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13. LIFE.

HE days of Infancy are all a dream,

THE

How fair, but oh! how short they seem―

'Tis Life's sweet opening SPRING!

2. The days of Youth advance:
The bounding limb, the ardent glance,
The kindling soul they bring―
It is Life's burning SUMMER time.
3. Manhood-matured' with wisdom's fruit,
Reward of Learning's deep pursuit-
Succeeds, as AUTUMN follows Summer's prime.
4. And that, and that, alas! goes by;
And what ensues? The languid3 eye,
The failing frame, the soul o'ercast;
'Tis WINTER'S sickening, withering blast,
Life's blessed season-for it is the last.

ROBERT SOUZHEY

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2.

3.

14. THE Two Boys.

HERE were two boys, who were bred up together,

THE!

Shared the same bed, and fed at the same board.
Each tried the other's sport, from their first chase,
Young hunters of the butterfly and bee,

To when they followed the fleet hare, and tried
The swiftness of the bird.

They lay beside

The silver trout stream, watching as the sun
Play'd on the bubbles: shared each in the store

Of either's garden; and together read

Of him, the master of the desert isle,

Till a low hut, a gun and a canoe,
Bounded their wishes.

Or if ever came

A thought of future days, 'twas but to say

Ma tùred', ripened; perfected in growth or years.- En shes' fol lows.Languid (lång' gwid), weak; dull; drooping.

That they would share each other's lot, and do
Wonders, no doubt. But this was vain; they parted
With promises of long remembrance, words

Whose kindness was the heart's, and those warm tears,
Hidden like shame by the young eyes that shed them,
But which are thought upon
in after years

As what we would give worlds to shed once more.

4 They met again, but different from themselves,—
At least, what each remember'd of themselves:
The one proud as a soldier of his rank,
And of his many battles; and the other
Proud of his Indian' wealth, and of the skill
And toil which gather'd it; each with a brow
And heart alike darken'd by years and care.

5. They met with cold words and yet colder looks;
Each was changed in himself, and yet each thought
The other only changed, himself the same.
And coldness bred dislike; and rivalry2

Came like the pestilence3 o'er some sweet thoughts
That linger'd yet, healthy and beautiful,
Amid dark and unkindly ones.
And they,
Whose boyhood had not known one jarring word,
Were strangers in their age: if their eyes met,
'Twas but to look contempt, and when they spoke,
Their speech was wormwood!—and this, this is life.
L. ELIZABETH MACLEAN.

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'Indian (Ind' yan); relating to India.—2 Rl'val ry, state of being rivals; cpposed to each other.- Pes' ti lence, the plague; an infectious disease, or one that is catching. Wormwood (werm' wåd), a bitter herb; bitterness. Heath' er, heath; a place overgrown with shrubs.

The humble home, to memory dear;
Its sorrows and its joys;

Where woke the transient' smile or tear,
When you and I were boys.

2. We were youths together,
And castles built in air;
Your heart was like a feather,

And mine weighed down with care.
To you came wealth with manhood's prime,
To me it brought alloys
Foreshadow'd' in the primrose time,
When you and I were boys.

3. We're old men together;

The friends we loved of yōre,'

With leaves of autumn weather,

Are gone forever more.

How blest to age the impulse given

The hope time ne'er destroys

Which led our thoughts from earth' to heaven,
When you and I were boys!

GEORGE P. MORRIS.

16. ON THE WASTE OF LIFE.

AMERGUS was a gentleman of good estate: he was bred to no business, and could not contrive how to waste his hours agreeably; he had no relish for any of the proper works of life, nor any taste for the improvement of the mind; he spent gencrally ten hours of the four-and-twenty in bed; he dozed away two or three more on his couch; and as many more were dissolved in good liquor every evening, if he met with company of his own humor. Thus he made a shift to wear off ten years of his life since the paternal' estate fell into his hands.

'Transient (trån' shent), passing away; fleeting; hasty.-Castles (kås' slz), houses fortified for defense against enemies. Al loys', evils mixed with good; base metals mixed with precious ones. Fore shåd' owed, painted or drawn beforehand.—3 Yöre, old time.—® Im' pulse, force quickly applied.-Earth (erth).- Dissolved (iz zålvd'), worn away.—' Pa ter' nal, belonging to or derived from one's father.

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2. One evening, as he was musing alone, his thoughts happened to take a most unusual turn, for they cas a glance backward, and he began to reflect on his manner of life. He bethought himself what a number of living beings had been made a sacrifice to support his carcass,' and how much corn and wine had been mingled with these offerings; and he set himself to compute what he had devoured since he came to the age of man.

3. "About a dozen feathered creatures, small and great, have, one week with another," said he, “given up their lives to prolong mine, which, in ten years, amounts to at least six thousand. Fifty sheep have been sacrificed in a year, with half a hecatomb2 of black-cattle, that I might have the choicest parts offered weekly upon my table. Thus a thousand beasts, out of the flock and the herd, have been slain in ten years' time to feed me, besides what the forest has supplied me with.

4. "Many hundreds of fishes have, in all their variety, been robbed of life for my repast, and of the smaller fry, some thousands. A measure of corn would hardly suffice3 me fine flour enough for a month's provision, and this arises to above six score bushels; and many hogsheads of wine and other liquors have passed through this body of mine-this wretched strainer of meat and drink! And what have I done all this time for God and man? What a vast profusion of good things wasted upon a useless life and a worthless liver!

5. "There is not the meanest creature among all those which I have devoured, but hath answered the end of its creation better than I. It was made to support human nature, and it has done so. Every crab and oyster I have eat, and every grain of corn I have devoured, hath filled up its place in the rank of beings with more propriety and honor than I have done. Oh, shameful waste of life and time!"

6. In short, he carried on his moral reflections with so just and severe a force of reason, as constrained' him to change his whole course of life; to break off his follies at once, and to apply himself to gain some useful knowledge, when he was

'Cår' cass, body.-'Hec' a tomb, the sacrifice of a hundred.- Blåck' cattle, cows, bulls, and oxen, as distinguished from sheep and goats, which are called small cattle.-'Re påst', meat; food.-Suffice (suf fize'), satisfy.— Pro fù' sion, a large quantity.- Con stråined', forced.

more than thirty years of age. He lived many following years, with the character of a worthy man and an excellent Christian; he died with a peaceful conscience, and the tears of his country were dropped upon his tomb.

7. The world, that knew the whole series' of his life, were amazed at the mighty change. They beheld him as a wonder of reformation, while he himself confessed and adored the Divine power and mercy which had transformed him from a brute to a But this was a single instance, and we may almost venture to write miracle' upon it. Are there not numbers, in this degenerate3 age, whose lives thus run to utter waste, without the least tendency to usefulness?

man.

DR. FRANKLIN.

17. WHO WAS THE GENTLEMAN?

"PLEASE, sir, don't push so.”

It was in endeavoring to pene trate the dense crowd that nearly filled the entrance, and blocked up the doorway, after one of our popular lectures, that this exclamation met my attention. It proceeded from a little girl of not more than ten years, who, hemmed by the wall on one'side, and the crowd on the other, was vainly endeavoring to extricate' herself.

2. The person addressed paid no attention to the entreaty of the little one, but pushed on toward the door. "Look here, sir," said a man whose coarse apparel, sturdy frame, and toilembrowned hands, contrasted" strongly with the delicately gloved fingers, curling locks, and expensive broadcloth of the former. "Look here, sir, you're jamming that little girl's bonnet all to smash with those elbows of yours."

3. "Can't help that," gruffly replied the individual addressed; "I look to No. One." "You take care of No. One, do you? Well, that's all fair; so do I," replied the honest countryman;

'Sé' ries, course.-2 Mir' a cle, something wonderful; beyond the course of nature. De gen' er åte, degraded; corrupt.- Tånd' en cy, course toward any thing; desire.- Pên' e tråte, pass through.- Dense, thick. -'Ex'tri cåte, set free.-En treat' y, request.-Ap pår' el, dress.- Contråst' ed, brought together to show the difference between two things.

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