At leisure I the beast surveyed
Extended in the cooling shade."

7. «"Tis green, 'tis green, sir, I assure ye.” "Green! cries the other in a fury:

“Why, sir, d' ye think I've lost my eyes?"
"Twere no great loss," the friend replies;
"For if they always serve you thus,
You'll find them of but little use."

8. So high at last the contest rose,
From words they almost came to blows:
When, luckily, came by a third;
To him the question they referred,
And begged he'd tell them, if he knew,
Whether the thing was green or blue.

9. "Sirs," cries the umpire", "cease your pother
The creature's neither one nor t'other.
I caught the animal last night,
And viewed it o'er by candle light;
I marked it well; 'twas black as jet.
You stare; but, sirs, I've got it yet,
And can produce it."-"Pray, sir, do;
I'll lay my life the thing is blue.”

"And I'll be sworn, that when you've seen
The reptile, you'll pronounce him green."

10. "Well, then, at once to end the doubt,"
Replies the man, “I'll turn him out;
And when before your eyes I've set him,
If

you don't find him black, I'll eat him." He said; and full before their sight Produced the beast, and lo!-'twas white.

11 Both stared; the man looked wondrous wise:
"My children," the chameleon cries,
(Then first the creature found a tongue,)
"You all are right, and all are wrong:
When next you talk of what you view,
Think others see as well as you :
Nor wonder if you find that none
Prefers your eyesight to his own."

t SPARK. A lively, showy man.
2 BLADE. A gay, dashing fellow.
8 TôUR. A journey.

AC-QUI-ESCE' IN. Assent to; sub-
mit to quietly.

CHA-ME'LE-ON. An animal of the lizard kind, noted for changing its color.

6 DIS-JÖINED'. Separated; parted; divided; disunited.

7 UMPIRE. A party, to whom a dispute or question between two or more is referred for settlement.

8 PŎTH'ER. Tumult; bustle. REP'TILE. A creeping animal, as a snake, a lizard, &c.

XXXII. -THE PROGRESS OF HUMANITY.

SUMNER.

[Charles Sumner was born in Boston, January 6, 1811, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1830. He was admitted to the bar in 1834, and in 1837 visited Europe. Having become earnestly engaged in the anti-slavery cause, he was chosen to the Senate of the United States from the State of Massachusetts, in the winter of 1851, and still continues a member of that body, having been twice reëlected. He is well known for the energy and eloquence with which he has assailed the institution of slavery. His works, consisting of speeches and occasional addresses, have been published in three volumes, and are remarkable for fervid eloquence and abundant illustration.]

1. LET us, then, be of good cheer. From the great Law of Progress we may derive at once our duties and our encouragements. Humanity has ever advanced, urged by the instincts and necessities implanted by God,-thwarted' sometimes by obstacles which have caused it for a timea moment only, in the immensity of ages to deviate from its true line, or to seem to retreat, but still ever onward.

2

2. Amidst the disappointments which may attend individual exertions, amidst the universal agitations which now surround us, let us recognize this law, confident that whatever is just, whatever is humane, whatever is good, whatever is true, according to an immutable ordinance of Providence, in the golden light of the future, must prevail. With this faith, let us place our hands, as those of little children, in the great hand of God. He will ever guide and sustain us through pains and perils, it may be in the path of Progress.

3. In the recognition of this law, there are motives to beneficent activity, which shall endure to the last syllable of life. Let the young embrace it: they shall find in it an ever-living spring. Let the old cherish it still: they shall derive from it fresh encouragement. It shall give to all, both old and young, a new appreciation of their existence, a new sentiment of their force, a new revelation of their destiny.

4. Be it, then, our duty and our encouragement to live and to labor, ever mindful of the Future. But let us not forget the Past. All ages have lived and labored for us. From one has come art, from another jurisprudence, from another the compass, from another the printing-press; from all have proceeded priceless lessons of truth and virtue. The earliest and most distant times are not without a present influence on our daily lives. The mighty stream of Progress, though fed by many tributary waters and hidden springs, derives something of its force from the earlier currents which leap and sparkle in the distant mountain recesses, over precipices, among rapids, and beneath the shade of the primeval forest.

4

5. Nor should we be too impatient to witness the fulfilment of our aspirations. The daily increasing rapidity of discovery and improvement, and the daily multiplying efforts of beneficence, in later years outstripping the im

aginations of the most sanguine, furnish well-grounded assurance that the advance of man will be with a constantly accelerating' speed. The extending intercourse among the nations of the earth, and among all the children of the human family, gives new promises of the complete diffusion of Truth, penetrating the most distant places, chasing away the darkness of night, and exposing the hideous forms of slavery, of war, of wrong, which must be hated as soon as they are clearly seen.

8

6. Cultivate, then, a just moderation. Learn to reconcile order with change, stability with progress. This is a wise conservatism'; this is a wise reform. Rightly understanding these terms, who would not be a Conservative? who would not be a Reformer? a conservative of all that is good, a reformer of all that is evil; a conservative of knowledge, a reformer of ignorance; a conservative of truths and principles whose seat is the bosom of God, a reformer of laws and institutions which are but the wicked or imperfect work of man; a conservative of that divine order which is found only in movement, a reformer of those earthly wrongs and abuses which spring from a vio lation of the great Law of human progress. Blending these two characters in one, let us seek to be, at the same time, REFORMING CONSERVATIVES, AND CONSERVATIVE REFORMERS.

1 THWART'ED. Frustrated; hindered. | SAN'GUINE. Hopeful; confident. 2 IM-MEN'SI-TY. Unlimited extent; 7 AC-CEL'ER-AT-ING. Hastening; increasing.

infinity.

8 JŪ-RIS PRO'DENCE. The science of 8 REC'ON-CILE.

law and right.

TRIB'U-TA-RY.

yielding supplies.

Restore to favor;

Paying tribute; CON-SËRV'A-TIŞM. Adherence to

6 FRI-ME'VAL. Original; pertaining

cause to agree or harmonize.

tion to change.

existing institutions; disinclina

to the earliest ages; primitive.

XXXIII. THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET.

WOODWORTH.

[Samuel Woodworth, the author of this pleasing and popular poem, was a native of Weymouth, in Massachusetts, and was born about 1790, and died in New York, at the age of about fifty. He was a printer by trade, and lived many years in Boston. He was a man of considerable literary talent, and published in New York a volume of fugitive pieces, called Melodies, Duets, Trios, Songs, and Ballads, which reached a third edition.

Woodworth was also the author of a well-known patriotic song, called the Hunters of Kentucky.]

1. How dear to this 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,

3

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!

4

Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it Though filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips.

5