IX. THE PILGRIM FATHERS. "HAIL to thee, poor little ship' Mayflower,' of Delft Haven: poor common-looking ship, hired by common charterparty for coined dollars; caulked with mere oakum and tar; provisioned with vulgarest biscuit and bacon; yet what ship' Argo,' or miraculous epic ship, built by the sea gods, was not a foolish bumbarge in comparison ! Golden fleeces or the like, these sailed for, with or without effect; thou little Mayflower' hadst in thee a veritable Promethean spark; the life-spark of the largest nation on our earth; so we may already name the Transatlantic Saxon nation. They went seeking leave to hear sermon in their own method, these Mayflower Puritans; a most honest indispensable search; and yet, like Saul, the son of Kish, seeking a small thing, they found this unexpected great thing! Honour to the brave and true; they verily, we say, carry fire from heaven, and have a power that themselves dream not of."-Carlyle. Compare these Adjectives. Derivations. Distinguish between trans. Brought. Burns. Throw. Brood. Lies. Laid. THE Pilgrim Fathers,-where are they? Still roll in the bay, as they roll'd that day, When the sea around was black with storms, The mists that wrapp'd the Pilgrim's sleep, And his rocks yet keep their watch by the deep, 15 THE GRAVE OF THE INDIAN CHIEF. But the snow-white sail, that he gave to the gale The Pilgrim exile,-sainted name! Rejoiced when he came, in the morning's flame, And the moon's cold light, as it lay that night Still lies where he laid his houseless head ;- The Pilgrim Fathers are at rest : When summer's throned on high, And the world's warm breast is in verdure dress'd, The earliest ray of the golden day On that hallow'd spot is cast; And the evening sun, as he leaves the world, The Pilgrim spirit has not fled- It walks in noon's broad light; And it watches the bed of the glorious dead, It watches the bed of the brave who have bled, And shall guard this ice-bound shore, Till the waves of the bay, where the Mayflower lay, PIERPONT. X. THE GRAVE OF THE INDIAN CHIEF. "THE most uncivilized of the savage tribes of America do not apprehend death as the extinction of being. All entertain hopes of a future and more happy state, where they shall be for ever exempt from the calamities which embitter human life, in its present condition. This future state they conceive to be a delightful country, blessed with perpetual spring, whose forests abound with game, whose rivers swarm with fish, where famine is never felt, and uninterrupted plenty shall be enjoyed without labour or toil. **** As they imagine, that departed spirits begin their career anew in the world whither they are gone, that their friends may not enter upon it defenceless and unprovided, they bury together with the bodies of the dead, their bow, their arrows, and other weapons used in hunting or war; they deposit in their tombs the skins or stuffs of which they make garments, Indian corn, manioc, venison, domestic utensils, and whatever is reckoned among the necessaries in their simple mode of life."-Robertson's History of America. THEY laid the corse' of the wild and brave They laid within the peaceful bed, That he had found new hunting grounds. Where bounteous nature only tills And these fair isles to the westward lie, And song and dance move endlessly. They told of the feats of the dog and gun, And o'er his arms, and o'er his bones, And since the chieftain here has slept, 1. Any other mode of spelling this word? 2. The object of "laid"? PERCIVAL. 3. The difference between eulogy and elegy 4. Derivation of sepulchre? INDIAN NAMES. 17 XI. INDIAN NAMES. "How can the red men be forgotten, while so many of our states and territories, bays, lakes, and rivers are indelibly stamped by names of their giving?" Describe the position, and, as far as possible, give the derivations of the "Indian names" in the poem. YE say they all have passed away, That noble race and brave; That their light canoes have vanished That, mid the forests where they roamed, Ye may not wash it out. "Tis where Ontario's billow Like ocean's surge is curled, Where strong Niagara's thunders wake Rich tribute from the west, Ye say their conelike cabins, But their memory liveth on your hills, Old Massachusetts wears it And broad Ohio bears it Amid his young renown. Where her quiet foliage waves, Wachusett hides its lingering voice And Alleghany graves its tone Your mountains build their monument, Though ye destroy their dust. L. H. SIGOURNEY. XII. CASABIANCA. IN the battle of the Nile, the admiral of the L'Orient ordered his son Casabianca (a lad about 13 years of age) not to quit his post, until he told him. In the course of the action, the admiral was killed, the ship caught fire, and was blown up. The boy, unconscious that his father was dead, remained at his post, and permitted himself to be launched into eternity, rather than disobey his father's orders. See Alison's History of Europe. Distinguish between the following words, and put them into sentences: |