THEY ARE PASSING AWAY. 217 the pathetic tale, is gone! and his degraded offspring crawls upon the soil, where he walked in majesty, to remind us how miserable is man, when the foot of the conqueror is on his neck. 7. As a race, they have withered from the land. Their ǎrrows are broken, their springs are dried up, their cabins are in the dust. Their council-fire has long since gone out on the shore, and their war-cry is fast fading to the untrodden west. Slowly and sadly they climb the distant mountains, and read their doom in the setting sun. They are shrinking before the mighty tide which is pressing them away; they must soon hear the roar of the last wave, which will settle over them forever. 8. Ages hence, the inquisitive' white man, as he stands by some growing city, will ponder on the structure of their disturbed remains, and wonder to what manner of persons they belonged. They will live only in the songs and chronicles3 of their exterminators. Let these be faithful to their rude virtues, as men, and pay due tribute to their unhappy fate, as a people. SPRAGUE. 4 92. THEY ARE PASSING AWAY. 1. THEY are passing away, they are passing away— 2. They are passing away, they are passing away— 'In qufs' i tive, asking many questions; inquiring.--2 Pôn' der, think deeply; consider carefully; to weigh in the mind.—3 Chronicles (krôn'e klz), stories of the time; histories of events in the order of time in which they occur.- Ex ter' min a tors, destroyers; those who root out, or destroy utterly.--- Påss' ing. Be gulled', amused; caused to pass pleasantly. Turbulent (ter' bu lent), noisy; making disturbance.* De spåir', hopelessness; loss of hope in the mercy of God. The dark clouds that shrouded religion's kind ray; 3. Let them R. M. CARLTON. 93. RURAL LIFE IN SWEDEN. THER THERE is something patriarchal still lingering about rural' life in Sweden, which renders it a fit theme for song. Almost primeval simplicity reigns over that northern land,almost primeval solitude and stillness. You pass out from the gate of the city, and, as if by magic, the scene changes to a wild, woodland landscape. Around you are forests of fir. Overhead hang the long, fan-like branches, trailing with moss, and heavy with red and blue cones. Under foot is a carpet of yěllow leaves; and the air is warm and balmy. 2. On a wooden bridge you cross a little silver stream, and anon come forth into a pleasant and sunny land of farms. Wooden fences divide the adjoining fields. Across the road are gates, which are opened by troops of children. The peasants take off their hats as you pass. You sneeze, and they cry, “God bless you." The houses in the villages and smaller towns are all built of hewn timber, and for the most part painted red. The floors of the taverns are strown with the fragrant tips of fir boughs. 3. In many villages there are no taverns, and the peasants take turns in receiving travelers. The thrifty housewife shows 'Lower (lou' er), frown; appear dark, gloomy, and threatening.— 'Patriarchal (pa tre årk' al), like the father of a family; ancient.-3 Rural (ro' ral), relating to the country. Pri mẻ' val, belonging to the earliest times; original.— Cônes, bodies diminishing to a point; the fruit of the pine, fir, etc., that is shaped like a cone. A non', suddenly; im mediately. RURAL LIFE IN SWEDEN. 219 you into the best chamber, the walls of which are hung round with rude pictures from the Bible, and brings you her heavy silver spoons, -an heirloom,'-to dip the curdled milk from the pan. You have oaten cakes baked some months before; or Dread with anise-seed and coriander in it-or, perhaps, a little pine bark in it. 4 Meanwhile the sturdy2 husband has brought his horses from the plow, and harnessed them to your carriage. Solitary travelers come and go in uncouth one-horse chaises. Most of them have pipes in their mouths; and hanging around their necks in front a leather wallet, in which they carry tobacco, and the great bank-notes of the country, as large as your two hands. You meet, also, groups of Dalecarlian peasant women, traveling homeward, or townward, in pursuit of work. They walk barefoot, carrying in their hands their shoes, which have high heels under the hollow of the foot, and soles of birch bark. 5. Frequent, too, are the village churches, standing by the roadside, each in its own little garden of Gethsěm ́ane. In the parish register great events are doubtless recorded. Some old king was christened or buried in that church; and a little sexton, with a rusty key, shows you the baptismal font, or the coffin. In the churchyard are a few flowers, and much green grass; and daily the shadow of the church spire, with its long, tapering finger, counts the tombs, representing a dial-plate of human life, on which the hours and minutes are the graves of men. The stones are flat, and large, and low, and perhaps sunken, like the roofs of old houses. On some are armorial bearings, on others, 'Heirloom (år låm), any furniture or movable that descends to the heir with the house. Sturdy (ster' dy), hardy; stout.—3 Un côuth', misshapen; awkward; not handsome.—a Då le cår' li a, an old province of Sweden, now comprised in the læn or district of Falun.-Arm d' ri al bear'ings, coats-of-arms, or parts of the coats-of-arms. In ancient times, when the soldiers, and especially their commanders, wore armor, the face of the whole person was entirely concealed. In order that the soldiers might recognize their leaders, the commander wore on his shield, or as a crest for the helmet, some device, such as a bird, a beast, a spear, sword, etc. By degrees this custom was reduced to a system, and the king arrogated the right of bestowing on his brave followers the exclusive privilege of wearing certain devices on the shield or the helmet. This was the foundation of the science of heraldry, and the origin of coats-of-arma. only the initials' of the poor tenants, with a date, as on the roofs of Dutch cottages. 6. Nor must I forget the suddenly changing seasons of the northern clime. There is no long and lingering spring, unfolding leaf and blossom, one by one; no long and lingering autumn, pompous with many-colored leaves and the glow of Indian summers. But winter and summer are wonderful, and pass into each other. The quail has hardly ceased piping in the corn, when winter, from the folds of trailing clouds, sows broadcast over the land snow, icicles, and rattling hail. 7. The days wane2 apace. Erelõng the sun hardly rises above the horizon, or does not rise at all. The moon and the stars shine through the day; only, at noon, they are pale and wan, and in the southern sky a red, fiery glow, as of sunset, burns along the horizon, and then goes out. And pleasantly under the silver moon, and under the silent, solemn stars, ring the steel shoes of the skaters on the frozen sea, and voices, and the sound of bells. 8. And now the northern lights begin to burn, faintly at first, ike sunbeams playing in the waters of the blue sea. Then a soft crimson glow tinges the heavens. There is a blush on the cheek of night. The colors come and go; and change from crimson to gold, from gold to crimson. The snow is stained with rosy light. Twofold from the zenith,3 east and west, flames a fiery sword; and a broad band passes athwart the heavens, like a summer sunset. of 9. Soft, purple clouds come sailing over the sky, and through their vapory folds the winking stars shine white as silver. With such pomp as this is merry Christmas ushered in, though only a single star heralded the first Christmas. And in memory that day the Swedish peasants dance on straw; and the peasant girls throw straws at the timbered roof of the hall, and for every one that sticks in a crack shall a groomsman come to their wedding. 10. And now the glad, leafy midsummer, full of blossoms and 'Initials (in ish als), the first letters of a name; the beginnings.— "Wane, decrease; waste away.- Ze' nith, the point in the sky just overnead. A thwart', across; through. the song of nightingales, is come! In every village there is a May-pole fifty feet high, with wreaths, and roses, and ribbons, streaming in the wind; and a noisy weathercock on top, to tell the village whence the wind cometh and whither it goeth. The sun does not set till ten o'clock at night; and the children are at play in the streets an hour later. The windows and doors are all open, and you may sit and read till midnight without a candle. 11. Oh, how beautiful is the summer night which is not night, but a sunless, yet unclouded day, descending upon earth with dews, and shadows, and refreshing coolness! How beautiful the lõng, mild twilight, which, like a silver clasp, unites to-day with yesterday! How beautiful the silent hour, when morning and evening thus sit together, hand in hand, beneath the starless sky of midnight! 12. From the church tower in the public square the bell tolls the hour, with a soft, musical chime; and the watchman, whose watch-tower is the belfry, blows a blast in his horn for each stroke of the hammer; and four times to the four corners of the heavens, in a sonorous voice, he chants— "Ho! watchman, ho! twelve is the clock! From his swallow's nest in the belfry he can see the sun all night long; and further north the priest stands at his door in the warm midnight, and lights his pipe with a common burningglass. 1. H. W. LONGFELLOW. 94. LIFE AND DEATH-A PARABLE. A MAN through Syria's deserts speeding, The beast grew shy, began to rear, |