8.  For a moment, the blood was seen mounting to the face of Mr. Sherman; but it was only for a moment, when all was calm and mild as usual.  He paused; he raised his spectacles; he cast his eye upon his mother; again it fell upon the book from which he had been reading.  Not a word escaped him; but again he calmly pursued the service, and soon after sought in prayer an ability to set an example before his household which would be worthy of their imitation.  Such a victory was worth more than the proudest one ever achieved on the field of battle.

Definitions.—­1.  Con-trol’, subdue, restrain, govern.  Cul’ture, cultivation, improvement by effort.  Dis’ci-plined, brought under control, trained. 2.  In-tol’er-a-ble, not capable of being borne. 3.  Def ’er-ence, regard, respect. 4.  Rep’ri-mand-ed, reproved for a fault. 6.  Su-per-an’nu-a-ted, impaired by old age and infirmity. 8.  A-chieved’, gained.

Note.—­Roger Sherman (b. 1721, d. 1793) was born at Newton Massachusetts, and until twenty-two years of age was a shoemaker.  He then removed to New Milford, Connecticut, and was soon afterward appointed surveyor of lands for the county.  In 1754, he was admitted to the bar.  At various times he was elected a judge; sent to the Legislature, to the Colonial Assembly, and to the United States Congress; made a member of the governor’s council of safety; and, in 1776, a member of the committee appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence, of which he was one of the signers.

LXVII.  WILLIAM TELL.

James Sheridan Knowles (b. 1784, d. 1862), a dramatist and actor, was born in Cork, Ireland.  In 1792 his father removed to London with his family.  At the age of fourteen, Sheridan wrote an opera called “The Chevalier de Grillon.”  In 1798 he removed to Dublin, and soon after began his career as an actor and author.  In 1835 he visited America.  In 1839 an annual pension of 200 Pounds was granted him by the British government.  Several years before his death he left the stage and became a Baptist minister.  The best known of his plays are “Caius Gracchus,” “Virginius,” “Leo, the Gypsy,” “The Hunchback,” and “William Tell,” from the last of which the following two lessons are abridged.

Scene 1.—­A Chamber in the Castle.  Enter Gesler, Officers, and Sarnem, with Tell in chains and guarded.

Sar.  Down, slave!  Behold the governor. 
     Down! down! and beg for mercy.

Ges. (Seated.) Does he hear?

Sar.  He does, but braves thy power.

Officer.  Why don’t you smite him for that look?

Ges.  Can I believe
     My eyes?  He smiles!  Nay, grasps
     His chains as he would make a weapon of them
     To lay the smiter dead. (To Tell.)
     Why speakest thou not?

Tell.  For wonder.

Ges.  Wonder?

Tell.  Yes, that thou shouldst seem a man.