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For who so fond, as youthful bards, of fame?
But few, alas! the casual blessing boast,

So hard to gain, so easy to be lost.

6. "How vain that second life in others' breath,
The estate which wits inherit after death!
Ease, health, and life, for this they must resign, -
Unseen the tenure, and how vast the fine!
The great man's curse, without the gains, endure,
Be envied, wretched, and be flattered, poor;
All luckless wits their enemies professed,
And all successful, jealous friends at best:
Nor fame I slight, nor for her favors call;
She comes unlooked for, if she comes at all.

7. "But if the purchase cost so dear a price,
As soothing folly, or exalting vice;

Oh! if the muse must flatter lawless sway,
And follow still where fortune leads the way;
Or if no basis bear my rising name,

But the fall'n ruins of another's fame,

Then, teach me, Heaven, to scorn the guilty bays;
Drive from my breast that wretched lust of praise;
Unblemished, let me live, or die unknown;
Oh, grant an honest fame, or grant me none !"

LESSON XXXVII.

ELOQUENCE. - Cass.

1. The master spirits of our father-land, they who guided the councils of England in her career of prosperity and glory, whose eloquence was the admiration of their cotem

poraries, as it will be of posterity, were deeply imbued with classical learning. They drank at the fountain and not at the stream, and they led captive the public opinion of the empire, and asserted their dominion in the senate and the cabinet.

2. Nor have we been wanting in contribution to the general stock of eloquence. In our legislative assemblies, at the bar, and in the pulpit, many examples are before us, not less cheering in the rewards they offer, than in the renown which follows them. And, if our lamps are lighted at the altar of ancient and modern learning, we may hope that a sacred fire will be kept burning, to shed its influence upon our institutions, and the duration of the Republic.

3. But after all, habits of mental and moral discipline, are the first great objects in any system of instruction, public or private. The value of education depends far less upon varied and extensive acquirements, than upon the cultivation of just powers of thought, and the general regulation of the faculties of the understanding. If youth are taught how to think, they will soon learn what to think. Exercise is not more pecessary to a healthful state of the body, than is the employment of the various faculties of the mind to mental efficiency. The understanding, therefore, should be habituated to a continued process of examination and reflection.

4. No precocity of intellect, no promise of genius, no extent of knowledge, can be weighed in the scale with those acquisitions. But he who has been the object of such sedulous attention, and the subject of such a course of instruction, may enter upon the great duties of life, with every prospect of an honorable and a useful career. His armor is girded on for battle. However difficult the circumstances in which he may be called on to act, he is prepared for whatever may betide him.

LESSON XXXVIII.

THE EXILE AND HIS SISTER.- MRS. JAMESON.

1. In the beginning of the year 1833, a traveling merchant passed through the city of Deuxponts, and inquired for the family of Ambos. He informed them, that in the preceding year he had seen and spoken to a man in rags, who was working in fetters with other criminals near the fortress of Barinska, in Siberia, who described himself as Henri Ambos, a pastor of the Lutheran Church, unjustly condemned, and besought him, with tears and the most earnest supplications, to convey some tidings of him to his unhappy parents, and beseech them to use every means to obtain his liberation.

2. You must imagine for I cannot describe the feelings that this intelligence excited. A family council was immediately held, and it was determined to apply, at once, to the police authorities at St. Petersburgh, and ascertain beyond a doubt, the fate of poor Henri, and petition the emperor for his pardon. But who was to present the petition? The second brother offered himself, but he had a wife and two children; besides, he was the only remaining hope of his mother's family. The sister then said she would undertake the journey, and argued that, as a woman, she had more chance of success than her brother. Her mother acquiesced. There was in truth no other alternative.

3. "When my mother gave me her blessing," said she, “I made a vow to God and my own heart, that I would not return without the pardon of my brother! I had health and strength, and I had not a doubt of my own success, because I was resolved to succeed. But ah, what a fate was mine! and how am I returning to my mother, my poor old mother!" Here she burst into tears, but after a few minutes she re

sumed her narrative. She soon reached Riga and there collected the necessary documents relative to her brother's character and conduct, with all the circumstances of his trial, and had them properly attested.

4. Furnished with these papers, she arrived safely at St. Petersburgh in the beginning of June, 1833. She had been provided with several letters of recommendation, and particularly one to a German ecclesiastic, of whom she spoke with grateful enthusiasm. She met with the utmost difficulty in obtaining from the police the official return of her brother's condemnation, place of exile, punishment, etc.; but at length, by almost incredible boldness, perseverance, and address, she was in possession of these ; and, with the assistance of her good friend the pastor, she drew up a petition to the emperor. With this she waited on the minister of the interior; but he treated her with great harshness, and absolutely refused to deliver the petition.

5. Her suit being rejected by all the ministers, she resolved to appeal to the emperor in person. But it was in vain she lavished hundreds of dollars in bribes to the inferior officers; in vain she beset the imperial suit at the reviews, at the theater, on the way to the church. Invariably driven back by the guards, or the attendants, she could not penetrate to the emperor's presence. After spending six weeks in daily ineffectual attempts, Providence raised her up a friend in one of her own sex, the Countess

name I have forgotten.

whose

6. One day, on seeing her young protege' overwhelmed with grief, and almost in despair, she said with emotion, “I dare not present your petition myself; I might be sent off to Siberia, or at least banished the court; but all I can do, I will. I will lend you my equipage and servants, dress you in one of my robes, and you shall drive to the palace the next levee-day, and obtain an audience under my name. When once in the presence of the emperor, you must man

age for yourself. If I risk thus much, will you venture the rest?"

7. "And what," said I, " was your answer?" "O," she replied, "I could not answer; but I threw myself at her feet, and kissed the hem of her gown." I asked her whether she had not feared to risk the safety of her generous friend. She replied, "That thought did strike me; but what would you have? I cast it from me. I was resolved to have my brother's pardon. I would have sacrificed my own life to obtain it; and, (God forgive me!) I thought little of what it might cost another."

8. This plan was soon arranged; and, at the time appointed, my resolute heroine drove up to the palace in a splendid equipage. She was announced as the Countess who supplicated a particular audience of his Majesty. The doors flew open, and in a few minutes she was in the presence of the emperor, who advanced one or two steps to meet her, with an air of gallantry, but suddenly started back. Here I could not help asking her whether, in that moment, she did not feel her heart sink. "No," said she firmly, 66 on the contrary, I felt my heart beat quicker and higher! I sprung forward and knelt at his feet, exclaiming, with clasped hands, Pardon, Imperial Majesty! pardon!" "Who are you?" said the emperor, astonished; "and what can I do for you?"

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9. "He spoke gently, more gently than any of his ministers, and, overcome even by my own hopes, I burst into a flood of tears, and said, 'May it please your Imperial Majesty, I am not Countess I am the only sister of the unfortunate Henri Ambos, who has been condemned on false accusation. Oh! pardon! pardon! Here are the papers the proofs. O Imperial Majesty, pardon my poor brother!' I held out the petition and the papers, and at the same time, prostrate on my knees, I seized the skirt of his embroidered coat, and pressed it to my lips."

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