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Designed for
Young People of
Tears
Containing selections in
both prose and poetry
together with sosne short
dialogues and tableaux
Compiled, by
Mrs. J. W. SHOEMJHQER
JKutth** of
Philadelphia
The Pen/i
Publishing Company
J908
Ret
filtered according" to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, "by
THE NATIONAL SCHOOL OF ELOCUTION AND ORATORY,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.
_ -
PREFACE
Ittle volume is designed for children betweea
-L the ages of five and fifteen years.
The need, as well as the numerous inquiries for a
work of this kind, has led to the preparation of the
present compilation,
Our resources for collecting that which is fresh,
varied, and vigorous are many ; and, while engaged in
the task of arranging, three things were kept promi
nently in view: first, that the selections should neither
be long nor tedious; second, that there should be an
abundant variety; and, third, that the tone or character
should be healthful. Hence, there are short pieces both
of poetry and prose, some treating of plant and animal
life, some of childhood pleasures, some brimming with
innocent fun, some filled with patriotic fervor, some
with bits of philosophy, and others designed to inspire
the soul with motives toward truth, honor, right, and
iuty.
IT PREFACE.
A. few dialogues and acting tableaux are appended,
and thus tli rough its adaptability it is believed that the
will meet the wants of children for the merry
makings in the home circle, for church anniversaries,
for school exhibitions. Such then is the style and
character of this collection of Beadings and Eecitations
which we offer to you, the Young Folks of our Beloved
I^and, trusting you may find in it much to gratify and
please, and, above all, that which will lead your minda
und hearts to thoughts Beautiful, Pure, and Good*
MRS. J. W. SHOEMAKER*
fkihdelpkia, January 1st, 1884.
CONTENTS.
iee8fml4fe JemuiA* . . . . 1
Do 9
How Cyrus Laid the Cable . . 10
Little by Little 11
What the Winds Bring JSdaanmd daremc* S*doum 12
TheTwoBoads 12
The Boy s Complaint 13
Never Say Tail 14
Farewell of the Birds M.K.P. 1ft
Boys "Wanted 17
Bo Bight 17
Go&l Deeds Dr. 2*. Cbo&ner* ..... 18
The Two Commands 18
A Christmas EYO Adventure Jf . if. 19
The Way to Bo It . Mary Jfopes Dodge .... 21
Speak ths Truth . . 22
Battle Bonny MalTem HiE Brrf JBarte ........ 23
A CMld g Wisdom. 25
Tbe Nobility of Labor Me*). OrmKeDewe^. ... 26
Lazy Daisy 27
The Moon and the Child George Jacqm 28
The Sparkling Bowl John Pi&rymt 29
Sweet Peas . Lilian Parson 30
The King and the Child Eugene J. So 31
Do TOE Know How Many Stars? 33
The Fathers of the BepttbEc ... - Everett . 34
A Horse s Petition to His DriTer 34
Antony on the Death of Caesar Shakespeare ... ... 35
Sour Grapes 35
BeinEarnest . Bnlwer 36
Suppose PhcebeCanf 37
The SqnirreFs Lesson 38
Homesick 39
War Inevitable Patrick Smry 41
That Calf Phoebe Gary ....... 42
Johnny the Stout 44
What the Minutes Say 45
The Little Boy s Lament 4$
Mature SagKMHer 4T
The Boy and the Frog 47
Homeopathic Soup *
V
f I CONTENTS.
LiBMtoKate ...... ...... . ......... ....... BO
Sra&d Scheme of lmlgm&m ........... ........... 82
Brave aad True ..... .......... Henry Jkwtio ...... 53
this G&bler ................ . ............. M
Whai fthe Matter? .............. H.K.P. ......... 65
Peaceable Secession .............. IFeZwter ......... 56
Baiy s Soliloqny ............................ 57
A Tribute to Water .......... .... J0& B. Ctapfc ...... 58
Sin . ........ ........... . Baxter. ... ...... 60
February Tweaty-woaid .......... .JoyABuon ....... 61
Hit Stolen CwtanJ ... ........................ 62
Semelxidy a Mother ....... . ...... JfocmtZZon ........ 63
Willie s Brecb ...... . ....... EUa G. Sdklyury ..... 64
Thomas Carfyte ..... 65
.....*.... Maria Lacey ....... 66
BeiagaBoy. ................ Charles Dudley Warner . . 7
We Mm* All Scratch ...... . ........ . .......... 69
Blowing Bnie .... ........... E. 0. F. Starfay .... 70
When the Frasf is on the Finikin ................... 72
America s Obligations to England ....... Colonel J9orre ...... 73
. ....................... 74
Digmlij In Lator ............... Newmcai JTaU ...... 75
Where Bid You Come From, Baby? ...... George MacdonaM .... 76
A Little Buy s Trimbles ............ Carlotta, Perry ...... 77
from a Battle-field ........... 8. C.Stone ........ 79
TkreeGood Boctors . ......... . . . & W. Dt^ffield, D.D. . , . . 8
On Ctonqnering America ..... ...... Lord Cha&am ...... 82
The lodiaa BT ....... . ...... Francos S. Smi& ..... 83
Johnny s Pocket ........ ... ............... . . 84
Six o clock P. M .......................... . . 85
ASoUumFac* ............................. 86
The Little Light ............................ 87
Tfee Krf and the Baby ........ ... . Alfred Tennyson ..... 88
The Return from Battle . . ...... .... .......... .. 89
The American Mag ..... ...... ...<. P. Putnam ...... 90
LoBtTomuay ..... ........... . Mrs. JitZm M. Dona ... 91
The FooHsh Harebell ..... ........ George Macdonald .... 93
Only a Baby Small . ............. Matthias Ban- ...... 94
BrateiOiithBBeatlicrfCa^Etr ......... Shakespeare ....... 95
MISCELLANEOUS.
Three Little Mushrooms ......... . ..............
Eea! Elocution .... ......... 1 ........ ....... 97
Knowing the Circomstaiices ...................... 101
4 Sang of the States .... ...... . . ....... . ...... 103
YOUNG FOLKS RECITATIONS
SUCCESS 11" LIFE.
POETS may be bora, but success is made ; therefore K
JL me beg of you, in the outset of your career, to
dismiss from your mincb all ideas of succeeding by luck.
There is no more common thought among young peo
ple than that foolish one that by and by something will
turn up by which they will suddenly achieve fame or
fortune. Luck is an ignis fatuus. You may follow it
to ruio, but not to success. The great Napoleon, who
believed in his destiny, followed it until he saw his star
go down in blackest night, when the Old Guard perished
around him, and Waterloo was lost. A pound of plucfe
is worth a ton of luck.
Young men talk of trusting to the spur of the occa^
sion. That trust is vain. Occasion cannot make spurs.
If you expect to wear s purs, you must win them. If yon
wish to use them, you must buckle them to your own
heels before you go Into the fight. Any success you may
achieve is not worth the having unless you fight for it.
Whatever you win in life you must conquer by your own
efforts, and then it is yours a part of yourself.
Again: in order to have any success in life, or any
worthy success, you must resolve to carry into your work
a fullness of knowledge not merely a sufficiency, but
more than a sufficiency. Be fit for more than the thing
you are now doing. Let every one know that you have
a reserve in yourself ; that you have more power than
you are now using. If you are not too large for the place
you occupy, you are too small for it. How full our coon?
7
S SUCCESS IN LIFE.
try is of bright examples, nofc only of those who occupy
proud eminence in public life, but in every place
you may find men going on with steady nerve, attract
ing the attention of their fellow-citizens, and carving out
for themselves names and fortunes from small and hum-
He beginnings and in the face of formidable obstacles.
Let not poverty stand as an obstacle in your way. Pov
erty is uncomfortable, as I can testify ; but nine times
out of ten the best thing that can. happen to a young man
is to be tossed overboard, and compelled to sink or swim
for himself. In all my acquaintance, I have never known
one to be drowned who was worth the saving. This
would not be wholly true in any country but one of
political equality like ours.
The reason is this : In the aristocracies of the Old
World, wealth and society are built up like the strata of
rock which compose the crust of the earth. If a boy be
bom in the lowest stratum of life, it is almost impossible
for him to rise through this hard crust into the higher
ranks; but in this country it is not so. The strata of
our society resemble rather the ocean, where every drop,
even the lowest, is free to mingle with all others, and may
shine at last on the crest of the highest wave. This is
the glory of our country, and you need not fear that there
are any obstacles which will prove too great for any
brave heart
In giving you being, God locked up in your nature
certain forces and capabilities. What will you do with
them? Look at the mechanism of a clock. Take off
the pendulum and ratchet, and the wheels go rattling
down and all its force is expended in a moment ; but
properly balanced and regulated, it will go on, letting out
its force tick by tick, measuring hours and days, and
BO SO11ETHIHG. fl
doing faithfully the service for "which It I
Implore you to cherish and guard and use well the forces
that God has given to you. You may let them run clown
in a year 3 if you will. Take off the strong curb of dis
cipline and morality, and you will be an old man before
your twenties are passed. Preserve these forces. Bo not
burn them out with brandy, or waste them in idleness
and crime. Do Dot destroy them. Do not use them un
worthily. Save and protect them, that they may save for
you fortune and fame. Honestly resolve to do this, and
you will be an honor to yourself and to your country.
A.
DO SOMETHING.
TF the world seems cold to you,
J- Kindle fires to warm it !
Let their comfort hide from yon
Winters that deform it.
Hearts as frozen as your own
To that radiance gather ;
You will soon forget to moan,
** Ah ! the cheerless weather/*
If the world s a vale of tears,
Smile till rainbows span it;
Breathe the love, that life endears
Clear from clouds to fan it.
Of our gladness lend a gleam
Unto souls that shiver;
Show them how dark sorrow s stream
jjlends with hope s bright river I
101 HOW CYRUS LAID THE CABLE.
HOW CYRUS LAID THE CABLK
COME* listen to my song y it is no silly fable,
J Tis all about the mighty cord they call the Atlan
tic Cable,
Bold Cyrus Field, said he, " I have a pretty notion
That I could run a telegraph across the Atlantic Ocean."
And all the people laughed and said they d like to see
him do it ;
He might get " half seas over/ but never would go
through it.
To carry out his foolish plan he never would be able ;
He might as well go hang himself with his Atlantic
Cable.
But Cyras was a valiant man, a fellow of decision,
And heeded not their careless words, their laughter and
derision.
Twice did Ms bravest efforts fail, yet his mind was stable ;
He wasn t the man to break his heart because he broke
his cable.
" Once more, my gallant boys/ said he ; " three times/
you know the fable.
"Ill make it thirty/ muttered he, but what 111 lay
the cable."
Hurrah ! hurrah ! again hurrah ! what means this great
commotion ?
gurrah! hurrah! The cable s laid sicrosf the Atlantic
Ocean.
LITTLE BY LITTLE,
ii
Loud ring the bells, for through ten thousand
leagues of water.
Old Mother England s benison salutes her eldest daugh
ter.
(Fer all the land the tidings spread, and soon in every
nation,
They ll tear about the cable with profoundest admira
tion.
Long live the gallant souls who helped our noble Cyms ;
And may their courage, faith, and zeal, with emulation
fire us.
And may we honor, evermore, the manly, bold and stable,
And tell our sons, to make them brave, how Cyrus laid
the Cable.
LITTLE BY LITTLE.
ONE step and then another, and the longest walk is
ended;
One stitch and then another, and the widest rent is
mended ;
One brick upon another, and the highest wall is made ;
One flake upon another, and the deepest snow IB laid.
Then do not frown nor murmur at the work you have to
do,
Or say that such a mighty task you never can get through ;
But just endeavor, day "by day, another point to gain,
And soon the mountain that you feared will prove to b
a plain.
WHAT THE WINDS BRING.
WINDS BRBSTG.
Y1THICH is the wind that brings the cold ?
V The north.- wind, Freddy, and all the snot*
And the stieep will scamper into the fold,
When the north "begins to Wow.
Which is the wind that brings the heat ?
The south-wind , Katy ; and corn will grow,
And peaches redden for you to eat,
When the south begins to blow.
Which is the wind that brings the rain ?
The east-wind, Arty ; and farmers know
That cows come shivering up the lane
When the east begins to blow.
Which is the wind that brings the flowers ?
The west- wind, Bessy ; and soft and low,
The birdies sing in the summer honrs
When the west begins to blow.
CLARENCE STEDMAN*
THE TWO ROADS.
TfTHERE two ways meet the children stand,
"A fair, broad road on either hand ;
One leads to Right, and one to Wrong ;
So runs the song.
Which will you choose, each lass and lad ?
The right or left, the good or bad ?
One leads to Right, and one to Wrong ;
So runs the song.
THE BOY S COMPLAINT. IS
THE BOY S COMPLAINT.
! never mind, they re only boys ;"
Tig thus the people say,
And they hustle us and jostle us.
And drive us out the way.
They never give us half our rights :
I know that this is so ;
Ain t I a boy ? aod can t I see
The way that these things go ?
The little girls are petted all,
Called u honey," dear," and u sweet,"
But boys are cuffed at home and school,
And knocked about the street.
My sister lias her rags and dolls
Strewn all about the floor,
While old dog Growler dares not put
Bus nose inside the door.
And if I go upon the porch
In hopes to have a play,
Borne one calls out, a Hollo, young chap,
Take that noisy dog away P
My hoop is used to build a fire,
My ball is thrown aside ;
And mother let the baby have
My top, because it cried.
If company should come at night,
The boys can t sit up late ;
And if they come to dinner, then
Hie boys, of course, must "wait
14 KETER S4T FAIL.
If anytMog Is raw or burned
It falls to us, no doubt ;
And if the cake or pudding s shorty
We have to go without.
If there are fireworks, we can t get
A place to see at all ;
And when the soldiers come along
We re crowded to the wail.
Whoever wants an errand done,
We always have to scud ;
Whoever wants the sidewalk, we
Are crowded in the mud.
Tis hurry-scurry, here and there,
Without a moment s rest,
And we scarcely get a * Thank you./* if
We do our very best.
But never mind, boys we will be
The grown men by and by ;
Then I suppose twill be our turn
To snub the smaller boy.
NEVER SAY FAIL.
IK" life s rosy morning,
In manhood s pride,
Let this be your motto,
Your footsteps to guide:
In storms and in sunshine,
Whatever assail,
We ll onward and conquer,
And never say fail.
jfABEWELL OF THE BIBDS.
FAREWELL OF THE
TO Jennie at play in the garden,
To Bessie and Maud on the till,
To all the children that frolic
So gay! v "by brooklet and rill
"We are coming to-day.
But, hush ! Never tell !
We are coming, I say.
To bid you farewell !
You welcomed us early in spring,
With laughter and shoutings so sweet ;
To your childhood our music we bring,
You scatter your crumbs at our feet.
You. love us, we know.
"Sow listen, tis true :
We re sorry to sing
This farewell to you.
We ve led you full many a race
O er hillside and valley and dell ;
We ve beckoned you on to the forest,
And shown you where wild flowers dwell ;
We ve twittered and sung
New songs every day ;
We E give a grand chorus
E er flying away.
Where berries are ripest and sweetest,
Where grapes their rich perfume distill,
We enticed you by flutter and music,
Tour little school-baskets to fill.
& FAREWELL OF THE BIRDS.
We showed you onr nest,
In shadiest nook ;
We trusted your honor
To take but a look.
But the berries are gone from the roadside,
The flowers told the dew-drops no more ;
The grapes from the vine have been gathered x
And, children, our play-time Is o er.
Good-bye, then > to Bessie,
To Clara, and May,
To all who are kind
To the birds at their play.
We go where the days are all sunny,
The breezes all softened and Hand,
Where flowers and fruits never fail,
In a far-away, dreamy Southland.
But we love you all as well.
Now list while we sing :
We are sure to fly back
At the coming of spring.
Yes, In the spring time again
Well build near your homes in the tree ;
We hope that each laughing-eyed urchin
And maiden will be there to see.
But now we must go ;
Oh ! pray, do not cry,
As upward and onward %
We warble, Good-bye^
H.K.P.
BOYS WANTED DO EIGHT. 1?
BOYS WASTED.
BOYS of spirit, boys of wit,
Boys of muscle, brain, and powr.
Fit to cope with anything,
These are wanted every tour,
Not the weak and whining drones*
Who all troubles magnify ;
Not the watchword of "I can t/*
But the nobler one, ** 111 try."
Bo whate er you have to do
With a true and earnest zeal
Bend your sinews to the task,
" Put your shoulder to the wheel.*
Though your duty may be hard,
Look not on it as an ill j
If it be an honest task,
Do it with an honest will*
la the workshop, on the farm,
At the desk, where er you be,
From your foture efforts, boys,
Comes a nation s destiny.
DO EIGHT.
T\0 what conscience says is righll
J-/ Do what reason says is best;
Do with all your mind and mights
Do your duty and be blest
S
II TWO COMMANDS.
GOOD
of breathe, move, and live, pass
J- off the sta^e of life, and are heard of BO more.
Why f They do not partake of good In this world, and
were by them ; none could point to them
as fiie of their redemption ; not a line they wrote^
not a word they spate, could be recalled ; and so they
perished; their light went out In darkness, and they were
not remembered more than insects of yesterday. Will
you thus live and die, O man Immortal? Live for some
thing. Do good, and leave behind you a monument of
virtue that the storm of time can never destroy. Write
your name, In kindness, In love, and mercy, on the hearts
of thousands you come in contact with year by year : yon
will never be forgotten. No ! Your name, your deeds,
wIH "be as legible on the hearts you leave behind you as
the stars on the brow of evening. Good deeds will shly^e
as the stars of heaven
T. CHALMEES.
THE TWO
THIS is the first and great command j
To love thy God above;
And this the second: As thyself
Thy neighbor thou shalt love.
Who is thy neighbor ? He who wanti
A help which thou canst give;
And both the law and prophets say,
This do ftud thou shalt Eve.
A CHRISTMAS EVE ADVENTURE. 19
A CHRISTMAS EVE ADVEFTUEK
OXGE on a time, in a queer little town
On the shore of the Zuyder Zee,
When all the good people were fast asleep,
A.strange thing happened to me!
Alone, the night Before Christmas,
I sat by the glowing fire,
Watching the flame as it rose and fell,
While the sparks shot high and higher.
Suddenly one of these sparks began
To flicker and glimmer and wink
Like a big bright eye, till I hardly knew
What to do or to say or to think
Quick as a flash, it changed to a face,
And what in the world did I see
But dear old Santa Glaus nodding his head,
And waving his hand to me I
" Oh! follow me, follow me!" soft he cried,
And up through the chimney with him
I mounted, not daring to utter a word
Till we stood oa the chimney s rim.
" Now tell me, I beg you, dear Santa Glaus,
Where am I going with you?"
He laughingly answered, " Why, don t you know?
To travel the wide world through !
"From my crystal palace, far in the North,
I have come since dark, and see
These curious things for the little folk
Who live on the Zuyder Zee*"
20 A CHRHTMAS EVE ADVENTURE.
Thai himself in his reindeer sledge.
And drawing me down "by his side,
He whistled, and off on the wings of the mud
We flew for our midnight ride.
But first, such comical presents lie left .
For the little Dutch girls and boys,
Onions and sausages, wooden-faced dolls,
Cheeses and gingerbread toys !
Away we hurried far to the South,
To the beautiful land of France ;
And there we showered the loveliest gifts,
Flaxen-haired dolls that could dance,
Soldiers that marched at the word of command,
Keeklaces, bracelets, and rings,
Tiny gold watches, all studded with, gems,
And hundreds of exquisite things.
Crossing the Channel, we made a short call
In Scotland and Ireland, too ;
Left a warm greeting for England and Wales,
Then over the ocean we flew
Straight to America, where by myself
Perched on a chimney high,
I watched him scramble and bustle about
Between the earth and the sky.
Many a stocking he filled to the brim,
And numberless Christmas trees
Burst into bloom at his magical touch I
The, all of a sudden, a breeze
TOE WAY TO BO IT. 21
Caught us and bore us away to the South,
And afterward blew us ** out West f
And never till dawn peeped over the hills
Did we stop for a moment s rest
** Christmas is coming F* he whispered to me,
You can see his smile in the sky,
I wish Merry Christmas to all the world 1
My work is over, good-bye !"
Like a flash he was gone, and I was alone,*
For all of this happened to me
Once on a time, in a ^ueer little town
On the shore of the Zuyder Zee ! M M*
THE WAY TO DO IT.
i tell you how I speak a piece:
J- First, I make my "bow ;
Then I bring my words out dear
And plain as I know how.
Next, I throw my hands up so ! *
Then I lift my eyes :
That s to let my hearers know
Something doth surprise*
Next, I grin and show my teeth,
Nearly every one,
Shake my shoulders, hold my sides:
That s the sign of fan.
IS PEAK THE TRUTH.
Next, I start, and knit my brows,
Hold my head erect ;
Something s wrong, you see, and I
Decidedly object*
Then I wabble at my knees,
Clutch at shadows near,
Tremble well from top to toe:
That s the sign of fear,
Now I start, and with a leap ;
Seize an airy dagger,
" Wretch I" I cry : That s tragedy,
Every soul to stagger.
Then I let my voice grow faint,
Gasp, and hold my breath,
Tumble down and plunge about :
That s a villain s death.
Quickly then I come to life,
Perfectly restored ;
With a bow my speech is done.
"Sow you ll please applaud.
MARY MAPES DOIXJE.
SPEAK THE TRUTH.
QPEAK the truth!
O Speak it boldly, never fear,
Speak it so that all may hear,
In the end it shall appear
Truth is best in age and youth,
Speak the truth*
BATTLE BUN5Y MALVEEN HILL. 22"
BATTLE BIEOY--^I1L\ T ERN
[After the men were ordered to lie down, a. white rabbit, which hftd
been hopping hither and thither over the field swept by grape and mm*
retry, rjuk ref *ige among ike skirmishers, in the breast cf a corporal]
J3UXXY, lying in the grass,
i-/ Saw the shiny column pass,
Saw the starry banner fly ?
Saw the chargers fret and fume,
Saw the flapping hat and plume
Saw them with his moist and shy,
Most unspeeulative eye.
Thinking only, in the dew,
That it was a fine review
Till a flash, not ail of steel,
Where the rolling caisson s wheel
"Brought a rumble and a roar
Boiling down that velvet floor,
And like blows of autumn flail
Sharply threshed the iron hail
Bunny, thrilled by unknown fear%
Raised his soft and pointed ears,
Mumbled his prehensile lip,
Quivered Ms pulsating hip,
As the sharp, vindictive yell
Rose above the screaming shell :
Thought the world and all its men,
All the charging squadrons meant
All were rabbit hunters then,
All to capture him intent.
Bunny was not much to blame ;
Wise? folk have thought the samt-
Wiser folk, who think they spy
BATTLE BCN2TT MALYERN HILL
Wildly here and there,
Bunny sought the freer au* ?
Till lie hopped below the hill,
And saw lying* close and still,
Men with muskets in their handc
Never Bunny understands
That hypocrisy of sleep,
In the vigils gran they keep,
As recumbent on that spot
They elude the level shot
One a grave and quiet man,
Thinking of his wife and child
Where the Androscoggin smiled-
Felt the little rabbit creep,
Nestling by his arm and side.
Wakened from strategic sleep,
To that soft appeal replied,
Drew Mm to his blackened breast,
And
Bat you have guessed the rest,
Softly o y er that chosen pair
Omnipresent Love and Care
Drew a mightier Hand and Arm,
Shielding them from every harm ;
Eight and left the bullets waved,
SSaves the savior for the saved.
Who believes that equal grace
God extends in every place,
Little difference he scans
Twist a rabbit s God ajid man s.
BRET
IL CHILD S WISDOM.
A CHILD S
TpWAS the hour of prayer, and the farmer stood,
JL "With a thankful heart and a lowly mind,
And prayed to the Author of every good,
That the Father of all would be very Mud
And "bless His creatures with raiment and food.
That His "blessing each day might be renewed,
That every want might find relief,
And plenty for hunger, joy for grief,
Be measured out by the merciful One,
To all who suffered beneath the sun.
The prayer concluded, the godly man
Went forth in peace to inspect his farm ;
And by his side, delighted ran,
Blooming with every healthful charm,
A little son, a sprightly boy,
Whose home was love and whose life was joy.
And they rambled over the golden fields,
And the father said "The harvest yields
A plentiful crop, my son, this year,
My barns are too small for the grain, I fear."
And they wandered on through row upon row,
Of plumy sheaves, till at length the child,
With earnest look and a brighter glow
On his shining face, looked up and smiled,
And said, " My father, do you not pray
For the poor and needy every day,
That the good God would give the hungry food f *
" I do, my son." " Well, I think as you plead,**
His eye waxed bright, for his soul shone through it,
* That God, if He had your wheat, would do it/*
26 THE NOBILITY OF LABOR.
NOBILITY OF LABOR.
T CALL upon whom I address to stand up for th@
L nobility of labor. It Is Heaven s great ordinance
for human improvement. Let not that great ordinance
be broken down. What do I say? It is broken down ;
and it has been broken down for ages. Let it, then, be
built up again ; here* if anywhere, on these shores of a
new world of a new civilization. But how, I may be
asked, is it broken down ? Do not men toil ? it may be
said. They do, indeed, toil ; but they, too, generally do
it because they must. Many submit to it as, in some
sort, a degrading necessity ; and they desire nothing so
much oa earth as escape from it. They fulfill the great
law of labor in the letter, but break it in the spirit;
fulfill it with the muscle, but break it with the mind.
To some field of labor, mental or manual, every idler
should fasten, as a chosen and coveted theatre of im~
pTOveraent. But so is he not impelled to do, under the
teachings of our imperfect civilization. On the contrary,
he sits down, folds his hands, and blesses himself in his
idleness. This way of thinking is the heritage of the
absurd and unjust feudal system, under which serfs
labored, and gentlemen spent their lives in fighting and
feasting. It is time that this opprobrium of toil were
done away. Ashamed to toil, art thou ? Ashamed of
thy dingy workshop and dusty labor-field; of thy hard
hands, scarred with service more honorable than that
of war; of thy soiled and weather-stained garments, on
which Mother Nature has embroidered, midst sun and
rain, midst fire and steam, her own heraldic honors ?
Ashamed .of these tokens and titles, and envious of the
flaunting robes of imbecile idleness and vanity? It is
LAZY DAISY. 27
treason to Nature It is Impiety to Heaven It is "break*
bag Heaven s great ordinance. TOIL, I repeat TOELg
either of the brain, or of the heart, or of the hand, is
me only true manhood, the only true nobility !
OBVTLLB DEWEY.
LAZY DAISY.
T ITTLE Daisy is so lazy
JLJ This is what she does ;
Just as soon as breakfast s eaten
Off to bed she goes,
Lazy Daisy ne er was seen
Reading in a book,
But she loves to lie and sleep
In a sunny nook.
** Daisy, come and play with me/*
little Ethel cries;
Daisy sleeps and nods away,
Doesn t wink her eyes.
Daisy, though she s three yeara old,
Cannot tell her name ;
Does n t know her A, B, C :
Isn t it a shame?
But she sings one little song,
Very soft and pretty :
Purr-purr-purr the whole day long
DaisylsaMtty.
28 MOON AND THE CHILD.
THE AND THE CHUM
1 LITTLE child one winter night,
-DL Ere she was put to bed.
Went out and saw the full clear moon.
And in she ran and said
"Mamma! mamma! come here! comequickl
Mamma ! God s gone to bed,
And has not put His candle out !
a Hush, child!" the mother said,
"God does not go to bed like us,
Nor does He need to sleep."
**And does He sit up all the night,
"Wafch over us to keep?"
** He watches o er us night and day,
But needs no light to see."
"No light, mamma F " No light, my child.*
u Mamma, how can it be!"
** He makes the owls to see by night,
As if the daylight shone ;
And darkness is to Him as light,
And eyes He needeth none."
"No eyes! then is He blind, mamma f
"No, child, He sees so well,
That everything is seen by Him
In heaven, earth, and hell."
" How strange, mamma, that He should i@
When He s so far away."
"Not far, for He is everywhere,
Aad with us night and day."
THE SPARKLING BOWL,
** Why don*t we see Him then, mammal*
u I cannot tell you how s
But this I know, yon cannot se
The air you re breathing now;
" And neither can you see my sod,
NOT yet your own, I ween,
It is not tlien so very strange
That God should not be seen.
** "Now go to bed, and ere you go
To God your prayers say,
That He may please to spare your life
To see another day."
GEOBGE
THE SPAEKLING BOWK
sparkling- bowl ! thou sparkling bowl I
JL Though lips of bards thy brim may press,
And eyes of beauty o*er thee roll,
And song and dance thy power confess,
I will not touch thee; for there clings
A scorpion to thy side that stings I
Thou crystal glass ! like Eden*s tree*
Thy melted ruby tempts theeye t
And, as from that, there comes from thee
The voice, ** Thou shalt not sorely die.*
I dare not lift thy E<jnid gem ;
A make is twisted round thy stem!
10 SWEET PEAS.
What though of gold the goblet Be,
Embossed with branches of the vine,
Beneath whose burnished leaves we see
Such clusters as pour d out the wine?
Among those leaves an adder hangs 1
I iear him ; for I ve felt his fangs.
Ye gracious clouds ! ye deep, cold wells !
Ye gems, from mossy rocks that drip !
Springs, that from earth s mysterious cells
Gush o er your granite basin s lip !
To you I look ; your largess give,
And I will drink of you, and live.
JOHN PIEKPONT,
SWEET PEAS.
wear my rosebud, for love, papa/
Said Phebe with eyes so blue.
* This sprig of myrtle put with it, papa,
To tell of my love," said Prue.
Said Patience, " This heart s-ease shall whisper, papa,
Forget not my love is true."
Papa looked into the laughing eyes,
And answered, to each little girl s surprise :
"My darlings, I thank you, but dearer than these
Forgive me far dearer are bonnie sweet peas!"
Then he clasped them to his heart so true,
Aad whirred, Sweet F Phebe, Patience, and Prae I"
PAYBOX.
KI^Q AND CHILD. SI
KING A^TD CHILD.
fTlHE sunlight shone on walls of stone
JL And towers sublime and tali ;
King Alfred sat upon his throne
Within his council hall.
And glancing o er the splendid throng,
With grave and solemn face,
To where his noble vassals stood,
He saw a vacant place.
Where Is the Earl of Holderness?"
With anxious look, he said.
"Alas, O King! 1 a courtier cried,
"The noble Earl is dead!"
Before the monarch could express
The sorrow that he felt,
A soldier with a war-worn face
Approached the throne and knelt.
**My sword," he said, ** has ever been,
O TTmgl at thy command,
And many a proud and haughty Dane
Has fallen by my hand.
"I ve fought beside thee in the field,
And neath the greenwood tree ;
It is but fair for thee to give
Yon vacant place to me. *
* It is not just,** a statesman cried,
"This soldier s prayer to hear,
Mj wisdom ta done more for
. either sword or spear.
S3 KING AND THE CHILB.
m The of the council tall
Have renown
Than all the triumphs of the field
Have given to thy crown.
tf My name is known in every land,
Ify talents have been thine,
Bestow this Earldom, then, on me.
For it is justly mine,"
Yet, while before the monarch s throw
These men contending stood,
A woman crossed the floor who wore
The weeds of widowhood.
And slowly to King Alfred s feel
A fair-haired boy she led
"O King! this is the rightful heir
Of Holderness/ she said.
44 Helpless lie comes to claim his own,
Let no man do him wrong,
For he is weak and fatherless,
And then art just and strong.**
** What strength of power,** the statesman oriel,
u Could such a judgment bring?
Can such a feeble child as this
Do aught for thee, O King!
** When thorn hast need of brawny &nm
To draw thy deadly bows,
When thon art wanting crafty i
To crab toy mortal foes**
J>0 YOU KNOW HOW MANY STARS} 33
With voice tlie fair young boy
Replied; " I fight,
But I can pray to God, O King!
And Heaven can give thee might I"
The King "bent down and the child.
The courtiers turned away.
** The heritage is thine/ 9 he said,
** Let none their right gainsay.
" Our swords may cleave the casques of men,
Our blood may stain the sod,
But what are human strength and power
Without the help of God!"
J.
BO YOU KNOW HOW MAHY STABS?
DO yon know how many stars
There are shining in the sky?
Do yon know how many clouds
Every day go floating by?
God in Heaven has counted all,
He would miss one should it fall.
Do yon know how many children
Go to little beds at night,
And without a care or sorrow,
Wake up in the morning light?
God in Heaven each name can tell,
Knows you, too, and knows you welL
*
14 OF BFPFBUC
OF REPUBLIC.
TO be cold breathless, to feel not and speak not
this is not the end of existence to the men who have
their spHisinto the institutions of their court*
try, who lave stamped their characters on the pillars of
the age ? who have poured their hearts blood into the
channels of the public prosperity.
Tell me, ye who tread the sods of yon saered height,,
is Warren dead ? Can you not still see him not pale
and prostate, the blood of his gallant heart pouring out
of hia ghastly wound, but moving resplendent over the
field of honor, with the rose of heaven upon his cheek
and the fire of liberty in his eye ?
Tell me, ye who make your pious pilgrimage to the
shades of Yemen, is Washington indeed shut up in that
cold and Barrow house? That which made these men,
and men like these, cannot die.
The hand that traced the charter of independence is,
indeed, motionless; the eloquent lips that sustained it are
hushed ; but the lofty spirits that conceived, resolved and
maintained it, and which alone, to such men, make it
life to live these cannot expire.
EVERETT.
A HORSE S PETITION" TO HIS DBIVEB.
FTP the Ml, whip me not j down the hill, hurry me
v not; in the stable, forget me not; of hay and corn,
rob me not | of clean water, stint me not ; with sponge
and brush, neglect me not ; of soft, dry bed, deprive me
not; if sick or cold, chill me not; with bit and reins,
ah I Jerk me not | and when you are angry, strike me not
ANTONY OJC THE DEATH OF CJBAR, 35
AXTOST ON DEATH OF C.ESAR.
|^ OOD friends, sweet friends 3 let me not stir you up
^J To such a sodden of mutiny.
They, that have done this deed, are honorable :
What private griefs they have, alas ! I know not.
That made them do ! t ; they are wise and honorable,
And will, BO doubt, with answer you.
I came not, friends, to steal away your hearts ;
I am no orator, as Brutus Is ;
But as you know me all, a plain, Want man,
That love my friend, and thafe they know fall well
That gave me public leave to speak of Mm.
For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,
Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech,
To stir men s blood : I only speak right on ;
I tell you that which you yourselves do know ;
Show you sweet Gsesar s wounds, poor, poor dumb mouthy
And hid them speak for me : But were I Brutus
And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony
Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue
In every wound of Csesar, that should move
The stones of Borne to rise and mutiny.
SHXKESPEABE,
SOUB GRAPES.
k "FQ~K. was trotting oo one day,
xl And just above his head
He spied a vine of luscious grapes.
Rich, ripe, and purple-red ;
Eager he tried to snatch the fruity
But, ah 1 it was too high I
BE IN EARNEST.
Poor Heynard had to give it up,
And, heaving a deep sigh,
He curl d Ms nose and said, a Dear me !
I would not waste an tour
Upon such mean common fruit
I m sure those grapes are" sour I"
Tis thus we often wish thro life,
When seeking wealth and pow r ;
And when we fail, say, like the fox,
We re ** sure the grapes are sour V
BE IN EABNEST.
NEVER be ashamed to say/* I do not know. 7 * Men
will then believe you when you say, " I do know."
Never be ashamed to say, " I can t afford it ;" " I can t
afford to waste time In the idleness to which you Invite
me," or " I can t afford the money you ask me to spend."
Never affect to be other than you are either wiser or
richer.
Learn to say " "No " with decision ; " Yes " with cau
tion. " No " with decision whenever, it resists temptation ;
" Yes 5 * with caution whenever it implies a promise ; for
a promise once given is a bond inviolable.
A man is already of consequence In the world when it
is known that we can implicitly rely upon him. Often
have I known a man to be preferred In stations of honor
and profit because he had this reputation : when he said
he knew a thing, he knew it ; and when he said he would
do a thing, he did it
SUPPOSE. 37
SUPPOSE.
SUPPOSE, my
Your doll should her
Could you It whole by crying
Till eyes and nose are red ?
And wouldn t It be pleasanter
To treat It as a joke,
And say you re glad twas dolly s
And not your head that broke?
Suppose you re dressed for walking
A nd the rain comes pouring down,
Will it clear off any sooner
Because you scold and frown f
And wouldn t it be nicer
For you to smile than pout,
And so make sunshine in the house
When there is none without ?
Suppose your task, my little man,
Is very hard to get,
Will it ma-ke it any easier
For you to sit and fret?
And wouldn t it be nicer
Than waiting like a dunce,
To go to work in earnest
learn the thing at once ?
And suppose the world don t pleaae you,
Nor the way some people do,
I>o you think the whole creation
Will be altered just for you?
THE SQUIRREL S LESSON.
isn t it, my boy or girl,
The bravest, wisest plan
Whatever cymes or doesn t come.
To do the best you can ?
PHGEBE
THE SQUIEREI/S LESSOK
TWO little squirrels, out In the sun,
One gathered nuts, and the other had none;
i8 Time enough yet," Ms constant refrain;
" Summer is still only just on the wane."
Listen, my child, while I tell you his fate:
He roused him at last, "but he roused him too late ;
Down fell the snow from a pitiless cloud,
And gave little squirrel a spotless white shroud.
Two little boys in a school-room were placed,
One always perfect, the otter disgraced ;
"Time enough yet for my learning," he said ;
" I will climb, by and by, from the foot to the head.**
listen, my darling ; their locks are turned gray ;
One as a Governor sitteth to-day;
The other, a pauper, looks out at the door
Of the almshouse, and idles his days as of yonu
Two Muds of people we meet every day:
One is at work, the other at play,
Living uncared for, dying unknown
The busiest hive hath ever a drone*
39
HOMESICK.
DOLLY knows what s the matter Dolly and I.
It isn t the nor the oh! dear, I
die!
It s the mothering we want, Dolly, the what shall 1
call it?
And gracdpa lie has sent- he put the spateli safe
in his wallet.
1 know well enough lie dropped that telegraph spateh
In the ire,
If mother just knew, she d. come, if 5 twas on the tele
graph wire!
She d take my poor head, that Is splitting this very
minute.
And she d sing "There s a Happy Land," and the hymn
that has * 4 Darling" In it,
Course, I like grandpa s house; it s the splendidest place
to stay,
When there s all the out-doors to live in, and nothing to
do but play;
Somehow you forget your mother that is, just the lit
tlest bit,
Though if she were here, I suppose that I shouldn t
mention it,
But oh! there s a difference, Dolly, when your head Is
so full of pains
That excepting the ache that s in *em) there s nothing
left of your brains.
Remember how nice it feels, Dolly, to have your head
petted and "poored."
Ache? Why, I ache all over, and my bed is as hard M
aboard.
4 HOMEPICK.
** It s a swee^ lovely morning." It may be
for all that I care;
There Is just one spot in this great wide world that h
pretty I wish 1 was there !
I can see the white roses climbing all over the low porch
<Ioor,
And the daisies and buttercups growing I never Half
loved them before.
And mother let s see ! she s standing in that very same
door, no doubt ;
She loves to look out in the morning and see what the
world is about,
la a pale-blue something-or-other a loose sort of wrap
per, I guess ;
As if a few yards of sky had been taken to make a
dress.
And up from the pine woods yonder comes a beautiful
woodsy smell,
And the breeze keeps a hinting of May flowers the
real-pink arbutus bell ;
And I think most likely the robins have built in the
cherry tree ;
And by and by there ll be birdies and I shall not be
there to see!
Bid you hear any noise, Dolly ! Speak, Dolly, you lit
tle witch !
As if something was laughing or crying! I couldn % t
tell which!
WAR INEVITABLE, 41
kept from crfing, o ikr ; wVt dioked kit
wouldn t cry;
Fve just talked it out to yon, dear; I had to, or else Fi
die.
But if fa JXM, mother and I know by your iipi
that it B
Fll jast squeeze your head off! you think tbat all I
want is a kiss!
O mother! to papa and Tom you needn t go mention ft,
But you know it was homesickness almost killed your
poor little Kit!
WAE INEV1TABLR
SIR, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a
just God who presides over the desiinies of nations,
and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.
The battle^ sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the
vigilant, the active, the brava - Besides, sir, we bave no
election. If we were base enongh to desire it, it is now
too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat
but in submission and slavery I Our chains are forged !
Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston!
The war is inevitable: and let it come! I repeat it, sir,
let it come I
It is in vain, slr f &&gt; cocteimate the matter. Gentlemen
may cry, Peace, peace; but there is no peace. The war
is actually begnn! The next gale that sweeps from the
North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms !
Our brethren are already in the fieldt Why stao4 Wf
42 THAT ALP.
! it that
Is life or BO at
to fee -i lie of cLjdi-g and ? For
bid it, 1 n:t
but fit for ^ive mo or me
nptO tiss by the tha one
-I- tie lie
they with "Mow of yea,
last
the I was afarff*-
ma of all M?
&e die was in the lot,
Hie the rest was a ;
F0r BO her up the door;
she all the same,
Poor her tie bkme.
the ** I was not up way
as I BOW
the bnl^ bj t his horns very high*
"Let object,
1 y ibis, that calf 1
out tie a lt is
To of tridks/*
fiie In the 4 * Fm *twasn f l me f*
1ml the all cried, w Bah I (there were )
Fw tlttl calf a got im m ix. w
4LF. 43
4 Why, of we mil tibe to
do>
Bald the M Of ud the cat
"I tie m *
fid,
Fin not ts ;
at*
the was the
tLe of tie jar], in
s Did my doorf* tie
mom
** I did, sir, I It last
tie ** an J 1 thought was right"
bis " It/*
cri^
* for her ways."
lie ** my
You I reimy^
And yoar is from to-day.
* F0r m wonder f last night, I fozgot the
And if you not It so neat,
All my colts had slipped in, to the him,
And got they net to eat*
Hiey f cl have foundered ttemselYCS wheat/*
Tten each hoof of them all loudly to bawl*
The very mule smilai^ the cock crew :
* little Spotty, my clear, you re a favorite here* w
They cried, ** we all It was you,
We were so glad to giYe you your due.**
AIM! Hie calf answered knowingly, ** Boo P
Pn<xra Chunr .
44 JOHNNY THE STOUT.
JOHNNY THE STOUT.
*TTO! for a frolic-!"
-DL gaid Johnny the stout ;
u There s coasting and sledding-
I m going out"
Scarcely had Johnny
Plunged in the snow,
When there came a complain*
Up from his toe :
* We re cold," said the toe.
* I and the rest ;
There s ten of us freezing
Standing abreast."
Then up spoke an ear ;
"My, but it s labor
Playing in winter. EL I
Opposite neighbor I"
" Pooh I" said hia nose,
Angry and red ;
"Who wants to tingle.
Go home to bed f
Eight little fingers,
Four to a thumb,
All cried together
" Johnny, we re numb P
But Johnny the stout
Wouldn t listen a minute j
Never a snow bank
But Johnny was in it
WHAT THE MINUTES SAT.
Tumbling and jumping,
Shouting with glee,
Wading the snow-drifts
Up to his knee.
Soon he forgot them
Fingers and toes,
Never once thought of
The ear and the nose*
Ah! What a frolic!
All in a glow,
Johnny grew warmer
Out in the snow.
Often his breathing
Came with a joke ;
"Blaze away, Johnny!
I ll do the smoke."
"And I ll do the fire/*
Said Johnny the bold.
"Fun is the fuel
For driving off cold."
WHAT THE MINUTES SAT.
WE are but minutes, little things,
Each one furnished with sixty wloga,
With which we fly on our unseen track,
And not a minute ever comes back.
K5 THE LITTLE BOTS LAMENT.
We are but minutes ; eacn one bears
A little burden of joys and cares ;
Take patiently the minutes of pain,
The worst of minutes cannot remain.
We are but minutes ; when we bring
A few of the drops from Pleasure s spring,
Taste their sweetness while yet ye may,
It takes but a minute to fly away.
-THE LITTLE BOY S LAMENT.
OH ! why must I always be washed so clean
And scrubbed and drenched for Sunday,
When you know, very well, for you ve always seen
That I m dirty again on Monday ?
My eyes are filled with the lathery soap,
Which adown my ears is dripping ;
And my smarting eyes I can scarcely ope,
And my lips the suds are sipping.
It s down my neck and up my nose,
And to choke me you seem to be trying ;
That I ll shut my mouth you need not suppose,
For how can I keep from crying?
You rub as hard as ever you can,
And your hands are hard, to my sorrow;
Ho woman shall wash me when I m a man,
And I wish I was one to-morrow.
KATUHE THE BOY AXD THE FBOG. 47
tfATDRE.
NATURE will be reported all things are engaged
in writing J .ts history. The planet, the pebble,
goes attended oy its shadow. The rolling rock leaves
its scratches on the mountain, the river its channels in
the soil, the animal its bones in the stratum, the fern
and leaf their modest epitaph in the coal. The fallen
drop makes its sculpture in the sand or stone; not a
footstep in the snow, or along the ground, but prints, in
characters more or less lasting, a map of its march ;
every act of man inscribes itself in the memories of his
fellows and in his own face. The air is full of sounds,
the sky of tokens, the ground of memoranda and signa
tures, and every object is covered over with hints which
speak to the intelligent.
HUGH MILL.EB.
THE BOY AND THE FKOG.
O EE the frog, the slimy, green frog,
IJ Dozing away on that old rotten log ;
Seriously wondering
What caused the sundering
Of the tail that he wore when a wee pollywog.
See the boy, the freckled schoolboy,
Filled with a wicked love to annoy,
Watching the frog
Perched on the log
With feelings akin to tumultuous jojr.
IS THE BOY AND THE
See the rock, the hard, flinty rock,
Which the freckled-faced boy at the frog doth sock
Conscious he s sinning,
Yet gleefully grinning
At the likely result of its terrible shock,
See the grass, the treacherous grass,
Slip from beneath his feet ! Alas I
Into the mud
With a dull thud
He falls, and rises a slimy mass.
Now, see the frog, the hilarious frog,
Dancing a jig on his old rotten log,
Applying his toes
To his broad, blunt nose,
As he laughs at the boy stuck fast in the bog.
# # # 5fc SfC #
Look at the switch, the hickory switch,
Waiting to ufake that schoolboy twitch.
When his mother knows
The state of his clothes
Won t ne raise his voice to its highest pitch f
HOMOEOPATHIC SOUP. 49
HOMCEOPATHIC SOUP.
TAKE a robin s leg
(Mind, the drumstick merely),
Put it in a tub
FilTd with water nearly j
Set it out-of-doors,
In a place that s shady,
Let it stand a week,
(Three days for a lady).
Drop a spoonful of it
In a five-pail kettle,
Which may be made of tin
Or any baser metal ;
Fill the kettle up,
Set it on a boiling,
Strain the liquor well
To prevent its oiling.
One atom add of salt,
For the thickening one rice kernel,
And use to light the fire
"The Homoeopathic Journal."
Let the liquor boil
Half-an-hour, no longer.
If tis for a man
Of course you ll make it stronger.
Should you now desire
That the soup be flavory,
Stir it once around
With a stalk of savory*
4
50 LINES TO KATE.
When the broth is made,
No thing can excel It;
Then three times a day
Let the patient smell It*
If he chance to die,
Say twas Nature did it 5
If he chance to live,
Give the soup the credit,
LINES TO KATE.
something in the name of Rate,
JL Which many will condemn ;
But listen now while I relate
The trials of some of them.
There s advo-Kate, a charming miss $
Could you her hand obtain,
She ll lead you in the path of bliss,
Nor plead your cause in vain.
There s deli-Kate, a modest dame,
And worthy of your love ;
She s nice and beautiful in frames
As gentle as a dove.
Communi-Kate s intelligent,
As we may well suppose;
Her fruitful mind is ever bent
On telling what she knows.
There s intri-Kate; she s so obscure
*Tis hard to find her out,
For she is often very sure
To put your wits to rout
LINES TO SCATS. 81
PreVari-Kate s a stubborn mind,
She s sure to have her way j
The cavilling, contrary jade
Objects to all you say.
There s alter-Kate, a perfect pest,
Much given to dispute ;
Her prattling tongue can never rest;
You cannot her refute.
There s dislo-Kate, quite in a fret,
Who fails to gain her point;
Her case is quite unfortunate,
And sorely out of joint.
Equivo-Kate no one will woo,
The thing would be absurd;
She is faithless and untrue,
You cannot take her word.
There s vindi-Kate ; she s good and true,
And strives with all her might
Her duty faithfully to do,
And battles for the right.
There s rusti-Kate, a country lass,
Quite fond of rural scenes;
She likes to ramble through the grass,
And through the evergreens.
Of all the maidens you can find,
There s none like edu-Kate;
Because she elevates the mind,
And aims for something great.
12 GEAND SCHEME OF EMIGBATIOK.
GBAND SCHEME OF EMIGRATION
Brewers should to Malt-a go,
A The Loggerheads to Scilly,
The Quakers to the Friendly Isles,
The Furriers all to Chili.
The little squalling, brawling brats,
That break our nightly rest,
Should be packed off to Baby-Ion,
To Lap-land, or to Brest.
From Spit-head Cooks go o er to Greece j
And while the Miser waits
His passage to the Guinea coast,
Spendthrifts are in the Straits.
Spinsters should to the Needles go,
Wine-bibbers to Burgundy ;
Gourmands should lunch at Sandwich Isles,
Wags in the Bay of Fundy.
Musicians hasten to the Sound,
The surpliced Priest to Borne,
While still the race of Hypocrites
At Cant-on are at home.
Lovers should hasten to Good Hope;
To some Cape Horn is pain ;
Debtors should go to Oh-i-o,
And Sailors to the Main-e.
Hie, Bachelors, to the "United Sfotes!
Maids to the Isle of Man ;
Let Gardeners go to Botany Bay,
And Shoeblacks to Japan.
BRAVE A3STB TRUE.
Thus, emigrants and misplaced men
"Will no longer vex us ;
- And all that ar n t provided for
Had better go to Texas.
BRAVE AND TRUE.
TTTHATEYER you are, be brave, boys f
The liar s a coward and slave, boys !
Though clever at ruses,
And sharp at excuses,
BCe s a sneaking and pitiful knave, boys
Whatever you are, be frank, boys !
Tis better than money and rank, boys ;
Still cleave to the right,
Be lovers of light,
Be open, above board, and frank, boys f
Whatever you are, be kind, boys !
Be gentle in manner and mind, boys ;
The man gentle in mien,
Words, and temper, I ween,
Is the gentleman truly refined, boys !
But, whatever you are, be true, boys 1
Be visible through and through, boys !
Leave to others the shamming,
The "greening" and "cramming,"
In fun and in earnest, be true, boys !
Bow-roost,
54 THE COBBLER*
THE COBBLER.
[This selection may be rendered very effective, if the reader, 1 ,
the meaning or the text, should Imitate the movements of a cobbler
bending forward, stitching and fitting, sewing motion, boring a hoi*
sticking in pegs, and hammering with fingers.]
WANDERING up and down one day,
I peeped into a window over the way ;
And putting his needle through and through,
There sat the cobbler making a shoe.
For the world he cares never the whisk of a broom ;
All he wants is his elbow-room,
Rap-a-tap-tap, tick-a-tack-too,
This is the way he makes a shoe.
Over lasts of wood, his bits of leather
He stretches and fits, then sews together ;
He puts his waxed-ends through and through,
And still as he stitches, his body goes too.
For the world he cares never the whisk of a broom ;
All he wants is his elbow-room,
Rap-a-tap-tap, tick-a-tack-too,
This is the way he makes a shoe.
With his little sharp awl he makes a hole
Right through the upper and through the sole
He puts in one peg, or he puts in two,
And chuckles and laughs as he hammers them through
For the world he cares never the whisk of a broom ;
All he wants is his elbow-room,
Rap-a-tap-tap, tick-a-tack-too,
This is the way he makes a shoe*
WHAT S THE MATTER? 65
WHAT S THE MATTEE?
T WONDER if the little birds
J- That soar above my head
Are scolded all the sunny day,
And then sent off to bed ?
I almost "wish I was a bird,
And had a pair of wings;
I d fly away from this dull place
And all these stupid things.
There s always such a dreadful fhss
If I do what I ve a mindj
Mother looks so sorrowful,
I half wish I were blind.
I m sure tis not BO very wrong
For girls to like to play ;
I don t know why they want us to
Be studying all day.
I haven t learned my lesson yet,
Or sewed that horrid seam ;
I ve broke my doll and sent my swing
Above the highest beam.
Everything is going wrong,
And has been all the day.
I hate to work, and seems to me
I almost hate to play.
I wonder why I feel so cross
When mother is so kind ;
She sighs and speaks so very low
When I don t want to mind.
6 PEACEABLE SECESSION.
I am a naughty, willful girl
I know it all the while;
111 run and tell dear mother so,
And then how soon shell smlk.
And if I live to see the sun
Upon another day,
I ll find my highest happiness
In a less selfish way. EL K. P.
PEACEABLE SECESSION.
OECESSION! Peaceable secession! Sir, your eyes
and mine are never destined to see that miracle!
The dismemberment of this vast country without con
vulsion! The breaking up of the fountains of the great
deep without ruffling the surface! Who is so foolish
1 beg everybody s pardon as to expect to see any such
thing ?
Sir, he who sees these States now revolving in harmony
around a common centre, and expects to see them quit
their places, and fly off without convulsion, may look
the next hour to see the heavenly bodies rush from their
spheres and jostle against each other in the realms of
space without causing the crush of the universe. There
can be no such thing as peaceable secession. Peaceable
secession is an utter impossibility.
Is the great Constitution under which we live, cover
ing this whole country is it to be thawed and melted
away by secession, as the snows on the mountain melt
under the influence of a vernal sun, disappear almost
unobserved and run off? No, sir ! . NO* gir I I will not
SOLILOQUY. 5?
state what might produce the disruption of the Union j
but, sir, I see as plainly as I see the sun in heaven, what
that disruption itself must produce ; I see that it must
produce war, and such a war as I will not describe in
its twofold character.
WEBSTER.
BABY S SOLILOQUY.
[The following selection can "be made very humorous if the person
reading it assumes the tones of a very little child, and in appropriate
places imitates the cry of a baby.]
I AM here. And if this is what they call the world,
I don t think much of it. It s a very ftannelly
world, and smells of paregoric awfully. It s a dreadful
light world, too, and makes me blink, I tell you. And
I don t know what to do with my hands ; I think I ll
dig my fists in my eyes. No, I won t. I ll scratch at
the corner of my blanket and chew it up, and then I ll
holler; whatever happens, I ll holler. And the more
paregoric they give me, the louder I ll yell. That old.
nurse puts the spoon in the corner of my mouth, side-
wise like, and keeps tasting my milk herself all the
while. She spilt snuff in it last night, and when I
hollered she trotted me. That comes of being a two-
days-old baby. Never mind; when I m a man, I ll pay
her back good. There s a pin sticking in me now, and
if I say a word about it, I ll be trotted or fed ; and I
would rather have catnip-tea. I ll tell you who I am.
I found out to-day. I heard folks say, "Hush! don t
wake up Emeline s baby; and I suppose that pretty,
white-faced woman over on the pillow is Emeline*
58 A TKIBUTE TO WATER,
No, I was mistaken ; for a chap was in here just men*
and wanted to see Bob s baby ; and looked at me and
said I was a funny little toad, and looked just like Bob.
He smelt of cigars. I wonder who else I belong to!
Yes, there s another one that s "Gamma." "It was
Gamma s baby, so it was/* I declare, I do not know
who I belong to ; but I ll holler, and maybe I ll find
out There comes snufiy with catnip-tea. I m going to
sleep. I wonder why my hands won t go where I want
them to I
A TRIBUTE TO WATEK.
WHERE is the liquor which God the eternal brews
for all His children ? Not in the simmering still,
over smoky fires choked with poisonous gases, and sur~
rounded with the stench of sickening odors and rank
corruptions, doth your Father in heaven prepare the
precious essence of life the pure cold water. But in
the green glade and grassy dell, where the red deer
wanders, and the child loves to play, there God brews
it. And down, low down in the deepest valleys, where
the fountains murmur and the rills sing; and high upon
the tall mountain tops, where the naked granite glitters
like gold .in the sun; where the storm-cloud broods, and
the thunder-storms crash; and away far out on the wide,
wild sea, where the hurricane howls music, and the big
waves roar, the chorus sweeping the march of God:
there He brews it that beverage of life and health-
giving water. And everywhere it is a thing of beauty ;
gleaming in the dew-drop, singing in the summer rain,
ng in the ice-gem till the leaves all seemed turned
OBANDPAPA S SPECTACLES. 59
to living jewels, spreading a golden veil over the setting
Bun, or a white gauze around the midnight moon.
Sporting in the cataract; sleeping in the glacier;
dancing in the hail-shower; folding its bright snow cur
tains softly about the wintry world; and waving the
many-colored iris, that seraph s zone of the sky, whose
warp is the rain-drop of earth, whose woof is the sun
beam of heaven; all chequered over with celestial
flowers by the mystic hand of refraction.
Still always it is beautiful, that life-giving water ; no
poison bubbles on its brink; its foam brings not mad
ness and murder; no blood stains its liquid glass; pale
widows and starving orphans weep no burning tears in
its depths ; no drunken shrieking ghost from the grave
curses it in the words of eternal despair. Speak, my
friends, would you exchange it for demon s drink,
alcohol?
JOHN B. GOUGH.
GRANDPAPA S SPECTACLES.
f] RANDPAPA S spectacles cannot be found!
vT He has searched all the rooms, high and low, round
and round ;
Now he calls to the young ones, and what does he say!
"Ten cents" to the child who will find them to-day.
Then Harry and Nelly and Edward all ran,
And a most thorough search for the glasses began.
And dear little Nell in her generous way
Said, " Fll look for them, Grandpa, without any pay."
60 SIK."
All through the big Bible she searched with care,
It lies on the table by Granpapa s chair.
They feel in his pockets, they peep in his hat,
They pull out the sofa and shake out the mat.
Then down on the floor, like good-natured bears,
Go Harry and Ned under tables and chairs,
Till quite out of breath, Ned is heard to declare,
He believed that those glasses are not anywhere.
But Nelly, who, leaning on Grandpapa s knee,
Was thinking most earnestly, " where can they be ?"
Looked suddenly up in the kind, faded eyes,
And her own shining brown ones grew big with surprise*
She clapped with her hands, all her dimples came out,
She turned to the boys with a bright, roguish shout,
" You may leave off your looking, both Harry and Ned,
For there are the glasses on Grandpapa s head."
SIN,
TTSE sin as it will use you ; spare it not, for it will
*J not spare you ; it is your murderer, and the mur
derer of the world; use it, therefore, as a murderer
should be used. Kill it before it kills you ; and though
it kill your bodies, it shall not be able to kill your souls ;
and though it bring you to the grave, as it did your
Head, it shall not be able to keep you there.
BAXTER-
FEBRUAEY TWENTY SECOND. 61
FEBRUARY TWENTY-SECOND,
i
MET seventeen hundred thirty-two,
This very month and day.
Winking and blinking at the lights
A little baby lay.
No doubt they thought the little man
A goodly child enough ;
But time has proved that he was made
Of most uncommon stuff.
The little babe became a man
That everybody knew
Would finish well what he began,
And prove both firm and true.
Bo when the Revolution came,
That made our nation free,
They couldn t find a better man
For general, you see.
As general, he never failed
Or faltered ; so they thought
He ought to be the President,
And so I m sure he ought.
And then he did his part so well
As President twas plain
They couldn t do a better thing
Than choose him yet again.
Through all his life they loved him wll,
And mourned him when he died ;
And ever since his noble name
Has been our nation s pride.
THE STOLEN CUSTARD.
The lesson of his life is clear,
And easy quite to gpess,
Be firm and true, if you would make
Your life a grand success.
JOY ALLISON
THE STOLEIST CUSTAKD.
HUGAR-TOOTHED Dick
O For dainties was sick,
So he slyly stole into the kitchen,
Snatched a cup from the pantry,
And darted out quick,
Unnoticed by mother or Gretchen.
Whispered he, "There s no cake,
For to-morrow they bake,
But this custard looks rich and delicious ;
How they ll scold at the rats,
Or the mice, or the cats ;
For of me I don t think they re suspicious,
"They might have filled up
Such a mean little cup !
And for want of a spoon I must drink it:
But tis easy to pour
Hark! who s at the door?"
And the custard went down ere you d thinlr it.
With a shriek he sprang up;
To the floor dashed the cup;
Then he howled, tumbled, sputtered, and blustered,
Till the terrible din
Brought the whole household in
He had swallowed a cupful of mustard I
SOMEBODY S MOTHER.
SOMEBODY S MOTHER.
fTIHE woman was old, and ragged, and gray,
JL And bent with the chill of a winter s day ;
The streets were white with a recent snow.
And the woman s feet with age were slow.
At the crowded crossing she waited long,
Jostled aside by the careless throng
Of numan beings who passed her by,
Unheeding the glance of her anxious eye.
Down the street with laughter and shout,
Clad in the freedom of " school let out/
Come happy boys, like a flock of sheep,
Hailing the snow piled white and deep ;
Past the woman, so old and gray,
Hastened the children on their way.
None offered a helping hand to her,
So weak and timid, afraid to stir,
Lest the carriage wheels or the horses feet
Should trample her down in the slippery street.
At last came out of the merry troop
The gayest boy of all the group ;
He paused beside her, and whispered low,
"I ll kelp you across, if you wish to go."
Her aged hand on his strong young arm
She placed, and so without hurt or harm,
He guided the trembling feet along,
Proud that his own were young and strong;
Then back again to his friends he went,
His young heart happy and well content.
64 WILUE*S BREECHES
"She s somebody s mother, boys, you know,
For all she s aged, and poor, and slow ;
And some one, some time, may lend a hand
To help my mother yon understand?
If ever she s poor, and old, and gray,
And her own dear boy so far away/*
"Somebody s mother" bowed low her head,
In her home that night, and the prayer she said
Was: "God, be kind to that noble boy,
Who is somebody s son, and pride, and joy."
Faint was the voice, and worn and weak,
But the Father hears when His children speak ;
Angels caught the faltering word,
And "Somebody s Mother s" prayer was heard.
WILLIE S BEEECHES.
I M just a little boy, you know,
And hardly can remember,
When people ask how old I am,
To tell em four last vember.
And yet for all I am so small,
I made so many stitches
For mamma s fingers, that she put
Her little boy in breeches.
You may be sure that I was glad ;
I marched right up and kissed her,
Then gave my bibs and petticoats,
And all, to baby sister.
WORK. 66
I never whine, now I m so fine,
And don t get into messes ;
For mamma says, if I am bad,
She lfput me back in dresses !
There s buttons up and down my legi,
And buttons on my jacket;
I d count em all, but baby makes
Just now, an awful racket.
She s sitting there, behind the chair,
"With blocks, and dolls, and kitty,
A playing " go to gran ma s house,"
Alone, *n that s a pity.
I think I ll go and help her some,
I m sure it would amuse me ;
So I won t bother any more
To talk if you ll excuse me.-
But first I ll stand before the glass,
From top to toe it reaches:
Now look! there s head, and hands, and feet,
But all the rest is breeches!
ETTA G. SALSBTJRY,
WOKK.
nPIHERE is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness.
JL in work. Were he ever so benighted, or forgetful of
his high calling, there is always hope in a man that actually
and earnestly works ; in idleness alone there is perpetual
despair. Consider how, even in the meanest sorts of
labor, the whole soul of a man is composed into real
&
68 IX)VELINESS.
Harmony. He bends lilmself with free valor against ma
task; and doubt, desire, sorrow, remorse, indignation,
despair itself, shrink murmuring far off in their caves.
The glow of labor in him is a purifying fire, wherein all
poison is burned up ; and of smoke itself there is made
a bright and blessed flame.
Blessed is he who has found his work ; let him ask no
other blessedness ; he has a life purpose. Labor is life.
From the heart of the worker rises the celestial force,
breathed into him by Almighty God, awakening him
to all nobleness, to all knowledge. Hast thou valued
patience, courage, openness to light, or readiness to own
thy mistakes ? In wrestling with the dim brute powers
of fact thou wilt continually learn. For every noble
work the possibilities are diffused through immensity,
undiscoverable, except to faith.
Man, son of heaven! is there not in thine inmost
heart a spirit of active method, giving thee no rest till
thou unfold it? Complain not. Look up. See thy
fellow-workmen surviving through eternity, the sacred
band of immortals.
THOMAS CARLYLE.
LOVELINESS.
ANCE I knew a little girl,
\J Very plain ;
You might try her hair to curl
All in vain ;
On her cheek no tint of rose
Paled and blushed, or sought repose |
She was plain.
BEING A BOT. 67
But the thoughts that through her brain
Came and went,
As a recompense for pain,
Angels sent ;
So foil many a beauteous thing,
In her young soul blossoming,
Gave content.
Every thought was full of grace.
Pure and true,
And in time the homely face
Lovelier grew ;
"With a heavenly radiance bright.
From the soul s reflected light
Shining through.
So I tell you, little child,
Plain or poor,
If your thoughts are undefiled,
You are sure
Of the loveliness of worth ;
And this beauty not of earth
Will endure.
MAKIA LACEY.
BEING A BOY.
ONE of the best things in the world to be is a boy ;
it requires no experience, though it needs some
practice to be a good one. The disadvantage of the
position is that he does not last long enough. It is soon
oven Just as you get used to being a boy, you have to
be something else, witli a good deal more work to do
68 BEIffG A BOY.
and not Imlf so much fun. And yet every boy is aaxioim
to "be a man, and is very uneasy with the restrictions
that are put upon him as a boy. There are so many
bright spots in the life of a farm boy that I sometimes
think I should like to live the life over again. I should
almost be willing to be a girl if it were not for the
chores. There is a great comfort to a boy in the amount
of work he can get rid of doing. It is sometimes aston
ishing how slow he can go on an errand. Perhaps he
couldn t explain, himself, why, when he is sent to the
neighbor s after yeast, he stops to stone the frogs. He
is not exactly cruel, but he wants to see if he can hit
em. It is a curious fact about boys, that two will be a
great deal slower in doing anything than one. Boys
have a great power of helping each other do nothing.
But say what you will about the general usefulness of
boys, a farm without a boy would very soon come to
grief. He is always in demand. In the first place, he
is to do all the errands, go to the store, the post-office,
and to carry all sorts of messages. He would like to
have as many legs as a wheel has spokes, and rotate
about in the same way. This he sometimes tries to do,
and people who have seen him " turning cart-wheels "
along the side of the road have supposed he was amus
ing himself and idling his time. He was only trying
to invent a new mode of locomotion, so that he could
economize his legs and do his errands with greater dis*
patch. Leap-frog is one of his methods of getting over
the ground quickly. He has a natural genius for com
bining pleasure with business.
CHARLES DUDLEY
WE MUST ALL SCBATCH.
WE MUST ALL SCRATCH.
SAID the first little chicken,
With a queer little squirm*
a I wish I could find
A fat little
Said the next little chicken,
"With an odd little shrug,
** I wish I could find
A fat little bug."
Said the third little chicken*
With a sharp little squeal,
44 1 wish I could find
Some nice yellow meal.**
Said the fourth little chicken,
With a small sigh of grie
" I wish I could find
A green little lea"
Said the fifth little chicken,
With a faint little moan,
** I wish I could find
A wee gravel stone/*
** Now, see here," said the mother*
From the green garden patch,
" If you want any breakfast,
Just come here and scratch.**
TO BLOWIKG BUBBLES.
BLOWING BUBBLES.
WHERE the grass had been newly mown,
Before a rustic cottage home, *
An Idle schoolboy strolled away,
To waste his time in childish play.
The school-bell rang, but there stood he,
Happy as ever boy could be,
Free from books, and schoolboy troubles,
With grandpa s pipe, blowing bubbles.
Away went bubbles, thick and fast,
Like sparks from out a furnace blast,
His eyes as large as saucers grew,
As higher up the bubbles flew.
With outstretched mouth and beaming eyes,
He watched them, mounting toward the skies,
And shook all .over with delight,
To see them vanish out of sight.
While Conrad thus his time employed,
His grandpapa was much annoyed;
When from a nap he soon awoke,
And rose to take his wonted smoke.
He seized his stout " Old Hickory"
Went quick to where his pipe had lain,
But looked the picture of despair,
To find the pipe no longer there.
BLOWING BUBBLES. 71
In every nook and corner then,
Through all the rooms, where he had been.
He went to work with vigorous mind,
Its secret hiding-place to find.
He put his glasses on his nose,
Old-fashioned " specs " with iron bows,
Then turned about, and looked again,
Where he had looked before in vain.
But when his pipe could not be found,
His groans were heard the house around,
While, sad to tell, his pet grandchild
Was blowing bubbles all this while.
That good old face, superbly hale,
Suddenly turned to ghastly pale ;
He staggered back upon his bed,
Where Conrad came, and found hint dead.
The doctors all at once agreed
That he had died (if dead indeed)
From causes to themselves unknown,
" Unless the want of smoke alone."
In yonder church-yard, down the lane,
A tombstone stands, with grandpa s name,
Where all old smokers well can see
How sad a fate their own may be.
That marble shaft, erect and trim,
Bears on its side Death s face so grim,
With broken pipe carved underneath,
And these few words " in bass-relief:"
72 WHEK THE FROST IS ON THE PUNKIN.
"For want of smote, this old man died,
Of all things else he had enough j
His good wife rests here by his side,
Who died of using too much. snufE"
BEV. O. P. STAKKEY.
WHEN THE FROST IS O1ST THE PUKKIR
TTTHEN the frost is on the punkin and the fodder s in
the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin
turkey cock,
And the clackin of the guineys and the cluckin of the
hens,
And the rooster s hallylooyer, as he tiptoes on the fence,
Oh 1 it s then the time a feller is a feelin* at his best,
With the risin sun to greet him from a night of gracious
rest,
As he leaves the house bareheaded, and goes out to feed
the stock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder s in the
shock.
They s scmepin kind o* heartylike about the atmos
phere
When the heat of summer s over and the coolin fall is
here
Of course we miss the flowers and the blossoms on the
trees,
And the mumble of the hunimin birds, and buzzin of
the bees:
AMERICA S OBLIGATIONS TO ENGLAND. 73
But the air s so appetizing and the landscape through
the haze
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the early autumn days
Is a picture that no painter has the coloriu* to mock
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder s in the
shock.
The husky, rusty rustle of the tossels of the corn,
And the raspin 7 of the tangled leaves, as golden as the
morn ;
The stubble in the furries, kind o j lonesome like, but
still
A preachin sermons to HS of the barns they growed to
fill;
The strawstack in the medder and the reaper in the
shed;
The hosses in the stalls below, the clover overhead;
Oh! it sets my heart a clicking like the tickin of a clock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder s in the
shock!
AMERICA S OBLIGATIONS TO ENGLAND.
HIKE honorable gentleman has asked : " And now, will
JL these Americans, children planted by our care^
nourished up by our indulgence and protected by our
arms will they grudge to contribute their mite?"
They planted by your care? No, your oppressions
planted them in America ! They fled from your tyranny
to a then uncultivated and inhospitable country. There
they exposed themselves to almost all the hardships to
which human nature is
T4 PLANTING HIMSELF TO GROW.
They nourished up by your indulgence t They grew
by your neglect of them. As soon as you began to cara
about them, that care was exercised in sending persons
to rule them, to spy out their liberties, to misrepresent"
their actions, to prey upon their substance.
They protected by your arms! They have nobly
taken up arms in your defense have exerted their valor
for your own emolument. And believe me remember
I this day told you so 4hat same spirit of freedom
which actuated these Americans at first will accompany
them still* They are now as truly loyal as any subjects
the King has, but they are a people jealous of their
liberties, and a people who will vindicate those liberties
to the last drop of their blood.
COLOHBI* BABBE.
PLANTING HIMSELF TO OBOW.
TYEAB little, bright-eyed WOlift,
JL/ Always so full of glee,
Always so very mischievoua,
The pride of oar home is be.
One bright summer day we fbcuMl Urn
dose by the garden wall,
Standing so grave and dignified
Beside a sunflower tall.
His tiny feet he had covered
With the moist and cooling sand ;
The stalk of the great, tall sunflower
He grasped with hia ohmbbjl
BIGKITY IS lABOB.
Wkea he saw us standing near Mm,
Gazing so wonderingly
At his babyship, lie greeted us
With a merry shout of glee.
We asked our darling what pleased him ;
He replied, with a face aglow,
* Mamma, I m going to be a man ;
Fve planted myself to grow.**
DIGNITY EJ LABOR.
IN the search after true dignity, you may point me to
the sceptred prince, ruling over mighty empires, to
the lord of broad acres teeming with fertility, or the
owner of coffers bursting with gold ; you may tell me of
them or of learning, of the historian or of the philoso
pher, the poet or the artist, and, while prompt to render
such men all the honor which in varying degrees may
be their due, I would emphatically declare that neither
power nor nobility, nor wealth, nor learning, nor genius,
nor benevolence, nor all combined, have a monopoly of
dignity. I would take you to the dingy office, where
day by day the pen plies its weary task ; or to the shop,
where from early morning till half the world have
sunk to sleep, the necessities and luxuries of life are
distributed, with scarce an interval for food, and none
for thought; I would descend farther, I would take
you to the plowman, plodding along his furrows ; to the
mechanic, throwing the swift shuttle or tending the busy
wheeli; to the miner, groping his darksome way in the
4eep wrerns of earth; to th* mm of the trowl, ti*
76 WHERE DIB YOU COME FROM, BABY?
hammer, or the forge, and if, while he diligently prose
cutes his humble toil, he looks up with a brave heart
and loving eye to heaven If in what he does he recog
nizes his God, and expects his wages from on high if,
while thus laboring on earth, he anticipates the rest of
heaven, and can say, as did a poor man once, who, when
pitied on account of humble lot, said, taking off his hat,
"Sir, I am the son of a King, I am a child of God, and
when I die, angels will carry me from this Union Work
house direct to the Court of Heaven." Then, having
shown yon such a spectacle, may I not ask Is there
mot dignity in labor ?
WHEBE DID YOU COME FROM, BABY?
"TITHEKE did you come from, baby dear?"
Y V a Out of the every- where into the here."
u Where did you get your eyes so blue?"
"Out of the sky as I came through."
* What makes the light in them sparkle and spinf 1 "
"Some of the starry spikes left in."
* Where did you get that little tearf*
*I found it waiting when I got here.**
"What makes your forehead so smooth and highf*
** A soft hand stroked it as I went by."
* What makes your cheek like a warm white raft?"
"Something better than any one
A LITTLE BOY S TROUBLES. TJ
m Whence that three-cornered smile of Miss?*
"Three angels gave me at once a kiss/*
** Where did you get that pearly ear T 9
"God spoke, and it came out to hear/*
** Where did you get those arms and hands T 9
**LoYe made ifcx*Lf into hooks and bands."
"Feet, whence 4id you come, you darling "things ?*"
**!Yom the g^^e body as the cherubs wings,"
**How did tbey all just come to be you f *
"God thought about me, and so I grew/*
"But &o w did you come to us, my dear?"
Ibojght of you, and so I am here."
GEORGE
A UTTLE BOY S TROUBLES,
T THOUGHT when I d learned my letters
JL That all of my troubles were done ;
But I find myself much mistaken
They only have just begun*
Ijearning to read was awful,
But nothing like learning to write;
Fd be sorry to have you tell it,
But my copy-book is a sight 1
The ink gets over my fingers;
The pen cats all sorts of shines,
And won t do at all as I bid it;
The letters won t stay on the linos,
A UTTLE BOY S TROUBLES.
But go up and down and all over,
As though they were dancing a jig*
They are there in all shapes and sizes,
Medium, little, and big.
The tails of the g s are so contrary,
The handles get on the wrong side
Of the d s, and the k s, and the h s,
Though I ve certainly tried and tried
To make them just right; it is dreadful,
I really don t know what to do,
I m getting almost distracted
My teacher says she is too.
There d be some comfort in learning
If one could get through : instead
Of that there are books awaiting
Quite enough to craze my head.
There s the multiplication table,
And grammar, and oh ! dear me,
There s no good place for stopping
When one has begun, I see.
My teacher says, little by little
To the mountain tops we climb;
It isn t all done in a minute,
But only a step at a time ;
She says that all the scholars,
All the wise and learned men,
Had each to begin as I do ;
If that s so, where s my pen?
CABLOTTA PEBKY.
NOTES FROM A BATTLE-FIELD. T&
NOTES FROM A BATTLE-FIELD.
fpHE farmer and the fanner s wife
-L A setting hen defied,
And for awMle glad vict ry seemed
To crown the aggressor s side.
TKe coach-house was the battle-fieW,
And Biddy s will was firm,
Within its sacred precincts there
To serve her little term.
What though they shut the woodshed do**,
And showed her there a nest
Filled to the very "brim with eggs
To soothe her ruffled breast.
This Biddy knew a thing or two.
And, from a window high,
Back to her chosen nest again
Triumphantly did fly 1
Twasshoo! here, and shoo ! there,
And shriek, and squawk, and flutter.
Until that peaceful farm was filled
With noises just too utter!
The angry farmer lost his wits,
The wife her apron shook,
And all because this setting hen
Had such determined look.
They poked her, they punched htr;
They breathed in accents dire ;
But yet that fussy feathered fowl
Her purpose kept entire.
$0 NOTES FROM A BATTLE FIELB,
And even though a wagon-pole
Was brandished at. a pinch,
They could not scare nor terriry
Nor budge that hen an inch,
At last the farmer charged the hen,
But punched a mild-eyed cow,
Who poked the hcrse, who kicked the pig,,
Who raised a dreadful row.
The pig broke out and found his way
"Down to the garden bed,
And followed on his martial heels
The horse with frantic tread.
They visited the rows of beets,
The hills of early corn,
The hot-beds and the lettuce-beds,
And left them all forlorn.
And all that day, and all^next week?
The farmer did repair;
His woodshed door is fastened still,
But Biddy is not there.
Look for her in the carriage-house^
Where, prickly as a thistle,
That setting hen is sitting yet,
In one perpetual bristle.
The farmer and the farmer s will
At last have had to yield,
And Biddy sits victorious
Upon that battle-Ield,
THREE GOOI> BOOTOBS^ 81
O fickle goddess Victory!
To thus desert us men,
And give the plume of conqueror
To keeping of a lien !
Dear me 1 what are we coming tot
To thus disgrace our sires ?
What shall we tell posterity
If any one inquires ?
8. OL STOJOS,
THREE GOOD DOCTOR&
THE best of all the pill-bos crew
Since ever time began,
Are the doctors who have most to do
With the health of a hearty mm**
And so I count them up again,
And praise them as I can ;
There s Dr. Diet, and Dr. Quiet,
And Dr. Merryman.
Here s Dr. Diet, he tries my tongue,
" I know you well," says he ;
* Your stomach is poor, and your liver is sprang j
We must make your food agree."
And Dr. Quiet, he feels my wrist,
And he gravely shakes his head,
* Now, now, dear sir, I must insist
That you go at ten to bed."
i
82 ON CONQUERING AMERICA.
But Dr. Merryman for me,
Of all the pill-box crew !
For lie smiles and says, as he fobs Ms fe,
" Laugh on, whatever you do I"
So now I eat what I ought to eat,
And at ten I go to bed,
And I laugh in the face of cold or neat;
For thus have the doctors said !
And so I count them up again,
And praise them as I can ;
There s Dr. Diet, and Dr. Quiet,
And Dr. Merryman.
S. W. DUFFIELD, D. D
ON" CONQUERING AMERICA.
rOU cannot, I venture to say, you cannot conquet
America. Your armies in the last war eifected
everything that could be effected, and what was it?
What is your present situation ? We do not know the
worst, but we know that in seven campaigns we have
done nothing and suffered much.
As to conquest, therefore, I repeat it, that is impos
sible. You may swell every effort and every expense
still more extravagantly; pile and accumulate every
assistance you can buy or borrow; traffic and barter
with every little pitiful German prince that sells and
sends his subjects to the shambles of a foreign country :
your efforts are forever impotent and vain.
They are doubly impotent and vain from this mep-
THE INDIAN BRAVE. 83
cenary aid on which you rel j ; for it irritates, to an in
curable resentment, the minds of your enemies to over
run them with the sordid sons of rapine and of plunder,
devoting them and their possessions to the rapacity of
hireling cruelty.
If J. were an American, as I am an Englishman, while
a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never
would lay down my arms never ! never ! never !
LORD CHATHAM.
THE INDIAN BRAVE.
T AM fresh irom the conflict I m drunk with the blood
-L Of the white men, who chased me o er prairie and
flood,
Till I trapped them at last, and exultingly swore
That my fearless red warriors should revel in gore!
I have well kept my oath, O Manitou, the Just!
Three hundred white hirelings are low in the dust.
The unequal conflict was bloody and brief,
And they weep for their men and their golden-haired
chief.
I hate the palefaces! I ll fight to the death
While the prairies are mine, and a warrior has breath !
By the bones of our fathers, whose ruin they wrought,
When they first trod our land, and for sympathy
soughi
By the souls of our slain, when our villages burned
By all the black vices our people have learned,
No season of rest shall my enemies see,
Till the earth drinks my blood, or my people are free
FRANCIS S. SMITH
$4 JOHNNY S POCKET.
JOHNNY S POCKET.
DO you know what s in my pottet ?
Such a lot o treasures In it 1
Listen, now, while I bedin it ;
Such a lot o j sings it hold,
And all there is you sail be told -
Everysin dat s in my pottet,
And when, and where, and how I dot it.
First of all, here s in my pottet
A beauty shell; I picked it up ;
And here s the handle of a cup
That somebody has broke at tea ;
The shell s a hole in it, you see;
Nobody knows that I have dot it,
I keep it safe here in my pottet.
And here s my ball, too, in my pottet,
And here s my pennies, one, two, three,
That Aunt Mary gave to me;
To-morrow day I ll buy a spade,
When I m out walking with the maid.
I can t put dat here in my pottet,
But I can use it when I ve dot it,
Here s some more sin s in my pottet ;
Here s my lead, and here s my string,
And once I had an iron ring,
But through a hole it lost one day;
And here is what I always say
A hole s the worst sin in a pottet
Have it mended when you ve dot it.
SIX O CLOCK, P. M.
SIX O CLOCK P.M.
workshops open wide their doors
JL At six o clock P. M.,
And workmen issue forth by scores
At six o clock P. M.
Of all the minutes in array,
Or hours that go to make the day,
There s none so welcome, so they say,
As six o clock P. M.
How many children show delight
At six o clock P. M.,
How many homes are rendered bright
At six o clock P. M.
How many little happy feet
Go out into the busy street,
With joyous bounds papa to meet,
At six o clock P. M.
Thousands of tables draped in white
At six o clock P. M.,
The gathered families invite
At six o clock p. M.
And as they eat the frugal fare,
They quite forget their toil and care,
And drop their heavy burdens there,
At six o clock p. M.
Then blow, ye shrieking whistles, blow!
At six o clock P. M.,
Ring out, releasing bells, ring out 1
And bid the welkin take the shout.
And echo it all round about,
"*Tis mx. o clock p. M."
16 A SOLLUM FAC*.
A SOLLUM FAC7.
A WEEEY funny feller is de ole plantation mule ;
XjL An nobodyll play wid him unless he is a fool.
De bestest ting to do w en you meditates about him,
Is to kinder sorter calkerlate you ll get along widout him
Wen you try to proach dat mule from de front endwis^
He look as meek as Moses, but his looks is full ob lies ;
He doesn t move a muscle, he doesn t even wink;
An r you say his dispersition s better n people tink.
He stan so still you s pose he is a monument of grace;
An* you almos see a nevolent expression, on his face;
But dat nevolent expression is de mask dat s allers worn ;
For ole Satan is behin it jest as sure as you is born.
Den you cosset him a little, an you pat his other end,
An you has a reverlation dat he aint so much your
friend ;
You has made a big mistake; but before de heart
repents,
You is histed werry sudden to de odder side de fence.
l, you feel like you d been standin on de locomotive
track
An de engine come an* hit you in de middle ob de back;
You don know wat has happened, you can scarcely
cotch your breff;
But you tink youVe made de quaintance ob a werry
vilent deft
Now a sin in de soul is percisely like de mule ;
An nobody ll play wid it, unless he is a fool.
It looks so mitey innercent; but honey, dear, beware I
Far although de kick is hidden, de kick is allers there.
THE LITTLE LIGHT. 87
THE LITTLE LIGHT.
fTlHE light shone dim on the headland,
JL For the storm was raging high ;
I shaded my eyes from the inner glare,
And gazed on the west, gray sky.
It was dark and lowering ; on the sea
The waves were booming loud,
And the snow and the piercing winter sleet
Wove over all a shroud.
**Oo<3 pity the men on the sea to-night f*
I said to my little ones,
And we shuddered as we heard afar
The sound of minute.-guns.
My good man came in, in his fishing coat
(He was wet and cold that night),
And he said, " There ll lots of ships go down
On the headland rocks to-night. 5
" Let the lamp burn all night, mother/*
Cried little Mary then ;
Tis but a little light, but still
It might save drowning men/*
Oh! nonsense I" cried her father (he
Was tired and cross that night),
** The headland lighthouse is enough/*
And he put out the light.
That night, on the rocks below us,
A noble ship went down,
But one was saved from the ghastly wr*dk
The rest were left to drown.
88 THE BIRD AND THE BABY.
. * We steered by a little light," lie said,
"Till we saw it sink from view;
If they d only a left that light all night
My mates might have been here, too F"
Then little Mary sobbed aloud ;
Her father blushed for shame ;
" Twas our light that you saw/ he said,
"And I m the one to blame/
Twas a little light how small a thing !
And trifling was its cost,
Yet for want of it a ship went down,
And a hundred souls were lost.
THE BIRD AND THE BABY.
VHAT does little birdie say
In her nest at peep of day?
Let me fly, says little birdie,
Mother, let me fly away.
Birdie, rest a little longer,
Till the little wings are stronger.
So it rests a little longer,
Then it flies away.
What does little baby say
In her bed at peep of day?
Baby says, like little birdie,
Let me rise and fly away.
Baby, sleep a little longer,
Till the little wings are stronger*
If she sleeps a little longer,
Baby too shall fly away.
ALFRED TEKNYSOH,
THE KETTTRN FROM BATTLE. 89
THE KETTJKN" FROM BATTLE.
IO ! they come, they come ! garlands for every shrine I
Strike lyres to greet them home ! bring roses, pour
ye wine !
Swell, swell the Dorian lute through the blue, triumph^
ant sky !
Let the cittern s tone salute the sons of victory.
With the offering of bright blood they have ransomed
hearth and tomb,
Vineyard, and field, and flood. lo! they come, the}
come!
Sing it where olives wave, and by the glittering sea,
And o er each hero s grave, sing, sing, the land is free!
Mark ye the flashing oars, and the spears that light the
deep!
How the festal sunshine pours where the lords of battle
sweep !
Each hath brought back his shield; maid, greet thy
lover home !
Mother, from that proud field, lo 1 thy son is come !
Who murmured of the dead? Hush, boding voice I
We know
That many a shining head lies in its glory low.
Breathe not those names to-day 1 They shall have their
praise ere long,
With a power all hearts to sway, in ever-burning song.
But now shed flowers, pour wine, to hail the conquerors
home;
Bring wreaths for every shrine. lo ! they come, they
come!
90 THE AMERICAN FLAG.
THE AMERICAN FLAG.
THE flag of the Union what precious associations
cluster around it I Not only have our fathers set up
this banner in the name of God over the well-won battle
fields of the Revolution, and over the cities and towns
which they rescued from despotic rule ; but think where
their descendants haye carried it and raised it in con
quest or protection !
Through what clouds of dust and smoke has it passed
what storms of shot and shell what scenes of fire and
blood! Not only at Saratoga, at Monmouth, and at
Yorktown, but at Lundy s Lane and New Orleans, at
Buena Vista and Chapultepec.
It is the same glorious old flag which, inscribed with
the dying words of Lawrence, " Don t give up the ship,"
was hoisted on Lake Erie by Commodore Perry, just on
the eve of his great naval victory, the same old flag
which our great chieftain bore in triumph to the proud
city of the Aztecs, and planted upon the heights of her
national palaces.
Brave hands raised it above the eternal regions of ice
in the Arctic seas, and have set it up on the summits of
the lofty mountains of the distant West. Where has it
not gone, the pride of its friends and the terror of its
foes? What countries and seas has it not visited ? Where
has not the American citizen been able to stand beneath
its guardian folds and defy the world ?
With what joy and exultation have seamen and tour
ists gazed upon its stars and stripes, read in it the history
of their nation s glory, received from it the full sense of
security, and drawn from it the inspiration of patriotism I
How many have lived for it, and how many have died
LOST TOMMY. - 91
for It! How many heroes have its folds eoYered m
deathl
And wherever that flag has gone it has been a herald
of a better day it has been the pledge of freedom, of
justice, of order, of civilization, and of Christianity.
Tyrants only have hated it. All who sigh for the tri
umph of righteousness and truth salute and love it.
A. P. PUTNAM.
LOST TOMMY.
T)RAY, have you seen our Tommy?
J- He s the cutest little fellow,
"With cheeks as round as apples,
And hair the softest yellow.
You see, twas quite a while ago,
An hour or two, perhaps,
When grandma sent him off to buy
A pound of ginger-snaps.
We have traced him to the baker s,
And part way back again ;
We found a little paper sack
Lying empty in the lane.
But Tommy and the ginger-snaps
Are missing totally ;
I hope they both will reappear
In time enough for tea.
We have climbed up to the garret,
And scoured the cellar through;
We have ransacked every closet,
And the barn and orchard too j
LOST TOMMY.
We have bunted through tlie kitchen,
And the pantry ? Oh ! of course, >
We have screamed and shouted " Tommy*
Until we re fairly hoarse.
Poor mamma goes distracted,
And pretty Auntie May
Is sure the darling cherub
Has somehow lost his way.
Well, well, I ll give another look
Into the nursery ;
I hardly think the little rogue
Can hide away from me.
Ah ! here s the laundry basket,
Within I ll take a peep.
Why what is this curled up so tight I
Tis Tommy, fast asleep.
O mamma, auntie, grandma !
Come and see the fun.
Tommy, where s the ginger-snaps?
"Eaten! every onel"
" Bless my heart I" laughs auntie ;
" Dear, dear, I shall collapse;
Where could he stow them all away ?
A pound of ginger-snaps !"
But mamma falls to kissing,
Forgetting fright and toil,
While grandma bustles out to fetch
A dose of castor oil.
MRS. JULIA M,
THE FOOLISH HAREBELL.
THE FOOLISH HAREBELL.
A
HAEEBELL liimg Its willful head :
" I am tired, so tired ! I wish I was dead."
Site "hung her head in the mossy dell :
" If all were over, then all were well."
The wind he heard, and was pitiful ;
He waved her about to make her cool.
" Wind, you are rough," said the dainty "bell ;
" Leave me alone I am not well."
And the wind, at the voice of the drooping dame,
Sank in his heart, and ceased for shame.
" I am hot, so hot !" she sighed and said ;
" I am withering up ; I wish I was dead."
Then the sun, he pitied her pitiful case,
And drew a thick veil over his face.
" Cloud, go away, and don t be rude ;
I am not I don t see why you should."
The cloud withdrew, and the harebell cried,
" I am faint, so faint I and no water beside I"
And the dew came down its million-fold path ;
But she murmured, " I did not want a bath."
A boy came by in the morning gray ;
He plucked the harebell, and threw it away.
The harebell shivered, and cried, " Ohl oh!
I am faint, so faint I Come, dear wind, blow."
84 OKLT A BABY SMAIX.
The wind blew softly, and did not speak.
She thanked him kindly, but grew more weak.
** Sun, dear sun, I am cold," she said.
He rose ; but lower she drooped her head.
* O rain ! I am withering ; all the blue
Is fading out of me ; come, please do."
The rain came down as fast as it could,
But for all its will, it did her no good.
She shuddered and shriveled, and moaning- said;
* Thank you all kindly ;" and then she was dead.
Let us hope, let us hope, when she conies next year 4
She ll be simple and sweet. But I fear, I fear.
GEORGE MACDONALB
ONLY A BABY SMALL.
ONLY a baby small, dropped from the skies ;
Only a laughing face, two sunny eyes ;
Only two cherry lips, one chubby nose ;
Only two little hands, ten little toes;
Only a golden head, curly and soft ;
Only a tongue that wags loudly and oft ;
Only a little brain, uuvexed by thought ;
Only a little heart, troubled by naught ;
Only a tender flower, sent us to rear ;
Only a life to love while we are here.
MATTHIAS BAB&
BRUTUS OH THE DEATH OF CJESAR. 95
BRUTUS ON THE DEATH OF CLESAB.
ROMANS, countrymen, and lovers! Hear me for
my cause, and be silent that yo i may hear. Be-
Eeve me for mine honor ; and have respect to mine honoi
that you may believe. Censure me In your wisdom, and
awake your senses that you may the better judge.
If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend oi
Caesar s, to him I say that Brutus love to Caesar was
not less than his. If, then, that friend demand why
Brutus rose against Csesar, this is my answer: Not that
I loved Csesar less, but that I loved Borne more. Had
you rather Csesar were living, and die all slaves, than
that Csesar were dead, to live all freemen ?
As Csesar loved me, I weep for him ; as he was fortu
nate, I rejoice at it ; as he was valiant, I honor him ;
but as he was ambitious, I slew him ! There are tears
for his love ; joy for his fortune ; honor for his valor /
and death for his ambition 1
SHAKESPEARE,
THREE LITTLE MUSHROOMS.
MISCELLANEOUS.
THREE LITTLE MUSHROOMS.
[A performance for three very little girls. They should be dressed it
White, cream color, or pale pink each, carrying an open parasol directij
over the head, to imitate a mushroom, top. The parasols should be cov
ered with the same material as that of which the dresses are made.]
FIRST GIRL*
little toad-stools,
J- Don t you see?
Jes* as tunnin* as
We can be.
SECOND GIRL.
Where did we come from ?
We don t know,
Guess in the same place
Violets grow.
THIRD GIRL.
What are we dood for?
Jes* to keep
Rain from the mosses
When they sleep.
FIRST GIRL.
What else dood for?
Lena* me see !
Fool boys, sometimes,
Tween you an me.
SECOND GIRL.
How old are we?
Don t know, quite
Reckon we came in
A shower last night.
THIRD GIEL.
Where are we goin to.
Oh! now, say!
Wif all de flowers
In mamma s bouquet
REAL ELOCUTION. 97
EEAL ELOCUTION.
fThis can "be made a most laughable affair. Five boys ranging from
fourteen w sixteen years of age should be selected-such as can act well
SdwIS can make the by-plly full of amusing incident* There musl
be an air of reality imparted to the whole, or the performers W iD L fell i n
producing the belt effect. The tallest boy may represent the Pmtao*
End he sfiould speak in a full, deep tone, and bear himself in a verj
ixjmpoiis manner.]
Professor (entering and followed ly four or five boys).-
Now, young gentlemen, we have met to learn the won*
derful art of elocution. Tills word is derived from two
"Latin words, e, out of, and loquor, loqui, locutus, to speak,
so the word means to speak out. Half the world speak
own their throats that is not elocution. I differ from
every other teacher in this. I do everything called for
iu the piece. If a cough is mentioned, why, I stop and
cough ; if a horse is spoken of, then I whinny like a
horse. This I call real elocution. You must observe
two directions which I shall h give you: First, let your
voices well out ; next, you must observe and copy me
$>nd my gestures. Can you remember these?
No. 1. Yes, sir ; I think we can remember them ; but
how much shall we let our voices out. I am always
afraid I shall bust something if I let my voice out too
much.
p t Well, sir, let me hear you speak, and then I can
judge. Bo you know, " On linden when the sun wa&
low"?
No. 1. Yes | I know that.
P. Well, you may speak it.
No. 1 (.puts himself in a position, and in a very lo?*d
mid high voice recites i)
** On Linden, when the sun was low,
AH bloodless lay the untrodden snow,
And <?<urk as winter was the flow
Of Iser rolling
i
S EEAL ELOCOTfOH.
JP. (clapping "his hands to his ears). Hold 1
enough. Do you all speak as loud as that?
No. 4. Just like that, sir.
aP. Well, then, I ll withdraw the rule requiring you to
speak so loud as you can, and beg you instead to speak
moderately moderately, gentlemen. But you must be
sure to move and act as you see me do. Our first selec
tion will be from Shakespeare. I told you all to provide
yourselves with mantles, since the ancient Romans,
whom we are to personate, wore them. Under the pres
ent circumstances, I stated that your sisters* waterproof
cloaks would answer every purpose.
No. 2. I haven t any sister, Professor, so I got his sis
ter (pointing) to lend me her waterproof. Will that do
just as well?
P. Certainly. Now throw them over your left arms.
{In drawing them No. 3 accidentally hits No. 4, who,
rubbing his arm, says :)
No. 4. What are you about, hitting around in that
way ? You ve got to be more careful.
(No. 1 also accidentally steps on the toes of No. 2, who
limps around and makes great ado.)
No. 2. Oh! oh! my corns. What did you step o n
my corns for?
P. Gentlemen, you must be more careful.
Nos. 2 and 4. Why, we were just as careful as we
could be. It s those fellows who aint careful.
P. Now, then, gentlemen, in line, if you please, and
follow my directions. But first, I ll recite, as appro
priate to the occasion, Shakespeare s "Advice to tha
Players:"
"Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounce it to
tripping on. the tongue; but if you mouth it, aa
REAL ELOCUTION. 99
many of our players do, I had as lief the town crier
spake my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with
your hand, thus, but use all gently." I repeat, gentle
men, be sure to imitate me : it is thus you will learn.
Attention all : " If you have tears " (throwing out right
hand toward them*).
Class. " If you have tears" (also throwing out their
right hands with great animation).
P. " Prepare to shed them now," (puts hands to eyes
and whines and cries),
0. " Prepare to shed them now" (also put hands, etc.
In doing this, No. 1 hits No. 2 with his sword, and he
talk out :
No. 2. Oh ! why are you always hitting me ? I m half
inclined to think you did it on purpose. I aint going
to stand it any longer, unless I have the chance to do
some hitting back.
P. Silence, gentlemen. You must be willing to suffer
something in the cause of education. " You all do know
this mantle" (throwing out left arm and pointing with
the right).
0. " You all do know this mantle " (same gestures; the
various members dodging about as the swords are drawn),
P. " I remember the first time ever Caesar put it on."
C. " I remember the first time ever Csesar put it on."
P. " Look" (throwing out right hand).
C. " Look" (repeat gesture).
P. " In this place" (pointing^).
C. " In this place" (pointing).
P. " Ran Cassius dagger through."
C. " Ran Cassius dagger through,"
P. "See what a rent the envious Casca made here"
(pointing).
100 REAL ELOCUTION.
gee what a rent the envious Casea made here w
(pointing).
p f Thro this the well-beloved Brutus stabbed"
{pointing).
Q "Thro this the well-beloved Brutus stabbed"
(pointing).
P. "And as he plucked his cursed steel away" -
(drawing sword lacF).
Q m "And as he plucked his cursed steel away " (draw
ing swords back, and in so doing No. 1 hits No. 2, which
causes Mm to double up and cry out in a whining way ).
No. 2. There you go again, always hitting some one,
you are. And I m not going to stand your nonsense
any longer.
P.-^-Silence there.
C. Silence there. (No. 2 calls out with the rest, though
pretending to be in pain. )
P. (raising sword). Silence, I say !
G. (raising sword). Silence, I say !
P, Stop ! stop ! That is not found in the divine bard.
Make ready, all. All ready ?
0. Eeady.
P. " Then burst his mighty heart " (lefthand on hearty
right arm over the eyes, pretending to weep ).
0. "Then burst his mighty heart" (imitating ges
tures ).
P. " And in his mantle muffling up his face" (folds
vloak around his head).
C. "And in his mantle muffling up his face " (fold
cloaks, etc.)
P. "Great Caesar " (in a loud voice).
C. "Great Csesar" (very loud).
p^ " ]?ell (going suddenly on his knee*)*
KNOWING THE CIRCUMSTANCES. lOl
C. ** Fell " (going down suddenly on their Jcnees, and
remain in this position about a minute).
Pi (rising^). Now, gentlemen, you have liad your
first lesson in real elocution, where everything is done
that is spoken about in the piece itself. This one was
intended to show you how an audience can be made to
weep. The nest will be to show you how it can be made
to laugh. (AM bow.)
KNOWING THE CIRCUMSTANCES.
CHASACTEBS. Five girls, from ten to twelve years of age: MAUD, an
orphan, and Yery poorly clad; KATIE, ROSELLA, EBTTH, and BELLE,
daughters of wealthy parents.
SCENE. The Jive girls standing near ea&h other, MAUB a
little apart from the rest*
Rosetta. O girls, my father has bought a beautiful
sail-boat, and we expect to have a sail to-night upon the
lake. Father gave me leave to invite a few of my
friends to enjoy the sail with us. Will you go?
Katie, Edith, and Belle, together. Oh I yes, yes, yes!
Won t it be grand?
Katie. Kosella, you are the best girl that ever was.
[Throws an arm around her.~]
Rosdla. WiU you not go with us, Maud?
Maud (glancing at her shabby dress and worn-out shoes ).
~I would like to go, but fear I cannot. [Turns to leaved]
Kosella, Come if you can, Maud. [Exit MAXJD.
Edith. I cannot imagine why you are so anxious to
have that ragged Maud Lindsey to be one of your sailing
party.
102 ^ KNOWING THE CIRCUMSTANCES.
Belle. NOT L
Katie. Nor I.
Edith. I don t believe site has anytMng fit to wear,
Did you not see lier glance at her dress when she replied
to your question?
Rgsella. No ; I did not notice it.
Katie. How strange ! I noticed it ; didn t you, Belle ?
Belle. Yes, and I could not help pitying her, for I
know she wanted to go so much.
Edith. I can t believe it our duty to invite such a
ragged thing everywhere. I think it bad enough to be
obliged to associate with her at school.
Rosella. O Edith I you surely cannot blame Maud for
having no better clothing 1
Edith. I had no thought of blaming her ; I only said
I did not care to associate with her.
Katie. I wonder if she has no better clothes.
Belle. She had a better dress last summer.
Katie. But we are talking about this summer.
[MlUD appears on the stage and seems to be searching for
something, but, not finding it, soon leaves."]
Edith. I wonder what she was looking after.
Belle. She looked as if she had cried her eyes most
out.
Katie. That s nothing new ; her eyes always look so.
Mosella. I think we should all weep as much as Maud,
if in her place. Mrs. Mason knows all about Maud and
her parents, and says, if she was able, she would take her
and do by her as by a child of her own.
Edith. Did Mrs. Mason ever tell you about her ?
JRosella. Yes, she told me the other day,
Belle. Tell us about her, Kosella.
Katie. Yes, do.
A. SONG OF THE STATFS. 103
Rosetta* I will, with pleasure. Maud s parents were
?ery wealthy. They tad two children besides Maud,
a boy and a girl. One day her father came in looking
very grave; he had failed. A few mornings after this,
he awoke very ill. A physician was called, and his dis
ease pronounced diphtheria. In a short time they were
aH ill with the same disease, and only Maud recovered.
[A. silence of some minutest]
Katie. I have a dress at home which I think would
fit Maud, and it is quite pretty.
Edith. I have some boots* They doa t come tip quite
as high around the ankle as I like to have them | but
they are most new, and will look much better than her
old ones.
Belle* I will ask my mother to buy her a new hat ;
and I know she will, and some other things also.
Rosella. I will also give her some articles of clothing,
but what she needs most is our love. Shall we not give
it to her.
AIL Yes, yes, she shall have our love.
[Curtain folk.
A SONG OF THE BTAlEa
Tune My Native Land.
FOR FOURTEEN LITTLE GIRLS.
Each girl should be appareled in white, and one the largest so cos
tumed as to represent the Goddess of Liberty. Each of the others should
wear upon the head a band of pasteboard, bearing in gilt or silver letters
the name of the State she represents, and carrying in the hand a Email
shield, which can also be made of pasteboard. Alternate stripes of white
and red can be pasted lengthwise upon the shield "within one-third of the
distance from the top. On the one-third space, which must, of course, be
blue, should be placed thirteen small white stars. On the reverse side
may be fastened a strip of tape to enable the child to hold the shield
^taxing the performaace,
104 A SONG OF THE STATES.
ABBJJTGEKENT OF TABLEAU. The Goddess maybe placed on one siat
of the group, and arranged in such way as to look with pride on the
original thirteen, and. the smallest child, which should represent Rhooi
island, might be kneeling at her feet, and holding in her hand a flag.
The performance can either be rendered as solo or as chorus, as maer
^e best suited to the occasion.
DID you ever tear of Columbus,
Who came out to the West
Of all the mariners on earth
The bravest and the best?
He mann d nis boats, and picked his crew,
With spirits bold and brave,
Who, like himself, knew naught of fear,
And crossed the ocean wave.
We thirteen sisters were the first
To form into a band,
And represent the thirteen States
First chartered in this land*
God bless the dauntless few who
The broad and rolling sea,
To give to us a happy tome
So wide, and rich, and fiwau
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
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