Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice, Who made you glorious as the gates of Heaven 6. Ye living flowers that skirt the eternal frost! Utter forth-"GOD!" and fill the hills with praise! 7. Thou, too, hoar Mount! with thy sky-pointing peaks, Oft from whose brow the avalanche, unheard, Shoots downward, glittering through the pure serene, LESSON LVII. EXPLANATORY NOTE.-1. WILLIAM TELL, a peasant of Switzerland, is celebrated for his resistance to the tyranny of the Austrian Governor, GESLER, and as one of the heroes who restored liberty to his oppressed country in 1307. For want of obedience to the mandate of Gesler, in bowing to his hat, Tell was condemned to shoot an apple from the head of his own son. He succeeded without harming his boy, but confessed that the second arrow which he had concealed, was intended, in case he failed, to shoot the tyrant himself. TELL ON THE ALPS. 1. ONCE more I breathe the mountain air; once more 2. The tyrant passed in safety. God of Heaven! O, liberty! Thou choicest gift of Heaven, and wanting which These beetling cliffs. Some hearts still beat for thee, Upon the mist that wreathes yon mountain's brow, A crown of glory on his hoary head; O! is not this a presage of the dawn Of freedom o'er the world? Hear me, then, bright 4. Oh! with what pride I used How happy was I in it then! I loved Its very storms! Yes, I have sat and eyed 5. Ye know the jutting cliff, round which a track And I have thought of other lands, where storms Have wished me there-the thought that mine was free, Has checked that wish, and I have raised my head, And cried in thralldom to that furious wind, Blow on! THIS IS THE LAND OF LIBERTY! KNOWLES, LESSON LVIII. EXPLANATORY NOTES.-1. JULIUS CA'SAR, after various conquests, was appointed Governor of GAUL, a country embracing what is now France. His ambition was opposed by that of POMPEY, through whose influence the Roman Senate passed a decree divesting Cæsar of his power. Upon this he crossed the RUBICON, a small river which formed the boundary of his province from Italy,- -an act which was a virtual declaration of war. He was victorious, and finally conquered Pompey in battle on the plains o Pharsalia. His successes, however, created him enemies, and he was stabbed in the Senate-House, by some of the leading Senators, among whom was his friend BRUTUS. 2. AL' BI ON is a name sometimes applied to England. THE EVILS OF WAR. "The drying up a single tear has more H. CLAY. Of honest fame, than shedding seas of gore."-BYRON. 1. WAR, pestilence, and famine, by the common consent of mankind, are the three greatest calamities which can befall our species; and war, as the most direful, justly stands foremost and in front. Pestilence and famine, no doubt for wise although inscrutable purposes, are inflictions of Providence, to which it is our duty, therefore, to bow with obedience, humble submission, and resignation. Their duration is not long, and their ravages are limited. They bring, indeed, great affliction, while they last, but society soon recovers from their effects. 2. War is the voluntary work of our own hands, and whatever reproaches it may deserve, should be directed to ourselves. When it breaks out, its duration is indefinite and unknown,its vicissitudes are hidden from our view. In the sacrifice of human life, and in the waste of human treasure,-in its losses and in its burdens,-it affects both belligerent nations, and its sad effects of mangled bodies, of death, and of desolation, endure long after its thunders are hushed in peace. 3. War unhinges society, disturbs its peaceful and regular industry, and scatters poisonous seeds of disease and immorality, which continue to germinate and diffuse their baneful influence long after it has ceased. Dazzling by its glitter, pomp, and pageantry, it begets a spirit of wild adventure and romantic enterprise, and often disqualifies those who embark in it, after their return from the bloody fields of battle, for engaging in the industrious and peaceful vocations of life. 4. History tells the mournful tale of conquering nations and conquerors. The three most celebrated conquerors, in the civilized world, were ALEXANDER, CESAR, and NAPOLEON. The first, after ruining a large portion of Asia, and sighing and lamenting that there were no more worlds to subdue, met a premature and ignoble death. His lieutenants quarreled and warred with each other as to the spoils of his victories, and finally lost them all. 5. CESAR,' after conquering Gaul, returned with his triumphant legions to Rome, passed the Rubicon, won the battle of Pharsalia, trampled upon the liberties of his country, and expired by the patriot hand of Brutus. But Rome ceased to be free. War and conquest had enervated and corrupted the masses. The spirit of true liberty was extinguished, and a long line of emperors succeeded, some of whom were the most execrable monsters that ever existed in human form. 6. And NAPOLEON, that most extraordinary man, perhaps, in all history, after subjugating all continental Europe, occupying almost all its capitals,-seriously threatening proud Albion' itself,—and decking the brows of various members of his family with crowns torn from the heads of other monarchs, lived to behold his own dear France itself in possession of his enemies, was made himself a wretched captive, and far removed from country, family, and friends, breathed his last on the distant and inhospitable rock of St. Helena. 7. The Alps and the Rhine had been claimed, as the natural boundaries of France, but even these could not be secured in the treaties, to which she was reduced to submit. Do you believe that the people of Macedon or Greece, of Rome, or of France, were benefited, individually or collectively, by the triumphs of their captains? Their sad lot was immense sacrifice of life, heavy and intolerable burdens, and the ultimate loss of liberty itself. |