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(66.) LOVE OF LIFE.

Whatever is our situation or pursuit in life, the result will be much the same. The strength of the passion seldom corresponds to the pleasure we find in its indulgence. The miser "robs himself to increase his store;" the ambitious man toils up a slippery precipice only to be tumbled headlong from its height; the lover is infatuated with the charms of his mistress, exactly in proportion to the mortifications he has received from her. Even those who succeed in nothing are yet as unwilling as others to give over the unprofitable strife: their harassed feverish existence refuses rest, and frets the languor of exhausted hope into the torture of unavailing regret. The exile, who has been unexpectedly restored to his country and to liberty, often finds his courage fail with the accomplishment of all his wishes, and the struggle of life and hope ceases at the same instant.

(67.) COURAGE.

Be great in art, as you have been in thought.
Be stirring at the time; be fire with fire;
Threaten the threatener, and outface the brow
Of bragging horror; so shall inferior eyes,
That borrow their behaviours from the great,
Grow great by your example, and put on
The dauntless spirit of resolution.-Dryden.

(68.) GOLDEN DAFFODILS.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay :

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed and gazed-but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Wordsworth.

RULE III.

Sound the DEFINITE ARTICLE FULL before each word beginning with a vowel or silent h, and short only before consonants.

EXERCISES ON RULE III.

(69.) INSTABILITY OF HUMAN GREATNESS.

The horse was standing near the hotel, eating the oats which the ostler had fetched; the traveller rested himself under the awning, which the apple tree afforded; near him was the orchard, whose trees were weighed by the fruit of the abundant harvest; the uppermost branches appeared to be the most prolific, and the whole scene was clothed with the grandeur of the setting sun. At the distance of a few yards stands the village church; the traveller gazed for a few minutes and suffered his memory to recall these lines of Wayland on the "Emptiness of Glory:"-"The crumbling tombstone and the gorgeous mausoleum, the sculptured marble and the venerable cathedral, all bear witness to the instinctive desire within us to be remembered by coming generations. But how short-lived is the universality which the works of our hands can confer! The noblest monuments of art that the world has ever seen are covered with the soil of twenty centuries. The works of the age of Pericles lie at the foot of the Acropolis in indiscriminate ruin, the ploughshare turns up the marble which the hand of Phidias had chiselled into beauty, and the Mussulman has folded his flock beneath the falling

columns of the Temple of Minerva. But even the works of our hands too frequently survive the memory of those who have created them."

(70.) WILLIAM THE THIRD.

Never, since the year of the Restoration, had there been such signs of public gladness. In every part of the kingdom where the peace was proclaimed, the general sentiment was manifested by banquets, pageants, loyal healths, salutes, beating of drums, blowing of trumpets, breaking up of hogsheads. At some places the whole population, of its own accord, repaired to the churches to give thanks. At others processions of girls, clad all in white and crowned with laurels, carried banners inscribed with "God bless King William." At every county town a long cavalcade of the principal gentlemen, from a circle of many miles, escorted the mayor to the market-cross. Late in the evening he reached Greenwich, and rested in the stately building which, under his auspices, was turning from a palace into a hospital. On the next morning, a bright and soft morning, eighty coaches and six, filled with nobles, prelates, privy councillors and judges, came to swell his train. In Southwark he was met by the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen in all the pomp of office. The way through the Borough to the Bridge was lined by the Surrey militia; the way from the Bridge to Walbrook by three regiments of the militia of the City. All along Cheapside, on the right hand and on the left, the livery were marshalled under the standards of their trades. At the east end of Saint Paul's Churchyard stood the boys of the school of Edward the Sixth, wearing, as they still wear, the garb of the sixteenth century. Round the Cathedral, down Ludgate Hill, and along Fleet Street, were drawn up three more regiments of Londoners. From Temple Bar to Whitehall Gate the trainbands of Middlesex and the Foot Guards were under arms. The windows along the whole route were gay with tapestry, ribands, and flags. But the finest part of the show was the innumerable crowd of spectators, all in their Sunday clothing, and such clothing as only the upper classes of other countries could afford to wear. "I never," wrote William, "saw such a multitude of well-dressed people."-Macaulay.

RULE IV.

Sustain the voice at commas. Lower it at colons and semicolons. Change it at breaks and paragraphs. Raise it at points of exclamation. The upward dash is substituted for the comma, to indicate clearly that the voice must not be allowed to drop at the point so marked.

EXERCISES ON RULE IV.

(71.) CATARACT OF LODORE.

From its sources

How does the water come down at Lodore? which well in the tarn on the fell; from its fountains in the mountains/ its rills and its gills; through moss and through brake/ it runs and it creeps for a while/ till it sleeps in its own little lake. And thence at departing/ awakening and starting/ it runs through the reeds/ and away it proceeds through meadow and glade/ in sun and in shade and through the wood-shelter/ among crags in its flurry/ helter-skelter/ hurry-skurry. Here it comes sparkling/ and there it lies darkling; now smoking and frothing its tumult and wrath in; rising and leaping/ sinking and creeping/ swelling and sweeping/ showering and springing/ flying and flinging/ writhing and wringing/ eddying and whisking/ spouting and frisking/ turning and twisting/ around and around with endless rebound: smiting and fighting/ a sight to delight in/ confounding/ astounding/ dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound: collecting/ rejecting/ receding and speeding/ and shocking and rocking/ and darting and parting/ and thumping and plumping and jumping/ and dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing;—and so never ending/ but always descending/ sounds and motions for ever and ever are blending/ all at once and all o'er/ with a mighty uproar; and this way/ the water comes down at Lodore.-Southey.

(72.) ANGELS UNAWARES.

Sometimes they come as bearded men/
Familiar with life's dusty ways;
They walk beside us all their days/
With calm content beyond our ken.

Sometimes they come in women's dress;
We seek them in our daily needs/

We profit by their kindly deeds/
And sun us in their loveliness.

But oftenest in childhood's guise

They steal our hearts and homes within/
So innocent of guilt and sin/

We shrink before their wondering eyes.
But, ah! their wings are hid from sight/

Until we see them plumed for flight.

-Mrs. E. V. Wilson.

(73.) KING CANUTE.

Successful and triumphant/ assisted by the valour of the English in his foreign wars/ and with little strife at home/ Canute had a prosperous reign/ and made many improvements. He was a poet and a musician. He grew sorry as he grew older/ for the blood he had shed at first; and went to Rome in a pilgrim's dress/ by way of washing it out. He gave a great deal of money to foreigners on his journey; but he took it from the English before he started. On the whole/ however/ he certainly became a far better man when he had no opposition to contend with/ and was as great a king as England had known for some time. The old writers of history relate how that Canute was one day disgusted with his courtiers for their flattery/ and how he caused his chair to be set on the sea-shore/ and feigned to command the tide as it came up not to wet the edge of his robe for the land was his; how the tide came up of course/ without regarding him; and how he then turned to his flatterers/ and rebuked them/ saying/ what was the might of any earthly king/ to the might of the Creator/ who could say unto the sea/ "Thus far shalt thou go/ and no farther!" We may learn from this/ I think/ that a little sense will go a long way in a king; and that courtiers are not easily cured of flattery/ nor kings of a liking for it. If the courtiers of Canute had not known/ long before that the king was fond of flattery/ they would have known better than to offer it in such large doses. And if they had not known that he was vain of this speech (anything but a wonderful speech it seems to me if a good child had made it)/ they would not have been at such great pains to repeat it. I fancy I see them all on the sea-shore together; the King's chair sinking in the sand; the King in a mighty good humour with his own wisdom; and the courtiers pretending to be quite stunned by it! It is not the sea alone that is bidden to go “thus far/ and no farther." The great command goes forth to all

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