pportunity of instruction; but it must depend, at
last, on yourselves, whether you will be instructed or not, or to
what point you will push your instruction.

4. And of this be assured, I speak from observation a certain truth: THERE
IS NO EXCELLENCE WITHOUT GREAT LABOR. It is the fiat of fate, from which
no power of genius can absolve you.

5. Genius, unexerted, is like the poor moth that flutters around a candle
till it scorches itself to death. If genius be desirable at all, it is
only of that great and magnanimous kind, which, like the condor of South
America, pitches from the summit of Chimborazo, above the clouds, and
sustains itself at pleasure in that empyreal region with an energy rather
invigorated than weakened by the effort.

6. It is this capacity for high and long-continued exertion, this vigorous
power of profound and searching investigation, this careering and
wide-spreading comprehension of mind, and these long reaches of thought,
that

"Pluck bright honor from the pale-faced moon,
Or dive into the bottom of the deep,
And pluck up drowned honor by the locks;"

this is the prowess, and these the hardy achievements, which are to enroll
your names among the great men of the earth.

DEFINITIONS.--1. Mor'al, relating to duty or obligation. Ar'-chi-tects,
builders, makers. Des'ti-ny, ultimate fate, appointed condition. 2.
Can'di-date, one who seeks after some honor or office. Gen'ius (pro.
jen'yus), a man of superior intellectual powers. Me-di-oc'ri-ty, a middle
state or degree of talents. Me'di-o-cre (pro. me'di-o-kr), a man of
moderate talents. 3. Re-spec'tive, particular, own. 4. Ab-solve', set
free, release from. Fi'at, a decree. 5. Con'-dor, a large bird of the
vulture family. Em-pyr'e-al, relating to the highest and purest region of
the heavens. 6. Ca-reer'ing, moving rapidly. Prow'ess (pro. prou'es),
bravery, boldness.

NOTES.--5. Chimborazo (pro. chim-bo-ra'zo), is an extinct volcano in
Ecuador, whose height is 20,517 feet above the sea.

6. The quotation is from Shakespeare's "King Henry IV," Part I, Act II
Scene 3.

LXXII. THE OLD HOUSE CLOCK.

1. Oh! the old, old clock of the household stock,
Was the brightest thing, and neatest;
Its hands, though old, had a touch of gold,
And its chimes rang still the sweetest;
'T was a monitor, too, though its words were few,
Yet they lived, though nations altered;
And its voice, still strong, warned old an