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LESSON XXXVI.

REMARK.- The tones of the voice and the style of reading should correspond with the nature of the subject.

[In reading the following extract, some variety of expression is required. The description of the ball should be read in a lively, animated manner; that of the distant alarm in low, hurried tones, as if intently listening and deeply anxious; the haste of preparation and departure requires life; and the 3d and last two stanzas should be read in a mournful and plaintive style.]

Words to be Spelled and Defined.

1. Rev'-el-ry, n. noisy feasting and gayety.
Chiv-al-ry. n. knighthood, a body of
knights or brave men.
Vo-lup'-tu-ous, a. exciting animal plea-

sure.

4. Squad'-ron, n. a body of troops.

5. Ar'-dennes, n. (pro. Ar'-dens) a forest near Waterloo.

6. Mar'-shal-ing, n. arranging in order. Blent, p. mixed, united.

BATTLE OF WATERLOO.*

1. THERE was a sound of revelry by night,
And Belgium's capital had gathered there
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright
The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men.
A thousand hearts beat happily; and when
Music arose with its voluptuous swell,

Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again,

And all went merry as a marriage bell;

But hush'! hark'!- -a deep sound strikes like a rising knell !

2. Did ye not hear it ?-No'; 't was but the wind,
Or the car rattling o'er the stony street:

On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;
No sleep till morn, when youth and pleasure meet
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet-

But, hark!—that heavy sound breaks in once more',
As if the clouds its echo would repeat',

And nearer', clearer', deadlier than before!

Arm! arm'! it is—it is the cannon's' opening roar !

*This battle was fought on June 18th, 1815, between the French army on one side, commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the English army and allies on the other side, commanded by the Duke of Wellington. At the commencement of the battle, some of the officers were at a ball at Brussels, a short distance from Waterloo, and being notified of the approaching contest by the cannonade, left the ballroom for the field of battle. This was the last of Napoleon's battles. He was here completely overthrown.

3. Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro',
And gathering tears', and tremblings of distress,
And cheeks all pale', which, but an hour ago'
Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness';
And there were sudden partings, such as press
The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs
Which ne'er might be repeated-who could
If ever more should meet those mutual eyes,
Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise.

guess

4. And there was mounting in hot haste'; the steed`,
The mustering squadron', and the clattering car'
Went pouring forward with impetuous speed,
And swiftly forming in the ranks of war;
And the deep thunder, peal on peal afar,
And near, the beat of the alarming drum
Roused up the soldier ere the morning star;
While thronged the citizens with terror dumb,
Or whispering with white lips-"The foe! They come!
They come!"

5. And Ardennes waves above them her green leaves,
Dewy with nature's tear drops, as they pass,
Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves,
Over the unreturning brave !-alas!

Ere evening to be trodden like the

grass,

Which, now, beneath them, but above, shall grow

In its next verdure, when this fiery mass

Of living valor, rolling on the foe,

And burning with high hope, shall molder cold and low.

6. Last noon beheld them full of lusty life,

Last eve in beauty's circle proudly gay,

The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife,
The morn, the marshaling in arms,—the day,

Battle's magnificently stern array!

The thunder clouds close o'er it, which when rent,

The earth is covered thick with other clay,

Which her own clay shall cover, heaped and pent,
Rider, and horse,-friend, foe,-in one red burial blent.

BYRON.

QUESTIONS.— When, where, and between what parties and command. ers was the battle of Waterloo fought? What is described in the first few lines? What place is meant by the capital of Belgium? What sound interrupted their dancing? What was the result of the battle?

What is meant by "na

ture's tear drops" in the second line of the 5th stanza? Explain the sixth and seventh lines of the 5th stanza. Explain the last three lines of the lesson.

What instances of absolute emphasis, in the 2d stanza? What, of relative emphasis, in the 5th stanza? In the last line of the 4th stanza, should the emphasis there marked, be expressed by a loud tone or a low tone?

ARTICULATION.- Give the r a distinct but soft sound in the following and similar words: there, fair, hearts, hear, car, pleasure, hark, more, tears, ne'er, morn, forming, thunder, soldier, ere, her.

SPELL AND DEFINE..

11

- 1. Capital: 2. unconfined, glowing: 3. loveliness, mutual: 4. impetuous: 5. inanimate, molder: 6. magnificently, pent

LESSON XXXVII.

RULE. -Pronounce the vowels full, and give them the proper sound. E-rr, a-ll, a-ge, e-dge, a-rm, a-t, o-ld, ou-r, ee-l, i-t, oo-ze, p-u-ll, b-o-y, i-sle.

Words to be Spelled and Defined.

1. Prod'-i-gy, n. something wonderful.
2. Cri-te'-ri-on, n. a standard of judging.
Shrine, n. a box of sacred relics. Here

the thing worshiped.

Sub sid'-i-a-ry, a. aiding, assisting.
Dy'-nas-ty, n. a succession of kings of
the same family.

Cres' cent, n. the Turkish flag is so
called because it has on it the figure
of a new moon, and it is here put
for the Turkish power.
Par-ri-ci'-dal, a. relating to the crime
of murdering a parent or destroying
one's country.
Di'-a-dem, n. a crown.

[blocks in formation]

De-vel'-op-ment, n. unfolding, disclo

sure.

U-biq'-ui-ty, n. (pro. u-bik'-we-ty) the being every where at the same time. 4. Skep'-ti-cism, n. doubt, unbelief. Sub-al'-tern, n. an inferior officer in the army.

Tit'-u-lar, a. existing in title or name. Dig'-ni-ta-ries, n. church officers of a high rank.

5. Lev'-ee, n. a concourse of persons on a visit to a great personage in the morning.

Jac'-o-bin, a. relating to a political

party of that name in France.

7. Med'-ley, n. a confused mass.
Syn'-a-gogue, n. a Jewish congrega-
tion or place of worship.

CHARACTER OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

1. HE is fallen! We may now pause before that splendid prodigy, which towered among us like some ancient ruin whose frown terrified the glance its magnificence attracted. Grand, gloomy, and peculiar, he sat upon the throne a sceptered hermit, wrapt in the solitude of his own originality. A mind,

bold, independent, and decisive'; a will, despotic in its dictates'; an energy that distanced expedition', and a conscience pliable to every touch of interest', marked the outline of this extraordinary character'; the most extraordinary, perhaps, that in the annals of this world, ever rose, or reigned, or fell. Flung into life, in the midst of a revolution that quickened every energy of a people who acknowledge no superior, he commenced his course, a stranger by birth, and a scholar by charity. With no friend but his sword, and no fortune but his talents, he rushed in the list where rank, and wealth, and genius had arrayed themselves, and competition fled from him as from the glance of destiny.

2. He knew no motive' but interest'; acknowledged no criterion' but success'; he worshiped no God but ambition, and with an eastern devotion he knelt at the shrine of his idolatry. Subsidiary to this, there was no creed that he did not profess, there was no opinion that he did not promulgate; in the hope of a dynasty', he upheld the crescent; for the sake of a divorce, he bowed before the cross; the orphan of St. Louis, he became the adopted child of the republic; and with a parricidal ingratitude, on the ruins both of the throne and tribune, he reared the throne of his despotism. A professed catholic', he imprisoned the pope'; a pretended patriot, he impoverished the country; and, in the name of Brutus, he grasped without remorse, and wore without shame, the diadem of the Cæsars!

3. Through this pantomime of policy, fortune played the clown to his caprices. At his touch, crowns' crumbled', beggars' reigned', systems vanished, the wildest theories took the color of his whim, and all that was venerable, and all that was novel, changed places with the rapidity of a drama. Even apparent defeat assumed the appearance of victory; his flight from Egypt confirmed his destiny; ruin itself only elevated him to empire. But if his fortune was great, his genius was transcendent; decision flashed upon his councils; and it was the same to decide and to perform. To inferior intellects his combinations appeared perfectly impossible', his plans perfectly impracticable'; but, in his hands, simplicity marked their development', and success vindicated their adoption'. His person partook the character of his mind; if the one never yielded in the cabinet', the other' never bent in the field'. Nature had no obstacle that he did not surmount; space no opposition he did not spurn; aul whether amid Alpine rocks, Arabian sands, or Polar snows, he seemed proof against peril, and empowered with ubiquity.

4. The whole continent trembled at beholding the audacity

of his designs, and the miracle of their execution. Skepticism bowed to the prodigies of his performance; romance assumed the air of history, nor was there aught too incredible for belief, or too fanciful for expectation, when the world saw a subaltern of Corsica waving his imperial flag over her most ancient capitals. All the visions of antiquity became commonplaces in his contemplation': kings were his people'; nations were his outposts'; and he disposed of courts', and crowns', and camps', and churches', and cabinets', as if they were titular dignitaries of the chessboard. Amid all these changes he stood immutable as adamant.

5. It mattered little whether in the field' or in the drawingroom'; with the mob' or the levee'; wearing the jacobin bonnet' or the iron crown'; banishing a Braganza, or espousing a Hapsburg; dictating peace on a raft to the Czar of Russia, or contemplating defeat at the gallows of Leipsig; he was still the same military despot.

6. In this wonderful combination, his affectations of literature I must not be omitted. The jailer of the press', he affected the patronage of letters'; the proscriber of books, he encouraged philosophy; the persecutor of authors and the murderer of printers, he yet pretended to the protection of learning; the assassin of Palm, the silencer of de Stäel, and the denouncer of Kotzebue, he was the friend of David, the benefactor of De Lille, and sent his academic prize to the philospher of England.

7. Such a medley of contradictions, and at the same time such an individual consistency, were never united in the same character. A royalist'; a republican' and an emperor'; a Mohammedan'; a catholic' and a patron of the synagogue'; a subaltern' and a sovereign'; a traitor' and a tyrant'; a Christian' and an infidel'; he was, through all his vicissitudes, the same stern, impatient, inflexible original; the same mysterious, incomprehensible self; the man without a model, and without a shadow.

PHILLIPS.

QUESTION 8. In what capacity did Bonaparte commence his career? Over what nation did he desire to found a dynasty or race of kings? At what battle did his career of power close? What is meant by his banishing a Braganza, and espousing a Hapsburg? What was his ruling passion?

Explain the inflections in paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. esis and series. Rules VI, II, 3§.)

(Chiefly antith

ARTICULATION.-Give the r its rough sound in the following words: rose, reigned, rank, criterion, shrine, creed, crescent, cross, parricidal, tribune, crowns, crumbled, trembled, prodigies, incredible, protection, patron.

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