As 'twere a battery of bliss
Let off in one tremendous kiss!
"What's that?" the startled master cries,
"That, thir," a little imp replies,
"Wath William Willith, if you pleathe
I thaw him kith Thuthanna Peathe!"
With frown to make a statue thrill
The master thundered, “Hither, Will!”
Like wretch o'ertaken in his track
With stolen chattels on his back,
Will hung his head in fear and shame,
And to the awful presence came→
A great, green, bashful simpleton,
The butt of all good natured fun.
With smile suppressed, and birch upraised,
The threatener faltered. "I'm amazed

That you, my biggest pupil, should
Be guilty of an act so rude!

Before the whole set school to boot;

What evil genius put you to't?"
"Twas she, herself, sir," sobbed the lad,
I did not mean to be so bad;

66

But when Susannah shook her curls,
And whispered I was 'fraid of girls,
And dursn't kiss a baby's doll,
I couldn't stand it, sir, at all,
But up and kissed her on the spot!
I know-boo-hoo-I ought to not,
But, somehow, from her looks-boo-hoo,
I thought she kind o' wished me to !"

I CAN'T.

FANNY FERN.

[To be given in a lively style.]

Apollo-what a face! Doleful as a hearse; folded hands, hollow chest, whining voice the very picture of cowardly irresolution.

Spring to your feet, hold up your head, set your teeth together, draw that fine form of yours up to the height that God made it ; draw an immense long breath, and look about you. What do you see? Why, all creation taking care of number one-pushing ahead, like the car of Juggernaut, over live victims. There it is and you can't help it. Are you going to lie down and be crushed?

By all that is manly, no! Dash ahead. You have as good a right to mount the triumphal car as your neighbor. Snap your fingers at croakers. If you can't get around a stump leap over it high and dry. Have nerves of steel, a will of iron. Never mind sideaches, or heartaches, or headaches-dig away, without stopping to breathe, or to notice envy or malice.

Set your target in the clouds and aim at it. If your arrow falls short of its mark what of that? Pick it up and go at it again. If you should never reach it you will shoot higher than if you only aimed at a bush. Don't whine if your friends fall off. At the first stroke of good luck by Mammon they will swarm around you like a hive of bees, till you are disgusted with human nature.

" 'I can't!" Oh, pshaw! I have more courage than that. You are a disgrace to corduroys. What! a man lack courage? A man want independence? A man to be discouraged at obstacles? A man afraid to face anything on earth save his Maker? Why, I have the most unmitigated contempt for you, you pusillanimous pussy cat! There is nothing manly about you except your whis

kers.

THE BUGLE.

TENNYSON.

[Give in a descriptive manner, the voice falling at the end of each

stanza.]

The splendor falls on castle walls,

And snowy summits, old in story:
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow-set the wild echoes flying;
Blow, bugle; answer echoes, dying, dying, dying.

Oh, hark! oh, hear! how thin and clear,
And thinner, clearer, farther going;
Oh, sweet and far, from cliff and scar

The horns of Elf-land faintly blowing.
Blow-let us hear the purple glens replying:
Blow, bugle; answer echoes, dying, dying, dying.

Oh, love! they die in yon rich sky;

They faint on field, on hill and river;
Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow forever and forever.

Blow, bugle, blow-set the wild echoes flying,
And answer echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.

THE TRUE SAVIOURS.

JOHN SERGEANT.

[Deliver in a manly and heroic manner.]

It has been maintained that the genius which constitutes a great military man is of a very high quality, and may be equally useful in the cabinet and in the field; that it has a sort of universality equally applicable to all affairs. We have seen, undoubtedly, instances of a rare and wonderful combination of civil and military qualifications, both of the highest order. That the greatest civil qualifications may be found united with the highest military talents is what no one will deny who thinks of Washington. But that such a combination is rare and extraordinary the fame of Washington sufficiently attests. If it were common why was he so illustrious?

I would ask, what did Cromwell, with all his military genius, do for England? He overthrew the monarchy, and he established dictatorial power in his own person. And what happened next? Another soldier overthrew the dictatorship and restored the monarchy. The sword effected both. Cromwell made one revolution and Monk another. And what did the people of England gain by it? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! The rights and liberties of Englishmen, as they now exist, were settled and established at the

Revolution in 1688. Now mark the difference! By whom was the Revolution begun and conducted? Was it by soldiers? by military genius? by the sword? No! It was the work of statesmen and of eminent lawyers-men never distinguished for military exploits. The faculty-the dormant faculty-may have existed. That is what no one can affirm or deny. But it would have been thought an absurd and extravagant thing to propose, in reliance upon this possible dormant faculty, that one of those eminent statesmen and lawyers should be sent, instead of the Duke of Marlborough, to command the English forces on the Continent.

Who achieved the freedom and the independence of this our own country? Washington effected much in the field; but where were the Franklins, the Adamse the Hancocks, the Jeffersons and the Lees-the band of sages and patriots whose memory we revere ? They were assembled in council. The heart of the Revolution beat in the halls of Congress. There was the power which, beginning with appeals to the king and to the British nation, at length made an irresistible appeal to the world, and consummated the Revolution by the Declaration of Independence, which Washington established with their authority, and, bearing their commission, supported by arms. And what has this band of patriots, of sages, and of statesmen, given to us? Not what Cæsar gave to Rome; not what Cromwell gave to England, or Napoleon to France; they established for us the great principles of civil, political and religious liberty upon the strong foundations on which they have hitherto stood. There may have been military capacity in Congress; but can any one deny that it is the wisdom of sages-Washington being one-we are indebted for the signal blessings we enjoy ?

BABY'S CLOTHES.

HARPER'S WEEKLY..

[Tenderly]

Softest linen and snowiest lawn,
With fairy fluting of lace;
'Broidery fine as the penciled fern
By finger of frost king traced.

Singing, she sews the tiniest seam,

While the garments grow apace.
Ah, the sweetest work a mother knows
Is making the baby's dainty clothes.

Her thoughts reach out across the years,.
Losing herself in a dream ;
A hope is set with the stitches fine
Of every delicate seam.

An airy castle with turrets high
Stands in a golden gleam.

Ah, the dearest work a mother knows
Is making the baby's dainty clothes.
"Garments fit for a king!" she saith;

"My baby shall be a king!
Wise men will listen unto his words,
And the children offerings bring.
He shall be manly, true and brave;

His deeds will the poets sing."
Ah, the proudest work a mother knows
Is making the baby's dainty clothes.

Folding away the garments white,

The baby needs no more care-
A toy, a tiny pair of shoes,

And a lock of sunny hair.
Yellow with age each fragrant fold
Shall precious mem'ries bear.
Ah, the saddest work a mother knows
Is folding away the baby's clothes.

Those were worn by that stalwart man,
It seems only yesterday;

But these once held the little form

Of the baby "passed away."

Now in sunshine and now in storm
Life's river flows on for aye,

But the tenderest thought a mother knows
Is folded away with the baby's clothes.