afford them no pleasure? Every act of noble sacrifice to the country, every instance of patriotic devotion to her cause, has its beneficial influence. A nation's character is the sum of its splendid deeds; they constitute one common patrimony, the nation's inheritance. They awe foreign powers; they arouse and animate our own people. I love true glory. It is this sentiment which ought to be cherished; and, in spite of cavils, and sneers, and attempts to put it down, it will rise triumphant, and finally conduct this nation to that height to which God and nature have destined it.

LESSON XCIII.

A VISIT FROM ST. NICHOLAS.

BY CLEMENT C. MOORE.

CLEMENT C. MOORE was born in New York, July 15, 1779. After graduating from Columbia College, he devoted himself with great success to the study of Hebrew, and in 1809 published a Hebrew and English Lexicon. In 1821 he accepted a professorship in the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church.

1. 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring,-not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care',
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there'.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds',
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads';
And mamma in her kerchief', and I in my cap',
Had settled our brains for a long winter's nap';
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter',
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter'.

2. Away to the window I flew like a flash',

Tore open the shutters', and threw up the sash`.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below:
When what to my wondering eyes should appcar,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

3. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

(4) And he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them by name :(p)"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer! now, Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Dunder and Blitzen! (p) To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall! Now, dash away, dash away, dash away, all!"

4. As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly',
When they meet with an obstacle mount to the sky,
So up
to the housetop the coursers they flew',
With the sleigh full of toys', and St. Nicholas too'.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof;
As I drew in my head and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
5. He was dress'd all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnish'd with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys was flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes', how they twinkled! his dimples', how merry
His cheeks were like roses', his nose like a cherry`;
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow',
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow';
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

6. He was chubby and plump', a right jolly old elf',
And I laugh'd when I saw him', in spite of myself`.
A wink of his eye', and a twist of his head',
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread'.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And fill'd all his stockings, then turn'd with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle;
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

LESSON XCIV.

SCENE WITH A PANTHER.

BY CHARLES B. BROWN.

CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN was born in Philadelphia in 1771. At the age of sixteen, he entered upon the study of the law; but the profession did not please him, and he soon abandoned it for the employment of an author. He was the first person in America who ventured to pursue literature as a profession. He became highly distinguished as a novelist. He also edited a periodical for six years, wrote a number of political essays, and planned a system of general geography, which was nearly completed at the time of his death. He died in 1810.

1. I PASSED through the cave. At that moment torrents of rain poured from above, and stronger blasts thundered amidst these desolate recesses and profound chasms. Instead of lamenting the prevalence of the tempest, I now began to regard it with pleasure. It conferred new forms of sublimity and grandeur on the scene. As I crept with hands and feet along my imperfect bridge, a sudden gust had nearly whirled me into the frightful abyss. To preserve myself, I was obliged to loose my hold of my burden, and it fell into the gulf. This incident disconcerted and distressed me. As soon as I had effected my dangerous passage, I screened myself behind a cliff and gave myself up reflection.

2. While thus occupied, my eyes were fixed upon the opposite steeps. The tops of the trees waving to and fro in the wildest commotion, and their trunks occasionally bending to the blast, which in these lofty regions blew with a violence unknown in tracts below, exhibited an awful spectacle. At length, my attention was attracted by the trunk which lay across the gulf and which I had converted into a bridge. I perceived that it bad already somewhat swerved from its original position, that every blast broke or loosened some of the fibers by which its roots were connected with the opposite bank, and that, if the storm did not immediately abate, there was imminent danger of its being torn from the rock and precipitated into the chasm.

3. Thus my retreat would be cut off, and the evils from which I was endeavoring to rescue another would be experienced by myself. I believed my destiny to hang upon the expedition with which I should recross this gulf. The moments that were spent in these deliberations were critical; and I shuddered to observe that the trunk was held in its place by one or two

roots, which were already stretched almost to breaking. To pass along the trunk, rendered slippery by the wet and unsteadfast by the winds, was eminently dangerous. To maintain my hold in passing, in defiance of the whirlwind, required the most vigorous exertions. For this end it was necessary to discommode myself of my cloak and book.

4. Just as I had disposed of these encumbrances, and had risen from my seat, my attention was again called to the opposite steep, by the most unwelcome object that at this time could possibly present itself. Something was moving among the bushes and rocks, which for a time I hoped was no more than a raccoon or an opossum, but which presently appeared to be a panther. His gray coat, extended claws, fiery eyes, and a cry which he at that moment uttered, and which, by its resemblance to the human voice, is peculiarly terrific, denoted him to be the most ferocious and untamable of that detested race.

5. The industry of our hunters has nearly banished animals of prey from these precincts. The fastnesses of Norwalk, however, could not but afford a refuge to some of them. Of late I had met them so rarely that my fears were seldom alive; and I trod without caution the ruggedest and most solitary haunts. Still, however, I had seldom been unfurnished in my rambles with the means of defense. The unfrequency with which I had lately encountered this foe, and the encumbrance of provision, made me neglect, on this occasion, to bring with me my usual arms. The animal that was now before me, when stimulated by hunger, was accustomed to assail whatever could. provide him with a banquet of blood.

6. He would set upon the man and the deer with equal and irresistible ferocity. His sagacity was equal to his strength, and he seemed able to discover when his antagonist was armed. My past experience enabled me to estimate the full extent of my danger. He sat on the brow of the steep, eyeing the bridge, and apparently deliberating whether he should cross it. It was probable that he had scented my footsteps thus far, and, should he pass over, his vigilance could scarcely fail of detecting my asylum. Should he retain his present station, my danger was scarcely lessened. To pass over in the face of a famished panther was only to rush upon my fate.

7. The falling of the trunk, which had lately been so anxiously deprecated, was now, with no less solicitude, desired. Every new gust I hoped would tear asunder its remaining bands, and, by cutting off all communication between the opposite steeps, place me in security. My hopes, however, were destined to be frustrated. The roots of the prostrate tree were obstinately tenacious of thei

hold; and presently the animal scrambled down the rock and proceeded to cross it. Of all kinds of death, that which now menaced me was the most abhorred. To die by disease, or by the hand of a fellow-creature, was lenient in comparison with being rent to pieces by the fangs of this savage beast.

8. To perish in this obscure retreat, by means so impervious to the anxious curiosity of my friends, to lose my portion of existence by so untoward and ignoble a destiny, was insupportable. I bitterly deplored my rashness in coming hither unprovided for an encounter like this. The evil of my present circumstances consisted chiefly in suspense. My death was unavoidable, but my imagination had leisure to torment itself by anticipations. One foot of the animal was slowly and cautiously moved after the other. He struck his claws so deeply into the bark that they were with difficulty withdrawn. At length he leaped upon the ground. We were now separated by an interval of scarcely eight. feet.

9. To leave the spot where I crouched was impossible. Behind and beside me the cliff rose perpendicularly, and before me was this grim and terrific visage. I shrunk still closer to the ground and closed my eyes. From this pause of horror I was aroused by the noise occasioned by a second spring of the animal. He leaped into the pit in which I had so deeply regretted that I had not taken refuge, and disappeared. My rescue was so sudden, and so much beyond my belief or my hope, that I doubted for a moment whether my senses did not deceive me. This oppor tunity of escape was not to be neglected. I left my place and scrambled over the trunk with a precipitation which was near proving fatal. The tree groaned and shook under me, the wind blew with unexampled violence, and I had scarcely reached the opposite side when the roots were severed from the rock and the whole fell thundering to the bottom of the chasm.

10. My trepidations were not speedily quieted. I looked back with wonder on my hairbreadth escape, and on that singular concurrence of events which had placed me in so short a period in absolute security. Had the trunk fallen a moment earlier, I should have been imprisoned on the hill or thrown headlong. Had its fall been delayed another moment, I should have been pursued; for the panther now issued from his den, and testified his surprise and disappointment by tokens, the sight of which made my blood run cold. He saw me and hastened to the verge of the chasm. He crouched on his hind-legs, and assumed the attitude of one preparing to leap. My consternation was excited afresh by these appearances.

11. It seemed at first as if the rift was too wide for any power