Boone's frame was vigorous and athletic, but in strength and stature he was not beyond the average standard of man. There was nothing rough, still less fierce, in his manners; but he was rather remarkable for the gentleness and quietness of his bearing. He was a man of few words, but was always willing to answer the questions which curious visitors put to him. His moral character was spotless. His affections were strong, and he tenderly loved those who were near to him: to his dying day, he never could speak of the son who was killed at the Blue Licks without tears. His nature was simple and truthful; and though the incidents of his life have been, by some writers, embellished by many romantic fictions, he himself never afforded any materials for it. LI.- SELECT PASSAGES IN VERSE. CHILDREN PLAYING WITH A RAM. Byron. Or eats from out the palm, or playful lowers Their classical profiles, and glittering dresses, Sighed for their sakes-that they should e'er grow older. AN OLD MAN'S DEATH.-Dryden. Of no distemper, of no blast he died, But fell like autumn fruit that mellowed long; CAIN'S LOVE FOR ADAH.-Byron. All the stars of heaven; The deep-blue noon of night, lit by an orb Which looks a spirit, or a spirit's world; My eyes with pleasant tears as I behold Him sink, and feel my heart float softly with him Along that western paradise of clouds; The forest shade; the green bough; the bird's voice, The vesper bird's, which seems to sing of love, And mingles with the song of cherubim, As the day closes over Eden walls; — All these are nothing to my eyes and heart Like Adah's face: I turn from earth and heaven A SLEEPING INFANT.-Byron. O Cain! look on him: see how full of life, Look! how he laughs and stretches out his arms, PASTORAL MUSIC. — Byron. Hark! the note, The natural music of the mountain reed For here the patriarchal days are not A pastoral fable-pipes in the liberal air, Mixed with the sweet bells of the sauntering herd: THE MINISTRATIONS OF NATURE.-Coleridge. With other ministrations thou, O Nature, Healest thy wandering and distempered child! Thy sunny hues, fair forms, and breathing sweets, He that lacks time to mourn lacks time to mend For life's worst ills, to have no time to feel them. 'Twas whispered in heaven and muttered in hell, And echo caught softly the sound as it fell; On the confines of earth 'twas permitted to rest, And the depths of the ocean its presence confessed; 'Twas seen in the lightning, and heard in the thunder; "Twill be found in the spheres, when riven asunder; 'Twas given to man with his earliest breath, Assists at his birth, and attends him in death Presides o'er his happiness, honor, and health, Is the prop of his house, and the end of his wealth. ; It begins every hope, every wish it must bound, LII.-THE PRAIRIES. ANONYMOUS. THE scenery of the prairie country is striking, and never fails to cause an exclamation of surprise. The extent of the prospect is exhilarating; the outline of the country sloping and graceful. The verdure of the flowers is beautiful; and the absence of shade, and consequent appearance of profusion of light, produces a gayety which animates the beholder. It is necessary to explain that these plains, although preserving a general level with respect to the whole country, are yet in themselves not flat, but exhibit a gracefully waving surface, swelling and sinking with an easy slope, and a full, rounded outline, equally avoiding the unmeaning horizontal surface, and the interruption of abrupt or angular elevations. It is that surface which, in the expressive language of the country, is called rolling, and which has been said to resemble the long, heavy swell of the ocean, when its waves are sub siding to rest, after the agitation of a storm. The answer to this beautiful enigma is the letter H. |