Reading Made Easy for Foreigners - Third Reader | Page 7

thistle nodded in the wind, and the wild fox dug his hole unscared. Here lived and loved another race of beings. Beneath the same sun that rolls over your heads, the Indian hunter pursued the panting deer; he gazed on the same moon that smiles for you, and here too the Indian lover wooed his dusky mate.
Here the wigwam blaze beamed on the tender and helpless, the council fire glared on the wise and daring. Here they warred; and when the strife was over, here curled the smoke of peace.
Here, too, they worshiped; and from many a dark bosom went up a pure prayer to the Great Spirit. He had written His laws for them, not on tables of stone, but He had traced them on the tables of their hearts. The poor child of nature knew not the God of revelation, but the God of the Universe he acknowledged in everything around.
He beheld Him in the star that sunk in beauty behind his lonely dwelling; in the flower that swayed in the morning breeze; in the lofty trees as well as in the worm that crawled at his feet.
All this has passed away. Four hundred years have changed the face of this great continent, and this peculiar race has been well-nigh blotted out. Art has taken the place of simple nature, and civilization has been too strong for the savage tribes of the red man.
Here and there a few Indians remain; but these are merely the degraded offspring of this once noble race of men.

SELECTION XI
MY FATHERLAND
There is a land, of every land the pride, Beloved by Heaven o'er all the world beside, Where brighter suns dispense serener light, And milder moons imparadise the night. O land of beauty, virtue, valor, truth, Time-tutored age, and love-exalted youth! The wandering mariner, whose eye explores The wealthiest isles, the most enchanting shores, Views not a realm so bountiful and fair, Nor breathes the spirit of a purer air. In every clime, the magnet of his soul, Touched by remembrance, trembles to that pole; For, in this land of Heaven's peculiar race, The heritage of nature's noblest grace, There is a spot of earth supremely blest, A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest, Where man, creation's tyrant, casts aside His sword and scepter, pageantry and pride, While, in his softened looks, benignly blend The sire, the son, the husband, brother, friend. Here woman reigns; the mother, daughter, wife, Strew with fresh flowers the narrow way of life; In the clear heaven of her delightful eye, An angel guard of love and graces lie; Around her knees domestic duties meet, And fireside pleasures gambol at her feet. "Where shall that land, that spot of earth be found?" Art thou a man?--a patriot?--look round; Oh, thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam, That land thy country, and that spot thy home.
James Montgomery.

LESSON XXIX
THE SUN
How far away from us is the sun? Are we to answer just as we think, or just as we know? On a fine summer day, when we can see him clearly, it looks as if a short trip in a balloon might take us to his throne in the sky, yet we know--because the astronomers tell us so--that he is more than ninety-one millions of miles distant from our earth.
Ninety-one millions of miles! It is not easy even to imagine this distance; but let us fancy ourselves in an express-train going sixty miles an hour without making a single stop. At that flying rate we could travel from the earth to the sun in one hundred and seventy-one years,--that is, if we had a road to run on and time to spare for the journey.
Arriving at the palace of the sun, we might then have some idea of his size. A learned Greek who lived more than two thousand years ago thought the sun about as large as the Peloponnesus; if he had lived in our country, he might have said, "About as large as Massachusetts."
As large as their peninsula! The other Greeks laughed at him for believing that the shining ball was so vast. How astonished they would have been--yes, and the wise man too--if they had been told that the brilliant lord of the day was more than a million times as large as the whole world!

LESSON XXX
IVORY
How many articles are made of ivory! Here is a polished knife-handle, and there a strangely-carved paper-cutter. In the same shop may be found albums and prayer-books with ivory covers; and, not far away, penholders, curious toys, and parasol-handles, all made of the glossy white material.
Where ivory is abundant, chairs of state, and even thrones are made of it; and in Russia, in the palaces of the great, floors inlaid with ivory help to beautify the grand apartments. One African