Sanders' Union Fourth Reader Part 33

LESSON x.x.xVI.

RE SERV'ING, keeping; retaining.

AC CU' MU LA TED, collected.

IN DIG NA' TION, angry feeling.

RE SOURC' ES, means; funds.

DIS SER TA' TION, discourse; essay.

EX PAN' SION, enlargement.

DE POS' IT ED, put; laid.

EX ER' TION (_egs er shun_,) effort.

JU DI' CIOUS, wise, prudent.

VO CA' TION, business; employment.

EU PHON' IC, agreeable; well-sounding.

CO TEM' PO RA RIES, those living at the same time.

DI GRES' SION, departure from the subject.

PRE DIC' TIONS, prophecies.

IM PELL' ED, driven forward.

AR IS TOC' RA CY, (ARISTO, _the best_; CRACY, _government_,) government by the best, or n.o.bles. See SANDERS' a.n.a.lYSIS, page 200, Ex. 283.

[Headnote 1: SOC' RA TES, the most celebrated philosopher of antiquity, was born at Athens, 470 years before Christ. The purity of his doctrines, and his independence of character, rendered him popular with the most enlightened Athenians, though they created him many enemies. He was _falsely accused_, arraigned, and condemned to drink _hemlock_, the juice of a poisonous plant. When the hour to take the poison had come, the executioner handed him the cup, with tears in his eyes. Socrates received it with composure, drank it with unaltered countenance, and, in a few moments, expired.]

[Headnote 2: DE MOS' THE NES, a great Grecian orator, who, rather than fall into the hands of his enemies, destroyed himself by taking poison.

It is said that, when a youth, he frequently declaimed on the sea-sh.o.r.e, while the waves were roaring around him, in order to secure a large compa.s.s of voice, and to accustom himself to the tumult of a popular a.s.sembly.]

[Headnote 3: KING DA' VID, the sweet singer and poet of Israel. For the interesting account of his triumph over Goliath, the great champion of the Philistines, see I Sam., chap. 17.]

MY FIRST JACK-KNIFE.

1. I remember it well! Its horn handle, so smooth and clear, glowing with the unmeaning, but magic word, "_Bunk.u.m;_" and the blade significantly inviting you to the test, by the two monosyllables, "_Try me_."

2. I know not how it is, but I never could take half the comfort in any thing which I have since possessed, that I took in this _jack-knife_. I earned it myself; and, therefore, I had a feeling of independence; it was bought with my _own money_,--not teazed out of my uncle, or still kinder father,--_money_ that I had silently earned on the afternoons of those days set apart for boys to amuse themselves.

3. Yes! with a spirit of persevering industry and self-denial, at which I now wonder, I went, every afternoon, during "berry-time," and picked the ripened fruit with eagerness; for my heart was in the task. I sold my berries, and, carefully reserving the proceeds, shortly acc.u.mulated enough to purchase the treasure, for which I so eagerly longed.

4. I went to one of the village-stores, and requested the clerk to show me his jack-knives; but he, seeing that I was only a boy, and thinking that I merely meant to amuse myself in looking at the nicest, and wis.h.i.+ng it was mine, told me not to plague him, as he was otherwise engaged.

5. I turned with indignation; but I felt the inward comfort of a man who has _confidence_ in his own resources, and knows he has the power in his own hands. I quietly jingled the money in my pockets, and went to the opposite store. I asked for jack-knives, and was shown a lot fresh from the city, which were temptingly laid down before me, and left for me to select one, while the trader went to another part of his store to wait upon an older customer. I looked over them, opened them, breathed upon the blades, and shut them again.

6. One was too hard to open, another had no spring; finally, after examining them with all the judgment which, in my opinion, the extent of the investment required, I selected one with a hole through the handle; and, after a dissertation with the owner upon jack-knives in general, and _this one_ in particular,--upon hawk-bill, and dagger-blades,--and handles, iron, bone, and buck-horn,--I succeeded in closing a bargain.

7. I took the instrument I had purchased, and felt a sudden expansion of my boyish frame! It was my world! I deposited it in my pocket among other valuables,--twine, marbles, slate-pencils, &c. I went home to my father; I told him how long I had toiled for it, and how eagerly I had spent time, which others had allotted to play, to possess myself of my treasure.

8. My father gently chided me for not telling him of my wants; but I observed his glistening eye turn affectionately to my mother and then to me, and I thought that his manly form seemed to straighten up and to look prouder than I had ever before seen him. At any rate, he came to me, and, patting my curly head, told me there was no object in life, which was reasonably to be desired, that _honesty, self-denial, well-directed industry_, and _perseverance_ would not place within my reach; and if, through life, I carried the spirit of independent exertion into practice, which I had displayed in the purchase of the jack-knife, I should become a "_great man_."

9. From that moment, I was a new being. I had discovered that I could _rely upon myself_. I took my jack-knife, and many a time, while cutting the walnut-saplings for my bow, or the straight pine for my arrow, or carving my mimic s.h.i.+p, did I muse upon these words of my father,--so deeply are the kind expressions of a judicious parent engraven on the heart and memory of boyhood.

10. My knife was my constant companion. It was my carpenter, my s.h.i.+p-builder, and my toy-manufacturer. It was out upon all occasions, never amiss, and always "handy;" and, as I valued it, I never let it part from me. I own my selfishness; I would divide my apples among my playmates, my whole store of marbles was at their service,--they might knock my bats, kick my foot-ball as they chose; but I had no partners.h.i.+p of enjoyments in my jack-knife. Its possession was connected in my mind with something so _exclusive_, that I could not permit another to take it for a moment. Oh! there is a wild and delicious luxury in one's boyish antic.i.p.ations and youthful day-dreams!

11. If, however, the _use_ of my jack-knife afforded me pleasure, the idea of its possession was no less a source of enjoyment. I was, for the time being, a little prince among my fellows,--a perfect monarch. Let no one exclaim against aristocracy; were we all perfectly _equal to-day_, there would be an _aristocracy to-morrow_. Talent, judgment, skill, tact, industry, perseverance, will place some on the top, while the contrary attributes will place others at the bottom of fortune's ever-revolving wheel!

12. The plowman is an aristocrat, if he excels in his vocation: he is an aristocrat, if he turns a better or a straighter furrow than his neighbor. The poorest poet is an aristocrat, if he writes more feelingly, in a purer language, or with more euphonic jingle than his cotemporaries. The fisherman is an aristocrat, if he wields his harpoon with more skill, and hurls it with a deadlier energy than his messmates, or has even learned to fix his bait more alluringly on his barbed hook.

13. All _have_ had, and _still_ have their foibles; all have some possession, upon which they pride themselves, and I was proud of my jack-knife! Spirit of Socrates, [Headnote 1] forgive me! was there no pride in dying like a philosopher'? Spirit of Demosthenes, [Headnote 2]

forgive me! was there no pride in your addresses to the boundless and roaring ocean'? Spirit of David! [Headnote 3] was there no pride in the deadly hurling of the smooth pebble, which sank deep into the forehead of your enemy'?

14. But I must take my jack-knife and _cut short_ this digression. Let no man say _this_ or _that_ occurrence "will make _no difference fifty years hence_,"--a common, but dangerous phrase. I am _now_ a man of three-score years. I can point my finger _here_ to my s.h.i.+ps, _there_ to my warehouse. My name is well known in two hemispheres. I have drank deeply of intellectual pleasures, have served my country in many important stations, have had my gains and my losses.

15. I have seen many, who started with fairer prospects, but with no compa.s.s, wrecked before me; but I have been impelled in my operations, no matter how extensive, by the _same spirit_ which conceived and executed the purchase of the jack-knife. And I have found my reward in it; and, perhaps, in after years, there will be those who will say that the predictions of my father were fulfilled in their case; and that, from _small beginnings_, by "_honesty, self-denial, well-directed industry_, and _perseverance_," they also, BECAME TRULY "GREAT MEN."

QUESTIONS.--1. How did this boy obtain his first jack-knife? 2. What did his father say to him, when he told how he had earned it? 3. What use did he make of his knife? 4. What is said about _aristocracy_? 5. What is said of this boy when he came to be three-score years old?

LESSON x.x.xVII.

COIN' ED, stamped.

BAR' TER, trade; exchange.

COM MOD' I TIES, goods; wares.

BULL'ION, uncoined silver or gold.

BUC' CA NEERS, pirates; freebooters.

IM MENSE', very great; enormous.

DAIN' TIES, delicacies.

SMALL-CLOTHES, breeches.

AT TIR' ED, dressed; arrayed.

PE' ONY, plant and beautiful flower.

PER' SON A BLE, handsome; graceful.

ES PE' CIAL LY, mainly; chiefly.

RE CEP' TA CLE, that which receives or holds.

PON' DER OUS, heavy; bulky.

RE SUM' ING, taking again.

THE PINE-TREE s.h.i.+LLINGS.

1. Captain John Hull was the mint-master of Ma.s.sachusetts, and coined all the money that was made there. This was a new line of business; for, in the earlier days of the colony, the current coinage consisted of gold and silver money of England, Portugal, and Spain.

2. These coins being scarce, the people were often forced to barter their commodities, instead of selling them. For instance, if a man wanted to buy a coat, he, perhaps, exchanged a bear-skin for it. If he wished for a barrel of mola.s.ses, he might purchase it with a pile of pine-boards. Musket-bullets were used instead of farthings.

3. The Indians had a sort of money, called _wampum_, which was made of clam-sh.e.l.ls; and this strange sort of specie was, likewise, taken in payment of debts, by the English settlers. Bank-bills had never been heard of. There was not money enough of any kind, in many parts of the country, to pay the salaries of the ministers; so that they sometimes had to take quintals of fish, bushels of corn, or cords of wood, instead of silver or gold.

4. As the people grew more numerous, and their trade one with another increased, the want of current money was still more sensibly felt. To supply the demand, the general court pa.s.sed a law for establis.h.i.+ng a coinage of s.h.i.+llings, sixpences, and threepences. Captain John Hull was appointed to manufacture this money, and was to have _one s.h.i.+lling_, out of every twenty, to pay him for the trouble of making them.

5. Hereupon, all the old silver in the colony was handed over to Captain John Hull. The battered silver cans, and tankards, and silver-buckles, and broken spoons, and silver-b.u.t.tons of worn-out coats, and silver hilts of swords that had figured at courts,--all such curious old articles were, doubtless, thrown into the melting-pot together. But by far the greater part of the silver consisted of bullion from the mines of South America, which the English buccaneers, (who were little better than pirates,) had taken from the Spaniards, and brought to Ma.s.sachusetts.

6. All this old and new silver being melted down and coined, the result was an immense amount of splendid s.h.i.+llings, sixpences, and threepences.

Each had the date, 1652, on the one side, and the figure of a _pine-tree_ on the other. Hence, they were called _pine-tree s.h.i.+llings_.

And, for every _twenty s.h.i.+llings_ that he coined, you will remember, Captain John Hull was ent.i.tled to put _one s.h.i.+lling_ into his own pocket.