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You've my authority, where'er you meet 'em,

To kill the rogues, and, if you like, to eat 'em!"

10. "Zooks," cried the rustic, "I'm right glad to hear it.
Constable, catch that thief! may I go hang
If yonder blue bottle (I know his face)
Is not the very leader of the gang

That stole the cream; let me come near it."
This said, he darted from his place,

And aiming one of his sledge-hammer blows
At a large fly upon the Judge's nose—

The luckless blue bottle he smashed;

And gratified a double grudge,

For the same catapult completely smashed
The bottle nose belonging to the Judge!

LESSON LXIX.

The Progress of Untruth.-BYROM.

1. Two honest tradesmen meeting in the Strand,*
One took the other, briskly, by the hand;
"Hark ye," said he, "'tis an odd story this,
About the crows !"-"I don't know what it is,"
Reply'd his friend-"No! I'm surpris'd at that;
Where I come from, it's the common chat :

2. "But you shall hear ;-an odd affair indeed!
And that it happen'd, they are all agreed:
Not to detain you from a thing so strange,
A gentleman that lives not far from 'Change,†
This week, in short as all the alley knows,
Taking a puke, has thrown up three black crows."
3. "Impossible !"-"Nay, but it's really true;
I have it from good hands, and so may you"-
"From whose, I pray?" so having nam'd the man,
Straight to inquire his curious comrade ran.
"Sir, did you tell"-relating the affair-
"Yes, sir, I did; and if it's worth your care,
Ask Mr. Such-a-one, he told it me;

But, by the bye, 'twas two black crows, not three.”–
Strand, the name of a street in London.

'Change, for Exchange, a place where merchants and others meet to transact business.

4. Resolv'd to trace so wond'rous an event,
Whip, to the third, the virtuoso went.

"Sir," and so forth-"Why, yes; the thing is fact,
Though in regard to number not exact;

It was not two black crows, 'twas only one,
The truth of that you may depend upon."

5. "The gentleman himself told me the case"-
"Where may I find him?"-" Why, in such a place.”
Away goes he, and having found him out,

"Sir, be so good as to resolve a doubt"-
Then to his last informant he referr'd,

And begg'd to know, if true what he had heard;
6. "Did you, Sir, throw up a black crow?"-"Not I!"
"Bless me! how people propagate a lie!

Black crows have been thrown up, three, two, and one,
And here I find all comes at last to none !

Did you say nothing of a crow at all?”
"Crow-crow-perhaps I might-now I recall
The matter over"—" And pray, Sir, what was't?"-
Why, I was horrid sick, and at the last,

66

I did throw up, and told my neighbor so,

Something that was as black, Sir, as a crow."

LESSON LXX.

The Voyage of Life.-DR. JOHNSON.

1. "LIFE," says Seneca,* "is a voyage, in the progress of which we are perpetually changing our scenes; we first leave childhood behind us, then youth, then the years of ripened manhood, then the better and more pleasing part of old age."

2. The perusal of this passage having excited in me a train of reflections on the state of man, the incessant fluctuation of his wishes, the gradual change of his disposition to all external objects, and the thoughtlessness with which he floats along the stream of time, I sunk into a slumber amidst my meditations, and on a sudden, found my ears filled with a tumult of labor, the shouts of alacrity, the shrieks of alarm, the whistle of winds, and the dash of waters.

3. My astonishment for a time repressed my curiosity; but soon recovering myself so far as to inquire whither we were

Lucius Annæus Seneca, a celebrated Stoic philosopher, and tragic poet, horn at Corduba in Spain, A. D. 12. He was tutor to the tyrant Nero, Emperor of Rome, by whom he was cruelly put to death, A. D. 65

going. and what was the cause of such clamor and confusion, I was told that we were launching out into the ocean of life, that we had already passed the straits of infancy, in which multitudes had perished, some by the weakness and fragility of their vessels, and more by the folly, perverseness, or negligence of those who undertook to steer them; and that we were now on the main sea, abandoned to the winds and billows, without any other means of security than the care of the pilot, whom it was always in our power to choose among the great numbers that offered their direction and assistance.

4. I then looked round with anxious eagerness, and first turning my eyes behind me, saw a stream flowing through flowery islands, which every one that sailed along seemed to behold with pleasure, but no sooner touched, than the current, which, though not noisy or turbulent, was yet irresistible, bore him away. Beyond these islands, all was darkness, nor could any of the passengers describe the shore at which he first embarked.

5. Before me, and on each side, was an expanse of waters violently agitated, and covered with so thick a mist, that the most perspicacious* eye could see but a little way. It appeared to be full of rocks and whirlpools; for many sunk unexpectedly while they were courting the gale with full sails, and insulting those whom they had left behind.

6. So numerous indeed were the dangers, and so thick the darkness, that no caution could confer security. Yet there were many, who, by false intelligence, betrayed their followers into whirlpools, or by violence pushed those whom they found in their way against the rocks.

7. The current was invariable and insurmountable; but though it was impossible to sail against it, or to return to the place that was once passed, yet it was not so violent as to allow no opportunities for dexterity or courage, since, though none could retreat from danger, yet they might avoid it by oblique

direction.

8. It was however not very common to steer with much care or prudence; for by some universal infatuation, every man appeared to think himself safe, though he saw his consorts every moment sinking around him; and no sooner had the waves closed over them, than their fate and their misconduct were forgotten; the voyage was pursued with the same jocund confidence; every man congratulated himself upon the soundness of his vessel, and believed himself able to stem the whirlpool in

* Pronounced per-spe-ca'-shus, sharp-sighted.

which his friend was swallowed, or glide over the rocks on which he was dashed; nor was it often observed that the sight of a wreck made any man change his course; if he turned aside for a moment, he soon forgot the rudder, and left himself again to the disposal of chance.

9. This negligence did not proceed from indifference or from weariness of their condition; for not one of those, who thus rushed upon destruction, failed, when he was sinking, to call loudly upon his associates for that help which could not now be given him; and many spent their last moments in cautioning others against the folly by which they were intercepted in the midst of their course. Their benevolence was sometimes praised, but their admonitions were unregarded.

10. In the midst of the current of life was the gulph of Intemperance, a dreadful whirlpool, interspersed with rocks, of which the pointed crags were concealed under water, and the tops covered with herbage, on which Ease spread couches of repose, and with shades where Pleasure warbled the song of invitation. Within sight of these rocks all who sailed on the ocean of life must necessarily pass.

11. Reason, indeed, was always at hand to steer the passengers through a narrow outlet by which they might escape; but few could, by her entreaties or remonstrances, be induced to put the rudder into her hand, without stipulating that she should approach so near unto the rocks of Pleasure, that they might solace themselves with a short enjoyment of that delicious region, after which they always determined to pursue their course without any other deviation.

12. Reason was too often prevailed upon so far, by these promises, as to venture her charge within the eddy of the gulph of intemperance, where, indeed, the circumvolution was weak, but yet interrupted the course of the vessel, and drew it by insensible rotations towards the centre. She then repented her temerity, and with all her force endeavored to retreat; but the draught of the gulph was generally too strong to be overcome; and the passenger, having danced in circles with a pleasing and giddy velocity, was at last overwhelmed and lost.

13. As I was looking upon the various fate of the multitude about me, I was suddenly alarmed with an admonition from some unknown Power: "Gaze not idly upon others, when thou thyself art sinking. Whence is this thoughtless tranquillity, when thou and they are equally endangered?" I looked, and seeing the gulph of Intemperance before me, started and awoke.

LESSON LXXI.

The journey of a day; a picture of human life-DR. JOHNSON.

1. OBIDAH, the son of Abensina, left the caravansary* early in the morning, and pursued his journey through the plains of Hindoostan. He was fresh and vigorous with rest; he was animated with hope; he was incited by desire; he walked swiftly forward over the vallies, and saw the hills gradually rising before him.

2. As he passed along, his ears were delighted with the morning song of the bird of paradise; he was fanned by the last flutters of the sinking breeze, and sprinkled with dew by groves of spices. He sometimes contemplated the towering height of the oak, monarch of the hills; and sometimes caught the gentle fragrance of the primrose, eldest daughter of the spring all his senses were gratified, and all care was banished from his heart.

3. Thus he went on, till the sun approached his meridian, and the increasing heat preyed upon his strength; he then looked round about him for some more commodious path. He saw, on his right hand, a grove that seemed to wave its shades as a sign of invitation; he entered it, and found the coolness and verdure irresistibly pleasant.

4. He did not, however, forget whither he was travelling; but found a narrow way bordered with flowers, which appeared to have the same direction with the main road; and was pleased, that, by this happy experiment, he had found means to unite pleasure with business, and to gain the rewards of diligence without suffering its fatigues.

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5. He, therefore, still continued to walk for a time, without the least remission of his ardor, except that he was sometimes tempted to stop by the music of the birds, which the heat had assembled in the shade; and sometimes amused himself with plucking the flowers that covered the banks on either side, or the fruits that hung upon the branches. At last, the green path began to decline from its first tendency, and to wind among the hills and thickets, cooled with fountains, and murmuring with waterfalls.

6. Here Obidah paused for a time, and began to consider whether it were longer safe to forsake the known and common track; but remembering that the heat was now in its greatest violence, and that the plain was dusty and uneven, he resolved

* A public inn, or tavern.

+ Pronounced hite.

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