7. Settler's ellum. An elm-tree planted by the original settler of the town.

8. The pit. The pit in the tannery.

9. Encore. Also.

10. Working his Sunday text. Preparing his sermon.

11. Fifthly. The fifth division of his sermon.

12. Be prepared to give the meanings of the following words and expressions as here used: logical, snuffy old drone, felloe, thill, thoroughbrace, lancewood, crossbars, linchpin, boot, Deacon's masterpiece, flavor of mild decay, nothing local, whipple-tree.

EXERCISES

1. Tell something of the author of the poem.

2. In what spirit is the poem written?

3. With what historic events is the incident in the poem associated?

4. Upon what theory did the Deacon construct "The Wonderful

One-Hoss Shay"?

5. Explain in detail how he worked out the theory.

6. What was the result of his work?

7. What incidents are introduced to show the wonderful lasting qualities of the "shay"?

8. Explain the truth in the stanza beginning "Little of all we value here."

9. What traces of age at last appear?

10. Explain "nothing local."

11. Explain "There wasn't a chance for one to start."

12. Why have the parson working on his sermon when the end

came?

13. Explain,

"All at once, and nothing first,—

Just as bubbles do when they burst."

14. To what extent had the truth in the Deacon's theory kept its youth?

15. To what objection is "Logic is logic" the answer?

16. What truth is revealed so playfully?

ADDITIONAL READINGS

HOLMES: The Chambered Nautilus. The Voiceless. The Old Man

Dreams.

LONGFELLOW: The Builders. Ladder of St. Augustine.

HOLLAND: Gradatim.

ELLIOTT: The Builders.

HUBBARD: A Message to Garcia.

PIATT: The Gift of Empty Hands.

MARK TWAIN: Whitewashing the Fence.
EMERSON: Essays-Self-Reliance. Intellect.
ARNOLD: Self-Dependence.

BACON: Of Vicissitude of Things.

PORTIA'S PLEA

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.
Upon the place beneath: It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,

It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice.

-William Shakespeare.

LEONAINIE

NOTHING THING moves our hearts to grief like the death of a little child. The poetry and pathos of Dickens' "Death of Little Nell" will always touch the hearts of child-lovers. The great teacher, Froebel, was right when he said, "The child is the living witness of the presence of God." So when a child dies, it seems that a part of heaven is gone from earth. No one in our day seemed to feel this so keenly as did our Hoosier poet, James Whitcomb Riley. Although he never had children of his own, Riley sang charming child-songs. In this exquisite childpoem, he has given a grown-up's interpretation of childhood, and has hinted that sorrow for the death of a child is too deep for even the consolation of prayer.

The following incident connected with the first publication of "Leonainie" and with Riley's rise to favor with the eastern magazines, is of interest to all. The account is given by Mr. J. W. Iden, of Parsons, Kansas, an enthusiastic disciple of the "Hoosier Poet."

"James Whitcomb Riley, the 'Hoosier Poet,' while deservedly popular in his native state and throughout the West, was unable to gain recogni

tion from the eastern magazines. He felt that this was an injustice to him, and ascribed it to the prevailing eastern prejudice against those who have had the misfortune to be born west of the Allegheny Mountains.

"Eastern literary doors were closed, locked, and bolted against him, and so it came about that he resolved to capture by strategy that which successfully resisted assault.

"He secured an old and well-worn copy of Ainsworth's Latin Dictionary, wrote Edgar Allan Poe's name on one of the fly leaves, and on the other wrote the now famous poem, 'Leonainie,' and took the book to the editor of a weekly newspaper in one of the smaller cities of eastern Indiana. He made this editor acquainted with his plans, and the next issue of this Indiana weekly contained an account of the finding of an old dictionary with Poe's name on one of its fly leaves and an unpublished poem on another. It was suggested editorially that it was barely possible the book had once been the property of Edgar Allan Poe, and that the poem, which was published in full, might prove to be the work of the famous author of "The Raven."

"Apparently by the merest accident, a copy of this paper fell into the hands of the literary editor of a prominent eastern magazine, and proved to be a veritable literary bomb-shell. It was heralded as the literary 'find' of that generation, and the Indiana editor was made the subject of much adverse comment because of the obtuseness that had prevented him from recognizing this literary pearl.

“During all this time Riley and his friend, the editor, maintained a discreet and misleading silence. Letters began to pour in upon the editor's table from the publishers of the leading magazines, which were ample evidence that the plan was working well.