Sanders' Union Fourth Reader Part 21

1. Oh, never say a careless Word Hath not the power to pain; The shaft may ope some hidden wound, That closes not again!

Weigh _well_ those light-winged messengers; G.o.d marked your heedless Word, And with it, too, the falling tear, The heart-pang that it stirred.

2. Words! what are Words? A simple Word Hath spells to call the tears, That long have lain a sealed fount, Unclosed through mournful years.

Back from the unseen sepulcher, A Word hath summoned forth A form that hath its place no more Among the things of Earth,

3. Words! heed them well; some whispered one Hath yet a power to fling A shadow on the brow, the soul In agony to wring; A name, forbidden, or forgot, That sometimes, unawares, Murmurs upon our wak'ning lips, And mingles in our prayers.

4. Oh, Words! sweet Words! A blessing comes Softly from kindly lips; Tender, endearing tones, that break The Spirit's drear eclipse.

Oh! are there not some cherished tones In the deep heart enshrined?

Uttered but once--they pa.s.sed--and left A track of light behind.

QUESTIONS.--1. What is said of _careless words_? 2. What, of _sweet words_? 3. What is the use of the apostrophe in _wak'ning_, third verse?

4. What is the meaning of the suffix _less_, in the words _careless, heedless_? See SANDERS' NEW SPELLER, DEFINER, AND a.n.a.lYZER, page 143, Ex. 369.

LESSON XIV.

VEG' E TA BLES, plants.

DEP RE DA' TION, robbery; plunder.

CAP TUR' ING, catching.

TRES' Pa.s.s ER, transgressor.

AP PEAL' ED, referred.

COUN' SEL, lawyer; advocate.

AR' GU MENT, plea; reason.

URG' ING, enforcing; advocating.

MIS' CHIEV OUS, hurtful; injurious.

PRAC' TI CAL, pertaining to practice.

DIS TIN' GUISH ED, celebrated.

JU' RIST, one versed in law.

AF FECT' ED, moved; impressed.

FUR' NISH ED, supplied.

VI' O LA TED, broken; transgressed.

DE PRIVE', rob; hinder.

AL LUD' ED, referred; adverted.

RE STORE', give back.

WEBSTER AND THE WOODCHUCK.

BOSTON TRAVELER.

1. Ebenezer Webster, the father of Daniel, was a farmer. The vegetables in his garden had suffered considerably from the depredations of a woodchuck, which had his hole or habitation near the premises. Daniel, some ten or twelve years old, and his older brother Ezekiel, had set a trap, and finally succeeded in capturing the trespa.s.ser.

2. Ezekiel proposed to kill the animal, and end, at once, all further trouble from him; but Daniel looked with compa.s.sion upon his meek, dumb captive, and offered to let him again go free. The boys could not agree, and they appealed to their father to decide the case.

3. "Well, my boys," said the old gentleman, "_I_ will be the _judge_.

There is the _prisoner_, (pointing to the wood-chuck,) and _you_ shall be the _counsel_, and plead the case _for_ and _against_ his life and liberty."

4. Ezekiel opened the case with a strong argument, urging the mischievous nature of the criminal, the great harm he had already done; said that much time and labor had been spent in his capture, and now, if he were suffered to live and go again at large, he would renew his depredations, and be cunning enough not to suffer himself to be caught again.

5. He urged, further, that his skin was of some value, and that, to make the most of him they could, it would not repay half the damage he had already done. His argument was ready, practical, to the point, and of much greater length than our limits will allow us to occupy in relating the story.

6. The father looked with pride upon his son, who became a distinguished jurist in his manhood. "Now, Daniel, it is _your_ turn: I'll hear what _you_ have to say."

7. It was his first case. Daniel saw that the plea of his brother had sensibly affected his father, the judge; and as his large, brilliant, black eyes looked upon the soft, timid, expression of the animal, and he saw it tremble with fear in its narrow prison-house, his heart swelled with pity, and he urged, with eloquent words, that the captive might again go free.

8. "G.o.d," he said, "had made the woodchuck; he made him to live, to enjoy the bright sunlight, the pure air, the free fields and woods. G.o.d had not made him, or _any_ thing, in vain; the woodchuck had as much right to life as any _other_ living thing."

9. "He was not a destructive animal, as the wolf and the fox were; he simply ate a few common vegetables, of which they had plenty, and could well spare a part; he destroyed nothing except the little food he needed to sustain his humble life; and that little food was as sweet to him, and as necessary to his existence, as was to them the food upon their mother's table."

10. "G.o.d furnished to them food; he gave them all they possessed; and would they not spare a little for the dumb creature, that really had as much right to his small share of G.o.d's bounty, as they themselves had to their portion?"

11. "Yea, more, the animal had never violated the laws of his nature or the laws of G.o.d, as man often did; but strictly followed the simple, harmless instincts he had received from the hand of the Creator of all things. Created by G.o.d's hand, he had a right--a right from G.o.d--to life, to food, to liberty; and they had no right to deprive him of either."

12. He alluded to the mute, but earnest pleadings of the animal for that life, as sweet, as dear to him, as their own was to them, and the just judgment they might expect, if, in selfish cruelty and cold heartlessness, they took the life they could not restore--the life that G.o.d alone had given.

13. During this appeal, the tears had started to the old man's eyes, and were fast running down his sun-burnt cheeks; every feeling of a father's heart was stirred within him; he saw the future greatness of his son before his eyes, he felt that G.o.d had blessed him in his children, beyond the lot of most men.

14. His pity and sympathy were awakened by the eloquent words of compa.s.sion, and the strong appeal for mercy; and, forgetting the judge in the man and father, he sprang from his chair, (while Daniel was in the midst of his argument, without thinking he had already won his case,) and, turning to his older son, dashing the tears from his eyes, exclaimed, "_Ezekiel, Ezekiel, you let that woodchuck go!_"

QUESTIONS.--1. What did Ezekiel propose to do with the woodchuck after he was caught? 2. What argument did he offer for so doing? 3. What did Daniel wish to do with him? 4. What argument did he offer? 4. What was their father's decision?

LESSON XV.

SOLVE, explain; work out.

PROB' LEM, question for solution.

COM PELL' ED, obliged.

IN' DO LENT, idle; lazy.

DINT, force; means.

CON' SCIOUS, self-perceived; felt.

DEM ON STRA' TION, formal proof.

RE CLIN' ING, leaning back.

PON' DERS, weighs; examines.

PROC' ESS, operation.

DO IT YOURSELF.

1. Do not ask the teacher or some cla.s.smate to solve that hard problem.

DO IT YOURSELF. You might as well let him eat your dinner as "do your sums" for you. It is in studying as in eating; _he who does it_, gets the benefit, and not _he who sees it done_. In almost any school, the teacher learns more than the best scholars, simply because he is compelled to solve all the difficult problems, and answer all the questions of the indolent pupils.

2. Do not ask your teacher to pa.r.s.e that difficult word, or a.s.sist you in the performance of any of your studies. DO IT YOURSELF. Never mind, though they _do_ look dark. Do not ask even a hint from any one. TRY AGAIN. Every trial increases your ability, and you will finally succeed by dint of the very wisdom and strength gained in the effort, even though, at first, the problem was beyond your skill. It is the _study_, and not the _answer_, that really rewards your labor.

3. Look at that boy, who has just succeeded after six hours of hard study. How his large eye is lit up with a proud joy, as he marches to his cla.s.s! He treads like a conqueror! And well he may. Last night his lamp burned, and this morning he waked at dawn. Once or twice he nearly gave it up. He had tried his last thought; but a new thought strikes him, and he ponders the last process. He tries once more, and succeeds; and now mark the air of conscious strength with which he p.r.o.nounces his demonstration.

4. His poor, weak schoolmate, who gave up that same problem, after his first trial, now looks up to him with something of a wonder, as a superior being. And he _is_ his superior. That problem lies there, a great gulf between those boys who stood side by side yesterday.