Far-called our navies melt away—­
    On dune and headland sinks the fire—­
  Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
    Is one with Nineveh and Tyre. 
  Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
  Lest we forget—­lest we forget.

  If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
    Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe—­
  Such boasting as the Gentiles use,
    Or lesser breeds without the Law—­
  Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
  Lest we forget—­lest we forget.

  For heathen heart that puts her trust
    In reeking tube and iron shard—­
  All valiant dust that builds on dust,
    And guarding calls not Thee to guard,—­
  For frantic boast and foolish word,
  Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord.  Amen.

  Rudyard Kipling.

SELECTION XXI

  HUMAN PROGRESS

  All is action, all is motion,
    In this mighty world of ours;
  Like the current of the ocean,
    Man is urged by unseen powers.

  Steadily, but strongly moving,
    Life is onward evermore;
  Still the present is improving
    On the age that went before.

  Duty points with outstretched fingers,
    Every soul to action high;
  Woe betide the soul that lingers—­
    Onward! onward! is the cry.

  Though man’s form may seem victorious,
    War may waste and famine blight,
  Still from out the conflict glorious,
    Mind comes forth with added light.

  O’er the darkest night of sorrow,
    From the deadliest field of strife,
  Dawns a clearer, brighter morrow,
    Springs a truer, nobler life.

  Onward! onward! onward, ever! 
    Human progress none may stay;
  All who make the vain endeavor
    Shall, like chaff, be swept away.

  J.  Hagan.

LESSON LXIV

GEORGE STEPHENSON, THE ENGINEER

A famous engineer, named Stephenson, was the first person to demonstrate the fact that an engine could be built which would draw a train of cars on a railway.  He was an Englishman.  His parents were poor, and the whole family had to live in one room.  George was one of six children; none of them were sent to school, because they had to work for their living.

From an early age George had assisted his father in tending the fires of the steam engine which worked the machinery of a large coal mine.  He devoted himself to the study of this engine until he had mastered every detail of its construction.  In 1813, a rich nobleman entrusted him with money to carry out his favorite plan of building a “traveling engine,” as he then called it.

He made an engine that was fairly successful, as it drew eight loaded cars on a railway at a speed of four miles an hour.  But he was not contented; he knew that he could do much better.  Soon afterward, he was employed to construct another engine, in which he made some great improvements that enabled it to go twice as fast as the other.