SELECTION XVI
THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET
1. How dear to the heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view!
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild-wood,
And every loved spot which my infancy knew;
The wide-spreading pond, and the mill which stood by it,
The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell;
The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,
And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well:
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket.
The moss-covered bucket, which hung in the well.
2. That moss-covered vessel I hail as a treasure;
For often, at noon, when returned from the field,
I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure,
The purest and sweetest that nature can yield.
How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing,
And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell;
Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflowing,
And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well:
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket arose from the well.
3. How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it,
As poised on the curb it inclined to my lips!
Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it,
Though filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips.
And now, far removed from the loved situation,
The tear of regret will intrusively swell,
As fancy reverts to my father's plantation,
And sighs for the bucket which hangs in the well;
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket, which hangs in the well.
Samuel Woodworth.
LESSON LI
THE VALUE OF TIME
The value of time has passed into a proverb,—"Time is money." It is so because its employment brings money. But it is more. It is knowledge. Still more, it is virtue.
Time is more than money. It brings what money cannot purchase. It has in its lap all the learning of the past, the spoils of antiquity, the priceless treasures of knowledge. Who would barter these for gold or silver? But knowledge is a means only, and not an end. It is valuable because it promotes the welfare, the development and the progress of man. And the highest value of time is not in knowledge, but in the opportunity of doing good.
Time is opportunity. Little or much, it may be the occasion of usefulness. It is the point desired by the philosopher where to plant the lever that shall move the world. It is the napkin in which are wrapped, not only the talent of silver, but the treasures of knowledge and the fruits of virtue. Saving time, we save all these.
Employing time to the best advantage, we exercise a true thrift. To each of us the passing day is of the same dimensions, nor can any one, by taking thought, add a moment to its hours. But, though unable to extend their duration, he may swell them with works.
It is customary to say, "Take care of the small sums, and the large will take care of themselves." With equal wisdom may it be said, "Watch the minutes, and the hours and days will be safe." The moments are precious; they are gold filings, to be carefully preserved and melted into the rich ingot.
Time is the measure of life on earth. Its enjoyment is life itself. Its divisions, its days, its hours, its minutes, are fractions of this heavenly gift. Every moment that flies over our heads takes from the future, shortening by so much the measure of our days.
The moments lost in listlessness, or squandered in dissipation, are perhaps hours, days, weeks, months, years. The daily sacrifice of a single hour during a year comes at its end to thirty-six working days, an amount of time ample for the acquisition of important knowledge, and for the accomplishment of great good. Who of us does not each day, in many ways, sacrifice these precious moments, these golden hours?
Seek, then, always to be usefully occupied. Employ all the faculties, whether in study or in manual labor, and your days shall be filled with usefulness.
LESSON LII
THE STUDY OF CIVICS
Few people have the time to undertake a thorough study of civics, but everyone ought to find time to learn the principal features of the government under which he lives. We should know also of the way in which our government came into existence, and how this government is administered to-day. Such knowledge is necessary for the proper discharge of the duties of citizenship.
All kinds of political questions are discussed daily in the newspapers and voted on at times at the polls, and it is the duty of every man to try to understand them. For if these questions are not intelligently settled, they will be settled by the ignorant, and the result will be very bad.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. People sometimes think that, because our national government is called a republic, and we have free schools and free libraries and other such free institutions, our liberty is forever secure. Our government is indeed a wonderful structure of political skill, and generally runs so very smoothly that we almost think it will run of itself. Beware!
In order that the government of the nation, of the state, of the city or the town shall be properly administered, it is necessary that every citizen be watchful to secure the best officers for its government.
USEFUL INFORMATION
The great obelisk in Central Park, New York, is one of the most noted monoliths in the world. It was quarried, carved and erected about the time of Abraham, to commemorate the deeds of an ancient Pharaoh. Five hundred years later the conquering Sesostris, the bad Pharaoh of the Bible, carved on its surface the record of his famous reign.
Now Sesostris, or Rameses II, reigned one thousand years before the Trojan war, so that all the symbols now seen on the obelisk were already very old in the days of Priam, Hector and Ulysses. The Roman poet Horace says that there were many brave men before Agamemnon, but there was no Homer to put their valiant deeds in verse. Sesostris was an exception. He escaped oblivion without the aid of Homer, and the figures upon the hard granite of Cleopatra's Needle tell us even now, after more than thirty-five centuries, of the reign of that remarkable king.
LESSON LIII
THE SEA AND ITS USES
It is a common thing in speaking of the sea to call it "a waste of waters." But this is a mistake. Instead of being a waste and a desert, it keeps the earth itself from becoming a waste and a desert. It is the world's fountain of life and health and beauty, and if it were taken away, the grass would perish from the mountains, the forests would crumble on the hills. Water is as indispensable to all life, vegetable or animal, as the air itself. This element of water is supplied entirely by the sea. The sea is the great inexhaustible fountain which is continually pouring up into the sky precisely as many streams, and as large, as all the rivers of the world are pouring into the sea.
The sea is the real birthplace of the clouds and the rivers, and out of it come all the rains and dews of heaven. Instead of being a waste and an incumbrance, therefore, it is a vast fountain of fruitfulness, and the nurse and mother of all the living. Out of its mighty breast come the resources that feed and support the population of the world. We are surrounded by the presence and bounty of the sea.
It is the sea that feeds us. It is the sea that clothes us. It cools us with the summer cloud, and warms us with the blazing fires of winter. We make wealth for ourselves and for our children out of its rolling waters, though we may live a thousand leagues away from its shore. Thus the sea, though it bears no harvest on its bosom, yet sustains all the harvest of the world. If like a desert itself, it makes all the other wildernesses of the earth to bud and blossom as the rose. Though its own waters are as salt and wormwood, it makes the clouds of heaven drop with sweetness.
The sea is a perpetual source of health to the world. Without it there could be no drainage for the lands. It is the scavenger of the world. The sea is also set to purify the atmosphere. Thus the sea, instead of being a waste of waters, is the very fountain of life, health and beauty.
LESSON LIV
WONDERLAND
Many of you have read of the remarkable geysers of Iceland and the more remarkable ones in New Zealand, of grand cañons in Arizona, of deep mountain gorges in Colorado, of stupendous falls in Africa, of lofty mountains covered with snow in Europe, of elevated lakes in South America, of natural bridges in Virginia; but who has ever conceived of having all these wonders in one spot of the earth, and forever free as a great National Park, visited each summer by thousands of native and foreign travelers?
Travelers report that this corner of the earth seems to be not quite finished by the great Creator. Through all this region volcanic action has been exceedingly vigorous. The effect of fire upon the rocks is plainly visible and widely spread. Whole mountains of volcanic rock exist. Floods of lava everywhere abound. The last feeble evidence of this gigantic force is to be seen in the hot springs on Gardiner River and on many other streams, and in the strange action of the geyser basins.
There are sixteen important geysers in this section, and innumerable inferior ones. One geyser is called the "Giantess." It throws a great mass of water to a small height, surging and splashing in all directions. One of the most noted geysers is called the "Castle Geyser," because of its size and general appearance. The opening of the geyser tube is circular, and about three feet in diameter.
When this geyser is about to spout, a rumbling is heard as of thousands of tons of stones rolling round and round. Louder and louder grows the noise and disturbance, till it has thrown out a few tons of water and obtained apparent relief.
These are warnings to the observers to retreat to a safe distance. In a few moments the geyser increases in noise, the earth even trembles, and then a great column of water is hurled into the air.
Another geyser is "Old Faithful," so called because he plays regularly every sixty-five minutes. The crater is quite low, and contains an opening which is only the widening of a crack extending across the whole mound. On the summit are a number of beautiful little pools, several feet deep, filled with water so clear that a name written in pencil on a piece of stone and placed at the bottom of the deepest pool is seen as clearly as if held in the hand. Another remarkable fact is, that the water does not efface the name, even after months of submersion.
Old Faithful begins with a few feeble jets. Soon every spasm becomes more powerful, till with a mighty roar, up comes the water in a great column. This rises to the height of one hundred and thirty feet for the space of about five minutes. After the column of water sinks down there is a discharge of steam.
The "Beehive Geyser" is named after the shape of its cone. The water and steam issue from the opening in a steady stream, instead of in successive impulses, as in the two mentioned above. No water falls back from this geyser, but the whole mass appears to be driven up into fine spray or steam, which is carried away as cloud, or diffused into the atmosphere.
The names of some of the other well-known geysers are the "Giant," "Grotto," "Soda," "Turban," and "Young Faithful." The tremendous force with which some of these hot springs even now act, and the peculiarities of the earth's formation in this section of our country, may give us some faint idea of the phenomena through which our little world has passed until it became the dwelling-place of man.
LESSON LV
OUR COUNTRY TO-DAY
PART I
The United States is one of the youngest nations of the world. Civilized men first went to England nearly twenty centuries ago, but since Columbus discovered America only four centuries have passed. Each of these four centuries has a character of its own and is quite unlike the others. The first was the time of exploring, the second of colonizing, the third of deciding who should rule in America, and the fourth of growth and development.
During the first century explorers from France, England, and Spain visited the New World, each claiming for his own country the part that he explored. Each hoped to find gold, but only the Spaniards, who went to Mexico and Peru, were successful. There was little thought of making settlements, and at the end of the first century the Spanish colonies of St. Augustine and Santa Fe were the only ones on the mainland of what is now the territory of the United States.
During the second century much colonizing was done. The French settled
chiefly along the Saint Lawrence River; the English settled along the
Atlantic coast of North America; the Spanish in Mexico and South
America; the Dutch by the Hudson River; the Swedes by the Delaware.
The European nations discovered that it was worth while to have
American colonies.
During the third century there was a long struggle to see which nation should rule in America. England and France were far ahead of the others, but which of them should it be? The French and Indian Wars gave the answer, "England." Then another question arose; should it be England or the Thirteen Colonies? The Revolutionary War answered, "The Colonies." At the end of the third century the United States had been established, and the land east of the Mississippi was under her rule.
In the last century there has been a great gain in people and in land. To-day there are thirty times as many people in this country as there were then.
USEFUL INFORMATION
It may not be generally known that we have in the nickel five-cent piece of our American coinage a key to the tables of linear measures and weights. The diameter of a nickel is exactly two centimeters, and its weight is five grammes. Five nickels in a row will give the length of the decimeter, and two of them will weigh a decagram. As the kiloliter is a cubic meter, the key of the measure of length is also that of capacity.
Among the North American Indians polished shells were used as currency.
This money was called wampum and was recognized by the colonists.
Six white shells were exchanged for three purple beads, and these in
turn were equivalent to one English penny.
LESSON LVI
OUR COUNTRY TO-DAY
PART II
How has it come about that the number of people in the United States has increased with such rapidity? It is partly because more have been born than have died, and partly because so many have come from foreign countries. Fifty years ago large villages were common in which there were hardly any foreigners. Now one-sixth of the whole number of inhabitants of the United States are people who were born in some other country.
These people are glad to come because the workingmen of America receive higher wages than those of any other country, and because in America a man is free to rise to any position that he is fitted to hold. The country is ready to give the education that will prepare her citizens to rise to high positions. It is believed that an educated man is likely to make a better citizen than an ignorant man, and therefore the public schools of the United States are entirely free. Then, too, there are public libraries not only in the cities but in many of the little villages, so that men who are too old to go to school may educate themselves by reading. There is opportunity to use all kinds of knowledge in carrying on the manufactures of the country. Almost everything that used to be made by hand is now made by machinery, and the skill to invent a machine that will work a little better than the one in use is always well rewarded. Knowledge is also needed to develop the mineral wealth of the country. Within the limits of the United States are metals, coal, natural gas, and petroleum, and it is the skill and inventive genius of her citizens that have brought such great wealth to the country from these products.
This inventive genius has also given us rapid and cheap transportation. In the old days a man had to make or raise most things for himself. Manufactured articles that could be made very cheaply in one place became exceedingly dear when they had to be carried long distances by wagons over poor roads. Many delicate kinds of fruit would spoil on such long journeys. Now, fruit can be sent from California to Maine in fine condition. Cheap and rapid transportation is a great convenience. Business men need not live in the cities near their offices,—the steam or electric cars will carry them eight or ten miles in the time that it would take to walk one mile. The postal service and the telegraph are sure and rapid. So also is the telephone. No wonder, then, that our commerce has reached the fabulous sum of one billion, five hundred million dollars in one year.
What the United States will become tomorrow, will lie in the hands of those who are the children of to-day.
LESSON LVII
PICTURES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY
On the southern bank of the James River in Virginia stand the ruins of an old church. Its crumbling tower and broken arch are almost hidden by the tangled vines which cover it. Within the walls of the church-yard may be found a few ancient tombstones overgrown with ivy and long grass.
This is all that remains of the first English settlement in
America,—the colony of Jamestown, Virginia.
This first permanent English settlement in the New World was made in the year 1607, more than a hundred years after the discovery of America by Columbus. Some attempts to colonize had been made by the English before this time. The most important of these was undertaken by the famous but unfortunate Sir Walter Raleigh.
Raleigh obtained from Queen Elizabeth a grant of a vast territory, to be called Virginia, in honor of Elizabeth, the "virgin queen." It extended from the Hudson River to the boundary of what is now Georgia.
In attempting to colonize Virginia, Raleigh spent a large fortune. But his colonies never prospered. The settlers returned home disgusted with the hardships of the wilderness. In 1589 Raleigh sold his rights to a stock company.
Nevertheless the enterprise which proved too difficult for Raleigh was carried out during Raleigh's lifetime, under the leadership of the famous John Smith.
The idea of colonizing Virginia had been growing wonderfully. In 1606 a company of "noblemen, gentlemen, and merchants," called the London Company, obtained from King James the First a charter for "planting and ruling" South Virginia.
The company had gathered together a band of men willing to try their fortunes in Virginia, and they were just about to embark when Smith reached London. To Smith's bold and roving disposition the idea of a New World was irresistible, and he joined the colonists.
In the last month of the year 1606, the party—in all, one hundred and five men—set sail in a little fleet of three vessels commanded by Captain Newport.
On the 23d of May, 1607, after a weary and distressing voyage, the Virginia colonists landed. They commenced the settlement of Jamestown. When the king's sealed instructions were opened, and the names of the seven directors were made known, it was found that John Smith was to be one of the seven. Through the jealousy of Wingfield, who was chosen president, he was not allowed to take his place in the council.
But this did not prevent his being the ablest man among them, and the colonists were soon glad to turn to him for guidance. For now their condition was most deplorable. They were surrounded by hostile Indians; the provisions they had brought from England were soon consumed; and the diseases caused by the hot, moist climate in a short time reduced their number by one-half.
Besides, the colonists were a troublesome class to deal with. Many of them were broken-down "gentlemen," who despised hard work. A very few were farmers or mechanics or persons fitted for the life they sought.
Day by day Smith made his influence more and more felt. He soon became the head of the colony. He put in force the good old rule that he who would not work should not eat.
Many strange adventures are told about John Smith during the two years he remained in Virginia. He left the colony in the autumn of 1609 on account of a severe wound which he received, and which obliged him to return to England to be cured.
The colonists, having lost the guidance of this resourceful man, were soon reduced to great want; still they held out and later on became a flourishing colony.
LESSON LVIII
THOMAS A. EDISON
One of the greatest inventors of the age is Thomas A. Edison, and his whole life is an interesting story for young people. His mother had been a teacher, and her greatest wish for her son was that he should love knowledge and grow up to be a good and useful man.
When Edison was only twelve years of age, he secured a position as train boy on the Grand Trunk Railroad in one of the western states. He went through the train and sold apples, peanuts, papers, and books. He had such a pleasant face that everybody liked to buy his wares. He traded some of his papers for things with which to try experiments. He then fitted out an old baggage car as a little room in which he began his first efforts in the way of inventions.
One of the things he did while working as a train boy was to print a paper on the train. The "London Times" spoke of it as the only paper in the world published on a train. It was named the "Grand Trunk Herald."
Young Edison worked as a train boy for four years, and he had in that time saved two thousand dollars, which he gave to his parents.
Once he thought he would like to read all the books in the city library. He read for a long time, but he found that he could not finish all the books. He then made up his mind that one would have to live a thousand years in order to read all the books in that library, so he gave up the idea.
One day he bought a book on electricity. Soon after that the basement of his home was filled with many odd things. He used a stovepipe to connect his home with that of another boy, and through this the boys could talk when they wished.
A kind friend taught young Edison how to telegraph, and in five months he could operate well and was given a position. He worked very hard, night and day, so that he could learn all he could about electricity. He lost place after place because he was always trying some new idea. When he first proposed to send four messages on one wire at the same time, he was laughed at by the people; but Edison succeeded. Later on he invented the phonograph. His greatest invention is the incandescent light, which is used for lighting purposes.
Mr. Edison loves his work, and although he is now a very wealthy man, he keeps on inventing and working every day. It is said that he sometimes works for twenty-four hours, day and night, without food or rest, until he has perfected some new invention. Mr. Edison is a true type of an American gentleman.
SELECTION XVII
OFT IN THE STILLY NIGHT
Oft in the stilly night,
Ere slumber's chain has bound me,
Fond memory brings the light
Of other days around me;
The smiles, the tears
Of boyhood's years,
The words of love then spoken;
The eyes that shone,
Now dimm'd and gone,
The cheerful hearts now broken.
Thus in the stilly night,
Ere slumber's chain has bound me,
Sad memory brings the light
Of other days around me.
When I remember all
The friends, so linked together,
I've seen around me fall,
Like leaves in wintry weather,
I feel like one
Who treads alone
Some banquet hall deserted,
Whose lights are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
And all but he departed.
Thus in the stilly night,
Ere slumber's chain has bound me,
Sad memory brings the light
Of other days around me.
Thomas Moore.
LESSON LIX
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Abraham Lincoln, the restorer of the Union, the sixteenth president of the United States, was born in Kentucky on the twelfth of February, 1809. His father was a typical backwoodsman, and young Lincoln grew up among frontier surroundings. The Lincoln family came originally from Pennsylvania. At a later period the Lincolns moved south to Virginia, and again they migrated to Kentucky. It was here that the grandfather of Abraham Lincoln lost his life in a battle with the Indians.
The first seven years of Lincoln's life were spent in the wilds of Kentucky. In 1816 his father left that state and moved northward to Indiana, but here the surroundings were not much better. A rude blockhouse, with a single large room below and a low garret above, was the home of our young hero. Every hardship and privation of the pioneer's life was here the lot of our growing youth. But he loved the tangled woods, and hunting and fishing were his delight.
There were no schools there, and Abraham learned a little reading and writing from a man who shared the poor blockhouse with the Lincoln family. For writing, a slate was used, and now and then a pine board, or even some flat stone upon which the figures were traced with charcoal. His books were few, but he read them over and over again, and the impressions they made on him were so much the deeper. In this way Lincoln acquired the rudiments of education. When Abraham was scarcely nine years old, his excellent mother died. His father married again, and fortunately for young Lincoln, his stepmother was a lady of refinement, who took the greatest interest in her rugged but talented step-son. She sent him to a private school for a while, and Abraham learned many useful things and easily kept at the head of his class. His stepmother also procured more books for him, for Abraham was a most ardent reader, and he spent all his leisure time in reading and self-culture. Being tall of stature and well built, young Lincoln had to help his father on the farm a great deal, and the only time left for study was late at night or in the early morning.
Thus our future president grew up to manhood; a sturdy, awkward, but honest backwoodsman, with a sound mind in a healthy body.
When Lincoln was about eighteen years old, his father again moved northward, this time to Illinois. Here Abraham continued to work and to improve his mind as best he might. Borrowing books from some law office, he studied them at night and returned them in the morning. His honesty and true merit were soon recognized by the rest of the community where he lived, and he was elected to represent the people in the legislature.
Lincoln became a lawyer of more than ordinary ability, and although his appearance remained somewhat ungainly, he easily won his lawsuits by the clear and logical conclusions which he advanced over those of his opponents. He had thus secured a splendid law-practice and had settled in Springfield, Illinois, when he became the republican candidate for president of the United States in 1860, and was elected the same year.
The country at this time was agitated over two great questions: the question of slavery and that of secession. The South was ready to separate from the North, and the entire country was in a most critical condition. Such was the state of affairs when Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office as president of the United States. Lincoln was scarcely three weeks in office when the great war of the Rebellion between the North and the South broke out; a war of which there is no parallel in history. Brother fought against brother, and father against son. Here it was that Lincoln showed his heroic courage, and by his indomitable will kept the reins of government firmly in his hands, thus saving the country from utter anarchy. The war continued with unrelenting vigor for two years, and its horrible consequences were sorely felt throughout the land. In September, 1862, Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation, by which slavery was forever banished from this country. Still the warring did not cease. In 1864 Lincoln was elected for a second term in office. The people knew his noble character and they had full confidence in him.
At last peace seemed to be in sight. The North had sacrificed the blood of thousands of its men as well as the wealth of its treasuries. The South, in the same manner, had not only lost tens of thousands of its bravest men, but it was utterly ruined, on account of the terrible punishment the war had inflicted upon that sunny land.
Richmond, the stronghold of the rebellion, had fallen, and victory was on the side of the Union. Amidst universal rejoicings, there came the saddest news. On the 14th day of April, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
The whole nation was thrown into deepest mourning. The noble heart of
Lincoln beat no more. He is called the "Martyr President."
His remains were taken to Springfield, Illinois, where they rest at the foot of a small hill in Oakwood Cemetery. A simple monument, with the name—"Lincoln"—upon it, is the only epitaph of him, who next to Washington was the greatest man of our glorious Republic.
LESSON LX
ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE DEDICATION OF THE CEMETERY AT GETTYSBURG
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that the nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln.
November 19th, 1863.
SELECTION XVIII
THE PICKET OF THE POTOMAC
"All quiet along the Potomac," they say,
"Except now and then a stray picket
Is shot as he walks on his beat to and fro,
By a rifleman hid in the thicket."
'Tis nothing—a private or two now and then
Will not count in the tale of the battle;
Not an officer lost—only one of the men
Breathing out all alone the death-rattle.
All quiet along the Potomac to-night,
Where the soldiers lie peacefully dreaming,
Their tents in the ray of the clear autumn moon,
And the light of the watch-fires gleaming.
A tremulous sigh from the gentle night wind
Through the forest leaves slowly is creeping,
While the stars up above, with their glittering eyes,
Keep watch while the army is sleeping.
There's only the sound of the lone sentry's tread,
As he tramps from the rock to the fountain,
And thinks of the two in the low trundle-bed
Far away in the hut on the mountain.
His musket falls slack; his face, dark and grim,
Grows gentle with memories tender,
As he mutters a prayer for the children asleep,
For their mother,—may heaven defend her!
The moon seems to shine as serenely as then,
That night when the love, yet unspoken,
Lingered long on his lips, and when low-murmured vows
Were pledged, never more to be broken.
Then, drawing his sleeve roughly over his eyes,
He dashes the tears that are welling,
And gathers his gun closer up to its place,
As if to keep down the heart-swelling.
He passes the fountain, the blasted pine-tree—
The footstep is lagging and weary;
Yet onward he glides through the broad belt of light,
Towards the shade of a forest so dreary.
Hark! Was it the night wind that rustled the leaves?
Is it moonlight so suddenly flashing?
It looked like a rifle— "Ha, Mary, good-night!"
His life-blood is ebbing and dashing.
All quiet along the Potomac to-night,
No sound save the rush of the river;
But the dew falls unseen on the face of the dead—
The picket's off duty forever.
Ethel L. Beers.
LESSON LXI
WAGES
Wages are a compensation given to the laborer for the exertion of his physical powers, or of his skill and ingenuity. They must, therefore, vary according to the severity of the labor to be performed, or to the degree of skill and ingenuity required. A jeweller or engraver, for example, must be paid a higher rate of wages than a servant or laborer. A long course of training is necessary to instruct a man in the business of jewelling or engraving, and if the cost of his training were not made up to him in a higher rate of wages, he would, instead of learning so difficult an art, betake himself to such employments as require hardly any instruction.
A skilled mason, who has served a long apprenticeship to his trade, will always obtain higher wages than a common laborer, who has simply to use his mere bodily strength. Were it not so, there would be nothing to induce the mason to spend many years in learning a trade at which he could earn no higher wages than the man who was simply qualified to carry lime in a hod, or to roll a wheelbarrow.
The wages of labor in different employments vary with the constancy and inconstancy of employment. Employment is much more constant in some trades than in others. Many trades can be carried on only in particular states of weather, and seasons of the year; and if the workmen who are employed in these cannot easily find employment in others during the time they are thrown out of work, their wages must be proportionally raised. A journeyman weaver, shoemaker, or tailor may reckon, unless trade is dull, upon obtaining constant employment; but masons, bricklayers, pavers, and in general all those workmen who carry on their business in the open air, are liable to constant interruptions. Their wages, accordingly, must be sufficient to maintain them while they are employed, and also when they are necessarily idle.
From the preceding observations it is evident that those who receive the highest wages are not, when the cost of their education, and the chances of their success, are taken into account, really better paid than those who receive the lowest. The wages earned by the different classes of workmen are equal, not when each individual earns the same number of dollars in a given space of time, but when each is paid in proportion to the severity of the labor he has to perform, and to the degree of previous education and skill it requires. So long as each individual is allowed to employ himself as he pleases, we may be assured that the rate of wages in different employments will be comparatively equal.
SELECTION XIX
COLUMBIA, THE GEM OF THE OCEAN; OR, THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE
1. O Columbia, the gem of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free,
The shrine of each patriot's devotion,
A world offers homage to thee.
Thy mandates make heroes assemble,
When Liberty's form stands in view,
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the red, white and blue.
CHORUS.
When borne by the red, white and blue,
When borne by the red, white and blue,
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the red, white and blue.
2. When war winged its wide desolation.
And threatened the land to deform,
The ark then of freedom's foundation,
Columbia, rode safe thro' the storm;
With her garlands of vict'ry around her,
When so proudly she bore her brave crew,
With her flag proudly floating before her,
The boast of the red, white and blue.
CHORUS.
3. The wine-cup, the wine-cup bring hither,
And fill you it true to the brim;
May the wreaths they have won never wither,
Nor the star of their glory grow dim.
May the service united ne'er sever,
But they to their colors prove true.
The Army and Navy forever,
Three cheers for the red, white and blue.
CHORUS.
David T. Shaw.
LESSON LXII
LOVE FOR THE DEAD
The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal—every other affliction to forget; but this wound we consider it a duty to keep open—this affliction we cherish and brood over in solitude. Where is the mother who would willingly forget the infant that perished like a blossom from her arms, though every recollection is a pang? Where is the child that would willingly forget the most tender of parents, though to remember be but to lament? Who, even in the hour of agony, would forget the friend over whom he mourns? Who, even when the tomb is closing upon the remains of her he most loved—when he feels his heart, as it were, crushed in the closing of its portal—would accept of consolation that must be bought by forgetfulness?
No, the love which survives the tomb is one of the noblest attributes of the soul. If it has its woes, it has likewise its delights; and when the overwhelming burst of grief is calmed into the gentle tear of recollection—when the sudden anguish and the convulsive agony over the present ruins of all that we most loved is softened away into pensive meditation on all that it was in the days of its loveliness—who would root out such a sorrow from the heart? Though it may sometimes throw a passing cloud over the bright hour of gayety, or spread a deeper sadness over the hour of gloom, yet who would exchange it, even for the song of pleasure or the burst of revelry? No, there is a voice from the tomb sweeter than song. There is a remembrance of the dead to which we turn even from the charms of the living. Oh, the grave! the grave! It buries every error—covers every defect. From its peaceful bosom spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections. Who can look down upon the grave even of an enemy, and not feel remorse that he should ever have warred with the poor handful of earth that lies mouldering before him?
LESSON LXIII
ECONOMY OF TIME
One of the most important lessons to be learned in life is the art of economizing time. A celebrated Italian was wont to call his time his estate; and it is true of this as of other estates of which the young come into possession, that it is rarely prized till it is nearly squandered. Habits of indolence, listlessness, and sloth, once firmly fixed, cannot be suddenly thrown off, and the man who has wasted the precious hours of life's seed-time finds that he cannot reap a harvest in life's autumn. Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine; but lost time is gone forever. In the long catalogue of excuses for neglect of duty, there is none which drops more often from men's lips than the want of leisure. People are always cheating themselves with the idea that they would do this or that desirable thing, "if they only had the time." It is thus that the lazy and the selfish excuse themselves from a thousand things which conscience dictates should be done. Now, the truth is, there is no condition in which the chance of doing any good is less than in that of leisure.
Go, seek out the men in any community who have done the most for their own and the general good, and you will find they are—who?—Wealthy, leisurely people, who have plenty of time to themselves, and nothing to do? No; they are almost always the men who are in ceaseless activity from January to December. Such men, however pressed with business, are always found capable of doing a little more; and you may rely on them in their busiest seasons with ten times more assurance than on idle men.
The men who do the greatest things do them, not so much by fitful efforts, as by steady, unremitting toil,—by turning even the moments to account. They have the genius for hard work,—the most desirable kind of genius.
SELECTION XX
RECESSIONAL
God of our fathers, known of old—
Lord of our far-flung battle-line—
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget.
The tumult and the shouting dies—
The captain and the kings depart—
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget.
Far-called our navies melt away—
On dune and headland sinks the fire—
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre.
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget.
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe—
Such boasting as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget.
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard—
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard,—
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord. Amen.
Rudyard Kipling.
SELECTION XXI
HUMAN PROGRESS
All is action, all is motion,
In this mighty world of ours;
Like the current of the ocean,
Man is urged by unseen powers.
Steadily, but strongly moving,
Life is onward evermore;
Still the present is improving
On the age that went before.
Duty points with outstretched fingers,
Every soul to action high;
Woe betide the soul that lingers—
Onward! onward! is the cry.
Though man's form may seem victorious,
War may waste and famine blight,
Still from out the conflict glorious,
Mind comes forth with added light.
O'er the darkest night of sorrow,
From the deadliest field of strife,
Dawns a clearer, brighter morrow,
Springs a truer, nobler life.
Onward! onward! onward, ever!
Human progress none may stay;
All who make the vain endeavor
Shall, like chaff, be swept away.
J. Hagan.
LESSON LXIV
GEORGE STEPHENSON, THE ENGINEER
A famous engineer, named Stephenson, was the first person to demonstrate the fact that an engine could be built which would draw a train of cars on a railway. He was an Englishman. His parents were poor, and the whole family had to live in one room. George was one of six children; none of them were sent to school, because they had to work for their living.
From an early age George had assisted his father in tending the fires of the steam engine which worked the machinery of a large coal mine. He devoted himself to the study of this engine until he had mastered every detail of its construction. In 1813, a rich nobleman entrusted him with money to carry out his favorite plan of building a "traveling engine," as he then called it.
He made an engine that was fairly successful, as it drew eight loaded cars on a railway at a speed of four miles an hour. But he was not contented; he knew that he could do much better. Soon afterward, he was employed to construct another engine, in which he made some great improvements that enabled it to go twice as fast as the other.
Accounts of Stephenson's great invention crept into print, and people began to have faith in the locomotive. In 1822, a company began to build a line of railway between two towns named Stockton and Darlington. Stephenson was employed to construct the road-bed and build the engines. It was completed three years later, and was the subject of great popular curiosity.
Great crowds came to see the line opened. Stephenson himself drove the first engine. The train consisted of thirty-four cars. The signal was given and the train started. Great was the sensation as it moved off, and still greater was the admiration of the people at Stockton when the train arrived there after a safe journey. Thus, in 1825, was opened the first railway ever made for public use.
Stephenson was soon engaged in constructing a railway between Manchester and Liverpool. But now a storm of opposition broke out. Pamphlets and newspaper articles were written, making fun of Stephenson, and declaring that the new railroad would be a failure. It was claimed that the engine would certainly set fire to the surrounding country, that it would explode and kill the passengers, and that it would run over the people before they could get out of its way.
A committee was appointed by the English Parliament to look into the matter. They sneered at Stephenson as a lunatic, when he assured them that he could run his engine at twelve miles an hour. One of these wise men said to him: "Suppose a cow were to get in the way of an engine running at that rate of speed, wouldn't that be a very awkward circumstance?" "Yes," answered Stephenson, "very awkward for the cow."
But the consent of Parliament was at last obtained, and the line was completed in 1830, after many great obstacles had been overcome. It was shown that a train could be run at thirty miles an hour with safety, and thus the enemies of Stephenson were silenced.
Stephenson superintended the building of many other lines of railroad, and lived to see his best hopes realized. He became quite wealthy, and many honors were bestowed upon him. Nevertheless he remained always a simple, kindly man, even in his years of prosperity.
When England had experienced such success with railways, it was not long before America began building railroads on a large scale.
More than three hundred thousand miles of railroads are now in operation in the United States, and many more miles are added each year. The great systems of railways, with their modern improvements for fast travel, are a triumph of skill, energy and enterprise.
LESSON LXV
GEORGE WASHINGTON
PART II
The boundary war between France and the British possessions in America had been the cause of the war from 1753 to 1759 in which Washington and thousands of his countrymen did gallant services. It ended with the surrender of Quebec, by which France lost her foothold in the Ohio valley and all the territory east of the Mississippi.
Ten years later, the whole aspect had changed. The same country, for which our forefathers in the colonies had sacrificed some of their noblest sons, was now beginning to oppress these very colonies. By unjust taxation, England tried to replenish her treasury, which a protracted war across the seas had made empty. But though the war against the French in the interest of England had cost the colonies in America some of its best blood, it had not been without its salutary lesson. America had learned its own strength as well as the weakness of the British soldiers and her public officials. Washington, above all, knew these facts too well. He was, however, no agitator, and for many reasons was deeply attached to old England. He, therefore, cautioned reserve and forbearance without sacrificing his patriotism.
In the meantime the Revolution came to an outbreak. Washington was called upon by his compatriots to lead them on to liberty. After careful examination and due consideration he consented, and Washington took command of the colonial troops in the war against England. "It is my intention," said he, "if needs be, to sacrifice my life, my liberty and all my possessions in this holy cause."
Thus, we see him leading the army, animated with the noblest sentiments. General Washington was now forty-three years of age and in the full power of manhood. His personality was distinguished and his bearing serene. He electrified the whole army.
The Colonial troops, however, were not at all times equal to the well-drilled English soldiers, and General Washington had a difficult task before him. But what the Americans lacked in military tactics, they doubly possessed in enthusiasm and courage.
From Lexington and Boston, Bunker Hill and Concord, through Connecticut, New York, Philadelphia, Valley Forge, and from Princeton to Morristown was a wearisome march. Want of provisions for the army under his command, as well as many other disappointments, might well have discouraged any but the stoutest heart. General Washington was a hero, and he trusted in God and the ultimate success of the country's just cause. When at last the American army was in sorest distress, there came unexpected help from many quarters.
Such noble and self-sacrificing men as Lafayette, Steuben, Kosciusko, De Kalb and De Grasse arrived to aid our new republic, and after an unrelenting war of six long years, British rule was forever banished from the land.
On the 4th of December, 1782, General Washington took leave of the continental army. His memorable speech on that occasion is a masterpiece of unselfish patriotism.
He retired to his home at Mount Vernon, followed by the heartfelt blessings of a grateful people. His private life was one of regularity in all his doings. His hospitality was renowned, and Mount Vernon soon became a much frequented, much beloved place of reunion for many distinguished visitors.
Not a great many years was Washington permitted to enjoy his well-merited repose in his country home. The same country of which he had been the successful liberator, now called upon him to lead and guide this newly established government. Washington was chosen the First President of the United States of America in 1789.
It was at this time that he wrote in his diary: "To-day I take leave of private life and domestic happiness with feelings of regret, and am preparing to enter upon my official career. I hope I shall be able to realize the expectations my country has placed in me."
His journey from Mount Vernon to New York became one of triumph. He was met with the greatest enthusiasm throughout the country wherever he passed. He took his oath of office in New York City where the sub-treasury now stands.
Washington was elected a second time for the presidency. His presidential career was characteristic of the man and the hero.
An equitable and conservative government was administered by him, and the young republic was prosperous and progressive during his two terms of office.
Having returned once more to his beloved Virginia home, Washington now spent his declining years in much needed rest and quiet recreation.
In the fall of the year 1799 Washington was seized with a malignant fever. The best medical aid proved unavailing, and the Father of our Country died on the 14th day of December. His last words were: "Let me die in peace; I am not afraid to die, it is a debt we all must pay."
The exemplary life and the many noble achievements of this truly great man stand almost unique in the history of nations.
LESSON LXVI
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Benjamin Franklin was born poor, but nothing could keep him ignorant. His genius and strong will were wealth enough for any man. At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to his brother James, who was a printer. At the same time—perhaps a little later—he used to sell his own ballads in the streets of Boston.
At twenty-one years of age he was a master printer in Philadelphia, in his shop on Market Street. He had been at school in Boston for two years, but after the age of ten he had been obliged to teach himself: he was too poor to spend even those early years in a schoolhouse. Yet he learned without such helps as schools and schoolmasters afford. He studied Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, and German, and lived to hear two continents call him the greatest philosopher of his time.
He discovered that lightning and electricity are the same, and taught men how to guard their houses against the thunder-bolt. To his great mind it seemed that all things came alike: no invention was too simple, and no idea too lofty. Whatever had to be done was worth doing in the best and simplest way: that was the ruling principle of Benjamin Franklin's life.
He was an earnest and fearless patriot, always on the side of the people and their rights. His strong will, his cool manner, and his bold spirit made him an enemy not to be scorned by England. "What used to be the pride of the Americans?" asked a member of the English Parliament in 1776. And Franklin, then pleading the cause of the colonies before the House of Commons, replied, "To indulge in the fashions and wear the manufactures of Great Britain."
The Englishman, sure that Franklin would be less ready to answer, continued: "What is now their pride?" And in a flash the old philosopher of threescore and ten said, "To wear their old clothes over again till they can make new ones." Years had not broken the strong will or dulled the sharp wit.
His efforts to secure for the Americans the aid of France can never be forgotten by the American people. Burgoyne's surrender made the French believe that the patriots' cause was worthy of assistance, but it is quite certain that the eloquence of Dr. Franklin, as the French people called the Great American, had opened the way for all that followed.
Whatever favor he met with in society, whatever honor he received, whatever fame he acquired at home or abroad, he turned all to account for the good of his country.
SELECTION XXII
GIVE ME THE PEOPLE
Some love the glow of outward show,
The shine of wealth, and try to win it:
The house to me may lowly be,
If I but like the people in it.
What's all the gold that glitters cold,
When linked to hard and haughty feeling?
Whate'er we're told, the noblest gold
Is truth of heart and honest dealing.
A humble roof may give us proof
That simple flowers are often fairest;
And trees whose bark is hard and dark
May yield us fruit, and bloom the rarest.
There's worth as sure among the poor
As e'er adorned the highest station;
And minds as just as theirs, we trust,
Whose claim is but of rank's creation.
Then let them seek, whose minds are weak,
Mere fashion's smile, and try to win it:
The house to me may lowly be,
If I but like the people in it.
Charles Swain.
LESSON LXVII
NOBILITY REWARDED
A rich man, feeling himself growing old, called his three sons around him and said: "I am resolved to divide my goods equally among you. You shall each have your full share, but there is one thing which I have not included in the share of any one of you. It is this costly diamond which you see in my hand. I will give it to that one of you who shall earn it by the noblest deed. Go, therefore, and travel for three months; at the end of that time we will meet here again, and you shall tell me what you have done."
The sons departed accordingly, and traveled three months, each in a different direction. At the end of that time they returned; and all came together to their father to give an account of their journey.
The eldest son spoke first. He said: "On my journey a stranger entrusted to me a great number of valuable jewels, without taking any account of them. Indeed, I was well aware that he did not know how many the parcel contained. One or two of them would never have been missed, and I might easily have enriched myself without fear of detection. But I did no such thing; I gave back the parcel exactly as I had received it. Was not this a noble deed?"
"My son," said the father, "simple honesty cannot be called noble. You did what was right, and nothing more. If you had acted otherwise, you would have been dishonest, and your deed would have shamed you. You have done well, but not nobly."
The second son now spoke. He said: "As I was traveling on my journey one day, I saw a poor child playing by the edge of a lake; and, just as I rode by, it fell into the water, and was in danger of being drowned. I immediately dismounted from my horse, and, wading into the water, brought it safe to land. All the people of the village where this occurred can bear witness of the deed. Was it not a noble action?"
"My son," replied the old man, "you did only what was your duty, and you could hardly have left the innocent child to die without making an effort to save it. You, too, have acted well, but not nobly."
Then the third son came forward to tell his tale. He said: "I had an enemy, who for years has done me much harm and sought to take my life. One evening, during my late journey, I was passing along a dangerous road which ran beside the summit of a steep cliff. As I rode cautiously along, my horse started at sight of something lying in the road. I dismounted to see what it was, and found my enemy lying fast asleep on the very edge of the cliff. The least movement in his sleep, and he must have rolled over, and would have been dashed to pieces on the rocks below. His life was in my hands. I drew him away from the edge, and then woke him, and told him to go on his way in peace."
Then the old man cried out, in a transport of joy: "Dear son, the diamond is thine; for it is a noble and godlike thing to help the enemy, and to reward evil with good."