career, in which he came near to the achievement of a full triumph over the city and empire of Rome, took poison, and died, B. C. 183, at the age of 64.

5. MA-CHI-A-VEL, a famous political writer, born at Florence in 1469. One of his works, the Prince, contains maxims of government and policy, which have rendered his name synonymous with whatever is vile in principle or pernicious in practice.

6. BA-JA'-ZET, a warlike and tyrannical Sultan of Turkey, who, by the murder of his brother, came to the throne in 1389. He died in 1403.

CHARACTER OF NAPOLEON.

LAMARTINE.

1. Personal glory will be always spoken of, as characterizing the age of Napoleon; but it will never merit the praise bestowed upon that of Augustus, of Charlemagne,* and of Louis XIV. There is no age; there is only a name; and this name signifies nothing to humanity, but himself. False in institutions, for he retrograded; false in policy, for he debased; false in morals, for he corrupted; false in civilization, for he oppressed; false in diplomacy, for he isolated,—he was only true in war, for he shed torrents of human blood.

2. But what can we then allow him? His individual

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