As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell, Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed! 3. Year after year beheld the silent toil That spread his lustrous coil; Still, as the spiral grew, He left the past year's dwelling for the new, Built up its idle door, Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more. 4. Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee, Child of the wandering sea, Cast from her lap, forlorn! From thy dead lips a clearer note is born While on mine ear it rings, Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings: 5. Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea! OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. LXXVIII. EXTRACT FROM "THE DESERTED OLIVER GOLDSMITH (1728-1774). The name of Oliver Goldsmith will always live in literature, whether he be called a poet, or dramatist, or novelist, or humorist. For he was all of these. Humor is a feature of almost all he wrote. His two dramas, The Good-Natured Man and She Stoops to Conquer, are of enduring merit as humorous productions. His Vicar of Wakefield has entertained one generation after another. His beautiful poem, The Traveler, and the better-known poem, The Deserted Village, give him high rank as a poet. As a man Goldsmith was of peculiar character. He was a student in the Dublin University, when young, but he would not apply himself to his studies. But his Irish wit (he was a native of Ireland) and his sympathetic nature made him a man beloved of his fellow-men. There was in all he wrote a note of cheer and an appreciation of the finer qualities of human character. OLIVER GOLDSMITH. 1. SWEET was the sound, when oft, at evening's close, There, as I passed with careless steps and slow, 2. But now the sounds of population fail; No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread, The sad historian of the pensive plain. 3. Near yonder copse, where once the garden smiled, Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change, his place; Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrow done, Careless their merits or their faults to scan, 4. Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, He watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all; 5. Beside the bed where parting life was laid, 6. At church, with meek and unaffected grace, And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile. His ready smile a parent's warmth expressed; OLIVER GOLDSMITH. LXXIX. GETTING THE RIGHT START. JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND (1819-1881), editor, novelist, poet, and doctor of medicine, was the first editor of Scribner's Magazine, which was established in 1870. Previous to this he had been connected with the Springfield (Mass.) Republican. He was a man of broad intelligence and intense sympathy. While not a great master in literature, his works have much merit. Among them are Bay Path, Miss Gilbert's Career, Arthur Bonnicastle, and Sevenoaks, in fiction; BitterSweet and Kathrina, in poetry; and Letters to Young People and Lessons in Life, in essay. He was born in Massachusetts, and educated at the Berkshire Medical College. 1. THE first great lesson a young man should learn is, that he knows nothing; and that the earlier and more thoroughly this lesson is learned, the better it will be for his peace of mind and his success in life. A young man bred at home, and growing up in the light of parental admiration and fraternal pride, cannot readily understand how it is that every one else can be his equal in talent and acquisition. If bred in the country, and he |