15. A faint gleam of hope now cheered the heart of Colter • he derived confidence from the belief that escape was within the bounds of possibility; but that confidence was nearly fatal to him; for he exerted himself to such a degree, that the blood gushed from his nostrils, and soon almost covered the fore part of his body.

16. He had now arrived within a mile of the river, when he distinctly heard the appalling sound of footsteps behind him, and every instant expected to feel the spear of his pursuer. Again he turned his head, and saw the savage not twenty yards from him.

17. Determined, if possible, to avoid the expected blow, he suddenly stopped-turned round-and spread out his arms. The Indian, surprised by the suddenness of the action, and perhaps by the bloody appearance of Colter, also attempted to stop -but, exhausted with running, he fell, whilst endeavoring to throw his spear, which stuck in the ground and broke.

18. Colter instantly snatched up the pointed part, with which he pinned him to the earth, and then continued his flight. The foremost of the Indians, arriving at the place, stopped till others came up to join them, when they set up a hideous yell.

19. Every moment of this time was improved by Colter; who, although fainting and exhausted, succeeded in gaining the skirting of the cotton-tree wood, on the borders of the Fork, through which he ran, and plunged into the river.

20. Fortunately for him, a little below this place was an island, against the upper part of which, a raft of drift timber had lodged. He dived under the raft, and after several efforts, got his head above water amongst the trunks of trees, covered over with smaller wood to the depth of several feet.

21. Scarcely had he secured himself, when the Indians arrived on the river, screeching and yelling like so many fiends.*They were frequently on the raft, during the day, and were seen through the chinks by Colter, who was congratulating himself on his escape, until the idea arose that they might set the raft on fire.

22. In horrible suspense he remained until night, when, hearing no more of the Indians, he dived under the raft, and swam silently down the river, to a considerable distance, where he landed, and travelled all night. After seven days' tedious journeying, he arrived at Lisa's Fort, on the Yellow Stone.

* Pronounced feends, evil spirits.

LESSON XIII. /

Charles II.* and William Penn.†-FRIEND of Peace.

WHEN William Penn was about to sail from England fo Pennsylvania, he went to take his leave of the King, and the following conversation occurred:

"Well, friend William," said Charles, "I have sold you a noble province in North America; but still I suppose you have no thoughts of going thither yourself."

"Yes, I have," replied William, " and I am just come to

bid thee farewell:"

"What! venture yourself among the savages of North America! Why, man, what security have you that you will not be in their war-kettle in two hours after setting foot on their shores?"

"The best security in the world," replied Penn.

"I doubt that, friend William; I have no idea of any security against those cannibals, but in a regiment of good soldiers, with their muskets and bayonets. And mind I tell you before hand, that, with all my good will for you and your family, to whom I am under obligations, I will not send a single soldier with you."

"I want none of thy soldiers," answered William, "I depend on something better than thy soldiers."

The king wished to know what that was.

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Why, I depend upon themselves-on their own moral sense -even on that grace of God which bringeth salvation, and which hath appeared unto all men.”

"I fear, friend William, that grace has never appeared to the Indians of North America."

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Why not to them as well as all others?"

"If it had appeared to them," said the king, "they would hardly have treated my subjects so barbarously as they have done."

"That is no proof to the contrary, friend Charles. Thy subjects were the aggressors. When thy subjects first went to North America, they found these poor people the fondest and kindest creatures in the world. Every day they would watch

*Charles II. King of England, A. D. 1660, and reigned 25 years.

+ William Penn, a celebrated quaker, or friend, was born in London, in 1644. He established the colony of PENNSYLVANIA, and from him the state derives its name. He died at Rushcomb, in England, 1718. The character of Penn is truly amiable, benevolent, and humane, and his labours were ever devoted to the benefit of mankind.

for them to come ashore, and hasten to meet them, and feast them on their best fish and venison and corn, which was all that they had. In return for this hospitality of the savages, as we call them, thy subjects, termed Christians, seized on their country and rich hunting grounds, for farms for themselves! Now, is it to be wondered at, that these much injured people should have been driven to desperation by such injustice; and that, burning with revenge, they should have committed some excesses?"

"Well, then, I hope, friend William, you will not complain when they come to treat you in the same manner."

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"I am not afraid of it," said Penn.

"Aye! how will you avoid it? You mean to get their hunting grounds too, I suppose?"

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Yes, but not by driving these poor people away from them." "No, indeed! How then will you get the lands ?"

"I mean to buy their lands of them."

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Buy their lands of them! why, man, you have already bought them of me."

"Yes, I know I have, and at a dear rate too; but I did it only to get thy good will, not that I thought thou hadst any right to their lands."

"Zounds, man! no right to their lands!"

"No, friend Charles, no right at all:-What right hast thou to their lands?"

"Why, the right of discovery; the right which the Pope and all Christian Kings have agreed to give one another."

"The right of discovery! a strange kind of right indeed.Now suppose, friend Charles, some canoe loads of these Indians, crossing the sea, and discovering thy Island of Great Britain, were to claim it as their own, and set it up for sale over thy head, what wouldst thou think of it ?"

"Why-why-why," (replied Charles,) "I must confess I should think it a piece of great impudence in them."

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Well, then, how canst thou, a CHRISTIAN, and a CHRISTIAN PRINCE too, do that which thou so utterly condemnest in these people whom thou callest savages? Yes, friend Charles, and suppose again that these Indians, on thy refusal to give up thy Island of Great Britain, were to make war on thee, and having weapons more destructive than thine, were to destroy many of thy subjects, and to drive the rest away, wouldst thou not think 't horribly cruel?"

The King assenting to this with strong marks of conviction, William proceeded-"Well, then, friend Charles, how can I,

who call myself a Christian, do what I should abhor even in heathens? No, I will not do it-But I will buy the right of the proper owners, even of the Indians themselves. By doing this I shall imitate God himself, in his justice and mercy, and thereby insure his blessing on my colony, if I should ever live to plant one in North America."

LESSON XIV.

The Ungrateful Guest.-GOLDSMITH.

1. PHILIP,* king of Macedon, is celebrated for an act of private justice, which does great honor to his memory. A certain soldier, in the Macedonian army, had, in various instances, distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of valor; and had received many marks of Philip's approbation and favor.

2. On a particular occasion, this soldier embarked on board a vessel, which was wrecked by a violent storm; and he was cast on the shore, helpless and naked, with scarcely any appearance of life. A Macedonian, whose lands were contiguous to the sea, came opportunely to be witness of his distress; and, with the most humane and charitable tenderness, flew to the relief of the unhappy stranger.

3. He bore him to his house, laid him on his own bed, revived-cherished-and comforted him; and for forty days, supplied him freely with all the necessaries and conveniences which his languishing condition could require.

4. The soldier, thus happily rescued from death, was incessant in the warmest expressions of gratitude to his benefactor; assured him of his interest with the king; and of his determination to obtain for him, from the royal bounty, the noble returns which such extraordinary benevolence had merited. He was at length completely recovered; and was supplied by his kind host with money to pursue his journey.

5. After some time, the soldier presented himself before the king; he recounted his misfortunes; he magnified his services; and this inhuman wretch, who had looked with an eye of envy on the possessions of the man by whom his life had been pre

*

Philip became king of Macedon, 360 B. C. He was a brave, artful and ambitious man. He aspired to the sovereignty of Greece, but was assassinated by Pausanias, 336 B. C., while meditating the conquest of Persia, at the head of the Grecian forces. He was succeeded by his son, Alexander the Great.

+ Macedon, an ancient kingdom in the northern part of Greece, now embraced in Turkey in Europe.

served was so devoid of gratitude, and of every humane sentiment, as to request that the king would bestow upon him the house and lands, where he had been so tenderly and kindly entertained.

6. Unhappily, Philip, without examination, precipitately granted his infamous request. The soldier then returned to his preserver; and repaid his goodness by driving him from his settlement, and taking immediate possession of all the fruits of his honest industry.

7. The poor man, stung with such an instance of unparalleled ingratitude and insensibility, boldly determined, instead of submitting to his wrongs, to seek relief: and in a letter addressed to Philip, represented his own and the soldier's conduct in a lively and affecting manner.

He order

8. The king was instantly fired with indignation. ed that ample justice should be done without delay; that the possessions should be immediately restored to the man whose charitable offices had been thus horribly repaid; and, to show his abhorrence of the deed, he caused the soldier to be seized, and to have these words branded on his forehead-"The Ungrateful Guest."

LESSON XV. /

Parental Tenderness.

1. DURING the Indian wars which preceded the American revolution, a young English officer was closely pursued by two savages, who were on the point of killing him, when an aged chief interfered, took the officer by the hand, encouraged him by his caresses, conducted him to his hut, and treated him with all the kindness in his power.

2. The officer remained during the winter with the old chief, who taught him their language, and the simple arts with which they were acquainted. But when spring returned, the savages again took up arms, and prepared for a more vigorous campaign. The old chief followed the young warriors until they approached the English camp, when, turning to the young officer, he thus addressed him:

3. "You see your brethren preparing to give us battle; I have saved thy life—I have taught thee to make a canoe, a bow and arrows to surprise the beasts of the forest-and to scalp your enemy: wilt thou now be so ungrateful as to join thv