Heaven's fire is around thee to blast and to burn:
Return to thy dwelling; all lonely return!
For the blackness of ashes shall mark where it stood,
And a wild mother scream o'er her famishing brood!

Lochiel.

False wizard, avaunt! I have marshalled my clan:
Their swords are a thousand; their bosoms are one.
They are true to the last of their blood and their breath,
And like reapers descend to the harvest of death.
Then welcome be Cumberland's steed to the shock!
Let him dash his proud foam like a wave on the rock!
But woe to his kindred, and woe to his cause,
When Albin her claymore indignantly draws;
When her bonneted chieftains to victory crowd,
Clanranald the dauntless, and Moray the proud,
All plaided and plumed in their tartan array -

Wizard.

Lochiel, Lochiel, beware of the day!

For, dark and despairing, my sight I may seal,
Yet man cannot cover what God would reveal!
'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore,
And coming events cast their shadows before.
I tell thee, Culloden's dread echoes shall ring
With the bloodhounds that bark for thy fugitive king.
Lo! anointed by Heaven with the vials of wrath,

Behold where he flies on his desolate path!

こ

2

Now in darkness and billows he sweeps from my sight:
Rise! rise! ye wild tempests, and cover his flight! -
'Tis finished. Their thunders are hushed on the moors;
Culloden is lost, and my country deplores.

But where is the iron-bound prisoner? Where?
For the red eye of battle is shut in despair.
Say, mounts he the ocean-wave, banished, forlorn,
Like a limb from his country cast bleeding and torn?

Ah! no; for a darker departure is near;
The war-drum is muffled, and black is the bier;
His death-bell is tolling; O! mercy, dispel
Yon sight, that it freezes my spirit to tell!
Life flutters, convulsed, in his quivering limbs,
And his blood-streaming nostril in agony swims.
Accursed be the fagots that blaze at his feet,
Where his heart shall be thrown, ere it ceases to beat,
With the smoke of its ashes to poison the gale-

Lochiel.

Down, soothless insulter! I trust not the tale!
For never shall Albin a destiny meet

So black with dishonor, so foul with retreat.
Though his perishing ranks should be strewed in their gore,
Like ocean-weeds heaped on the surf-beaten shore,
Lochiel, untainted by flight or by chains,

While the kindling of life in his bosom remains,
Shall victor exult, or in death be laid low,
With his back to the field, and his feet to the foe!
And, leaving in battle no blot on his name,

Look proudly to heaven from the death-bed of fame.

LESSON XXVI.

EXERCISES IN ARTICULATION.

1:-all, marl, earl, isle, leave, lovely, lively, melon, solace, castle, axle, evil, able.

On the Works and Attributes of the Almighty.

MOODIE.

CONTEMPLATE the great scenes of nature, and accustom yourselves to connect them with the perfections of God. All vast and unmeasurable objects are fitted to impress the soul with awe. The mountain which rises above the neighboring hills, and hides its head in the sky - the sounding, unfathomed, boundless deep - the expanse of heaven, where, above and around, no limit checks the wondering eye; - these objects fill and elevate the mind they produce a solemn frame of spirit, which accords with the sentiment of religion.

From the contemplation of what is great and magnificent in nature, the soul rises to the Author of all. We think of the time which preceded the birth of the universe, when no being existed but God alone. While unnumbered systems arise in order before us, created by his power, arranged by his wisdom, and filled with his presence, - the earth and the sea, with all that they contain, are hardly beheld amidst the immensity of his works. In the boundless subject the soul is lost. It is He who sitteth on the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. He weigheth the mountains in scales. He taketh up the isles as a very little thing. Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him!

The face of nature is sometimes clothed with terror. The tempest overturns the cedars of Lebanon, or discloses the secrets of the deep. The pestilence wastes - the lightning consumes - the voice of the thunder is heard on high. Let these appearances be connected with the power of God. These are the awful ministers of his kingdom. The Lord reigneth, let the people tremble. Who would not fear thee, O King of nations! By the greatness of thy power thine enemies are constrained to bow.

Pause for a while, ye travellers on the earth, to contemplate the universe in which you dwell, and the glory of Him who created it. What a scene of wonders is here presented to your view! If beheld with a religious eye, what a temple for the worship of the Almighty! The earth is spread out before you, reposing amidst the desolation of winter, or clad in the verdure of the spring-smiling in the beauty of summer, or loaded with autumnal fruit; - opening to an endless variety of beings the treasures of their Maker's goodness, and ministering subsistence and comfort to every creature that lives.

The heavens, also, declare the glory of the Lord. The sun cometh forth from his chambers to scatter the shades of night, inviting you to the renewal of your labors, adorning the face of nature, and, as he advances to his meridian

brightness, cherishing every herb and every flower that springeth from the bosom of the earth. Nor, when he retires again from your view, doth he leave the Creator without a witness. He only hides his own splendor for a while, to disclose to you a more glorious scene -- to show you the immensity of space filled with worlds unnumbered, that your imaginations may wander, without a limit, in the vast creation of God.

What a field is here opened for the exercise of every pious emotion! and how irresistibly do such contemplations as these awaken the sensibility of the soul! Here is infinite power to impress you with awe; here is infinite wisdom to fill you with admiration; here is infinite goodness to call forth your gratitude and love. The correspondence between these great objects and the affections of the human heart is established by nature itself; and they need only to be placed before us, that every religious feeling may be excited.

LESSON XXVII.

EXERCISES IN ARTICULATION.

m:-man, aim, blame, realm, charm, famine, moment, mammon, solemn, murmur, mental.

The Birth of the Savior announced.

MOODIE.

WHEN the Savior of mankind was born in Judea, his birth was attended with no external splendor which could mark him out as the promised Messiah. The business of life was proceeding in its usual train. The princes of the world were pursuing their plans of ambition and vanity. The chief priests and the scribes, the interpreters of revelation, were amusing the multitude with idle traditions. Jesus lay neglected in the stable of Bethlehem; and the first rays of the Sun of Righteousness beamed unnoticed on the earth. But the host of heaven were deeply interested in this great event. They contemplated, with pleasure, the blessings which were about to be dispensed to men; and from their high abode a messenger descended to announce the dawn of that glorious day, which the prophets had seen from afar, and were glad.

The persons to whom these tidings of joy were first proclaimed were not such, indeed, as the world would have reckoned worthy of so high a preeminence. They were not the wise, the rich, or the powerful, of the earth. That which is highly esteemed among men is often of little value in the sight of God. The rich and the poor are alike to him. He prefers the simplicity of a candid mind to all those artificial accomplishments which attract the admiration of the giddy multitude. It was to the shepherds of Bethlehem that the angel appeared, - to men obscure and undistinguished among their brethren, - who, in the silence of the night, were following the duties of their peaceful occupation, far from the vices of courts and the prejudices of the synagogue.

But the manner in which the birth of the Messiah was announced was suited to the dignity of so great an occasion. At midnight, these shepherds were tending their flocks, and all was dark and still in the fields of Bethlehem; when, on a sudden, a light from heaven filled the plain, and the angel of the Lord stood revealed before them. So unusual an appearance struck them with awe: they knew not with what tidings this messenger might be charged. But the voice of the angel soon quieted their fears: it was a message of mercy with which he was intrusted. Behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.