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uttered. An attempt to describe it, said the traveler, would be an attempt to paint the sunbeams.

9. It was now matter of curiosity and inqui'ry, who the old gentleman was. The traveler concluded that it was the preacher from whom the pulpit eloquence was heard; but no-it was the CHIEF-JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES.

58. WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE.

THE following beautiful lyric' owes its origin2 to a circumstance which took place near the city of New York. The tree, which belonged to the homestead of a gentleman whose subsequent successes retrieved' the misfortunes of early life, was threatened with the ax. As it was about to be cut down for fire-wood, the youngest son of the former owner paid its value, and a bond was executed, by which the present owner of the property pledged that it should stand forever. The author of this piece was present at the bargain, and the gentleman, turning to him, said, "In youth it sheltered me, and I'll protect it now."

The song was set to music by Henry Russel, and sung by him in many cities in Europe. As, on one occasion, he was singing it at Boulogne, an old gentleman among the auditors rose, and asked with much feeling whether the tree was spared. Mr. Russel assured him that it was, and the old gentleman resumed his seat, with great satisfaction, amid the enthusiastic plaudits of the whole assembly.

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1 Lyr' ic, a song ; any thing sung with a lyre, or other musical instrument.—2 Or’i ġin, source; the beginning of a thing.—3 Sůb'se quent, following; after. Retrieved', recovered from the effects of; made atonement or amends for.- Boulogne (bỏ lòn'), a fortified seaport town of France, on the English Channel. A great number of its residents are English.-En thu si ås' tic, warm; filled with admiration.-' Plaud'its, applause; marks of strong admiration, or approval.

'Twas my forefather's hand
That placed it near his cot:
There, woodman, let it stand,
Thy ax shall harm it not!

2. That old familiar tree,

Whose glory and renown
Are spread o'er land and sea,

And wouldst thou hew it down?
Woodman, forbear thy stroke!
Cut not its earth-bound ties;
Oh, spare that agèd oak,
Now towering to the skies!

3. When but an idle boy,

I sought its grateful shade;
In all their gushing joy,

Here, too, my sisters play'd.
My mother kiss'd me here;
My father press'd my hand-
Forgive this foolish tear,

But let that old oak stand!

4. My heart-strings round thee cling,
Close as thy bark, old friend!
Here shall the wild-bird sing,

And still thy branches bend.

Old tree, the storm still brave!

And, woodman, leave the spot:

While I've a hand to save,

Thy ax shall harm it not.

GEORGE P. MORRIS.

59. DR. FRANKLIN'S CONVERSATIONAL POWERS.

NEVER have I known such a fireside companion as Dr.

Franklin.—Great as he was, both as a statesman and a

philosopher, he never shone in a light more winning than when he was seen in a domestic circle.

2. It was once my good fortune to pass two or three weeks with him, at the house of a private gentleman, in the back part of Pennsylvania; and we were confined to the house during the whole of that time, by the unintermitting' constancy2 and depth of the snow. But confinement could never be felt where Franklin was an inmate. His cheerfulness and his colloquial3 powers spread around him a perpetual spring. There was no ambition of eloquence, no effort to shine in any thing that came from him. There was nothing which made any demand either upon your allegiance or your admiration.

3. His manner was as unaffected as infancy. It was nature's self. He talked like an old patriarch; and his plainness and simplicity put you, at once, at your ease, and gave you the full and free possession and use of all your faculties.

4. His thoughts were of a character to shine by their own light, without any adventitious' aid. They required only a medium of vision like his pure and simple style, to exhibit to the highest advantage their native radiance" and beauty.

5. His cheerfulness was unremitting." It seemed to be as much the effect of the systematic'2 and salutary13 exercise of the mind, as of its superior organization." His wit was of the first order. It did not show itself merely in occasional coruscations;15 but, without any effort or force on his part, it shed a constant stream of the purest light over the whole of his discourse.

6. Whether in the company of commons or nobles, he was always the same plain man; always most perfectly at his ease, his faculties in full play, and the full orbit of his genius forever clear and unclouded. And then the stores of his mind were

1 Un in ter mlt' ting, ceaseless; without stopping.—2 Côn' stan cy, permanent state; unalterable continuance.—3 Col lo' qui al, conversational; relating to conversation. Nothing (nůth' ing).— Al le' ġi ance, acknowledgment of authority; fidelity to rulers.- På' tri arch, the father and ruler of a family.- Adventitious (ad ven tỉsh' us), coming from abroad; added.— Me' di um, means; that which stands in the middle between things.—' Vision (viz'un), sight.-"Ra' di ance, brilliancy; great brightness.-11 Un re mit' ting, ceaseless; constant.- Sys tem åt'.. ic, orderly; regular; according to a fixed plan.-13 Sål' u ta ry, useful; healthful.-- Or gan i za' tion, structure; the parts of which a thing is formed.-15 Cor us ca' tions, shinings; quick flashings of light.—1o Orb' it, circle in which something moves.

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inexhaustible. He had commenced life with an attention so vigilant, that nothing had escaped his observation, and a judgment so solid, that every incident was turned to advantage.

7. His youth had not been wasted in idleness, nor overcast by intemperance. He had been all his life a close and deep reader, as well as thinker; and by the force of his own powers, had wrought up the raw materials, which he had gathered from books, with such ex'quisite' skill and felicity, that he had added a hundred-fold to their original value, and justly made them his own.

WM. WIRT.

60. TERRIFIC SCENE AT THE GREAT NATURAL BRIDGE,

THER

VIRGINIA.

HERE are three or four lads standing in the channel below, looking up with awe to that vast arch' of unhewn rocks, which the Almighty bridged over those everlasting butments "when the morning stars sang together." The little piece of sky spanning those measureless piers is full of stars, although it is mid-day.

2. It is almost five hundred feet from where they stand, up those perpendicular" bulwarks of limestone, to the key' rock of that vast arch, which appears to them only of the size of a man's hand. The silence of death is rendered more impressive by the little stream that falls from rock to rock down the channel. The sun is darkened, and the boys have unconsciously uncovered their heads, as if standing in the presence-chamber of the Majesty of the whole earth.

3. At last, this feeling begins to wear away; they begin to

1 Exquisite (èks' kwe zit), highly finished; nice; perfect.- Arch, a curve line or part of a circle; any work in that form, or covered by an arch. But' ments, masses of rock or stone which support the ends of a bridge.-- Piers, columns of rock or stone for the support of an arch or bridge. Per pen dic' u lar, upright; inclining to neither side.—' Bûl'wark, a fortification; that which secures against an enemy; protection. -Key of an arch, is the top stone against which the sides rest.— Unconsciously (un kon' shus ly), without knowledge; not thinking.

lcok around them; they find that others have beer there before them. They see the names of hundreds cut in the limestone butments. A new feeling comes over their young hearts, and their knives are in their hands in an instant. "What man has done, man can do," is their watchword, while they draw themselves up, and carve their names a foot above those of a hundred full-grown men, who have been there before them.

4. They are all satisfied with this feat of physical' exertion, except one, whose example illustrates perfectly the forgotten truth, that there is no royal road to intellectual eminence. This ambitious youth sees a name just above his reach, a name that will be green in the memory of the world, when those of Alexander,2 Cæsar,3 and Bonaparte1 shall rot in oblivion. It was the name of Washington. Before he marched with Braddock to that fatal field, he had been there, and left his name a foot above all his predecessors.

5. It was a glorious thought of the boy, to write his name side by side with that of the great father of his country. He grasps his knife with a firmer hand; and, clinging to a little jutting crag,' he cuts a niches into the limestone, about a foot above where he stands; he then reaches up and cuts another for his hands. "Tis a dangerous adventure; but as he puts his feet and hands into those niches, and draws himself up carefully to his full length, he finds himself a foot above every name chronicled in that mighty wall.

6. While his companions are regarding him with concern and admiration, he cuts his name in rude capitals, large and deep,

'Phys' ic al, natural; bodily.—2 Alexander the Great, son of Philip, king of Macedonia, one of the states of Greece, was born in the autumn B. C. 356. He made so many conquests, that he was styled the Conqueror of the world. He died in May or June, B. C. 323.-3 Caius Julius Cæsar, the dictator of Rome, a great warrior, statesman, and man of letters, was born on the 12th of July, B. c. 100. On the 15th of March he perished by the hands of assassins in the senate-house, in the fiftieth year of his age.-Napoleon Bonaparte, "Emperor of the French," a great warrior and statesman, was born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, on the 5th of February, 1768, and died May 5th, 1821.- Ob liv' i on, forgetfulness.- Pred e cès' sors, forefathers; those who go before us.—7 Jůt ting cråg, piece of rock projecting or extending out.- Niche, a cavity or hollow place.- Chron' i cled, recorded; written.

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