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4. The young man, with much effort, advanced to the bed-side, and at last found voice to say, "Father, I am not without the affections of nature-and I hurried home as soon as I heard that the minister had been seen riding toward our house. I hope that you will yet recover-and if ever I have made you unhappy, I ask your forgivenessfor though I may not think as you do on matters of religion, I have a human heart. Father-I may have been unkind, but I am not cruel. I ask your forgiveness."

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5. "Come nearer to me, William; kneel down by the bed-side, and let my hand find the head of my beloved son, for blindness is coming fast upon me. Thou wert my firstborn, and thou art my only living son. All thy brothers and sisters are lying in the church-yard, beside her whose sweet face thine own, William, did once so much resemble. Long wert thou the joy, the pride-aye, too much the pride of my soul.

6. "If thy heart has since been changed, God may inspire it again with right thoughts. Could I die for thy sakecould I purchase thy salvation with the outpouring of my blood-but this the Son of God has done for thee, who hast denied Him! I have sorely wept for thee-aye, William, when there was none near me even as David wept for Absalom-for thee, my son, my son!"

7. A long, deep groan was the only reply; but the whole body of the kneeling man, was convulsed; and it was easy to see his sufferings, his contrition, his remorse, and his despair. The pastor said, with a sterner voice and austerer countenance, than were natural to him, "Know you whose hand is now lying on your rebellious héad? But what sigrifies the word father to him who has denied God, the Father of us all ?"

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8. "Oh! press him not so hardly," said the weeping wife, coming forward from a dark corner of the room, where she had tried to conceal herself in grief, fear, and shame ; spare, oh! spare my husband-he has ever been kind to me :" and with that she knelt down beside him with her long, soft, white arms, mournfully and affectionately laid across his aeck.

9. "Go thou, likewise, my sweet little Jamie," said the dying man, "go even out of my bosom, and kneel down be. side thy father and thy mother, so that I may bless you all at once." The child did as that solemn voice commanded,

and knelt down somewhat timidly by his father's side; nor did that unhappy man decline encircling in his arms the child, too much neglected, but still dear to him as his own blood, in spite of the deadening and debasing influence of infidelity.

10. Put the Word of God into the hands of my son, and let him read aloud to his dying father, the 25th, 26th, and 27th verses of the eleventh chapter of the gospel ac cording to St. John." The pastor went up to the kneelers, and with a voice of pity, condolence, and pardon, said, "There was a time when none, William, could read the scriptures better than couldst thou-can it be that the son of my friend hath forgotten the lessons of his youth?"

11. He had not forgotten them: there was no need for the repentant sinner to raise his eyes from the bed-side. The sacred stream of the gospel had worn a channel in his heart, and the waters were again flowing. With a choked voice he said, "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world."

12. "That is not an unbeliever's voice," said the dying man, triumphantly; "nor, Williám, hast thou an unbeliever's heart. Say that thou believest in what thou hast now read, and thy father shall die happy!" "I do beliève; and as thou forgivest me, so may I be forgiven by my Father, who is in heaven."

13. The father seemed like a man suddenly inspired with a new life. His faded eyes kindled-his pale cheek glowed -his palsied hand seemed to wax strong and his voice was clear as that of manhood in its prime. "Into thy hands, O God, I commit my spirit." And so saying, he gently sunk back on his pillow, and I heard a sigh.

14. There was then a long, deep silence; and the father, and mother, and child rose from their knees. The eyes of us all were turned toward the white, placid face of the figure now stretched in everlasting rèst; and without lamentations, save the lamentations of the resigned soul, we stood around THE DEATH-BED OF THE FATHER.

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QUESTIONS.-1. How did the son appear, when he entered the room? 2. In what manner did the father address him? 3. In what manner did the minister? 4. What did the young man say and do? 5. How did

his father address him in the next two verses? 6. Who is represented as speaking in the eighth verse? 7. What did the father wish to have done, tenth verse? 8. Did he read, or repeat from memory? 9. What evidence that the son had become penitent? 10. How did the father appear? 11. Describe his death.

How should the different speakers in this piece be represented? Why opposite inflections on thunder and voice, third verse? What inflection on remorse, seventh verse, and why? (Rule VI.)

LESSON XVIII.

SPELL AND DEFINE-1. Dauntless, without fear. 2. Steersman, one that steers a ship. 3. Poised, having an equal weight on each side of its support; balanced. 4. Blithesome, causing joy. 5. Illumined, lighted 6. Helm, an instrument for steering a ship. 7 Anchor, an iron instrament for holding a ship at rest in water.

The Compass.-LON. EVAN. MAG.

1. THE storm was loud,-before the blast
Our gallant bark was driven;

Their foaming crests the billows reared,
And not one friendly star appeared,
Through all the vault of heaven.

2. Yet dauntless still the steersman stood,
And gazed, without a sigh,

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Where poised the needle bright and slim,
And lighted by a lantern dim,-

The compass meets his eye,

3. Thence taught his darksome course to steer,
He breathed no wish for day;

But braved the whirlwinds' headlong might,
Nor once throughout that dismal night,
To fear or doubt gave way."

4 And what is of the Christian's life,
But storm as dark and drear,
Through which, without one blithesome ray
Of worldly bliss to cheer his way,

He must his vessel steer!

5. Yet let him ne'er to sorrow yield,
For in the sacred page,

A Compass shines, divinely true,
And, self-illumin'd, greets his view
Amid the tempest's rage.

6. Then firmly let him grasp the helm,
Though loud the billows roar;
And soon his toils of troubles past,
His anchor he shall safely cast

On Canaan's happy shore.

QUESTIONS.-1. What is described in the first verse? 2. By what did the steersman direct the ship? 3. How does the Christian's life resemble the seaman's? 4. What compass has he for his guide? 5. What is meant by Canaan's happy shore'?

The succession of what similar sounds in the first line, second verse, is calculated to occasion a faulty articulation? Why does Compass begin with a capital, fifth verse? How is taught parsed, third verse? What causes the difficulty of giving a distinct articulation to the last three words of the second line, fourth verse? (Les. II. Note I.) On which syllable does the metrical accent fall in this poetry? (See Les. XII. 2.) - Does it occur regularly in each verse?

LESSON XIX.

SPELL AND DEFINE-1. Sat'raps, governors of provinces. 2. Festi val, a feast; the time of feasting. 3. Solitary, single; lonely. 4. Wand a conjurer's rod, supposed to possess magical influence; a staff of authority. 5. Monarch, a king. 6. Lore, learning. 7. Seers, those who explain visions; prophets. 8. Sage, wise. 9. Canopy, a covering over the head. 10., Traced, marked out.

Vision of Belshazzar.-BYRON.

In that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldean, alain, and Darius, the Median, took the kingdom.-BIBLE.

1. THE king was on his throne,
The satraps thronged the hall;
A thousand bright lamps shone
O'er that high festival.
A thousand cups of gold,
In Judah deemed divine-
Jehovah's vessels hold

The godless heathen's wine.

2. In that same hour and hall,
The fingers of a hand
Came forth against the wall,
And wrote as if on sand:
The fingers of a man ;—

A solitary hand

Along the letters ran,

And traced them like a wand.

3. The monarch saw, and shook,
And bade no more rejoice;
All bloodless waxed his look,

And tremulous his voice:
"Let the men of lore appear,—
The wisest of the earth,
And expound the words of fear,
Which mar our royal mirth."

4. Chaldea's seers are good,

But here they have no skill;
And the unknown letters stood,
Untold and awful still.
And Babel's men of age,

Are wise and deep in lore;
But now they were not sage,
They saw-but knew no more.

5. A captive in the land,—

5.

A stranger and a youth,
He heard the king's command,
And saw that writing's truth.
The lamps around were bright,
The prophecy in view;
He read it on that night,—
The morrow proved it true.

"Belshazzar's grave is made,
His kingdom passed away,
He, in the balance weighed,
Is light and worthless clay.
The shroud, his robe of state,
His canopy, the stone;
The Mede is at his gate!

The Persian on his throne !"

QUESTIONS.-1. Describe the festival mentioned in the first verse. B. What appeared on the wall? 3. How did this affect the king? 4. Who were called to interpret the writing? 5. Who did read the writing? 6. What was the captive's name? 7. Where in the Bible is this narrated? Ans. Daniel, chapter V.

Does the metrical accent in the fourth line, first verse, correspond with that of the second line? (Les. XII. 3.) Who is represented as uttering the quotation, third verse? Who, that in the last verse? Has this poetry the cesural pause? What is denoted by the apostrophes, first verse? How is kingdom parsed, last verse?

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