the unwritten page of being; who produces impressions, which only death can obliterate; and mingles with the cradle-dream, what shall be read in eternity. Well may statesmen and philosophers debate, how she may best be educated, who is to educate all mankind. 1. Every young man ought to feel that his honor is involved in the character and dignity of his sisters. There is no insult which he should sooner rebuke, than one offered to them. But if you would have others esteem and honor them, you must esteem and honor them yourself. Treat them with far less reserve, but with no less delicacy, than you would the most genteel stranger. 2. Nothing, in a family, strikes the eye of a visitor with more delight, than to see brothers treat their sisters with kindness, civility, attention, and love. On the contrary, nothing is more offensive, or speaks worse for the honor of a family, than that coarse, rude, unkind manner, which brothers sometimes exhibit. 3. Beware how you speak of your sisters. Even gold is tarnished by much handling. If you speak in their praise, of their beauty, learning, manners, wit, or attentions, you will subject them to taunt and ridicule; if you say any thing against them, you will bring reproach upon yourself, and them, too. If you have occasion to speak of them, do it with modesty, and with few words. Let others do all the praising, and yourself enjoy it. I hope that you will always have reason to take pleasure in your sisters. 4. If you are separated from them, maintain with them a correspondence. This will do yourself good, as well as them. Do not neglect this duty, nor grow remiss in it. Give your friendly advice, and seek theirs in return. As they mingle intimately with their sex, they can enlighten your mind respecting many particulars relating to female character, important for you to know; and, on the other hand, you have the same opportunity to do them a similar service. However long or widely separated from them, keep up your fraternal affection and intercourse. It is omnious of evil, when a young man forgets his sisters. 1. LESSON XLI. THE DESERTED VILLAGE.- GOLDSMITH." Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain, And parting summer's lingering blooms delayed; The sheltered cot, the cultivated farm, The never-failing brook, the busy mill, The decent church that topped the neighboring hill, 2. How often have I blessed the coming day, When toil remitting lent its aid to play, Goldsmith, (Oliver,) was born in Ireland in 1731, and died in 1774. He traveled extensively, and was an excellent writer. And all the village train, from labor free, 3. 4. 5. Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree! Sweet, smiling village, loveliest of the lawn, Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn; No more thy glassy brook reflects the day, Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Sweet Auburn! parent of the blissful hour, Thy glades forlorn confess the tyrant's power. Here, as I take my solitary rounds, 6. Amid thy tangling walks and ruined grounds, Where once the cottage stood, the hawthorn grew, In all my wanderings round this world of care, I still had hopes my latest hours to crown, 7. Oh blessed retirement! friend to life's decline, How blessed is he who crowns, in shades like these, LESSON XLII. THE ETERNITY OF GOD.- BROOKS. [See Rule 7, p. 182.] 1. The deep fountains of the earth are thine, It came, in light and loveliness arrayed, Crowned with green em'rald mounts, tinted with gold, Seeded with jewels of resplendent isles. 2. The awful heavens are thine; -the liquid sun, That heaves his fiery waves beneath thy eye! The ocean, That from their beamy treasures through the wide, 3. The stars are thine,- thy charactery grand, For eye of man and angel to behold, And read and gaze on, worship and adore. These shall grow old; the solid earth, with years And her gray mountains crumble piece-meal down, 4. The sea shall labor: on his hoary head Shall lose their luster, and grow old with years. 5. And as a worn-out garment, thou shalt fold With age shall tarnish, and shall be rolled up As parchment scrolls of abrogated acts, |