she fell into the extraordinary paroxysm in which you found her. Very extraordinary thing." 'Very," said his three friends. "Placed me in such an extremely awkward situation," continued Mr. Pickwick. "Very;" was the reply of his followers, as they coughed slightly, and looked dubiously at each other. This behaviour was not lost upon Mr. Pickwick. He remarked their incredulity. They evidently suspected him." There is a man in the passage now," said Mr. Tupman. "It's the man that I spoke to you. about," said Mr. Pickwick, "I sent for him to the Borough this morning. Have the goodness to call him up, Snodgrass." PRAISE OF THE SEA. SAMUEL PURCHAS. S God hath combined the sea and land into one globe, so their joint. combination and mutual assistance is necessary to secular happiness and glory. The sea covereth one-half of this patrimony of man, whereof God set him in possession when he said, "Replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” . . . . Thus should man at once lose half his inheritance, if the art of navigation did not enable him to manage this untamed beast, and with the bridle of the winds and saddle of his shipping to make him serviceable. Now for the services of the sea, they are innumerable it is the great purveyor of the world's commodities to our use; conveyer of the excess of rivers; uniter, by traffic, of all nations: it presents the eye with diversified colors and motions, and is, as it were, with rich brooches, adorned with various islands. It is an open field for merchandise in peace; a pitched field for the most dreadful fights of war; yields diversity of fish and fowl for diet; materials for wealth, medicine for health, simples for medicines, pearls, and other jewels for ornament; amber and ambergris for delight; "the wonders of the Lord in the deep" for instruction, variety of creatures for use, multiplicity of natures for contemplation, diversity of accidents for admiration, compendiousness to the way, to full bodies healthful evacuation, to the thirsty earth fertile moisture, to distant friends pleasant meeting, to weary persons delightful refreshing, to studious and religious minds a map of knowledge, mystery of temperance, exercise of continence; school of prayer, meditation, devotion and sobriety; refuge to the distressed, portage to the merchant, passage to the traveller, customs to the prince, springs, lakes, rivers to the earth; it hath on it tempests and calms to chastise the sins, to exercise the faith of seamen; manifold WAITING BY THE GATE. 77 affections in itself, to affect and stupefy the subtlest philosopher; sustaineth movable fortresses for the soldier; maintaineth (as in our island) a wall of defence and watery garrison to guard the state; entertains the sun with vapors, the moon with obsequiousness, the stars also with a natural lookingglass, the sky with clouds, the air with temperateness, the soil with suppleness, the rivers with tides, the hills with moisture, the valleys with fertility containeth most diversified matter for meteors, most multiform shapes, most various, numerous kinds, most immense, difformed, deformed, unformed monsters; once (for why should I longer detain you?) the sea yields action to the body, meditation to the mind, the world to the world, all parts thereof to each part, by this art of arts, navigation. WAITING BY THE GATE. B WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. ESIDE the massive gateway built up Of human strength and action, man's cour in years gone by, Upon whose top the clouds in eter nal shadow lie, While streams the evening sunshine I stand and calmly wait until the The tree tops faintly rustle beneath the breeze's flight, A soft soothing sound, yet it whispers of the night; I hear the woodthrush piping one mellow descant more, And scent the flowers that blow when the heat of day is o'er. Behold the portals open and o'er the threshold, now, There steps a wearied one with pale and furrowed brow; His count of years is full, his alloted task is wrought; He passes to his rest from a place that needs him not. In sadness, then, I ponder how quickly fleets the hour age and his power. I muse while still the woodthrush sings down the golden day, And as I look and listen the sadness wears away. Again the hinges turn, and a youth, departing throws A look of longing backward, and sorrowfully goes; A blooming maid, unbinding the roses from her hair, Moves wonderfully away from amid the young and fair. Oh, glory of our race that so suddenly decays! Oh, crimson flush of morning, that darkens as we gaze! Oh, breath of summer blossoms that on the restless air Scatters a moment's sweetness and flies we know not where. I grieve for life's bright promise, just shown and then withdrawn; But still the sun shines round me; the even ing birds sing on; 78 THE HOUSEKEEPER'S SOLILOQUY. And prints of little feet, that mark the dust away. And some approach the threshold whose looks are blank with fear, And some whose temples brighten with joy are drawing near, As if they saw dear faces, and caught the gracious eye Of Him, the Sinless Teacher, who came for us to die. I mark the joy, the terrors; yet these, within my heart, Can neither wake the dread nor the longing to depart; And, in the sunshine streaming of quiet wood and lea, I stand and calmly wait until the hinges turn for me. THE HOUSEKEEPER'S SOLILOQUY. MRS. F. D. GAGE. ERE'S a big washing to be doneOne pair of hands to do itSheets, shirts and stockings, coats How nice her kitchen used to be, Now is not that a great idea, That men should take to sinning, Because a weary, half-sick wife, Can't always smile so winning? When I was young I used to earn My living without trouble, I never dreamed of such a fate, Wife, mother, nurse, seamstress, cook, housekeeper, chambermaid, laundress, dairy woman, and scrub generally, doing the work of six, For the sake of being supported! |