The new national reading books

Front Cover

From inside the book

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 185 - May the great God whom I worship grant to my country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory, and may no misconduct in any one tarnish it ; and may humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the British fleet...
Page 19 - Some murmur, when their sky is clear And wholly bright to view, If one small speck of dark appear In their great heaven of blue. And some with thankful love are filled, If but one streak of light, One ray of God's good mercy gild The darkness of their night. "In palaces are hearts that ask, In discontent and pride, Why life is such a dreary task, And all good things denied. And hearts in poorest huts admire How love has in their aid (Love that not ever seems to tire) Such rich provision made.
Page 192 - The most triumphant death is that of the martyr ; the most awful, that of the martyred patriot ; the most splendid, that of the hero in the hour of victory : and if the chariot and the horses of fire had been vouchsafed for Nelson's translation, he could scarcely have departed in a brighter blaze of glory.
Page 97 - Mid desolation, tuneful still ! AS SLOW OUR SHIP. As slow our ship her foamy track Against the wind was cleaving, Her trembling pennant still looked back To that dear isle 'twas leaving. So loth we part from all we love, From all the links that bind us ; So turn our hearts, where'er we rove, To those we've left behind us...
Page 120 - Hie away, hie away, Over bank and over brae, Where the copsewood is the greenest, Where the fountains glisten sheenest, Where the lady-fern grows strongest, Where the morning dew lies longest, Where the black-cock sweetest sips it, Where the fairy latest trips it. Hie to haunts right seldom seen, Lovely, lonesome, cool, and green, Over bank and over brae, Hie away, hie away. 'Do the verses he sings,' asked Waverley, 'belong to old Scottish poetry, Miss Bradwardine?
Page 191 - ... to look upon Nelson ere they died. The victory of Trafalgar was celebrated, indeed, with the usual forms of rejoicing, but they were without joy; for such already was the glory of the British navy, through Nelson's surpassing genius, that it scarcely seemed to receive any addition from the most signal victory that ever was achieved upon the...
Page 64 - Good friend," said Hal, and sighed the while, "Farewell! and happy be; But say no more, if thou'dst be true, That no one envies thee. Thy mealy cap is worth my crown, Thy mill my kingdom's fee; Such men as thou are England's boast, Oh miller of the Dee!
Page 63 - THERE dwelt a miller hale and bold Beside the river Dee ; He worked and sang from morn till night, No lark more blithe than he ; And this the burden of his song For ever used to be, — " I envy nobody ; no, not I, And nobody envies me ! "
Page 191 - Trafalgar was considered at an end : the fleets of the enemy were not merely defeated, but destroyed : new navies must be built, and a new race of seamen reared for them, before the possibility of their invading our shores could again be contemplated. It was not, therefore, from any selfish reflection upon the magnitude of our loss that we mourned for him ; the general sorrow was of a higher character.
Page 149 - A wet sheet and a flowing sea, A wind that follows fast And fills the white and rustling sail And bends the gallant mast, my boys, While, like the eagle free, Away the good ship flies, and leaves Old England on the lee.

Bibliographic information