Her autumn brings its ripened fruits, in glorious luxury given; While winter's silver heights reflect thy brightness back to heaven! 4. On all thou smilest:—what is man, before thy presence, God? A breath, but yesterday inspired,-to-morrow, but a clod: That clod shall moulder in the vale, till, kindled, Lord, by thee, Its spirit to thy arms shall spring-to life-to liberty. LESSON XL. The Snow-Storm.-PORTLAND ARGUS. 1. In the month of December, 1821, a Mr. Blake, with his wife and an infant, was passing over the Green Mountain, near the town of Arlington, Vermont, in a sleigh with one horse. The drifting snow rendered it impossible for the horse to proceed. Mr. Blake set off on foot in search of assistance, and perished in the storm, before he could reach a human dwelling. 2. The mother, alarmed (as is supposed) at his long absence, went in quest of him with the infant in her arms. She was found, in the morning, dead, a short distance from the sleigh. The child was wrapped in her cloak, and survived the perils of the cold and the storm. 3. The cold winds swept the mountain's height, And pathless was the dreary wild, And, 'mid the cheerless hours of night, A mother wandered with her child. And darker hours of night came on, Her limbs were chilled, her strength was gone- 5. She stripped her mantle from her breast, With one cold kiss, one tear she shed, Her cheek was cold, and hard, and pale :- LESSON XLI. Remarkable Self-possession.-Detroit Gazette. 1. On the banks of the Naugatuck', a rapid stream, whe rises in, and flows through, a very mountainous part of the state of Connecticut, a few years since, lived a farmer, who, though not a wealthy, was a respectable man. 2. He had rought the battles of his country in the revolution, and, from nis familiarity with scenes of danger and peril, he had learned that it is always more prudent to preserve and affect the air of confidence in danger, than to betray signs of fear; and especially so, since his conduct might have a great in'fluence upon the minds of those about him. 3. He had occasion to send a little son across the river to the house of a relative, on an errand, and, as there was then no bridge, the river must be förded. 4. The lad was familiar with every part of the fording place, and, when the water was low, which was at this time the case, could cross without danger. 5. But he had scarcely arrived at his place of destination, and done his errand, when suddenly, as is frequently the case in moun'tăinous countries, the heavens became black with clouds, the winds blew with great violence, and the rain fell in torrents; it was near night, and became exceedingly dark. 6. By the kindness of his friends, he was persuaded to relinquish his design of returning in the evening, and to wait until morning. The father suspected the cause of his delay, and was not over anxious on account of any accident that might happen to him during the night. 7. But he knew that he had taught his son to render the most obsequious obedience' to his father's commands; that, as he possessed2 a daring and fearless spirit, and would never be restrained by force, he would, as soon as it should be sufficiently light in the morning, attempt to ford the river on his return. 8. He knew also, that the immense quantity' of water, that appeared to be falling, would, by morning, cause the river to rise to a considerable height, and make it dangerous, even for a man, in full possession of strength and fortitude, to attempt to cross it. 9. He therefore passed a sleepless night; anti'cipating, with all a father's feelings, what might befall his child in the morning. 10. The day dawned; the storm had ceased; the wind was still, and nothing was to be heard but the roar of the river. The rise of the river exceeded even the father's expectations; and no sooner was it sufficiently light to enable him to distinguish objects across it, than he placed himself on the bank, to watch for the approach of his son. 11. The son arrived on the opposite shore at the same moment, and was beginning to enter the stream. All the father's feelings were roused into action; for he knew that his son was in the most imʼminent danger. 12. He had proceeded too far to return; in fact, to go forward or return was to incur the same peril. 13. His horse had got into the deepest part of the channel, and was struggling against the current, down which he was rapidly hurried, and appä'rently making but little progress toward the shore. The boy became alarmed, and, raising his eyes towards the landing-place, he discovered his father: he exclaimed, almost frantic with fear, "Oh! I shall drown, I shall drown!” 14. "No" exclaimed the father, in a stern and resolute tone, and dismissing, for a moment, his feeling of tenderness: "if you do, I'll whip you to death: cling to your horse." 15. The son, who feared a father more than the raging elements, obeyed his command; and the noble animal, on which he was mounted, struggling for some time, carried him safe to shore. 16. "My son," said the glad father, bursting into tears, "remember, hereafter, that, in danger, you must possess for'titude, and, determining to survive, cling to the last hope. 17. Had I addressed you with the tenderness and fear which I felt, your fate was inevitable; you would have been carried away in the current, and I should have seen you no more. 18. What an example is here! The heroism, bravery, philos'ophy, and presence of mind of this man, eclipse the conduct even of Cæsar, when he said to his boat'măn, What are you afraid of? you carry Cæsar!" 1 Pron, kwon'-te-te. 2 poz-zesh'-un, 3 rice, not rize. 4 căr'-rid. LESSON XLII. Anecdote of John Ledyard.-SPARKS. 1. AFTER abandoning his missionary schemes, young Lea yard began to grow weary of college, and the more so, probably, as his unsettled habits now and then drew from the president a salutary admonition on the importance of a right use of time, and a regard for the regulations of the establishment. Such hints he conceived to be an indignity, and fancied himself ill treated. 2. That there was value in rules of order and discipline, he did not pretend to deny, but seemed at a loss to imagine why they should apply to him. That the whole subject might be put at rest, without involving any puzzling questions of cas'uistry, he resolved to escape. 3. On the margin of the Connecticut river, which runs near the college,* stood many majestic forest trees, nourished by a rich soil. One of these Ledyard contrived to cut down. He then set himself at work to fashion its trunk into a canoe', and in this labour he was assisted by some of his fellow students. 4. As the canoe was fifty feet long, and three wide, and was to be dug out and constructed by these unskilful workmen, the task was not a trifling one, nor such as could be speedily executed. Operations were carried on with spirit, however, till Ledyard wounded himself with an axe, and was disabled for several days. 5. When recovered, he applied himself anew to his work; the canoe was finished, launched into the stream, and, by the further aid of his companions, equipped and prepared for a voyage. 6. His wishes were now at their consummation, and, bidding adieu to these haunts of the muses, where he had gained a dubious fame, he set off alone, with a light heart, to explore a river, with the navigation of which he had not the slightest aequaintance. 7. The distance to Hartford was not less than one hundred and forty miles; much of the way was through a wilderness, and in several places there were dangerous falls and rapids. 8. With a bearskin for a covering, and his canoe well stocked with provisions, he yielded himself to the current, and floated leisurely down the stream, seldom using his paddle, and stopping only in the night for sleep. 9. He told Mr. Jefferson in Paris, fourteen years afterwards, that he ook only two books with him, a Greek Testament, and * Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. 1 Pron că-noo, Ovid, one of which he was deeply engaged in reading, wher his canoe approached Bellows's Falls, where he was sudden. ly roused by the noise of the waters rushing among the rocke through the narrow passage. 10. The danger was imminent, as no boat could go down that fall without being instantly dashed in pieces. With difficulty he gained the shore in time to escape such a cătas'trophě, and, through the kina assistance of the people in the neighbour down the Con astonished at the novelty of such a voyage necticut, his canoe was drawn by oxen around the fall, and committed again to the water below. 11. From that time, till he arrived at Lis place of destination, we hear of no accident, although he was carried through several dangerous passes in the river. 12. On a bright spring morning, just as the sun was rising, some of Mr. Seymour's family were standing near his house on the high bank of the small river, that runs through the city of Hartford, and empties itself into the Connecticut river, when they espied at some distance an object of unū'sūăl appearance, moving slowly up the stream. 13. Others were attracted by the singularity of the sight, and all were conjecturing what it could be, till its questionable shape assumed the true and obvious form of a canoe; but by what impulse it was moved forward, none could determine. Something was seen in the stern, but apparently without life or motion. 14. At length the canoe touched the shore directly in front of the house; a person sprang from the stern to a rock in the edge of the water, threw off a bearskin in which he had been enveloped, and behold John Ledyard, in the presence of his uncle and connexions, who were filled with wonder at this sudden apparition; for they had received no intelligence of his intention to leave Dartmouth, but supposed him still there, diligently pursuing his studies, and fitting himself to be a missionary among the Indians. 15. However unimportant this whimsical adventure may have been in its results, or even its objects, it was one of no ordinary peril, and illustrated, in a forcible manner, the character of the navigator. The voyage was performed in the last part of April, or first of May, and of course the river was raised by the recent melting of the snow on the mountains. 16. This circumstance, probably, rendered the rapids less dangerous, but it may be questioned whether there are many persons, at the present day, who would willingly run the same hazard, even if guided by a pilot skilled in the navigation of the river. |