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LI. THE RIDDLER.

HERE went a rider on a roan,

TH

By rock and hill, and all alone,

And asked of men these questions three:
"Who may the greatest miller be?

What baker baked ere Adam's birth?
What washer washes the most on earth?"

2. And still the rider went his way
By cities old and castles gray,
In morning red or moonlight dim,
Unto the sea where ships do swim;
And yet no man could answer him.

3. He reined his horse upon the sand:
"There is no lord in any land

Can answer right my questions three:-
Old fisher, sitting by the sea,

Canst tell me where those craftsmen be?"

4. Then spoke the fisher of the mere:
"The earth is dark, the water clear,
And where the sea against the land
Is grinding rocks and shells to sand,
I see the greatest miller's hand.

5. "The baker who baked before the morn When Adam was in Eden born,

Is Heat, that God made long before,
Which dries the sand upon the shore,
And hardens it to rock once more.

6. "And the water, falling night and day, Is the washer, washing all away;

All melts in time before the rain,

The mountain sinks into the plain :

So the great world comes and goes again."

7. "Thou, Silver Beard, hast spoken well,
With wisdom most commendable;
So bind thee with this golden band!"
The light was red upon the strand;
The rider's road lay dark in-land.

Leland.

LII-JOHN ADAMS AND HIS LATIN.

WH

HEN I was a boy, I used to study the Latin grammar; but it was dull, and I hated it. My father was anxious to send me to college, and therefore I studied the grammar till I could bear it no longer; and, going to my father, I told him I did not like study, and asked for some other employ

ment.

2. It was opposing his wishes, and he was quick in his answer. "Well, John, if Latin grammar does not suit you, you may try ditching; perhaps that will. My meadow yonder needs a ditch, and you may put by Latin, and try that."

3. This seemed a delightful change, and to the meadow I went; but I soon found ditching harder than Latin, and the first forenoon was the longest I had ever experienced. That day I ate the bread of labor, and right glad was I when night came on. That night I made some comparison between Latin and ditching, but said not a word about it.

4. I dug next forenoon, but wanted to return to

Latin at dinner; but it was humiliating, and I could not do it. At night toil conquered pride; and though it was one of the severest trials I ever had in my life, I told my father that, if he chose, I would go back to Latin grammar. He was glad of it; and if I have since gained any distinction, it has been owing to the two days' labor in that abominable ditch.

John Adams.

2.

LIII. THE DEEP.

HERE'S beauty in the deep :—

TH

The wave is bluer than the sky;
And though the lights shine bright on high,
More softly do the sea-gems glow,

That sparkle in the depths below;
The rainbow's tints are only made
When on the waters they are laid,
And sun and moon most sweetly shine
Upon the ocean's level brine.

There's beauty in the deep.

There's music in the deep:-
It is not in the surf's rough roar,
Nor in the whispering shelly shore-
They are but earthly sounds, that tell
But little of the sea-nymph's shell,
That sends its loud, clear note abroad,
Or winds its softness through the flood,
Echoes through groves with coral gay,
And dies, on spongy banks, away.

There's music in the deep.

3.

There's quiet in the deep:-
Above let tides and tempests rave,

And earth-born whirlwinds wake the wave;
Above, let care and fear contend

With sin and sorrow to the end:
Here, far beneath the tainted foam,
That frets above our peaceful home,
We dream in joy, and wake in love,
Nor know the rage that yells above.
There's quiet in the deep.

Brainard.

LIV. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day-July 4, 1826. Shortly afterward, Daniel Webster delivered a funeral oration in Faneuil Hall, in which the following occurs as the supposed speech of Adams in favor of the Declaration of Independence.

SINK

INK or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that in the beginning we aimed not at independence. But there's a Divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice of England has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own interest for our good, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is ours. Why, then, should we defer the Declaration?

2. Is any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with England, which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or safety to his own life and his own honor? Are not you, sir,

who sit in that chair, is not he, our venerable colleague near you, are you not both already the proscribed and predestined objects of punishment and of vengeance? Cut off from all hope of royal clemency, what are you, what can you be, while the power of England remains, but outlaws?

3. If we postpone independence, do we mean to carry on, or to give up, the war? Do we mean to submit to the measures of Parliament, Boston Port Bill and all? Do we mean to submit, and consent that we ourselves shall be ground to powder, and our country and its rights trodden down in the dust? I know we do not mean to submit. We never shall submit.

4. For myself, having twelve months ago, in this place, moved you that George Washington be appointed commander of the forces raised, or to be raised, for defense of American liberty, may my right hand forget her cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate or waver in the support I give him. The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through. And if the war must go on, why put off longer the Declaration of Independence?

5. That measure will strengthen us. It will give

us character abroad. The nations will then treat with us, which they never can do while we acknowledge ourselves subjects in arms against our sovereign. Nay, I maintain that England herself will sooner treat for peace with us on the footing of independence, than consent, by repealing her acts, to acknowledge that her whole conduct towards us has been a course of injustice and oppression.

6. Her pride will be less wounded by submitting

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