17. Oh, Book of terrible majesty and child-like love,—for sublimity that crushes the soul into awe,—of beauty that melts the heart with rapture! you never shone more strangely beautiful than there in the lonely cot of the Wissa hi'kon, where you saved the murderer's life. For,—need I tell you?—that murderer's life was saved. That widow recognized the finger of God, and even the stern brother was awed into silence. The murderer went his way.
18. Now look ye, how wonderful are the ways of Heaven! That very night, as the widow sat by her lonely hearth, her orphans by her side,—sat there with a crushed heart and hot eye-balls, thinking of her husband, who, she supposed, now lay moldering on the blood-drenched soil of Pa o' li,—there was a tap at the door. She opened it, and that husband, living, though covered with wounds, was in her arms! He had fallen at Pa o' li, but not in death. He was alive,—his wife lay panting on his breast. That night there was a prayer in that wood-embowered cot of the Wis sa hi' kon.
QUESTIONS.—1. What two men are said to have engaged in deadly combat? 2. Which gained the mastery? 3. What did the patriot soldier say to the Tory, when he cried, Quarter? 4. What, when the Tory told him he had a wife and child? 5. What proposal was made to him? 6. How was his fate to be decided? 7. Was his life spared? 8. What proved the justice of the decision?
[!-- Marker --] LESSON LXIII.
VES' TI BULE, porch, entrance.
VI' BRATE, move to and fro.
IM MOR' TALS, undying creatures.
MON' U MENTS, memorials.
A CHIEVE', accomplish.
MU TA BLE, changeable.
IM MOR TAL' I TY, deathless existence.
IL LU' MIN ATE, enlighten.
UN DER STAND' ING, intellect.
RE AL' I TIES, truths; facts.
AS SAULTS', violent attacks.
DE SER' TION, abandonment.
IN EX HAUST' I BLE, never-failing.
CHAR' TER, title; deed.
ADVICE TO THE YOUNG.
E.H. CHAPIN.
1. Young friends', in whatever pursuits you may engage, you must not forget that the lawful objects of human efforts, are but means to higher results and nobler ends. Start not forward in life with the idea of becoming mere seekers of pleasure,—sportive butterflies searching for gaudy flowers. Consider and act with reference to the true ends of existence.
2. This world is but the vestibule of an immortal life. Every action of your life touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity. These thoughts and motives within you, stir the pulses of a deathless spirit. Act not, then, as mere creatures of this life, who, for a little while, are to walk the valleys and the hills, to enjoy the sunshine and to breathe the air, and then pass away and be no more; but act as immortals, with an aim and a purpose worthy of your high nature.