everywhere surrounds us. The sun and stars, the blue firmament, day and night, the tides and seasons, are as nothing compared with it. Life, the soul of the world, but for which creation were not! It is life which is the grand glory of the world; it was, indeed, the consummation of creative power, at which the morning stars sang together for joy. Is not the sun glorious, because there are living eyes to be gladdened by his beams? Is not the fresh air delicious, because there are living creatures to inhale and enjoy it? Are not odors fragrant and sounds sweet and colors gorgeous, because there is the living sensation to appreciate them? Without life, what were they all? What were a Creator himself without life, intelligence, understanding, to know and to adore Him and to trace His finger in the works that He hath made? 8. MORAL AND PHYSICAL COURAGE.-At the battle of Waterloo, two French officers were advancing to charge a much superior force. The danger was imminent, and one of them displayed evident signs of fear. The other, observing it, said to him, "Sir, I believe you are frightened." "Yes," returned the other, “I am, and if you were half as much frightened you would run away." This anecdote exhibits in a happy light the difference between moral and physical courage, -between bulk and brains. "The brave man is not he who feels no fear, For that were stupid and irrational; But he whose noble soul its fear subdues And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from." 9. PERFECTION NO TRIFLE.-A friend called on Michael Angelo, who was finishing a statue; some time afterward he called again; the sculptor was still at his work; his friend, looking at the figure, exclaimed, "You have been idle since I saw you last." "By no means," replied the sculptor; "I have retouched this part and polished that; I have softened this feature and brought out this muscle; I have given more expression to this lip and more energy to this limb." "Well, well," said his friend, "but all these are trifles." "It may be so," replied Angelo, "but recollect that trifles make perfection, and that perfection is no trifle." 10. THE MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSION.-I envy no quality of mind or intellect in others, be it genius, power, wit or fancy; but if I could choose what would be most delightful, and I believe most useful to me, I should prefer a firm religious belief to every other blessing; for it makes life a discipline of goodness, creates new hopes when all earthly hopes vanish, and throws over the decay, the destruction of existence the most gorgeous of all lights; awakens life even in death, and from corruption and decay calls up beauty and divinity; makes an instrument of fortune, and shame the ladder of ascent to Paradise, and, far above all combinations of earthly hopes, calls up the most delightful visions of palms and amaranths, the gardens of the blest, the security of everlasting joys, where the sensualist and skeptic view only gloom, decay, annihilation and despair.-Sir Humphry Davy. 11. THE TRUE LIFE.-The mere lapse of years is not life. To eat and drink and sleep, to be exposed to darkness and the light, to pace around the mill of habit and turn the wheel * of wealth, to make reason our book-keeper and turn thought into an implement of trade, this is not life. In all this but a poor fraction of the consciousness of humanity is awakened, and the sanctities still slumber which make it most worth while to be. Knowledge, truth, love, beauty, goodness, faith, alone give vitality to the mechanism of existence. The laugh of mirth which vibrates through the heart, the tears which freshen the dry wastes within, the music which brings childhood back, the prayer that calls the future near, the doubt which makes us meditate, the death which startles us with mystery, the hardships that force us to struggle, the anxiety that ends in trust,—these are the true nourishments of our natural being. 12. ENDURING INFLUENCE OF HUMAN ACTIONS.-We see not in life the end of human actions. The influence never dies. In ever-widening circle it reaches beyond the grave. Death removes us from this to an eternal world; time deter mines what shall be our condition in that world. Every morning when we go forth we lay the molding hand on our destiny, and every evening when we have done we have left a deathless impression upon our character. We start not a wire but vibrates in eternity, a voice but reports at the throne of God. Let youth especially think of these things, and let every one remember that in this world character is in its formation state; it is a serious thing to think, to speak, to act. ... ... ... SELECT ETYMOLOGIES.-Amaranth: G. amaran'tõs, unfading. Analogy resemblance between one thing and another in some points; fr. Gr. an'a, similar to, lõg'ös, word, ratio, proportion. . . . Anecdote : orig., secret history; now, a short story; Gr. aněkdŏ'tön, not given out; fr. a, without, ěk, out, and dot'on, given. . . . Fragrant: L. fra'gro, to emit a smell. Future: L. futu'rus, about to be; fr. es'se, to be. Gorgeous: Norman F. gorgias, gaudy, showy. . . . Impudent: L. im'pudens, without shame; fr. im = in-, not, and pud'ens, modest; fr. pud'eo, to be ashamed; h., re-pudiate (in regard to married parties, to cast off or put away the opposite party) . . . Maxim: fr. L. max'ima (with senten'tia understood), the greatest sentence or sentiment, i. e., one carrying the greatest weight; max'imus being the superlative and major the comparative of mag'nus, great; h., magnify, magnitude, main, majesty, major, maximum. Meditate: L. med'itor, medita'tus, to muse or think upon; h., pre-meditate. . . . Muscle : L. musculus, a little mouse, also a muscle; h., muscular. Palm: L. pal'ma; h., palmy, palmistry. . . . Paradise : Gr. paradei'sos; fr. the Persian, and denoting a large inclosed park for the preservation of game. . . . Physical: Gr. phu'sikos, conformable or agreeable to nature; fr. phu'sis, nature; fr. phu'ein, to bring forth; h., physician, physio-gnomy (gnōmōn, one who knows; h., the particular cast or expression of the face), physio-logy (logos, discourse), the science which treats of the vital actions or functions performed by the organs of plants and animals. . . . Ridiculous: L. ridic'ulus; fr. ri'deo, ri'sum, to laugh; h., de-ride, de-rision, risible. Subtile: L. sub'tilis; fr. sub, under, and te'la, a web; fr. tex'o, I weave. . . . Vibrate: L. vib'ro, vibra'tum, to set in tremulous motion; h., vibratory, etc. . . . Wonder: A. S. wondrian. ... ... ... ... ... The number of monosyllables in English (says De Vere) surpasses by far that of any other modern language, and this feature gives it a peculiarly direct and straightforward character, equally far from the courte. ously studied and indirect French and the lumbering, intricate German, In the following lines from Macbeth there are fifty-two words, and of these fifty are monosyllables: "That is a step On which I must fall down or else o'erleap, ARTIFICIAL SENTENCES FOR ETYMOLOGICAL PRACTICE. TO THE TEACHER.-All the leading words in these sentences are to be found with their references in the Index of Words, page 455, and some of them in the Select Etymologies accompanying the Exercise. Many important words are introduced here in artificially-constructed sentences because they could not be found in the regular reading lessons. By this plan we are enabled to extend largely our list of etymologies, and to make that portion of our language drawn from the Latin and Greek easily intelligible to the young. Even where these etymologies are not systematically taught in a school, the great advantage of having them at hand for reference when curiosity prompts must be ob vious to every enlightened teacher and every ingenuous youth. EXERCISE I. 1. ACTIVE and exact, our agent is actuated by no ambigu ous intention. My coadjutor, the agile adjutant, is an adept His cogent words gave the agitated crowd in adulation. something to cogitate upon. The apothecary sat in an alcove with the attorney. the advent of the troops. An event intervened to prevent 2. Granite or grain-stone is so called from being granular. He is quite isolated in his insular home. The adjective, the interjection and the objective case were the subject of our lesson. He is a bigot, but whether an optimist or a pessimist I cannot say. The collector of the revenue just came up the avenue. 3. For obvious reasons, and to obviate errors, I had previously sent him a copy of the invoice via London. The devious course of our convoy lengthened our voyage. brigand chief is no tyro in treason. The Our symposium was interrupted by the entrance of the surgeon. viated from the right and is impervious to shame. She has de 4. For his contumely I do not care, but his tumid speeches and contumacious course made a tumult. His temporizing may delay the tempest, but cannot allay the temperature of hate. In Congress he was always the aggressor; the first to transgress the rules and to degrade debate to such a degree by his digressions that little progress was made. The His 5. Pythagoras taught the transmigration of the soul. immigrant migrates into, the emigrant from, a country. grounds are so full of noxious weeds he is obnoxious to the charge of keeping up a nuisance. She asked us to take our repast in the pasture. 6. The investigating committee could find no vestige of the envoy's accounts. I ask of your bounty one only boon. The chief was decapitated in the capital for a capital crime. Take off your cap and put on this chaplet. Please recapitulate the heads of the chapter. 7. Having been privy to the sailing of the privateer, he was deprived of his privileges. He is not only your peer, but incomparably your superior, though you try to disparage him. The tutor says he believes intuitively in tutelary spirits. On the verge of the precipice the roads instead of converging diverged. My client is under a hallucination. SELECT ETYMOLOGIES.-Adept: L. adep'tus, got, obtained, skillful. . . . Adjutant: fr. L. adjuvo, adju'tum, to stand by one as aid; fr. ad and ju'vo, ju'tum, to help; h., co-adjutor... Adulation: L. adula'tio, fawning like a dog. Agile: L. ag'ilis, quick. Alcove Spanish alcoba, a part of a room railed off to hold a bed of state.... Allay: L. allevo, I lighten: v. RELIEF. . . . Apothecary: Gr. apothēkŏr'iðs; fr. apòthè'ke, a repository; fr. apo, away, and the'ke, a box; fr. tith'ěnai, to put. Attorney: one who acts for another; L. L. attorna'tus, put in the place of any one. . . . Bigot: It. bigotto; fr. bigio, gray. . . . Boon: A. S. ben, petition, prayer. .. Brigand: fr. It. briga, strife. Client: L. cli'ens, clien'tis, one who has a patron. . . . Delay: fr. L. dilatum : v. DEFER.... Hallucination : fr. L. hallucinor, I wander in the mind. Optimist: one who holds ... ... ... ... that all is for the best; fr. L. op'timus, best.... Pessimist: one who holds that all is for the worst; fr. L. pes'simus, the worst. . . . Surgeon: F. chirurgien; fr. the Gr. cheirour'gos, one who works with the hand; fr. cheir, hand, and ĕr'gein, to work. . . . Symposium: Gr. sumpòs'iòn, a drinking party; fr. sun, with, pi'nō, I drink. Treason fr. trailor, q. v. . . . Tyro: fr. L. ti'ro, a young soldier. ... |