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XXXII. THE LAY OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE.

The th in 'NEATH (contraction of beneath) is vocal as in breathe; the vowel before n in WOVEN, BURDEN, is not sounded. Ew in DEWS has the y sound of long u. Pronounce DOTH duth, ARE ar, SACRIFICE sakrifize. See in the Index, SKY, WALLACE.

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Sky, shore, and seas, light, mist, and breeze,

Receive me as I come!

How could I, in this holy place,

Stand with unblushing brow,
How look on earth's accusing face,

Did I forget my vow?

IV.

Nor few nor slight his burdens are

Who gives himself to stand
Steadfast and sleepless as a star,
Watching his fatherland;

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Sir William Wallace led the Scotch at the battle of Stirling Bridge, September 11, 1297, when the English were driven from Scotland. But the next year a battle took place near Falkirk in which he was defented. He fought for his country with varying fortunes through a series of years, but, being captured by the English, was hanged by them, August 23, 1305, under circumstances of great barbarity.

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The e is no

Do not slur the sound of t in PRECEPTS; of long diphthongal u in CON◄ TINUAL, USURY, &c.; of the aspirate in WHY, WHENCE. sounded in RIPEN. Pronounce WERE to rhyme with her.

See in Index, august, glory, INGRATE, NATURE, SINAi, Racine. Delivery. The lesson is a translation from Racine's tragedy of Athalic (pronounced At'a-le in French). It is founded on Bible history. A choir of Hebrew maidens are represented as chanting praises to the glory (Latin, in gloriam) of the true God. In the passages for combined utterance the words should be uttered simultaneously by all. To do this well some practice will be required.

First Voice. The universe is full of His magnificence. To our God be adoration and worship forever! Before the birth of time His empire was established. Let us sing, let us publish His benefits.

All. Let us sing, let us publish his benefits. Second Voice. Vainly would Oppression impose silence on the people that praise Him. perish never from among our nation. unto day His glory and His power. full of His magnificence. Let us sing, let us publish His benefits.

His name shall Day proclaimeth The universe is

All. The universe is full of His magnificence. Let us sing, let us publish His benefits.

Third Voice. He paints the flowers with beauty. He causes the fruits to spring and ripen. He dispenses to them aright the heat of day and the coolness of night. The ground returns with usury all it receives.

Fourth Voice. To the sun He gives commandment to animate all Nature; and the light is a gift of His power. But His law holy and pure His law holy and pure is the most precious of His gifts to man.

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Fifth Voice. O mount of Sinai! preserve the recollection of that day forever august, forever to be

remembered, when on thy glowing summit, enveloped in thick clouds, the Lord God displayed to mortals a ray of His glory. Those fires and those lightnings, those torrents of smoke, that sound of trumpets, those reverberations of thunder, O! tell us why and whence? Sent were they to reverse the order of the elements, to shake, from its old foundations, the solid earth?

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Sixth Voice. He came to reveal to the children of the Hebrews the immortal light of His precepts. He came to this favored people to write upon their hearts the ordinance of love, of love eternal for the Lord their God!

Seventh Voice, and then a repetition by All. O law divine and gracious! O justice! O goodness supreme! What debt of love and faith do we not owe Him for His tender mercies!

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Eighth Voice. From the yoke of the oppressor He rescued our fathers. He nourished them on manna in the desert. He gives us His laws, He gives us himself! And for all His givings He asks only that we love Him.

All. O justice! O goodness supreme!

Ninth Voice. For our people He made a way through the waters of the sea. For our people He made a stream gush from the arid rock. He gives us His laws, He gives us himself! And for all His givings He asks only that we love Him.

All. O law divine and gracious! What debt of love and faith do we not owe Him for His tender mercies !

Tenth Voice. Ye who approach Him with a servile fear, ingrates! shall such a God not win your hearts? Are they so stubborn that they will not melt, -giving back love for love? The slave may fear the tyrant, dealing outrage; but the child's joyful privilege is love. Would you, for life and its continual

blessings, look to a Father's care, and fail to love Him always?

All. O law divine and gracious! O justice! O goodness supreme! What debt of love and faith do we not owe Him for His tender mercies!

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In EVIL, HEAVEN, REASON, the unaccented vowel is unsounded; in SUDDEN, it is heard. Do not slight the combination nds in COMPREHENDS, DEPENDS, FINDS, FRIENDS. For GLORIOUS, OBSCURITY, see § 11; DISMAY, POSSESS, § 17; ENDUED, NATURE, SUBDUE, VIRTUE, § 23; LAW, § 16; EXERCISE, TENDERNESS, §7; GUARD, 21; TASK, COMMAND, FAST, LAST, MASTER, 22.

See in Index, DISCERN, FORWARD, ISSUE, SACRIFICE, SKILFUL or SKILLFUL, TOWARD, WARRIOR, WORDSWORTH.

Delivery. The style of this celebrated poem, one of the noblest in the language, is far from unemotional, though both didactic and descriptive. The delivery should be chiefly in a pure middle tone, with modulations varying with the bold or tender character of the sentiment. The sentences exhibit a succession of clauses which, though distinct in meaning and construction from one another, unite to form one series. Much use should be made of the falling inflection, and the clauses should be generally kept distinct by a strong conclusive accent at the end of each, even though the semicolon or colon should indicate continuance. See remarks on the parenthesis § 31.

I.

WHO is the happy warrior? Who is he
That every Man in arms should wish to be?
It is the generous Spirit, who, when brought
Among the tasks of reäl life, hath wrought
Upon the plan that pleased his boyish thought:
Whose high endeavors are an inward light
That makes the path before him always bright;
Who, with a natural instinct to discern

What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn;

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