been disappointed in the attainment of that on which thou hast rested all thy hopes of happiness?" 18. "Alas, no! I have been disappointed, not in the means, but in the attainment, of happiness. I want nothing but a want. I am cursed with the gratification of all my wishes and the fruition of all my hopes. I have wasted my life in the acquisition of riches that only awakened new desires, and honors that no longer gratify my pride or repay me for the labor of sustaining them. I have been cheated in the pursuit of pleasures that weary me in the enjoyment, and am perishing for lack of the excitement of some new want. I have every thing I wish, yet enjoy nothing." 19. "Thy case is beyond my skill," replied the calif; and the man cursed with the fruition of all his desires turned his back on him in despair. The calif, after thanking him for his hospitality, departed with his companions, and, when they had reached the street, exclaimed, "Allah preserve me! I will no longer fatigue myself in a vain pursuit; for it is impossible to confer happiness on such a perverse generation. I see it is all the same whether a man wants one thing, every thing, or nothing Let us go home and sleep." LESSON CIX. THE GAMBLER'S WIFE. BY COATES. No fire! 1. DARK is the night. How dark! No light! Cold, on the hearth, the last faint sparks expire! Shivering, she watches by the cradle-side For him who pledged her love,-last year a bride! 2. "Hark! "Tis his footstep! No! 'Tis past! Tis gone!" Tick! tick! "How wearily the time crawls on! Why should he leave me thus? He, once so kind! How blind! 3. "Rest thee, my babe! Rest on! 'Tis hunger's cry! Sleep! For there is no food! The fount is dry! Famine and cold their wearying work have done: My heart must break! And thou!" The clock strikes one. 4. "Hush! 'tis the dice-box! Yes, he's there! he's there! For this, for this, he leaves me to despair! Leaves love, leaves truth, his wife, his child,-for what? 5. "Yet I'll not curse him. No! 'Tis all in vain! 'Tis long to wait, but sure he'll come again! And I could starve, and bless him, but for you, My child! My child! Oh, fiend!" The clock strikes two. 6. "Hark! How the sign-board creaks! The blast howls by. Moan! moan! A dirge swells through the cloudy sky! Ha! 'Tis his knock! He comes-he comes once more! 'Tis but the lattice flaps! Thy hope is o'er! "Can he desert us thus? He knows I stay, 8. "Nestle more closely, dear one, to my heart! Thou'rt cold! Thou'rt freezing! But we will not part! O God! protect my child!" The clock strikes three. 9. They're gone! they're gone! the glimmering spark hath fled! The wife and child are number'd with the dead; The gambler came at last, but all was o'er: LESSON CX. ADVICE TO THE YOUNG. BY E. H. CHAPIN. 1. YOUNG FRIENDS', in whatever pursuits you may engage, you must not forget that the lawful objects of human efforts are but means to higher results and nobler ends. Start not forward in life with the idea of becoming mere seekers of pleasure,sportive butterflies searching for gaudy flowers. Consider and act with reference to the true ends of existence. This world is but the vestibule of an immortal life. Every action of your life touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity. These thoughts and motives within you stir the pulses of a deathless spirit. 2. Act not, then, as mere creatures of this life', who for a little while are to walk the valleys and the hills', to enjoy the sunshine and breathe the air, and then pass away and be no more'; but act as immortals', with an aim and a purpose worthy of your high nature'. Set before you, as the chief object to be obtained, an end that is superior to any on earth',—a desirable end, A PERFECT END'. Labor to accomplish a work which shall survive unchanged and beautiful when time shall have withered the garland of youth', when thrones of power and monuments of art shall have crumbled into ashes'; and, finally, aim to achieve something', which, when these our mutable and perishing voices are hushed forever', shall live amid the songs and triumphs of IMMORTALITY. 3. Well will it be for you, if you have a guide within, which will aid you in every issue', which will arm you in every temptation', and comfort you in every sorrow'. Consult, then, that Volume whose precepts will never fail you. Consult it with a deep aspiration after the true and good, and it shall illuminate your understanding with divine realities. Open your soul, and it shall breathe into it a holy influence and fill all its wants. Bind it close to your heart'; it will be a shield against all the assaults of evil. Read it in the lonely hour of desertion'; it will be the best of companions. Open it when the voyage of life is troubled'; it is a sure chart. Study it in poverty'; it will unhoard to you inexhaustible riches. Commune with it in sickness'; it contains the medicine of the soul. Clasp it when dying'; it is the charter of immortality. LESSON CXI. MY MOTHER'S BIBLE. BY GEORGE P. MORRIS. 1. Tяis book is all that's left me now: With faltering lip and throbbing brow, For many generations past Here is our family tree: My mother's hand this Bible clasp'd; 2. Ah! well do I remember those Whose names these records bear; And speak of what these pages said, 3. My father read this holy book How calm was my poor mother's look, What thrilling memories come! Within the halls of home! 4. Thou truest friend man ever knew, When all were false I found thee true, The mines of earth no treasure give That could this volume buy: In teaching me the way to live, LESSON CXII. THE OLD BACHELORS' SALE. BY MISS DAVIDSON. 1. I DREAM'D a dream in the midst of my slumbers, And as fast as I dream'd it, it came into numbers, My thoughts ran along in such beautiful meter, I'm sure I ne'er saw any poetry sweeter: It seem'd that a law had been recently made, 2. The bachelors grumbled, and said 'twas no use, And declared that, to save their own hearts' blood from spilling, Of such a vile tax they would not pay a shilling. 3. But the rulers determined them still to pursue, 4. And presently all the old maids in the town, 5. The auctioneer then in his labor began, The bachelors all were sold off in a trice: And forty old maidens-some younger, some older LESSON CXIII. THE MILLER OF MANSFIELD. KING, MILLER, AND COURTIER. King. (Enters alone, wrapped in a cloak.) No, no! this can be no public road, that's certain. I have lost my way, undoubtedly. Of what advantage is it now to be a king? Night shows me no respect: I cannot see better, nor walk so well as another man. When a king is lost in a wood, what is he more than other men? His wisdom knows not which is north and |