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edge I would have retired from the encounter. However, I put the lime on my hand, and held out my arm. steadily. The juggler balanced himself, and, with a swift stroke, cut the lime in two pieces. I felt the edge of the sword on my hand as if a cold thread had been drawn across it."

IV. THE WILL AND THE WAY.

MAX'IM, n., a saying; a proverb.
MAR'SHAL, n., a chief officer.
IRK'SOME, a., tedious.

REAL-IZE, v. t., to view as real.
VIV'ID-LY, ad., with spirit.
IM'BE-CILE, a., weak; infirm.

PRIN'CI-PLE, n., a fixed belief.

MAG'IS-TRATE, n., a civil officer.
EN-COUNTER, n., a meeting.

DES'UL-TO-RY, a., without order.
CON-CEN-TRA'TION, n., act of driving

to a common center.

O'er is a contraction of over. Pronounce Sirach, Si'rak; details, with accent on last syllable. Do not say reel for re'al. Give the y sound to u in stu'pid.

1. NOTHING that is of real worth can be achieved without courageous working. Man owes his growth chiefly to that active striving of the will, that encounter with difficulty, which we call effort; and it is astonishing to find how often results that seemed impracticable are thus made possible.

2. It is related of a young French officer that he used to walk about his apartment, exclaiming, "I will be Marshal of France and a great general." This ardent desire was the presentiment of his success; for he did become a great commander, and he died a marshal of France.

3. The story is told of a working carpenter, who was observed one day repairing, with more than usual care, a magistrate's bench; and when asked the reason, he replied, "Because I wish to make it easy against the time when I come to sit on it myself." And, singularly enough, the man actually lived to sit upon that very bench as a magistrate.

4. That which most easily becomes a habit in us is the will. Learn, then, to will strongly and decisively; thus fix your floating life, and leave it no longer to be carried hither and thither, like a withered leaf, by every wind that blows.

5. John Sterling, in a letter to his son, urges him to realize in his youth what a serious matter our life is; how unworthy and stupid it is to trifle it away without heed; what a wretched, insignificant, worthless creature any one comes to be, who does not as soon as possible bend his whole strength, as in stringing a stiff bow, to do whatever task lies before him.

6. One of Napoleon's favorite maxims was, "The truest wisdom is a resolute determination." His life, beyond most others, vividly showed what a powerful will could accomplish. He threw his whole force of body and mind direct upon his work. Imbecile rulers and the nations they governed went down before him in succession. He used to say that he beat the Austrians because they never knew the value of time. "Every moment lost," he said, " gives an opportunity for misfortune."

"For indecision brings its own delays,

And days are lost, lamenting o'er lost days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute
What you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."

7. Fowell Buxton, writing to one of his sons, remarks, "You must now give proofs of principle, determination, and strength of mind, or you must sink into idleness, and acquire the habits and character of a desultory, inefficient young man; and if you once fall to that point, you will find it no easy matter to rise again. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might.' I am sure that a young man may be very much what he pleases."

8. Energy enables a man to force his way through irksome drudgery and dry details, and carries him onward and upward in every station in life. It accomplishes more than genius, with not one half the disappointment and peril.

9. "Woe unto him that is faint-hearted!" says the son of Sirach. There is, indeed, no blessing equal to the possession of a stout heart. Even if a man fail in his efforts, it will be a great satisfaction to him to enjoy the consciousness of having done his best.

10. Lay it down as a maxim, that nothing can be accomplished without a fixed purpose a concentration of mind and energy. Whatever you attempt to do, whether it be the writing of an essay, or the whittling of a stick, let it be done as well as you can do it. It was this habit that made great men of Franklin, and Newton, and hundreds whose labors have been of incalculable service to mankind.

11. Fix your mind closely and intently on what you undertake in no other way can you have a reasonable hope of success. An energy that dies in a day is good for nothing. The inventions that bless mankind were not the result of a few moments' thought and investigation. A lifetime has often been given to a single object. It is will-force of purpose that enables a man to do or be whatever he sets his mind on being or doing.

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12. A strong desire may itself transform possibility into reality. A holy man was accustomed to say, "Whatever you wish, that you are; for such is the force of the human will, joined to the Divine, that whatever we wish to be, seriously, and with a true intention, that we become. No one ardently wishes to be submissive, patient, modest, or liberal, who does not become what he wishes,"

V. THE EVENING HOUR.

WEA'RY, a., tired; fatigued.

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RE-LEASE', n., liberation.

TWILIGHT, n., the faint light after SHAD'ow-Y, a., like a shadow.

sunset and before sunrise.

TEAM, n., two or more horses or oxen

CON'VERSE, n., familiar talk.

VAULT'ED, a., arched.

yoked together. THOUGHTFUL, a.,

attentive.

Do not say doos for dews, creown for crown, evenin' for eve'ning. Pronounce heavenly, hevon-ly ; Daniel, Dăn v-ěl.

SWEET evening hour! Dear evening hour!
That calms the air and shuts the flower;
That brings the wild bird to its nest,
The infant to its mother's breast.

Sweet hour! that bids the laborer cease;

That gives the weary team release,

And leads them home, and crowns them there

With rest and shelter, food and care.

O! season of soft sounds and hues,
Of twilight walks among the dews,
Of tender memories, converse sweet,
And thoughts too shadowy to repeat!

Yes, lovely hour! thou art the time.
When feelings flow and wishes climb,
When timid souls begin to dare,
And God receives and answers prayer.

Then, trembling, from the vaulted skies
The stars look out, like thoughtful eyes
Of angels calm reclining there,
And gazing on our world of care.

Sweet hour! for heavenly musing made,
When Isaac walked, and Daniel prayed,
When Abram's offerings God did own,
And Jesus loved to be alone!

VI. THE SAILOR'S LIFE.

NUMBED, pp., torpid with cold.

|ICE'BERG, n., a great mass of ice.
SEV'ER-AL, a., separate; many.

chiefly cannon.

SAIL'OR, n., a seaman.

FOREIGN, a., belonging to another AR-TIL'LE-RY, n., weapons for war,

country.

OR'PHAN, n., a child who has lost LAZ-A-RETTO, n., a house for diseased father or mother, or both.

persons.

MARTYR, N., one who suffers death VoY'AGE, n., a journey by sea. for the truth. PIL'LAR, n., a column; a support.

Do not say inseks for in'sects, sriek for shriek, widder for widow, destitoot for des'ti-tute. Pronounce often, of'fn; against, a-gēnst'.

1. O, THE difference between sea and land! The sailor lives a life of daily, hourly, momentary risk, and he reckons it by voyages. He goes on your errands, he dares dangers for you, he lives a strange life for you.

2. Think of what winter is at sea. Think of what it is to have the waves discharge themselves on a ship, with a roar like artillery, and a force not much less. Think of what it is for a sailor to be aloft in the rigging, holding on by a rope, wet with the rain, or numbed with the cold, and with the mast of the ship swaying, like a reed, with the wind.

3. Think of what it is when men drop from the yard. arms into the sea, or when they are washed, like insects from the deck. Think of what it is, day and night, without rest and without sleep, to strive against a storm, against the power of wind and waves,— every wave a mighty enemy to surmount.

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4. Think what it is to strike a rock, to shriek but once, and then, perhaps, be drowned. Think of the diseases that come of hardships at sea. Think of what it is to be sick in a lazaretto, - to be dying in a foreign hospital. Think of all this, and then, perhaps, you will think rightly of what it is to be a sailor.

5. Think of what you yourselves owe to the sailor. It is through his intervention that you are possessed

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