13. Still, anguish gives strength to his wavering flight; On he speeds; and lo! now in eve's reddening light The domes of far Syracuse blend; There Philostratus meets him, (a servant grown gray In his house,) crying, (=) "Bàck! not a moment's de- [lay; 14. "No; nothing can save his dear head from the tomb; So, think of preserving thy own. Myself, I beheld him led forth to his doom; Ere this his brave spirit has flown! With confident soul he stood, hour after hour, No sneers of the tyrant that faith could o'erpower, 15. "And is it too late? and can not I save His dear life? then, at least, let me share in his grave. Sees the scaffold and multitudes gazing below; Already the deathsman stands armed for the blow; When hark! a wild voice which is echoed around, (0°) "Stay!-'tis I,-it is Damon, for whom he was bound!" 17. And now they sink in each other's embrace, Not a soul, among thousands, but melts at their case, Even he, too, is moved,-feels for once as he ought, And commands that they both to his throne shall be brought. 18. Then, alternately gazing on each gallant youth, With looks of awe, wonder, and shame; "Ye have conquered !" he cries, "yes, I see now that That friendship is not a mere name. [truth, Go; you're free; but, while life's dearest blessings you prove, Let one prayer of your monarch be heard, That, his past sins forgot, in this union of love, LESSON XXXI. CHARACTER AND CONDITION OF THE WESTERN INDIANS. GEORGE CATLIN. 1. IMPRESSIONS of the most vivid kind, are rapidly and indelibly made by the fleeting incidents of savage life; and, for the mind that can contemplate them with pleasure, they afford abundant materials for its entertainment. The mind, susceptible of such impressions, catches volumes of incidents which are easy to write; it is but to unfold a web which the fascinations of this country and its allurements, have spun over the soul; it is but to paint the splendid panorama of a world entirely different from any thing seen or painted before, with its thousands of miles, and tens of thousands of grassy hills and dales, where naught but silence reigns, and where the soul of a contemplative mold is seemingly lifted up to its Creator. 2. What man ever ascended to the pinnacle of one of Missouri's green-carpeted bluffs, a thousand miles severed from his own familiar land, and giddily gazed over the interminable and boundless ocean of grass-covered hills and valleys which lie beneath him, where the gloom of silence is complete, where not even the voice of the sparrow or cricket is heard, without feeling a sweet melancholy come over him, which seemed to drown his sense of every thing beneath him? 3. In traversing the immense region of the classic West, the mind of a philanthropist is filled with feelings of admiration. But to reach this country, one is obliged to descend from the light and glow of civilized atmosphere, through the different grades of civilization, which gradually sink to the most deplorable condition along the extreme frontier; thence through the most pitiable misery and wretchedness of savage degradation, where the genius of natural liberty and independence have been blasted and destroyed by the contaminating vices and dissipations, introduced by the immoral part of civilized society. 4. Through this dark and sunken vale of wretchedness, one' hurries, as through a pestilence, until he gradually rises again into the proud and chivalrous pale of savage society, in its state of original nature, beyond the reach of civilized contamination. Here he finds much, upon which to fix his enthusiasm, and much to admire. Even here the predominant passions of the savage breast, of ferocity and cruelty, are often found; yet restrained and frequently subdued by the noblest traits of honor and magnanimity. Here exists a race of men who live and enjoy life and its luxuries, and practice its virtues, very far beyond the usual estimation of the world who are apt to judge the savage and his virtues, from the poor, degraded, and humble specimens which alone can be seen along our frontiers. 5. From the first settlements of our Atlantic coast to the present day, the bane of this blasting frontier has regularly crowded upon them, from the northern to the southern extremities of our country; and, like the fire in a prairie, which destroys every thing where it passes, it has blasted and sunk them, all but their names, into oblivion, wherever it has traveled. It is to this tainted class alone that the epithet of "poor, naked, and drunken savage," can be, with propriety, applied; for, all those numerous tribes which I have visited, and are yet uncorrupted by the vices of civilized acquaintance, are well clad, in many instances cleanly, and in the full enjoyment of life and its luxuries. 6. It is a sad and melancholy truth to contemplate, that all the numerous tribes who inhabited our vast Atlantic States, have not "fled to the West;"-that they are not to be found here, that they have been blasted by the fire which has passed over them, have sunk into their graves, and every thing but their names traveled into oblivion. The distinctive character of all these Western Indians, as well as their traditions relative to their ancient locations, prove, beyond a doubt, that they have been, for a long time, located on the soil which they now possess; and, in most respects, distinct and unlike those nations who formerly inhabited the Atlantic coast, and who, according to the erroneous opinion of a great part of the world, have fled to the West. 7. It is for these inoffensive and unoffending people, yet unvisited by the vices of civilized society, that I would proclaim to the world, that it is time, for the honor of our countryfor the honor of every citizen of the republic-and for the sake of humanity, that our government should raise her strong arm to save the remainder of them from the pestilence which is rapidly advancing upon them. My heart has sometimes. almost bled with pity, while among them, and witnessing their innocent amusements, as I have contemplated the inevitable bane that was rapidly advancing upon them; without that check from the protecting arm of government, which alone can shield them from destruction. 8. What degree of happiness these sons of Nature may attain to in the world, in their own way; or in what proportion they may relish the pleasures of life, compared to the sum of happiness belonging to civilized society, has long been a subject of much doubt, and one which I can not undertake to decide. I have long looked, with the eye of a critic, into the jovial faces of these sons of the forest, unfurrowed with cares, -where the agonizing feeling of poverty had never stamped distress upon the brow. I have watched the bold, intrepid step, the proud, yet dignified deportment of Nature's man, in fearless freedom, with a soul unalloyed by mercenary lusts, too great to yield to laws or power, except from God. 9. As these independent fellows are all joint-tenants of the soil, they are all rich, and none of the steepings of comparative poverty can strangle their just claims to renown. Who, I would ask, can look, without admiring, into a society where peace and harmony prevail,—where virtue is cherished,—where rights are protected, and wrongs are redressed,-with no laws, but the laws of honor, which are the supreme laws of the land? Trust to boasted virtues of civilized society for awhile, with all its intellectual refinements, to such a tribunal, and then write down the degradation of the "lawless savage," and our transcendent virtues. LESSON XXXII. EXPLANATORY NOTES.-1. The PAR' THE NON was a temple sacred to Minerva, situated on the summit of the Acropolis or citadel of Athens, and thus elevated far above the surrounding edifices. In beauty and grandeur it surpassed all other buildings of the kind, and was enriched with the matchless sculptures from the hands of Phidias and his scholars. It is now much dilapidated. 2. THE COL I SE UM was the greatest amphitheater that Roman magnificence ever built. It is said to have been capable of holding a hundred thousand persons. It now presents a gigantic ruin. 3. The temple of JU' PI TER O LYM' PI US was in ancient Athens. The inside was nearly a half league in circumference. Here stood the wonderful statue of JUPITER, made of ivory and gold by the hands of Phidias. DESCRIPTION OF THE RUINS AT BALBEC. From the French of LAMARTINE. 1. WE rose with the sun, whose first rays struck on the temples of Balbec, and gave to those mysterious ruins that éclat which his brilliant light ever throws over scenes which it illuminates. Soon we arrived, on the northern side, at the foot of the gigantic walls which surround those beautiful remains. A clear stream, flowing over a bed of granite, murmured around the enormous blocks of stone, fallen from the top of the wall which obstructed its course. Beautiful sculptures were half concealed in the limpid stream. We passed the rivulet by an arch formed by these fallen remains, and, mounting a narrow breach, were soon lost in admiration of the scene which surrounded us. 2. At every step a fresh exclamation of surprise broke from our lips. Every one of the stones, of which that wall was composed, was from eight to ten feet in length, by five or six |