西方家庭学校经典教材读本

英国语文

1—6册

THOMAS NELSON

〔英〕托马斯-尼尔森公司／编

天津出版传媒集团

图书在版编目（CIP）数据

英国语文：英文／英国托马斯-尼尔森公司编．—天津：天津人民出版社，2012.9（2013.6重印）

ISBN 978-7-201-07733-8

Ⅰ．①英…　Ⅱ．①英…　Ⅲ．①英语－教材　Ⅳ．①H31

中国版本图书馆CIP数据核字（2012）第205308号

天津出版传媒集团

天津人民出版社出版、发行

出版人：黄沛

（天津市西康路35号　邮政编码：300051）

网址：http://www.tjrmcbs.com.cn

电子邮箱：tjrmcbs@126.com

北京领先印刷有限公司

2012年9月第1版　2013年6月第2次印刷

640×940毫米　16开本　105印张　字数：1000千字　插图：330幅

定　价：118.00元（全套6册）

CONTENTS

第一册

1　MY CAT

2　THE HOOP

3　KNIFE AND FORK

4　THE BIRD'S NEST

5　LITTLE ROBIN REDBREAST

6　NURSERY RHYMES

7　SAILING THE BOAT

8　LONG TIME AGO

9　THE LITTLE MILK-MAID

10　THE SWING

11　GOING FOR A DRIVE

12　LUCY AND HER KITTEN

13　THE CAT AND THE MOUSE

14　TOM AND HIS DOG

15　THE SHEEP AND THE LAMB

16　THE HEN AND ITS CHICKS

17　THE BIRD AND ITS NEST

18　THE COW ON THE GRASS

19　THE SEE-SAW

20　THE CAT ON THE TREE

21　THE BIRD'S SONG

22　THE OLD MAN AND THE DOG

23　MORNING AND NIGHT

24　THE PET BIRD

25　LITTLE PUSSY

26　A WEEK AT THE FARM

27　THE OWL

28　THE PET GOAT

29　THE STORM

30　ON INSTINCT

31　THE GREAT JUMP

32　FRISK AND NED

33　I WILL NOT HURT MY LITTLE DOG

34　THE LARK

35　MARY'S LITTLE LAMB

36　ONE THING AT A TIME

37　NURSERY RHYMES

38　COUNT TEN

39　MY DOG DASH

40　GOOD-NIGHT

41　THE BOY THAT LIKED PLAY (I)

42　THE BOY THAT LIKED PLAY (II)

43　FORGIVE

44　SPRING

45　RAIN

46　NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST

47　A VISIT TO THE BLACKSMITH'S SHOP

48　FACTS FOR LITTLE FOLKS

49　THE LAST CROSS WORD

50　SUMMER

51　AUTUMN

52　MICE

53　WHAT THE CLOCK SAYS

54　WINTER

55　QUITE A MAN

56　A WILLING BOY

57　THE TWO WHITE RABBITS

58　FAN AND HER PUPS

59　A GAME WITH PUSS

60　A GOOD LITTLE GIRL

61　LITTLE WHEEL AND BIG WHEEL

62　TIDY TOM

63　WASHING DAY

64　ON THE SHORE

65　THE SUN

66　SKIPPING

67　EACH ONE USEFUL

68　GOD IS IN HEAVEN

69　THE RABBIT IN THE WOOD

70　THE KETTLE AND ITS FRIENDS

71　SAILING THE BOAT

第二册

1　THE SPIDER

2　THE CHILD AND THE BIRD

3　THE RABBITS

4　THE TWO GOATS

5　EARLY RISING

6　BEES

7　THE BEE

8　THE SWAN

9　TELL THE TRUTH

10　WELCOME, LITTLE ROBIN

11　THE WOLF

12　THE ECHO

13　GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD MORNING

14　STORY OF A PARROT

15　THE CAT AND THE CANARY

16　THE WASP AND THE BEE

17　THE HORSE

18　THE DOG WITH THE LANTERN

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE I

19　THE CAMEL

20　STORY OF A DOG

21　THE DONKEY

22　STORY OF THE SHEEP AND THE LAMB

23　THE BROWN BEAR

24　THE LION AND THE MOUSE

25　THE PET LAMB

26　PERSEVERE

27　THE CROW AND THE PITCHER

28　THE SOLDIER AND THE HORSE

29　LESSONS

30　THE WHITE BEAR

31　THE FOX AND THE GOAT

32　PLAY

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE II

33　THE TRAVELLER AND THE LION

34　THE BEAR IN SCHOOL

35　THE FAIRY RING

36　THE WHALE

37　THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE

38　SPEEDY AND STEADY

39　THE WOOD-MOUSE

40　THE BOY AND THE PLUMS

41　THE TWO CROSSING-SWEEPERS

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE III

42　TOO CLEVER

43　THE PRINCE AND THE PRISONERS

44　THE BRAVE LITTLE HOLLANDER

45　WHAT THE SPARROW CHIRPS

46　THE LION

47　THE TIGER

48　THE LEOPARD

49　THE ZEBRA

50　THE JAGUAR

51　METALS

52　HIS GOOD ANGELS

53　ABOUT KINGS AND QUEENS

54　WORDS WHICH DECEIVE

55　THE SEA-GULL

56　KINDNESS REWARDED

57　TEA AND COFFEE

58　THE IDLE BOY

59　THROUGH THE SNOW

60　TRUE COURAGE

61　THE WIDOW'S LAMP

62　A GOOD EXAMPLE

63　A NOBLE BOY

64　WHAT MAGGIE'S PENNY DID

65　LET US SPEAK THE BEST WE CAN

第三册

1　THE SNAIL ON THE WALL

2　LITTLE JIM

3　THE TEA-FARMER

4　TIT FOR TAT

5　THE HUMMING-BIRD (I)

6　THE HUMMING-BIRD (II)

7　THE BOY WHO WAS ALWAYS TOO LATE

8　THE SAILOR AND THE MONKEYS

9　THE VOICE OF SPRING

10　THE WONDERFUL PUDDING

11　STORIES OF THE ELEPHANT

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE I

12　HOW A DOG GOT HIS DINNER

13　THE SALE OF THE PET LAMB

14　BRAVE BOBBY

15　THE TRAVELLERS AND THE BEAR

16　THE DUN COW

17　WE ARE SEVEN

18　THE GATE WITHOUT A LATCH

19　THE SPIDER AND THE FLY

20　TAKE CARE OF THE MINUTES

21　THE BEGGAR MAN

22　HALF THE PROFIT

23　STORIES OF TIGERS (I)

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE II

24　RED AND BLACK

25　THE DAW IN BORROWED FEATHERS

26　THE ANT AND THE CRICKET

27　THE DOG AND THE SHADOW

28　THE AMBITIOUS BOY

29　THE BETTER LAND

30　THE ENGLISH GIRL AND HER AYAH

31　STORIES OF TIGERS (II)

32　HOUSES MADE OF SNOW

33　THE CHILD'S FIRST GRIEF

34　THE FOX AND THE STORK

35　THE OSTRICH

36　DON'T BE TOO SURE

37　BUDS

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE III

38　THE DUKE AND THE COW-BOY

39　STORIES OF DOGS

40　LUCY GRAY

41　THE SAINT BERNARD DOG

42　THE LOST CHILD

43　THE BUSY LITTLE LAPP

44　THE DOG AT HIS MASTER'S GRAVE

45　THE STONE THAT REBOUNDED

46　WHALE HUNTING

47　THE BLIND BOY

48　THE SPEAKING CHIP

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE IV

49　THE SAILOR'S MOTHER

50　THE PRINCE AND THE JUDGE

51　A BEAVER TOWN

52　THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS

53　THE HEROIC DAUGHTER

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE V

54　LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

55　MEDDLESOME MATTY

56　HABITS OF FLOWERS

57　COMPLAINTS OF THE POOR

58　THE CANVAS BOAT

59　THE RAIN LESSON

60　THE ELEPHANT

61　CATCHING WILD ELEPHANTS IN CEYLON

62　THE PARROT

63　THE PARROT IN EXILE

64　STORIES OF THE ELEPHANT

65　RALEIGH'S TWO PLANTS

66　THE ARK AND THE DOVE

67　NO PAY, NO WORK

68　THE ORPHAN BOY'S TALE

69　LITTLE DICK AND THE GIANT

70　THE TRUNK OF THE ELEPHANT

第四册

1　SCENES IN THE TROPICS

2　CASABIANCA

3　LITTLE ROBERT, THE TRAPPER

4　HOME, SWEET HOME

5　THE WRECK OF THE "HESPERUS"

6　TRY AGAIN

7　THE SEA-GULL

8　MONKEYS ON BOARD SHIP

9　THE VOICE OF SPRING

10　THE STINGING NETTLE

11　FABLES

12　THE CUCKOO

13　A FAITHFUL DOG

14　THE LOSS OF THE "ROYAL GEORGE"

15　THE TAILOR-BIRD

16　NAPOLEON AND THE YOUNG ENGLISH SAILOR

17　PEARL-FISHING

18　BE KIND

19　OBSERVATION

20　THE CHAMOIS

21　FIDELITY

22　THE ARAB AND HIS HORSE

23　ANECDOTES OF WASHINGTON

24　THE "WHITE SHIP"

25　HE NEVER SMILED AGAIN

26　ANDROCLES AND THE LION

27　THE WIND IN A FROLIC

28　LLEWELYN AND HIS DOG

OUTLINES OF BRITISH HISTORY I

29　THE MAY QUEEN (I)

30　THE SKY-LARK (I)

31　THE SKY-LARK (II)

32　THE MAY QUEEN (II)

33　THE BISON, OR AMERICAN BUFFALO

34　BISON-HUNTING

35　THE SHELTERING ROCK (I)

36　THE SHELTERING ROCK (II)

37　LORD ULLIN'S DAUGHTER

38　THE RORQUAL

39　THE INCHCAPE ROCK

40　THE SWALLOW (I)

41　THE SWALLOW (II)

42　BRUCE AND THE SPIDER

43　THE MOCKING-BIRD

44　THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH

45　THE GOLDEN EAGLE'S NEST (I)

46　THE GOLDEN EAGLE'S NEST (II)

47　THE GRAVES OF A HOUSEHOLD

48　THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN (I)

49　THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN (II)

50　THE SHIP ON FIRE

51　CROSSING THE ALPS

52　THE WHITE-HEADED EAGLE

53　THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE

54　BRAVE WOMEN

55　THE DEATH OF DE BOUNE

OUTLINES OF BRITISH HISTORY II

56　STORY OF SIR RICHARD ARKWRIGHT

57　THE LEGEND OF THE HEART OF BRUCE

58　THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN

59　BOADICEA

60　ARCHERY IN THE OLDEN TIME (I)

61　ARCHERY IN THE OLDEN TIME (II)

62　JESSIE OF LUCKNOW

63　THE FALLS OF NIAGARA

64　TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW

65　AN ICEBERG

66　LOVE OF COUNTRY

67　THE HAND

68　THE BONFIRE OF CRAIG-GOWAN

69　NOBLE REVENGE

70　THE RELIEF OF LONDONDERRY

71　THE LOSS OF THE "BIRKENHEAD"

72　A WILD NIGHT AT SEA

OUTLINES OF BRITISH HISTORY III

第五册

1　A PERILOUS ADVENTURE

2　THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB'S ARMY

3　"ABOVE THE CLOUDS"

4　THE CONDOR OF THE ANDES

5　THE PRAIRIE ON FIRE (I)

6　THE PRAIRIE ON FIRE (II)

7　MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS

8　DEATH OF LITTLE NELL

9　GRACE DARLING

10　THE FRIGATE-BIRD

11　A MOTHER'S LOVE

12　NELSON AND HARDY

13　THE SPANISH CHAMPION

14　THE CHEMISTRY OF A CANDLE (I)

15　THE CHEMISTRY OF A CANDLE (II)

16　THE "MAYFLOWER"

17　THE PILGRIM FATHERS

18　LIVING STOVES

19　DAVID'S LAMENT FOR ABSALOM

20　SCENES IN CANTON

21　THE RAINBOW

22　GREENLAND (I)

23　GREENLAND (II)

24　ICELAND, AND THE GEYSERS

25　LADY CLARE

26　THE BATTLE OF THE NILE

27　THE AURORA

28　THE BATTLE OF THE BALTIC

29　TRIUMPHS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

30　YOUNG LOCHINVAR

31　THE TIDAL BORE OF THE TSIEN-TANG

32　THE SAXON AND THE GAEL

33　THE WELL OF ST. KEYNE

34　CAPTURING THE WILD HORSE

35　THE SIEGE OF QUEBEC

36　THE DESERTED VILLAGE

37　HUDSON BAY TERRITORY

38　THE FOUR ERAS

39　THE SKATER AND THE WOLVES

40　THE VILLAGE PREACHER

41　AN INDIAN'S TRAPS

42　VIRGINIA

43　WATERLOO

44　THE SLAVE'S DREAM

45　THE SIEGE OF TORQUILSTONE (I)

46　THE SIEGE OF TORQUILSTONE (II)

47　PENNSYLVANIA

48　THE SKY-LARK

49　WEATHERING CAPE HORN

50　ON THE DOWNFALL OF POLAND

51　THE EYE (I)

52　THE EYE (II)

53　THE SHIPWRECK

54　THE FIVE GREAT OCEANS

55　HEALTH OF THE BODY

56　THE AMAZON

57　THE PACIFIC OCEAN (I)

58　THE PACIFIC OCEAN (II)

59　THE HIMALAYAH (I)

60　THE HIMALAYAH (II)

61　LONDON AND ITS FOOD

62　THE WATERS OF THE GLOBE

63　THE OCEAN

64　THE VISION OF MIRZA

65　A PSALM OF LIFE

66　THE TIDE-WAVE IN THE BAY OF FUNDY

67　COAL

68　THE AIR-OCEAN

69　UNWRITTEN HISTORY, AND HOW TO READ IT

第六册

1　THE GREAT SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR

2　BATTLE OF CORUNA AND DEATH OF MOORE

3　THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE

4　THE BED OF THE ATLANTIC

5　BINGEN ON THE RHINE

6　THE CLOUD

7　THE TRIAL BY COMBAT (I)

8　THE TRIAL BY COMBAT (II)

9　DAMASCUS AND LONDON (I)

10　DAMASCUS AND LONDON (II)

11　BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, AND DEATH OF NELSON (I)

12　BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, AND DEATH OF NELSON (II)

13　ROUND THE WORLD

14　NATURE

15　THE TROPICAL WORLD (I)

16　MAN AND THE INDUSTRIAL ARTS

17　SOMEBODY'S DARLING

18　THE TROPICAL WORLD (II)

19　THE SONG OF THE SHIRT

20　LAND AND SEA BREEZES

21　THE RELIEF OF LEYDEN

22　THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS

23　THE POLAR WORLD (I)

24　THE BELLS

25　THE POLAR WORLD (II)

26　THE BURNING OF MOSCOW

27　THE RETREAT OF THE FRENCH ARMY FROM MOSCOW

28　THE TEMPERATE REGIONS

29　THE OVERLAND ROUTE

30　CAIRO AND THE PYRAMIDS

31　FAMILY WORSHIP

32　THE VALLEY OF THE NILE

33　PANEGYRIC ON MARIE ANTOINETTE

34　CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

35　THE DELUGE

36　WHAT IS WAR?

37　COLONIAL LOYALTY

38　JERUSALEM FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

39　THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM

40　LEBANON

41　GREAT OCEAN ROUTES

42　THE LLANOS OF SOUTH AMERICA

43　THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA

44　HYMN BEFORE SUNRISE, IN THE VALE OF CHAMOUNI

45　"WITH BRAINS, SIR."

46　LIFE IN SAXON ENGLAND (I)

47　LIFE IN SAXON ENGLAND (II)

48　THE RELIEF OF LUCKNOW

49　THE BALACLAVA CHARGE

50　THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

51　THE DISCOVERY OF THE SEA ROUTE TO INDIA

52　GREECE

53　THERMOPYLÆ

54　PAUL AT ATHENS

55　EVIDENCES OF DESIGN IN CREATION

56　THE STORY OF HORATIUS

57　ROMAN GIRL'S SONG

58　REGULUS BEFORE THE ROMAN SENATE

59　THE SAHARA

60　THE LIGHT-HOUSE

61　THE LAST FIGHT IN THE COLISÆUM

62　THE DESTRUCTION OF POMPEII

63　THE SOUTH-WEST MONSOON IN CEYLON

64　THE SEVEN AGES OF MAN

65　LIFE IN NORMAN ENGLAND

66　SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY

67　OLD ENGLISH AND NORMAN-FRENCH

68　VENICE

69　THE CIRCULATION OF WATER

70　GINEVRA

71　THE DIGNITY OF LABOUR

72　THE PROBLEM OF CREATION

73　EDUCATION AND THE STATE

74　ENGLISH SELF-ESTEEM

75　PLEASURES OF KNOWLEDGE

76　THE BRITISH CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF CANADA

77　THE SCHOOLMASTER AND THE CONQUEROR

78　BRITISH COLONIAL AND NAVAL POWER

79　KING JOHN

LESSON 1

MY CAT

1.

I have a cat,

Its name is Tit;

And by the fire

It loves to sit.

2.

From off the rug

It scarce will stir,

But there will sit

All day and purr.

3.

Each day I bring

Its dish of milk,

And smooth its coat

To shine like silk.

4.

And on my knee

It oft will sit;

And I love it.

LESSON 2

THE HOOP

1. Dick has been a good boy. All his work is done.

2. Now he is at play with his hoop.

3. As he runs he strikes it with the stick in his hand.

4. Look how fast he makes it go along the road!

5. After a long run he will go home to his tea.

LESSON 3

KNIFE AND FORK

1. Henry has had a nice gift from his aunt.

2. What do you think it is? It is a pretty knife and a fork.

3. The fork has three prongs. The knife has a sharp edge.

4. Henry will soon be a big boy. He must learn how to hold his knife and fork when he eats his food.

LESSON 4

THE BIRD'S NEST

1. Here is a bird's nest on the branch of a tree. It is almost hid by the leaves.

2. The nest is made of straw and little sticks. Look in and tell me what you see.

3. I see three eggs. The bird is away for food; but it will soon come back.

4. See! There it comes! It flies back to the nest. Now it sits on the eggs.

5. There will soon be young birds in the nest. Some day we may come to see them.

6. Lucy and James went every day to see them, till the little birds were able to fly.

LESSON 5

LITTLE ROBIN REDBREAST

1.

Little Robin Redbreast

Sat upon a tree;

Up went Pussy Cat,

And down went he.

2.

Down came Pussy Cat,

And away Robin ran;

Said little Robin Redbreast:

"Catch me if you can."

3.

Little Robin Redbreast

Hopped upon a wall;

Pussy Cat jumped after him,

And almost got a fall.

4.

Little Robin chirped aloud;

And what did Pussy say?

Pussy Cat said "Mew;"

And Robin flew away.

LESSON 6

NURSERY RHYMES

1.

Hush-a-bye, baby, on the tree-top!

When the wind blows the cradle will rock!

When the bough breaks the cradle will fall—

Down will come baby, cradle and all!

2.

One, two, buckle my shoe.

Three, four, shut the door.

Five, six, pick up sticks.

Seven, eight, lay them straight.

Nine, ten, a good fat hen.

3.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, I caught a hare alive.

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, I let her go again.

LESSON 7

SAILING THE BOAT

1. Here are a boy and a girl wading in the sea.

2. The boy has his little boat with him. The boat has a mast and a sail.

3. He holds the boat with a string. The little girl says,

"Blow, wind, blow;

Make the ship go!"

4. The sea is very calm. Far off there is a sea-bird, high up in the air.

5. The little boy is called Fred. The little girl is his sister. Her name is Mary.

6. She has come to see Fred sail his boat. She likes to help him when she can.

7. Mary has always a smile on her face. At home she is called Little Sun-shine.

LESSON 8

LONG TIME AGO

1. Once there was a little kitty

Whiter than snow;

In a barn she used to frolic,

Long time ago.

2. In the barn a little mousie

Ran to and fro;

For she heard the kitty coming,

Long time ago.

3. Two eyes had little kitty,

Black as a sloe;

And they spied the little mousie,

Long time ago.

4. Four paws had little kitty,

Paws soft as dough;

And they caught the little mousie;

Long time ago.

5. Nine teeth had little kitty,

All in a row;

And they bit the little mousie,

Long time ago;

6. When the teeth bit little mousie,

Little mouse cried "Oh!"

But she got away from kitty,

Long time ago.

LESSON 9

THE LITTLE MILK-MAID

1. Look at me, boys and girls. I am a little milkmaid. I am going home with my milk-pail and my stool.

2. I have been milking the cow. You can see her on the grass in the field.

3. The cow knows me. She never moves when I am milking her.

4. Now my pail is quite full of nice sweet milk.

5. Little baby is very fond of milk. When he can speak, I will teach him to say—

Thank you, pretty cow, that made

Nice rich milk to soak my bread,

Every morn and every night,

Fresh and warm, and sweet and white.

LESSON 10

THE SWING

1. Fred and his little sister Lucy are on the swing in the garden.

2. Look what a nice large seat of wood it has! It is so large that it holds them both.

3. This is the first day Lucy has been on the swing, so she is a little afraid.

4. But Fred will take care of her, and keep her from falling.

5. Look at her as she sits by his side and holds on by the rope.

6. When all is ready, Fred says, One, two, three, and away!

Up and down, on we go;

Here we swing to and fro!

LESSON 11

GOING FOR A DRIVE

1. John says he is going for a drive. How happy he looks with the whip in his hand!

2. He has a chair for a coach, and a piece of tape for a rein.

3. The horse is his own rocking-horse.

4. The lady inside the coach is his sister's big doll.

5.

John made a coach out of a chair,

And then as driver sat;

Look how he sits with merry face,

In his brown paper hat.

6.

He took his little sister's doll,

And with a smile did say,

"Please get into my coach, and we

Will drive to town to-day."

LESSON 12

LUCY AND HER KITTEN

1. The name of this little girl is Lucy.

2. One day she had a present given to her of a kitten.

3. It was a brown kitten, and she called it Topsy.

4. Topsy is very fond of milk, and Lucy gives it some every day in a cup.

5. When Lucy wants Topsy to come for the milk, she rings a little bell.

6. Do you see the bell in her hand? Ring, ring, ring! The kitten hears it.

7. At the sound of the bell Topsy runs at once to Lucy.

8. The bell is made of brass. Lucy calls it Topsy's dinner-bell.

LESSON 13

THE CAT AND THE MOUSE

This is a cat.

It is a fat cat.

I can see its tail.

I can see its paws.

It has a long tail.

It has soft paws.

The cat sees a mouse.

Run, mouse, run!

If you do not run,

the cat will catch you.

This is the mouse,

the cat did not catch it.

1.

Do you see the cat? I can see it. It is a fat cat. It has soft paws.

2.

This is its tail. It is a long tail. I can catch its tail. The cat can catch its tail.

3.

Do you see the mouse? I see it. Has the mouse a tail? It has a long tail. This is its tail.

4.

Cat! do you see the mouse? The cat sees the mouse. Run, mouse, run! the cat sees you. The cat will catch you if it can: run, run, run!

5.

Mouse! do you see the cat? The mouse sees the cat. Cat! the mouse sees you. Run, cat, run! catch the mouse if you can.

6.

Did the mouse run? The mouse did run. This is the mouse. Did the cat catch it? The cat did not catch it.

7.

Can you catch the cat? This is it. Catch it if you can. Run, cat, run! Did the cat run? It did run. I did not catch it.

WORD LESSON

LESSON 14

TOM AND HIS DOG

Do you see that dog?

It is Tom's dog.

Tom is kind to it,

and the dog loves Tom.

It will play with him,

and do what he bids it.

Tom is at the pond:

he throws in his stick.

Go, dog, bring it out.

The dog swims in for it.

See, here he is with it:

how well he swims!

1.

This is Tom's dog. If it sees Tom, it will run to him. Run, dog, and catch Tom. Tom will play with the dog. The dog will play with Tom.

2.

This is Tom'S stick. Do you see it, good dog? The dog sees it. Tom throws it in the pond. Go, dog, and bring the stick. The dog swims for it. He will bring it out to Tom.

3.

The dog sees the cat. Run, cat, run! If you do not run, the dog will catch you. The cat will run. The dog will run. It will not catch the cat.

4.

Do you see this stick? The dog will catch it, and play with it. If Tom throws it, the dog will run and bring it to him.

5.

The mouse is in the pond. Go, cat, and bring it out. The cat will not go. The mouse swims. See! it is out of the pond! The cat sees it. Run, mouse, run!

6.

The cat is at play. It has Tom's stick. Cat! do not play with the stick. If the dog sees you, you will run. Run, cat; the dog sees you!

WORD LESSON

LESSON 15

THE SHEEP AND THE LAMB

This is a sheep:

it eats the green grass.

It has a warm coat

of soft, soft wool.

Some day, good sheep,

we must cut it off.

Here is a young sheep:

it is called a lamb.

Its soft coat of wool

is as white as snow.

Come to me, white lamb,

and eat from my hand.

The lamb will not come:

it runs to the sheep.

1.

Come, Tom, come and see the young lamb. You must not bring the dog.

2.

Here is the lamb, on the grass. Run, and see if we can catch it. Run, Tom, run! See! the lamb has run to the sheep.

3.

Do you see its soft coat of wool? It is white as snow. Come, snow-white lamb, and play on the soft green grass.

4.

O Tom! the lamb is in the pond! See! there it is. Here is a long stick. Catch the soft wool with the stick, and bring the lamb out. It is out!

5.

Bring the cat out to the grass, and play with it. It will run on the grass. Come, cat; come out to the soft, green grass.

6.

The cat can catch its tail. See how it will run to catch it. The cat has soft paws. Its soft paws will catch its long tail.

7.

Tom's dog must not run at the cat. It will catch it if it can. Dog! if you run at the cat, I will run at you with a stick. If you see the stick, you will run from me.

WORD LESSON

LESSON 16

THE HEN AND ITS CHICKS

This is a hen:

these are her chicks.

I see one, two, three.

Hen! call them back.

Look how they run

when she calls them!

The hen gives us eggs:

let us look for one.

Here is one in the straw:

how fresh and new it is!

The white hen laid it:

she has no chicks.

We shall not take it,

till she lays some more.

1.

Tom has to go for eggs. Let us go and see the sheep and its young lamb. They are out on the grass. Tom will come when he has the eggs. He will bring the dog with him, and we shall see it when it swims in the pond.

2.

Here we are on the soft, green grass. Tom has come back. Did you bring the eggs, Tom? Here they are; one, two, three; —one for you, one for Tom, one for me. We shall take them with us. Tom eats two eggs a day. You see how fat he is.

3.

Look, Tom! Did you see the cat run to catch the chicks? Do run back; if the cat catch them, it will eat them. Run, Tom; and we shall play with the dog till you come back.

4.

Tom is off to catch the cat. This is his new coat. How warm it is! It is of soft wool, cut from the back of a sheep.

5.

See! Tom has come back! He has cut a new stick for me. He has it in his hand. How kind he is! Thank you, Tom. Come, now, let us go. We shall go to the pond and see the dog swim.

WORD LESSON

LESSON 17

THE BIRD AND ITS NEST

This is a bird's nest.

May I look in? Yes.

I see three eggs in it,

but no young ones yet.

Where is the bird?

It will soon be back.

See, there it comes!

It flies back to its nest.

Now it is in the nest,

and it sits on the eggs.

Its mate is on the tree.

He sings a sweet song.

There will soon be

young birds in the nest.

1.

This is the tree where the bird has its nest. Let us look in it now. Here it is. I can see three young ones in it—one, two, three. How soft and warm they are! We may look at them, but we must not take them out.

2.

Here is the bird. It sees us. Let us go back, and see what it will do. See! it flies to the nest! It loves its young ones. There is its mate. He is up on the tree. He loves to sing when the hen bird is in the nest with its young. How sweet his song is!

3.

Now let us go back to the soft green grass at the pond. See! there is the sheep with a bird on its back! The bird will take some of the soft wool of the sheep for its nest. See! it is off with some! and now it flies back to its nest.

4.

The sheep loves its lamb, and the lamb loves me. The hen gives us eggs, one, two, three. The bird sings a song, as it sits on the tree. God loves the bird that sings in the tree. God loves the lamb, and God loves me.

WORD LESSON

LESSON 18

THE COW ON THE GRASS

This is a cow:

it is out on the grass.

There has been rain,

and the grass is green.

God sends the rain:

it makes the grass grow.

The cow eats the grass:

the grass is its food.

The cow gives us milk.

Thank you, good cow.

Here is a young cow:

it is called a calf.

It has come to the pond

with the cow, to drink.

1.

The rain is off. Let us go out. How green the grass looks! Where is the lamb? See! it has run to the sheep to drink. The milk of the sheep is its food. Some day the lamb will grow to be a sheep, and it will eat grass.

2.

Do you see Tom's dog catch the tail of the cow? If Tom sees you, dog, he will make you run. There is Tom. He runs at the dog with his long stick. Tom throws his stick at the dog. The stick makes the dog run.

WORD LESSON

LESSON 19

THE SEE-SAW

Look at me! I am up in the air. See, I let go both hands, and yet I do not fall.

Now, John, do you try. You go up, and I go down.

Take care, and hold fast while you are up in the air.

See-saw! Up and down. It is great fun to ride on the see-saw.

LESSON 20

THE CAT ON THE TREE

Look at that cat high up on the tree.

Good cats stay in the house. They catch mice and rats.

But this cat climbs trees, to catch birds. It kills and eats them.

There are wild cats, which live in the woods. They spend most of their time on trees, where they catch birds and rob their nests. This cat is like one of them.

LESSON 21

THE BIRD'S SONG

Look at that bird. It sits on the branch of a tree near its nest. Hark! do you hear its song? How sweet it is!

The branch swings to and fro in the air, but still the bird sings on.

It does not fear that it will fall, for it knows it has wings.

Sing, bird, sing a song to me;

One there is who cares for thee.

Day by day His strong right arm

Keeps both thee and me from harm.

LESSON 22

THE OLD MAN AND THE DOG

Look at that poor old man. He sits at the tree by the side of the road.

He has come a long way, and now he wants rest and food.

His dog sits by his side, and waits for a share of the poor man's food.

Come, old man, take some bread and meat out of your bag, and eat. Then give a bit of meat to your poor dog.

The old man once had a son, and this dog was his. But the son is dead, and now the dog lives with the old man.

The old man is kind to the dog, and says that as long as he has bread and meat the dog shall get its share.

Let us go and ask the old man to come in. Jane will bring him some warm food.

Come in, old man, and sit by the fire and rest.

LESSON 23

MORNING AND NIGHT

SEE how bright it is! The sun is up. The birds are up. Hark! do you hear them sing?

The bees are at work. They have been up a long time.

Make haste, that we may go and watch them near the hive.

It is good for you and for me to rise with the sun, and the birds, and the bees.

Now, kneel down, and thank God that He has kept you all through the night.

Ask Him to bless you, and keep you safe all day long.

See, now, the sun is down. Look how red the sky is in the west. It will soon be dark.

The birds are at rest in the trees. See how each one hides its head in its wing. It is time, too, for you to say, "Good night," and to go to bed. But do not go to rest till you have knelt down to pray to God, and to thank Him for all His love and care.

Ask Him to watch you in the night. He sees you, and will keep you safe from harm.

"I will not fear, for God is near,

Through the dark night, as in the light;

And while I sleep, safe watch will keep.

Why should I fear, when God is near?"

LESSON 24

THE PET BIRD

JANE had a bird that she kept in a cage.

It was so tame that it would come to be fed from her hand.

Now and then she would let it out; and it would sit on the top of the cage or fly round the room.

As she liked best to feed it, no one else fed the bird but her.

One day her aunt sent her a box of new toys. She was so pleased with them, that she played all day with them. That day Jane did not feed her bird.

Next day a friend came to see Jane, and once more the poor bird got no food.

Jane and her friend played all day with the box of toys.

On the third day Jane did not care so much for the toys, and she went once more to play with her bird.

She went up to the cage with some nice seed to give to it.

But the poor bird lay dead in the cage. It had died for want of food.

Oh, what pain it must have felt!

Boys and girls, keep this sad tale in your minds, and be kind to your pets.

LESSON 25

LITTLE PUSSY

I LOVE little pussy, her coat is so warm;

And if I don't hurt her, she'll do me no harm.

So I'll not pull her tail, nor drive her away,

But pussy and I very gently will play.

She'll sit by my side, and I'll give her some food;

And pussy will love me, because I am good.

MY PUSSY

OH! here is Miss Pussy; she's drinking her milk;

Her coat is as soft and as glossy as silk.

She sips the milk up with her little lap-lap;

Then, wiping her whiskers, lies down for a nap.

My kitty is gentle, she loves me right well;

How funny her play is I'm sure I can't tell.

Now under the sofa, now under the table,

She runs and plays bo-peep as well as she's able.

Oh, dearly I love her! You never did see

Two happier play-mates than kitty and me.

LESSON 26

A WEEK AT THE FARM

JANE has been for a week at the farm where her aunt lives. Now she has come back; and she has much to tell of what she saw.

Each day she went to see the maid milk the cows; and the maid gave her a drink of the nice warm milk.

She saw the ducks swim in the pond; and she used to throw in bits of bread to them.

It was a fine sight for Jane, to see how fast they would swim to get the bread.

Each day, too, Jane went with her aunt, and helped her to feed the hens.

The hens had no fear. They came close up to her, and picked up the crumbs as fast as she let them fall on the ground.

She went to the grass park, too, and there she saw the sheep and the snow-white lambs as they played on the soft, green grass.

It was the first time Jane had been at the farm. Next time she goes, Tom and Fred are to go with her.

LESSON 27

THE OWL

THE owl is called the "bird of night."

The light of day is too strong and too bright for his eyes.

So he sits all day long hid in a tree, or in a hole of a wall, out of sight.

As soon as it is night he comes out, and flies round and round, in search of mice, or small birds.

When he flies, his wings do not make a noise. So the mice and birds do not hear him till he is quite near.

The birds know him well, and are in great fear of him.

When they find him out by day, they come and peck at him with all their might.

He is then half blind, and he does not see how to fight with them. Look how they peck at him!

Poor owl! fly back to your hole as fast as you can.

LESSON 28

THE PET GOAT

ANN had a pet goat. It had a long beard and long horns. Ann liked to feed the goat.

Nan, Nan, she would call; and at once the goat would come to her.

It would look up in her face, as if to thank her for the good food she had brought to it.

When Ann had no work to do in the house, she would go out and play with the goat.

The goat liked to play with Ann. It would go to her when it would go to no one else.

The goat knew who was kind to it.

Keep this in mind, boys and girls. Be kind to your pets, and you will find that they will soon learn to love you. Love wins love.

LESSON 29

THE STORM

THERE has been a wild storm, and the good ship is a wreck.

Do you see how the men cling to the mast of the ship?

The life-boat has been sent out to save them; and some of them are in it. They try to reach the shore. Row, men; row for your lives!

See, the boat seems to sink in the waves! Down, down it goes. Oh, the poor men!

But see, there it is once more! It is on the top of a wave. Now it comes near the shore. Pull, men, pull!

Here it comes! The boat is on the shore, and the men are safe!

The boat goes out once more to the wreck. And at last all the poor men are saved.

Kneel down, men, and thank God, who has saved you in the storm.

LESSON 30

ON INSTINCT

WHO taught the bird to build her nest,

Of wool, and hay, and moss?

Who taught her how to weave it best,

And lay the twigs across?

Who taught the busy bee to fly

Amongst the sweetest flowers;

And lay her store of honey by,

To eat in winter hours?

Who taught the little ants the way

Their narrow holes to bore,

And through the pleasant summer day

To gather up their store?—

'Twas God who taught them all the way,

And gave their little skill;

And teaches children, when they pray,

To do his holy will.

LESSON 31

THE GREAT JUMP

BEN and May were twins; that means that they were of the same age. May was not so tall as Ben was, and she was not so strong; but May thought more, learned more, and did more than Ben.

Ben could jump down one step of the stair at a time. When he held by the top of the rail, he could jump two steps at a time. Ben was proud that he could jump more than May could.

When Ben and May were just four years old, Ben thought that he would soon be a big boy, fit for school. He loved to talk, and he loved to boast, and so Ben said things which no wise boy would have said.

"I can jump—I can jump a great way!" cried Ben. "Now that I am four years old I can jump down four steps at a time, and not hold at all by the top of the rail!"

"Oh no, dear Ben," said May; "we must not try such a great jump as that. We must wait till we are tall and strong." For May was too wise to boast.

"I can jump four steps at a time—I am sure that I can!" cried proud Ben. "I can do much more than you can; for you are but a girl, and I am a boy—a big, strong boy. Just look now how I can jump!"

Ben ran up the four steps, and looked down from the high place on May with a smile. "Just look how I jump!" he cried once more.

Ben jumped down the four steps, but, as you may think, he came down on his nose, and not on his feet! Oh, how his nose was hurt! how fast it bled!

Poor Ben roared with the pain. He roared loud; he roared like a bull. May ran to help him up; and so did Aunt Jane, who had heard his loud roar, though she was in her own room, with her door shut. She could have heard him through two or three doors.

Aunt Jane washed Ben's poor nose, and bound up his face, when she had put some oil on it to make it well. But it did not get well for a long time. The poor nose was nearly as big as a pear, and as red as the comb of a cock, for more than a week!

Do you not hope that the pain taught Ben to boast less, and to think more? You see that he was not yet a wise boy, though he was four years old. We may hope that poor Ben got more sense in his head by the time that he came to be five.

—A. L. O. E

Love not to talk,

Love not to boast;

Grief comes to him

Who brags the most.

LESSON 32

FRISK AND NED

NED has been at play till he is quite worn out.

He sits down on the step at the door, and soon goes to sleep. His dog Frisk comes and sits by him.

The good dog is as brisk as a bee. Look at him as he sits there with his ears up.

He seems to say, "I'll sit and keep watch while Ned sleeps. No one will dare to touch him as long as I am here."

Ned sleeps for half an hour; and when he wakes, he rubs his eyes, and has a good laugh as he sees Frisk at his side.

Now he goes into the house, and brings out a bit of bread for Frisk.

Then

On his two hind legs

Frisk sits up and begs,

While Ned, on his knee,

Counts one, two, three.

Then Frisk from his nose

The bit of bread throws,

and Ned has a laugh as up it goes.

LESSON 33

I WILL NOT HURT MY LITTLE DOG

I WILL not hurt my little dog,

But stroke and pat his head;

I like to see him wag his tail,

I like to see him fed.

Poor little thing, how very good,

And very useful too;

For don't you know that he will mind

What he is bid to do?

Then I will never hurt my dog,

Nor ever give him pain;

But treat him kindly every day,

And he'll love me again.

LESSON 34

THE LARK

THREE boys, Dick, Sam, and Ned, went out to play in the fields, and fine fun they had.

As they sat down to rest for a short time, they heard a lark sing.

"How well he sings!" said Dick. "He must be quite close to us, I think," said Sam. "I should like to see him," said Ned.

"There he is, then," said Sam; "so you can soon have your wish."

"Where?" said Dick; and up he sprang, just in time to see the lark as he rose once more high in the air. See, there he is, as he sings his sweet song to the boys.

Just then Dick saw that Ned had a small stone in his hand. Dick thought that he meant to throw it at the poor lark. So he said, "Ned, do you mean to throw that stone at him?"

"Yes; why not? What harm would there be?" said Ned; "I want you to see how well I can aim."

"For shame, Ned!" said Dick. "Throw down the stone. Why should you want to kill the poor bird, that sings so sweet a song to us? If you like, I will soon show you that I can aim quite as well as you can. But I should not like to aim to do ill." This made both Ned and Sam laugh; and Ned threw down the stone.

The lark went on with his song. Ned said, "I do like to hear the lark sing; how glad I am that I did not try to kill him."

LESSON 35

MARY'S LITTLE LAMB

MARY had a little lamb,

His fleece was white as snow;

And everywhere that Mary went

The lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school one day—

That was against the rule;

It made the children laugh and play,

To see a lamb at school.

The teacher therefore turned him out:

But still he lingered near,

And on the grass he played about

Till Mary did appear.

At once he ran to her, and laid

His head upon her arm,

As if to say, I'm not afraid—

You'll keep me from all harm.

"What makes the lamb love Mary so?"

The little children cry:

"Oh! Mary loves the lamb, you know,"

The teacher did reply.

LESSON 36

ONE THING AT A TIME

WORK while you work, play while you play;

That is the way to be cheerful and gay.

All that you do, do with your might;

Things done by halves are never done right.

One thing at a time, and that done well,

Is a very good rule, as many can tell.

Moments are useless, trifled away;

So work while you work, play while you play.

—M. A. STODART

LESSON 37

NURSERY RHYMES

I

THERE was an old woman

Who lived in a shoe;

She had so many children,

She didn't know what to do;

She gave them some broth

Without any bread;

She whipped them all soundly,

And sent them to bed.

II

ONCE I saw a little bird come hop, hop, hop;

So I cried, "Little bird, will you stop, stop,stop?"

And was going to the window to say, "How do you do?"

But he shook his little tail, and away he flew!

III

DANCE, little baby, dance up high;

Never mind, baby, mother is nigh;

Crow and caper, caper and crow—

There, little baby, there you go!

Up to the ceiling, down to the ground,

Backwards and forwards, round and round!

Dance, little baby, and mother will sing,

Merrily, merrily, ding, dong, ding!

LESSON 38

COUNT TEN

FRED had got a new spade from his aunt. She had sent it to him one day with a small box of seeds.

As soon as he got it, he went out to dig with it in his own bit of ground at the back of the house.

Jane went with him; and as he dug, she stood near him and talked to him. She held the box of seeds in her hand.

Fred did his work with a will, and he did it well, too.

As Jane stood and talked, she let the box of seeds fall on the ground. The lid of the box came off, and all the seeds fell out.

Poor Jane was a good, kind girl. She was much vexed, and said so to Fred. But Fred did not speak to her.

"O Fred," cried she, "why don't you speak to me?"

"I wished," said Fred, "to wait till I could count ten."

"Count ten!" said Jane. "What do you mean? Why do you wish to count ten?"

"Oh," said Fred, "aunt once told me to count ten before I spoke, if ever I felt angry. I know that I am often hasty to you, Jane, and I want to correct myself."

"O Fred, how good you are! It was very careless of me to let the box of seeds fall; but see, I have picked them all up again, and here they are, ready to put into the ground."

The seeds were planted, and day by day Fred and Jane came to watch them grow up. At last a lot of small green blades peeped above the ground, and soon grew up, with pretty flowers, greatly to the delight of the children.

Before you speak a hasty word, —Count ten;

And if still you angry be, —Count again.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 39

MY DOG DASH

MY little dog was once stolen from me.

After being away for some months, he one day came back with a long string tied round his neck.

He had broken away from the man who had stolen him. Oh, how glad I was to see my good dog back again!

The thief was taken to the court.

He swore that the dog was his; and I was asked if I could give any proof that the dog was mine.

I put my mouth to the dog's ear, and said something known only to us two.

Dash at once stood up on his hind legs, and went through some tricks I had taught him.

I guided him with my stick, and set the whole court in a roar with the fun.

The thief was asked to make the dog do the same thing; but Dash shrunk away, and would not go near him.

The judge saw that the dog was mine.

The thief was sent to prison, and Dash was set free.

Amid the cheers of the people who stood outside the court, Dash and I bounded merrily home.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 40

GOOD-NIGHT

LITTLE baby, lay your head

On your pretty cradle-bed;

Shut your eyes, for now the day

And the light are gone away;

All the clothes are tucked in tight,—

Little baby dear, good-night.

Yes, my darling, well I know

How the bitter wind doth blow;

And the winter's snow and rain

Patter on the window pane:

But they cannot come in here,

To my little baby dear.

For the window is shut fast,

Till the stormy night is past;

And the curtains warm are spread

Round about your cradle-bed:

So, till morning shineth bright,

Little baby dear, good-night.

THE MOMENTS

THE moments fly,—a minutes gone;

The minutes fly,—an hour is run;

The day is fled,—the night is here;

Thus flies a week,—a month,—a year!

LESSON 41

THE BOY THAT LIKED PLAY

I

ONE fine day in summer, a very little boy was sent to school by his mother. But she knew that he was fond of play, and so she told his sister to go with him.

It was very warm, and the boy said to his sister that it would be much nicer to play with him by the river-side, than go to school.

"No, no," said she, "I have not time to play. After I have seen you to school, I must go over all the town, to buy wool, and worsted, and needles, and a lot of other things, for mother. She and I must work, and get money to buy food."

Then the boy saw a bee flying from flower to flower, and said, "I should like to be a bee, and have nothing to do,—no lessons or spelling to learn."

"Ah!" said his sister, "the bee is not idle, it is getting honey and wax, to lay up store for winter, when there will be no flowers." And the bee soon flew away to its hive with its honey and wax.

In a little they heard a bird singing; and the boy said, I am sure the bird has nothing to do. I should like to stay here all day, under the trees, and hear its sweet song."

But his sister said, "See, the bird has flown down and picked up some bits of straw, and it is now taking them to its nest. It has to build a nest with straw and feathers and moss, and so it has no time to be idle."

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 42

THE BOY THAT LIKED PLAY

II

They had not gone far when they saw a dog lying by the road-side; and the boy said, "May I not play with the dog? For it seems to have nothing to do."

Just then a man gave a loud whistle. The dog started up at once, and ran off to help him with the sheep he was driving to the market.

Still further on, the boy saw a horse eating, and said, "It can have nothing to do, so I shall go and play with it." But as he went forward, a man went up with a halter, which he put on the horse's head.

As he did so, he said to the boy, "My little fellow, my horse must plough and harrow my fields. I must have oats and barley and wheat to grind and sell, that I may get money."

Then, when the boy saw that every bee and bird and beast had something to do, he said to his sister, "Well, I shall go to school and learn my lessons."

"When I get home, mother win allow me a good long time for play with the other boys, before I go to bed."

Saying this, he ran off to school; and his sister was glad to get away to do her own errands.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 43

FORGIVE

"DEAR Ann," said Jane, "won't you forgive Fred? He did not mean to throw your ball in the mud."

"He ought to have been more careful," said Ann, with an angry frown on her brow.

"O Ann!" said Jane, "think how you offend God by your angry temper. How can you ask Him to-night to forgive you your sins, if you do not forgive your little brother now?"

Forgive, if you would be forgiven.

O let us ever humbly pray

That grace to us be given:

May we be ready to forgive,

That we may be forgiven.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 44

SPRING

SPRING is come, and every thing is waking from its winter sleep. The fields are dressed in a fresh robe of green.

There are buds on the trees, and the wild-flowers once more begin to peep forth. The whites now-drop is one of the first flowers of spring. How lovely it is!

Birds sing among the trees, and begin to get ready their nests for summer.

Men begin now to plough and to sow in the fields. The gardener digs the ground, and sows seeds in the garden.

The days are warmer, for brighter sunshine has come again. Everything is full of life and joy.

Soon the soft spring showers will fall, to water the earth and make the seeds to grow. It is by the rain and the sunshine that God makes the corn to grow, and the trees to bear leaves and flowers and fruit.

God does it all: it is the way

He gives us corn for bread,

Sweet herbs to eat, and pleasant fruit,

That we may all be fed.

Then let us never see a plant

Or blossom on a tree,

But let us think how good God is,

And ever thankful be.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 45

RAIN

RAIN comes from the clouds. Look, there are black clouds now in the sky. How fast they move along! See, they have hidden the sun. They have covered up the sun, just as you cover up your face when you put something over it. But there is one little bit of blue sky still.

Now there is no blue sky at all: it is all black with the clouds. It is very dark, like night. It will rain soon.

Now the rain begins. What large drops! The ducks are very glad; but the little birds are not glad,—they go and shelter themselves under the trees.

Now the rain is over. It was only a shower. Now the flowers smell sweet, and the bright sun shines, and the little birds sing again.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 46

NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST

WHAT o'clock is it, Henry? It is twelve o'clock. It is noon. Come to the garden then. Now, where is the sun? Turn your face towards him. Look at the sun. That is South. Always when it is twelve o'clock, and you look at the sun, your face is towards the South.

Now turn to your left hand. Look forward. That is East. In the morning, when it is going to be light, you must look just there, and you will see the sun get up. Always in the morning look there for the sun; for the sun rises in the East.

Now turn your back to the sun. Look straight forward. That is North.

Now turn to your left hand. Look forward. That is West. When it is going to be night, look for the sun just there. He is always there when he goes down; for the sun sets in the West.

North, South, East, West.

PRONUNCIATION

"WASTE NOT, WANT NOT."

I MUST not throw upon the floor

The crust I cannot eat;

For many a hungry little one

Would think it quite a treat.

'Tis "wilful waste brings woful want,"

And I may live to say,

"Oh, how I wish I had the bread

Which once I threw away!"

LESSON 47

A VISIT TO THE BLACKSMITH'S SHOP

COME, let us go to the smith's shop. What is he doing? He has a forge: he blows the fire with a great pair of bellows, to make the iron hot.

Now he takes it out with the tongs, and puts it upon the anvil. Now he beats it with a hammer. How hard he works! The sparks fly about; pretty bright sparks.

What is the blacksmith making? He is making nails, and horse-shoes, and a great many things.

What are nails and horse-shoes made of? They are made of iron. Iron is of great use to us. It is used to make ploughs, wheels, ships, steam-engines, and all kinds of things. We could not do without iron.

Steel is made of iron. Steel is very bright, and sharp, and hard. Knives and scissors are made of steel.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 48

FACTS FOR LITTLE FOLKS

TEA is prepared from the leaf of a tree;

Honey is gathered and made by the bee.

Butter is made from the milk of the cow;

Pork is the flesh of the pig or the sow.

The juice of the apple makes cider so fine;

The juice of the grape makes red and white wine.

Cork is the bark of a very large tree;

Sponge grows like a plant in the deep deep sea.

Oil is obtained from fish and from flax;

Candles are made of tallow and wax.

Linen is made from the fibres of flax;

Paper is made from straw and from rags.

Worsted is made from wool soft and warm;

Silk is prepared and spun by a worm.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 49

THE LAST CROSS WORD

"OH," said a little girl, bursting into tears, when she heard of the death of a young friend, "I did not know, when I saw her, that it was the last time I should have to speak to Amy!"

The last time they were together she spoke crossly to her, and that last cross word now lay heavy on her heart.

This points out a good rule about kind words. Speak kindly to your father, to your mother, to your brother, to your sister, to your play-mates, to every one around you, lest it should be the last time you will have to speak to them. Cross words are very sad to think of.

Little children, love each other;

Never give another pain:

If your brother speak in anger,

Answer not in wrath again.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 50

SUMMER

Now it is summer. The days are long, and the sun is up in the sky hours before you are awake.

The trees are full of leaves, and the garden is gay with flowers.

The hay-makers are busy in the fields. Do you know what hay is? It is long grass cut down and dried. The men who cut it down are called the mowers. They cut it with long sharp scythes, or with reaping machines. And women and girls toss it about in the field, that the wind and the sun may dry it. How sweetly smells the new-mown hay!

When the hay is dry, it is made into a hay-stack. It is now ready to be used to feed horses and cows in winter, when there is no grass in the fields for them to eat.

'Tis summer, I know,

By the blue of the sky;

By the trees' deeper green,

As beneath them I lie.

Now ring the sharp scythes

Of the mowers all day,

And they spread to the air

The sweet-scented hay.

O summer, sweet summer,

Glide slowly away!

For I love in your warmth

And sunshine to play.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 51

AUTUMN

AUTUMN has come. The green leaves are fading. Some have fallen from the trees, and are lying dead on the ground.

Now is the time for fruit. Apples, pears, plums, and all kinds of fruit are ripe.

The corn, too, is ripe. The reapers begin to cut it down. See how the tall stalks nod and wave in the sunshine! They bend under the weight of the golden grain.

How many loaves of bread will be made from that field of wheat! How many hungry mouths will be fed from it! When we eat our food, let us not forget to thank Him who causes the corn to grow.

The autumn winds are sighing,

Sighing in the trees;

The ripened corn is waving,

Waving in the breeze.

The harvest moon is shining,

Shining in the night;

Over hill and valley

In floods of silver light.

The swallows come together,

Together from the eaves,

Waiting for the falling,

The falling of the leaves.

They know the time is coming,

The time when they must flee

Away to brighter sunshine,

Far, far across the sea.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 52

MICE

THE merry mice stay in their holes,

And hide themselves by day;

But when the house is still at night,

The rogues come out to play.

They climb upon the pantry shelf,

And taste of all they please;

They drink the milk that's set for cream,

And nibble bread and cheese.

But if they chance to hear the cat,

Their feast will soon be done;

They scamper off to hide themselves,

As fast as they can run.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 53

WHAT THE CLOCK SAYS

"TICK," the clock says, "tick, tick, tick!"

What you have to do, do quick:

Time is gliding fast away;

Let us act, and act to-day.

If your lesson you would get,

Do it now, and do not fret:

That alone is hearty fun

Which comes after work is done.

When your mother says, "Obey,"

Do not loiter, do not stay;

Wait not for another tick;

What you have to do, do quick.

DO JUSTLY

KINDNESS and love to all I owe,

No other debt does GOD allow;

Kindness and love, then, I must pay

To every body, every day.

And when I borrow, or I buy,

Must pay again; for God will try,

By His own law, my works and ways.

Oh, may I serve Him all my days;

Be always honest, just, and true;

And what I've said, take care to do.

LESSON 54

WINTER

WINTER has come at last. There are no flower snow in the garden, and every leaf is gone from the trees.

The snow lies thick upon the ground, and the poor little birds hop about seeking in vain for food.

Here comes little robin redbreast. Do you see him on the tree? He is a bold little fellow. If we put some crumbs of bread upon the windowsill, he will come and pick them up. But we must be very quiet, or he will take fright and fly away. Pretty robin, come again to-morrow, and we will give you some more nice crumbs.

In winter we should think of the wants of the poor. Many a child has no fire to warm him, little food to eat, or clothing to shield him from the cold. But God has given all these things to you. Thank Him with all your heart, and try to help the poor.

Though we do not now see leaves and flowers, still the roots of the plants are safely locked up beneath the snow. Again the voice of Spring will be heard. Again the flowers will burst into beauty, and the trees will put on their robe of green. They are not dead. They are only in their winter sleep.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 55

QUITE A MAN

"I THINK I shall soon be quite a man," said Tom to a girl whom he knew well, as she sat by the gate of her home.

"Well," said she, "some boys think they are men, but they act as boys for all that. If you were a man, Tom, you would not throw plum stones at me. You would not tease my dog. You would not put your foot out to make me fall down. You would not laugh when you see rude boys do things which you know are wrong.

"You may be a big boy, and you may be an old boy, but I shall not think you a man till you act as a man. No true man would do a mean thing. A true man is brave and just. He will do what is right, and fear not. Think of that, Tom."

"Yes," said Tom, "I will. What you say is quite true. I must try to be a good boy, that I may grow up to be a good man."

EVENING

I

THIS night, when I lie down to sleep,

I give the Lord my soul to keep;

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

II

IN my little bed I lie,

Heavenly Father, hear my cry:

Lord, protect me through the night,

Bring me safe to morning light.

MORNING

I

Now I wake and see the light;

God has kept me through the night:

Make me good, O Lord, I pray;

Keep and guard me through this day.

II

O LORD, my God, to thee I pray,

When from my bed I rise,

That all I do and all I say

Be pleasing in thine eyes.

BEFORE MEAT

FROM Thy hand cometh every good;

We thank thee for our daily food:

O with it, Lord, thy blessing give,

And to thy glory may we live.　Amen.

LESSON 56

A WILLING BOY

"ROBERT," said his mother, "will you come and nurse the baby for me?"

Robert was spinning his top in the yard, but he at once put it in his pocket, and said, "Yes, mother."

He was fond of play, but he had been taught to make himself useful, and to do as he was bid.

How kind and gentle he was with the baby.

God says, "Honour thy father and thy mother." To honour them is to obey them. When children do not obey their parents, they sin against God.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 57

THE TWO WHITE RABBITS

LITTLE Henry one day got a present of two white rabbits. One was a big rabbit, and the other was a little one.

They were put into a little house made of wood. Do you know what a rabbit-house is called? It is called a hutch.

One day the door of the hutch had been left open, and the rabbits got out.

They both ran about the garden, seeking for something to eat.

A big basket filled with fine fresh turnips and carrots stood a little way off.

The rabbits soon found their way to it, and began to eat off all the green leaves.

There they are in the picture! Do you see them? The big rabbit sits on his hind feet, and reaches to the top of the basket.

See! he has pulled a turnip down. It has fallen on the ground, and the little rabbit runs to it and begins to eat too.

It is a good thing that the big rabbit pulled this turnip down, for the little one could not have reached to the top of the basket.

In this way the big one helped the little one. This is just what boys and girls should do at their meals. They should help the little ones first.

That is a good lesson to learn from Henry's white rabbits. Is it not?

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 58

FAN AND HER PUPS

HARRY ran into the house shouting, "Susy, Susy, Susy! come and see what Fan has got!"

Susy, hearing her brother call, went to him. Then they went together across the yard into the stable.

There lay Fan on the straw, with four of the prettiest little black and white pups you ever saw.

Susy wanted to take them into the house, to play with them. But Harry would not let her touch one of them.

"Wait a few days," he said; "then they will be able to see."

"Are they blind now?" asked Susy.

"All dogs are blind till they are nine days old," said her brother.

As soon as the pups could see, Harry and Susy went to look at them.

When the children went into the stable, they saw one of them running back to its mother. It had been wandering about among the straw.

Placing them in a basket, Susy took them into the house, to show them to her mother.

The children went every day to see the little pups; and soon they were able to run about and take care of themselves.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 59

A GAME WITH PUSS

"COME and have a game with puss," said Willie to his sister Mary. As he spoke he tied a piece of string to a tassel which he held in his hand.

Then they went together to look for puss. They found her lying half asleep on a foot-stool in the parlour.

Willie quietly placed the tassel just beyond the spot where puss lay. Then he began to draw it slowly past her.

As soon as it began to move, puss opened her eyes, and fixed them upon it. Then she half arose to watch it, as you see in the picture.

At last Willie gave the string a sudden jerk. Then puss, to Mary's delight, sprang at the tassel as she would at a mouse.

Willie was too quick for her, and giving it another jerk, he kept it out of her paws.

Then the chase began, and the children ran round and round the room, with pussy after them.

At last puss made a sudden dash forward, and, pouncing upon the tassel, she snatched it out of Willie's hand, and made off with it.

Oh, what a race they had after her! She ran under the sofa, then under the table, but at last she jumped up on a chair with it, and Willie caught it again.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 60

A GOOD LITTLE GIRL

THE wind was blowing very hard as two boys were on their way to school. In the street they met an old man, who could hardly walk.

Just as they passed him, the wind blew the old man's hat off. It was carried quickly up the street; but the old man was not able to run after it.

"Stop, my boys, please, and pick up my hat," cried the old man, "else I am afraid I shall lose it."

But the boys stood still, and only laughed; they thought it was fine fun to see the hat blown about.

Just then a little girl who was going to the same school came in sight. Without waiting to be asked, she ran at once and caught the hat.

Then she brought it back to the old man. But before giving it to him, she carefully wiped it.

"Thank you, my dear," he said, "for your kindness to a poor old man."

The boys and the girl went onward to school. But the teacher had seen them from one of the windows.

When lessons were over, he told the children in the school all about the old man's hat.

Then he went to his desk and took out a pretty picture-book, which he gave to the little girl for her kindness.

Inside the cover her name was written, and beneath it this verse:—

"Little deeds of kindness,

Little words of love,

Make this earth an Eden

Like the heaven above."

The boys felt ashamed and sorry for their conduct to the poor old man.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 61

LITTLE WHEEL AND BIG WHEEL

SAYS the big waggon wheel

To the little waggon wheel,

"What a difference between us I see!

As our course we pursue,

Can a small thing like you

Keep up with a great thing like me?"

Says the little waggon wheel

To the big waggon wheel,

"You are larger, I own, my good friend;

But my quickness supplies

What I want in my size,

So I keep in the front to the end."

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 62

TIDY TOM

ONCE in a pretty little country school there were two boys, who were called Tidy Tom and Dirty Dan. Let me tell you how Tom got his name.

Every morning he rose up very early. Before breakfast he brushed his boots to make them shine, and then carefully brushed all the dust from his cap and coat.

After that he washed his hands and face, combed his hair, and took his breakfast. Then, taking his books under his arm, he started off to school.

He had a long way to go, but he was always there in time. He always knew his lessons, and he was clean and tidy. So the boys called him Tidy Tom.

Learn this little lesson as well as you can—

Be tidy like Tom, not dirty like Dan.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 63

WASHING DAY

Two little girls, called Lucy and Jane, lived in a cottage in the country.

One day they were playing with their dolls.

They were busy talking about something, when one of them said, "Let us go and ask mother."

Together they went into the house, where their mother was sewing, and Lucy said, "Please, mother, may we have a washing day?"

"A washing day!" said their mother.

"What do little girls want with a washing day?"

"Oh, do please let us have one, for our dolls' clothes are so dirty," said Jane.

"Dirty! are they?" said their mother. "Then you may wash them; but be careful to keep yourselves clean."

In the kitchen they got a small tub, some warm water, and a piece of soap. Then they went out to the green behind the house and began to wash.

All the clothes were taken off both the dolls, and then put into the tub.

Lucy washed them quite clean, and Jane hung them on a cord to dry.

When the dolls were dressed again in their clean clothes, they looked like two little queens.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 64

ON THE SHORE

EDITH took her little sister to play on the sands by the sea-shore.

They saw a great many pretty shells and stones lying about, and they began to pick them up.

Further and further they went, looking for more shells and stones, but not thinking about the sea.

At last their pockets were full, and they turned to go home; but they could not move from the place, for the water had come right round where they stood.

"Oh! what shall we do?" said Edith; and her little sister began to cry.

A boy who was a little way off on the sands saw the danger of the girls.

He was a brave, kind boy, for he at once ran to the place and rushed into the sea to help them.

He did not mind the water, for he had bare feet; but poor Edith's boots and stockings were very wet. The boy carefully carried Edith's little sister up the beach and placed her on a dry place.

At once the little girls ran home and told their mother how good the boy had been to them.

She was very glad, and she sent him a pretty present for the kind deed he had done.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 65

THE SUN

GET up, little boy. Get up at once, I say. How long do you mean to lie there?

I have been trying for a long time to look in at your bed-room window; but I could only peep in at the edge of the blind.

I want to say "Good morning!" and to show you some of the pretty things you may see about you.

At the bottom of the garden, in the bed of flowers, there are some nice buds just opening.

In the tree at the end of the house there is a nest in which there are four pretty young birds.

On the grass under the trees in the park there are six little snow-white lambs at play.

All were glad to see me when I bade them good morning, for they could not do without me.

If I did not come, the buds would not open, and the little birds and lambs would die of cold.

But the little boy did not move until the sun had found a hole in the blind, through which it sent its rays right down on his face.

Then he sprang out of bed, rubbed his eyes, and dressed himself, thinking he was very late.

But he was still quite early. So he ran out to look at the bright, warm sun, and to bid it good morning.

Then he looked into the nest and saw the little birds. He looked into the park, too, where the lambs were yet at play.

But the flowers pleased him best of all, and he gathered a pretty bunch to give to his mother.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 66

SKIPPING

"Look how I can skip!" said Mary, as she took up her skipping-rope and ran out into the field.

Her mother stood at the door, and watched her little girl as she began to skip.

"One, two, three, four, five, six," counted Mary, as she took step after step. At length she had counted up to twenty.

She then ran to her mother, her cheeks all in a glow, and cried, "Mother! mother! I have made twenty!"

"You must try again, and make twice twenty. When I was a little girl like you I could do that and more," said her mother.

"Could you?" said Mary. "Then I will;" and away she ran to try, until she also could make twice twenty.

Do you know how many twice twenty make? Mary did not. She only knew her tables as far as six times twelve.

When she got seven times to learn, she said that the lesson was too hard, and that she could not do it.

"Try again," said her mother. "I learned all the tables when I was a little girl; and I am sure you can, if you try."

Mary did try. Soon that lesson was learned, and then another, and another, till at last she could say from twice one to twelve times twelve without a mistake!

She tried to do everything her mother had done when she was a little girl.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 67

EACH ONE USEFUL

"COCK-a-doodle-doo!" cried the cock. He stood in the farm-yard and crowed aloud, that all might hear him.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo! How useful I am; for I always get up first. And I crow as soon as the sun rises, to bid all in the house awake."

"Cluck! cluck! cluck!" cried the hen from the yard. She was walking about with three pretty little chickens, and trying to find some food for them.

"Cluck! cluck! cluck! I am more useful than you. Almost every day I lay a nice fresh egg for my master's breakfast.

"Then think how useful I am to my mistress. How many nice things she makes with my eggs for the children. She could not get on well without eggs."

"Mew! mew! mew!" cried the cat, as she ran out of the house to tell what she could do.

"Mew! mew! mew! I keep the mice from the bread and the cheese and the corn."

"Bow! wow! wow!" cried the dog, as he put his head out of his kennel. "Hear what I have to say, and then you will know what work is.

"I watch the house by day and by night. I keep thieves from stealing my master's property. Where would you all be but for me?"

Just then the farmer came into the yard.

He threw a handful of corn to the fowls, and placed a cup of milk for puss. Then he gave the dog a bone.

He thus showed that he thought each of them was useful in its own way.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 68

GOD IS IN HEAVEN

GOD is in heaven; and can he see

When I am doing wrong? —

Yes, child, he can; he looks at thee

All day and all night long.

God is in heaven; and would he know

If I should tell a lie? —

Yes, child; if only spoken low,

He'd hear it in the sky.

God is in heaven; and can I go

To thank him for his care? —

Not yet; but love him here below,

And thou shalt praise him there.

LESSON 69

THE RABBIT IN THE WOOD

IN a wood where beasts can talk

I went out to take a walk.

A rabbit sitting in a bush

Peeped at me, and then cried, "Hush!"

Presently to me it ran,

And its story thus began:—

"You have got a gun, I see:

Perhaps you'll point it soon at me;

And when I am shot, alack!

Pop ms in your little sack.

When upon my fate I think,

I grow faint—my spirits sink."

"Pretty rabbit, do not eat,"

I replied, "the farmer's wheat:

If such thieving you begin,

You must pay it with your skin.

Honestly your living get,

And you may be happy yet!"

LESSON 70

THE KETTLE AND ITS FRIENDS

I AM a kettle. You have often seen me at work boiling water for your breakfast, dinner, or tea. Do you know what I am made of? I will tell you. I am made of iron; because iron will bear a great heat.

Here is my friend the coffee-pot. Do you know what he is made of? "No." Then I will tell you. My friend the coffee-pot is made of tin. He sometimes sits beside me on the hob. I often pour water into him hot enough to scald him, if he could only feel it.

Now you shall see a family of my friends. Without them I should not be so useful as I am.

Here they are. In the middle you see the teapot, and all around her the cups and saucers, just like a hen and her chickens. The coffee-pot and the tea-pot are my two greatest friends.

I have not so much to do with the cups and saucers as my two friend shave. But I often see them, and I know of what they are made.

Cups and saucers are made of clay, and are baked in an oven to make them hard.

I must bid you good afternoon, as I am wanted to boil water for tea.

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 71

SAILING THE BOAT

JOHN has come down to the pond to sail his new boat. He calls it the "Blue Bell," because it is painted blue, and has a little blue flag.

Look! the wind is filling its sails. It will soon cross to the other side of the pond.

Then John will run round and start it again, so that it will keep sailing from side to side.

This is nice fun for a boy when he is careful not to slip into the water and get wet.

Once John came to grief in this pond. Let me tell you how it was, that you may learn a lesson from his mistake.

One holiday afternoon his cousin Fred came to pay him a visit. They went to play near this pond.

John saw a pretty white lily so close to the edge of the pond that he felt sure he could get it.

"You must not try," said his cousin Fred. "The pond is very deep, and you may fall into it."

But John would have his own way. Taking hold of a branch, he stretched out his hand to get the flower.

The branch broke, and John got a ducking. But it did him good, for it taught him to be more careful.

PRONUNCIATION

MORNING SONG

BRIGHTLY glows the day,

Night has fled away;

Every joyful sound

Echoes all around.

Sweet is morn to me;

Thanks, O God, to thee;

Thou a guard hast kept

O'er me while I slept.

Hear me while I raise

This my song of praise;

May my heart each day

To thee ever pray.

EVENING SONG

THE sun has set;

And now anew

With fallen dew

The grass is wet.

Each little bird

Has sunk to rest;

Within its nest

No song is heard.

Each flower too

Has covered up

Its scented cup,

All filled with dew.

All through the night

I too will sleep

In slumbers deep,

Till morning light.

I will not fear;

For through the night,

As in the light,

Our God is near.

LESSON 1

THE SPIDER

DO you see the spider in the picture? He has just got his web done; and there he sits in the very middle of it, ready to pounce(1) upon a fly.

The spider loves work. He begins to work as soon as he begins to live. Every spider is born a weaver. Even the youngest spider knows how to weave his web just as well as the oldest.

The spider never has to go to school to learn his task. So, the little duck can swim as soon as it is hatched. And the little bird can build its nest, and the bee can make the honey-comb, without any teaching.

God has given these creatures the power to do their work. And that is why they never make any blunders. Not all the weavers and spinners in the world could beat the spider in the work that he does.

The spider is never in a hurry. He always takes care to make every thread fast. He takes a pride in doing his work well.

All spiders have not the same kind of work to do. But they all do it in the very best way.

Some spiders are masons. These build houses, the size of a big thimble. They make doors to them, which they shut when they go in. It is even said that they are able to fasten the door of the house inside, so that no robber can get in.

The garden spider lets its threads float in the air till they happen to take hold of plants or branches of trees. It then uses these threads as the roads or bridges by which it crosses from place to place.

A strange story is told of a spider saving his life by this means. He was put upon the end of a stick which stood a foot or two out of water. He was on a little island(2) in the midst of a little sea.

What did he do? He walked down the stick to the edge of the water. He went round and round it; but he could find no way to get off.

He then went once more to the top of the stick, and kept still for a while. He seemed to say to himself, "Well, I am in a nice fix now; what am I to do?"

He soon made up his mind. For he at once began to spin a long thread. He made one end of it fast to the top of the stick; and let the thread float away in the wind till it caught a tree on the shore. He then slid along the line, and got safely to dry land at last!

QUESTIONS

What is every spider, when he is born? Who has taught him? What do the mason-spiders build? How does the garden-spider cross from place to place? What did the spider do when he was put on a stick in the water?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Pounce, dart down quickly.

(2) Island, land with water round it.

LESSON 2

THE CHILD AND THE BIRD

LITTLE bird, little bird, come to me!

I have a clean cage all ready for thee;

Many bright flowers I'll bring to you,

And fresh, ripe cherries, all wet with dew.—

"Thanks, little maiden, for all thy care,

But I dearly love the clear, cool air;

And my snug little nest in the old oak tree

Is better than golden cage for me!"—

Little bird, little bird, where wilt thou go

When all the fields are buried in snow?

The ice will cover the old oak tree;

Little bird, little bird, stay with me!—

"Nay, little maiden, away I'll fly

To greener fields and a warmer sky:

When Spring comes back with cheerful rain

My joyful song you will hear again."—

Little bird, little bird, who will guide thee

Over the hills and over the sea?

Foolish one, come with me to stay;

If you don't, I am sure you will lose your way.—

"Ah, no, little maiden! God guides me

Over the hills and over the sea:

He made me free as the morning air,

To drink the sunshine everywhere!"

QUESTIONS

What does the little bird like better than a pretty cage? Where does the bird go in winter? When does it come back again? Why does it not lose its way?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 3

THE RABBITS

THERE is George looking at the rabbits. Let us go and see them too.

"Oh, how pretty they are! Can they eat anything?"

Yes, Lily. You may give them these green leaves.

Now they see the leaves. Oh, how they are feasting! They seem very hungry.

Their little mouths go round and round the edges of the fresh green leaves, and soon they will eat them all up.

Wild rabbits go into holes which they make in the ground. There they are safe, and do not fear either dogs or cats; or even men, who would like to catch them.

In the evening, they come out of their holes to feed in the fields. They sit very close to the ground, amongst the grass, and you can hardly see the little gray things.

But if you clap your hands, they will all run off to their holes, and you may see lots of little white tails bobbing over the field.

It is a pretty sight to see wild rabbits running over the fields.

On the hills near the sea-shore, where Lily lives, there are hundreds and hundreds of them.

There is quite a large rabbit town there, with its streets and houses, all under the ground.

Lily must go with me some day, and perhaps we shall see some of the little creatures that live in the rabbit town.

QUESTIONS

What do rabbits eat? How do they eat them? Where do wild rabbits live? Where are there hundreds of them? When a great many of them live together, what do you call the place?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 4

THE TWO GOATS

ON a wild mountain, two goats met on a ledge(1) just over a high cliff. The ledge was so narrow, that there was neither room for them to pass each other nor to turn round and go back. A steep rock rose straight above them—a deep dark chasm(2) lay below! What do you think the two goats did?

One of them with great care laid himself down on the narrow ledge, pressing as close to the rock as he could. Then the other goat gently and softly stepped over his friend, till, safely past him, he could lightly bound away.

The goat that had lain down then drew himself up from his lowly place, safe and sound, free to spring again from rock to rock, and crop the sweet grass on the hills.

Two other goats had left the valley, and climbed far up the mountain. At length they met on the banks of a wild, rushing stream. A tree had fallen across the stream, and formed a bridge from the one side to the other.

The goats looked at each other, and each wished to pass over first.

They stood for a moment with one foot on the tree, each thinking that the other would draw back. But neither of them would give way, and they met at last on the middle of the narrow bridge!

They then began to push and fight with their horns, till at last their feet slipped, and both the goats fell into the swift flowing stream, and were lost in the waters!

Both might have been saved, if either of them had known how to yield at the right time.

QUESTIONS

Where did the first two goats meet? What above them? What lay below? How did they manage to pass one another? Where did the other two goats meet? What did each claim? What took place in the middle of the bridge? They were both lost, because neither of them…?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Ledge, a shelf of rock.

(2) Chasm, opening in the rocks; cleft.

LESSON 5

EARLY RISING

GET up, little sister; the morning is bright,

And the birds are all singing to welcome(1) the light:

The buds are all opening; the dew's on the flower;

If you shake but a branch, see, there falls quite a shower.

By the side of their mothers, look, under the trees,

How the young lambs are skipping about as they please;

And by all those rings on the water, I know,

The fishes are merrily swimming below.

The bee, I dare say, has been long on the wing,

To get honey from every flower of spring;

For the bee never idles, but labours all day,

Thinking (wise little insect) work better than play.

The lark's singing gaily; it loves the bright sun,

And rejoices(2) that now the gay spring has begun:

For the spring is so cheerful, I think 'twould be wrong

If we did not feel happy to hear the lark's song.

Get up; for when all things are merry and glad,

Good children should never be lazy or sad:

For God gives us daylight, dear sister, that we

May rejoice like the lark, and may work like the bee.

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Welcome, to receive gladly.

(2) Rejoices, is very glad.

LESSON 6

BEES

I.

LOOK at that bee on the flower. See how it shakes its wings, and works with its little feet. Ah! it is off to another flower. It is working again!

Now it is off to another! How busy it is! It does not rest a minute in one place. It seems to have a great deal of work to do, and to be in haste to get it done.

Now let us go to the other end of the garden.

Do you see those little straw houses, which have no windows, and only a very small door?

They are the houses in which the bees live, and are called hives.

A great many bees live in each hive. See how many are going in!

When spring comes, and the flowers begin to bloom, the bees come out of the hives very early in the morning. They fly away, and gather the sweet juice out of the flowers.

The bee has a long tongue, which it thrusts(1) into the flower, to suck up the juice. Then it carries the juice to the hive, and makes it into honey.

QUESTIONS

How many children do you see in the picture? What are they looking at? What are bees' houses called? What are they made of? Why do the bees go out early in spring? With what does the bee suck up the juice?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

II.

WHEN a bee sets out in the morning to look for honey, it does not visit(2) only the flowers near at hand. It goes very often more than a mile from its own hive; but it never loses its way.

When a shower of rain comes on, it takes shelter(3) in some little hole in a wall, or perhaps among the leaves of a tree, or inside a large flower. When the sun peeps out again, it mounts up into the air, and flies swiftly home.

Bees gather not only honey, but also a kind of golden dust, from the inside of flowers. This dust they carry home on their hind legs. They use it to make bee-bread in the hive, as food for the young bees.

This dust they also use to make wax; and with the wax they build a great many little cells,(4) all of the same shape, and all nicely fitted together.

They fill those cells with the sweet honey. The little waxen(5) cells filled with honey are called the honey comb.

QUESTIONS

How far does a bee often go from its hive? What does it do when a shower comes on? What do bees gather besides the juice? What do they do with it? What else? What is honey comb?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

III.

ONE day a snail crawled into a bee-hive. The bees soon crowded about her in great wonder. They could not make out what the lady with the house on her back(6) could want.

AS she was very much in the way, creeping along the street of their busy little town, they tried to turn her out. But it was all in vain. They could not get her to go out of the hive.

At last they fell upon another plan. They sealed up all the edges of her shell with wax, and so fixed it firmly to the bottom of the hive. The poor snail could not move. She soon died, and did not trouble them any more.

QUESTIONS

What one day got into a hive? What did the bees try to do? What did they do when they failed? And what then?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Thrusts, pushes with force.

(2) Visit, go to.

(3) Takes shelter, hides itself.

(4) Cells, little holes or boxes.

(5) Waxen, made of wax.

(6) House on her back, the snail's shell.

LESSON 7

THE BEE

I LOVE to see the busy bee,

I love to watch the hive:

When the sun is hot they linger(1) not—

It makes them all alive.

God gave them skill, and with good will

They to their work attend:(2)

Each little cell is shaped so well,

That none their work can mend.

Now in, now out, they move about,

Yet all in order true;

Each seems to know both where to go,

And what it has to do.

'Mid(3) summer heat, the honey sweet

It gathers while it may,

In tiny drops, and never stops

To waste its time in play.

I hear it come, I know its hum;

It flies from flower to flower;

And to its store a little more

It adds, each day and hour.

Just so should I my heart apply,(4)

My proper work to mind:

Look for some sweet in all I meet,

And store up all I find.

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

PROVERBS

WASTE not, want not.

A stitch in time saves nine.

————————————————————

(1) Linger, put off time.

(2) Attend, give heed.

(3) 'Mid, amid.

(4) Apply, give.

LESSON 8

THE SWAN

THE tame swan is a very gentle bird. It likes to swim on streams and ponds. When it is young it is gray, and not at all a pretty bird; but when it is full-grown it is as white as snow.

Look at the swan in the picture. See how graceful(1) it is as it sails along.

Among the bushes and high grass near the water the swan builds its nest. It is made of dry sticks or rushes, and is placed on the ground. Here the swan lays its eggs.

As soon as the young ones are hatched,(2) away the little creatures run to the water! They need no school and no teaching, for God has made them so that they can swim at once, as well as the old birds.

Did you ever see the feet of a swan? They are made for swimming. All birds that love the water, and swim in it, have web-feet.(3) Swans have web-feet, and so have ducks, and a number of other birds.

They can all swim well; but hens and chickens and sparrows cannot swim at all, for they have not web-feet like the swan and the duck.

The swan has a long neck; and by means of it, it can reach its food without diving(4) as ducks do. The swan feeds on the seeds, leaves, and roots of water-plants.

QUESTIONS

What colour is the swan when it is young? What colour is it when it is full-grown? Where does it build its nest? What is the nest made of? What do the young swans do, as soon as they are hatched? What kind of feet has the swan? What other bird has the same kind of feet? Of what use is the swan's long neck? What does it feed on?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Graceful, easy and pretty in motion.

(2) Hatched, brought out of the egg.

(3) Web-feet, feet with skin stretched between the toes.

(4) Diving, going under the water.

LESSON 9

TELL THE TRUTH

THERE was once a little boy whose name was George, and his father one day gave him a small axe to play with.

George was greatly pleased with it, and took it with him to the garden. He roamed about, trying it upon nearly every thing that came in his way.

At last he came to a young cherry-tree, and began to try the axe on it. He soon made some deep cuts in the tree. And then he walked away to another part of the garden.

This cherry-tree was greatly prized by his father; but George forgot all about that.

By-and-by his father came to that part of the garden where the tree stood. He was very sorry when he found his fine cherry-tree almost ruined.

"George!" said he sternly(1) to his son, "who has done this?"

Did George answer, "I don't know, father"? O no. Did he lay the blame on any one else? O no.

With tears in his eyes he looked up to his father's face. "Father," said he, "I can't tell a lie—I did it."

Noble boy! He was not afraid to tell the truth; and his father at once forgave him.

Boys are often tempted(2) to speak what is not the truth. When that happens(3) let each one think of George, and try like him to say, "I can't tell a lie." Come what may, boys, speak the truth.

"Speak the truth, and speak it ever,

Cost it what it will;

He who hides the wrong he did

Does the wrong thing still."

The boy of this story became one of the greatest men that ever lived. He was GEORGE WASHINGTON.

QUESTIONS

What did George get from his father? What did he try it upon? What did he at last injure very much with it? Whom did this make very sorry? What did his father say to him? What did George answer? What did this boy become? Who was he?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

PROVERBS

BETTER to slip with the foot than with the tongue.

He is wise who speaks little.

As the tree is, such is the fruit.

————————————————————

(1) Sternly, in an angry tone.

(2) Tempted, inclined wrongly; drawn astray.

(3) Happens, comes about; occurs.

LESSON 10

WELCOME, LITTLE ROBIN

ON a cold winter day a poor little robin once came to a window. Some children who saw it, opened the window very gently, and the robin came hopping into the room. The children fed it with crumbs, and then let it fly away again. During the winter it came back several times to its little friends; but when the warm weather came, it flew away to the woods.

WELCOME, little Robin

With the scarlet breast!

In this winter weather

Cold must be your nest.

Hopping o'er the carpet,

Picking up the crumbs,

Robin knows the children

Love him when he comes.

Is the story true, Robin,

You were once so good

To the little orphans(1)

Sleeping in the wood?

Did you see them lying,

Pale, and cold, and still,

And strew leaves above them

With your little bill?

Whether true or not, Robin,

We are glad to see

How you trust us children,

Walking in so free.

Hopping o'er the carpet,

Picking up the crumbs,

Robin knows the children

Love him when he comes.

And though little Robin

Has no gift of speech,

Yet he can a lesson

To the children teach;

Still to trust that blessings(2)

Will be richly given,

When they ask their Father

For their bread from heaven.

—J. D. B

QUESTIONS

What did the children do when the robin came to the window? What did the robin do? During what time did he come back? Where did he go when the warm weather came? What did the robin show by hopping in so freely? What lesson does he teach to children?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Orphans, children who have lost father or mother, or both.

(2) Blessings, things that make us happy.

LESSON 11

THE WOLF

THE wolf is one of the fiercest of all the beasts of prey.(1) It is an animal of the dog kind, and is a little like a dog, and a little like a fox.

It has its den in the forest,(2) far away from the homes of men. Here in summer it lives on birds, hares, and other small animals.

But in winter, wolves often leave the forests in search of food. They then hunt in large packs or bands; and when pressed by hunger they become very fierce and bold. They will even enter villages, and attack lambs, sheep, cows, and horses.

In the depth(3) of winter, when the snow is on the ground, a wild howl is often heard in the stillness of the night. And in the morning, the loss of a cow or a horse tells the people of the village that they have had a visit from the wild wolf of the forest.

Once a Russian noble and his wife were chased by a pack of wolves, when driving in a sledge drawn by four horses.

They were in great fear of being torn to pieces. And they had to leave first one, and then another of their horses, to occupy the wolves till they got out of their reach!

QUESTIONS

What other animals is the wolf like? Where has it its den? What does it live upon in summer? How do wolves hunt in winter? Where do they sometimes go in search of food? What is often heard in the quiet night? What tells of their visit in the morning? How did a Russian noble and his wife once escape from a pack?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Beasts of prey, animals that kill other animals for food.

(2) Forest, a very large wood.

(3) Depth, the coldest part.

LESSON 12

THE ECHO

"HOP, hop, hop!" shouted(1) little Henry, as he was playing in a field near a wood.

"Hop, hop, hop!" came an echo(2) in reply.

"Who is there?" asked Henry in surprise;(3) for he had never heard an echo before.

"Who is there?" replied the echo.

"Foolish fellow!" cried Henry, at the top of his voice.

"Foolish fellow!" was the reply from the wood.

At this Henry became very angry, and called out many ugly names. The voice from the wood sent back every word.

Now, when Henry could not see who was speaking from the wood, he ran home and told his father that a boy hid in the wood had called him bad names!

"Ah, Henry!" said his father, "you have heard nothing but the echo of your own words. The bad names came first from your own lips. Had you used kind and gentle words, you would have had kind and gentle words in return. Kind words bring back kind echoes."

QUESTIONS

What did Henry ask, when the echo sent back his words? What did the echo reply? What did Henry then cry? And the echo replied? At this he called out…? And the voice from the wood…? What did he tell his father? What did his father say he had heard? What bring back kind echoes?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Shouted, called loudly.

(2) Echo, a sound sent back from a rock, hill, or wood.

(3) Surprise, wonder.

LESSON 13

GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD MORNING

A FAIR little girl sat under a tree,

Sewing as long as her eyes could see;

Then smoothed her work, and folded it right,

And said, "Dear work, Good Night! Good Night!"

Such a number of rooks came over her head,

Crying, "Caw! Caw!" on their way to bed;

She said, as she watched their curious(1) flight,

"Little black things, Good Night! Good Night!"

The horses neighed, and the oxen lowed;

The sheep's "Bleat! Bleat!" came over the road;

All seeming to say with a quiet delight,(2)

"Good little girl, Good Night! Good Night!"

She did not say to the sun, "Good Night!"

Though she saw him there, like a ball of light!

For she knew he had God's time to keep

All over the world, and never could sleep.

The tall pink foxglove(3) bent his head—

The violets bowed and went to bed;

And good little Lucy tied up her hair,

And said, on her knees, her favourite(4) prayer.

And while on her pillow she softly lay,

She knew nothing more till again it was day;

And all things said to the beautiful sun,

"Good Morning! Good Morning! our work is begun!"

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Curious, strange; not common.

(2) Delight, joy.

(3) Foxglove, a wild plant, with a flower shaped like the finger of a glove.

(4) Favourite, best loved.

LESSON 14

STORY OF A PARROT

A POOR man had a parrot. The parrot had been taught to say the words, "There is no doubt about it." These words were all it could learn, and it might have been heard all day long either whistling a tune, or calling out, "There is no doubt about it!"—"There is no doubt about it!"

To every question Poll always gave the same reply(1)—"There is no doubt about it!"

One day its master went to market to sell it. "Who'll(2) buy my parrot?" cried he. "Twenty pounds for my parrot!"

A man, hearing the high price that was asked, turned to the parrot, and said, "Poll, art thou worth twenty pounds?"

"There is no doubt about it!" was Poll's reply. The man was so pleased, that he bought the bird, and carried it home.

Some time after, he was sorry for his bargain.(3) Standing beside the cage of the parrot, he said, "What a fool I was, to throw so much money away!"

"There is no doubt about it!" cried the bird. And this time the parrot was right.

QUESTIONS

What words had the parrot been taught to say? What price did its master ask for it? What did the man say to the parrot? What did the parrot answer? What did the man then do? What did he say when he was sorry for his bargain? What did the bird cry? And this time the parrot…?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LITTLE THINGS

LITTLE moments make an hour;

Little thoughts, a book;

Little seeds, a tree or flower;

Water-drops, a brook;

Little deeds of faith and love

Link the earth to heaven above.

————————————————————

(1) Reply, answer.

(2) Who'll, who will.

(3) Bargain, what he had given so much for.

LESSON 15

THE CAT AND THE CANARY

HERE is a cat with a poor little bird in its mouth. Perhaps you think it is a sparrow, that had flown down on the road to pick up a few crumbs, and was seized(1) by this cruel cat.

You are wrong. This cat is the little bird's friend; and the bird is not a sparrow at all, but a pretty canary.

Come and I shall tell you the story of this picture.

"A lady had a canary, so tame that it would fly about her room, perch(2) on her chair, hop on her finger, and eat crumbs out of her hand.

"The lady had also a cat, which often came into the room where the bird's cage hung. But the bird was in no danger(3) from it. The cat had been taught, when quite a little kitten, to be kind to the bird; and the two were very good friends.

"One day the lady went into the kitchen. Her bird was on her shoulder, and the cat came running after her.

"The canary flew down from the lady's shoulder, to pick up a crumb from the floor.

"What was the lady's surprise,(4) when in a moment the cat seized the bird in its mouth, and jumped upon the kitchen table with it!

"The lady was in terror(5) at first, for the safety of her bird; but she soon saw the cause(6) of the strange conduct(7) of her cat.

"Another cat was at the kitchen door, and her own cat had seized the bird to save it from danger!

"No sooner was the stranger driven out of the house, than the lady's cat let the canary go; and away it flew to its mistress quite unhurt."

QUESTIONS

What kind of bird is that in the cat's mouth? Does it mean to hurt it? Why has it carried it off? What cat is that at the door? When did the cat let the bird go again? When had the cat been taught to be kind to the canary?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Seized, caught hold of.

(2) Perch, light on; settle on.

(3) Danger, fear of harm.

(4) Surprise, wonder.

(5)  Terror, great fear; alarm.

(6)  Cause, why it did it.

(7)  Conduct, act; way of going on.

LESSON 16

THE WASP AND THE BEE

A WASP met a bee that was just buzzing by,

And he said, "Little cousin, can you tell me why

You are loved so much better by people than I?

"My back shines as bright and as yellow as gold,

And my shape is most elegant,(1) too, to behold;(2)

Yet nobody likes me for that, I am told."—

"Ah, cousin!" said the bee, " 'tis all very true;

But if I were half as much mischief(3) to do,

Indeed they would love me no better than you.

"You have a fine shape, and a delicate(4) wing;

They own you are handsome;(5) but then there's one thing

They cannot put up with and that is your sting.

"My coat is quite homely and plain, as you see,

Yet nobody ever is angry with me—

Because I'm a harmless and diligent(6) bee."

From this little story let people beware;(7)

Because, like the wasp, if ill-natured they are,

They will never be loved, though ever so fair.(8)

QUESTIONS

What did the wasp ask the bee? Why did he think people should love him? What did the bee say people could not put up with? What kind of coat had the bee? Why was nobody ever angry with her? Ill-natured people will…? though they are…?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Elegant, well- made, neat.

(2) Behold, look at.

(3) Mischief, naughty work; evil.

(4)  Delicate, thin; fine.

(5)  Handsome, good-looking.

(6)  Diligent, busy; fond of work.

(7) Beware, take warning.

(8) Fair, pretty.

LESSON 17

THE HORSE

THE horse is a noble, useful animal. He is gentle, and willing to work. He is not made to destroy(1) or to hurt, but to be of use to man. He never takes the life of any other creature for his food; for he feeds on grass, hay, and corn.

You have seen that he cannot defend himself(2) against the fierce wolf. He can run away, but the wolf can run too; and many fearful tales are told of the races for life between the horse and the hungry wolf.

The horse loves his master, and soon learns to know him. A story is told of a soldier who had a favourite(3) horse, that never seemed so happy as when his master was on his back. Then he was all life, and full of spirit.

At last, in a fierce battle, the soldier was killed, and fell from his horse. When his body was found some days afterwards, the faithful(4) animal was still standing beside it!

During that long time, the horse had never left the body of his master. Without food or water, he had stood over it, driving away the birds of prey. Was he not a noble animal?

QUESTIONS

What kind of animal is the horse? What is he not made to do? What food does he live on? What animal can he not fight against? What is the story of the horse in the picture? How long had he stood there?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Destroy, to kill.

(2) Defend himself, make himself safe; fight.

(3) Favourite, much liked; pet.

(4) Faithful, true to his master; devoted.

LESSON 18

THE DOG WITH THE LANTERN

HERE is a dog with a lantern in his mouth.

He is seeking for his master.

Carlo, for that was the name of the dog, had been taught to be useful. The roads, in the place where his master lived, were often so bad that, on dark nights, it was not safe for any person to go out without a light.

So Carlo's master taught him to carry a lantern for him at night; and he did it as steadily as any boy could have done.

Carlo never trotted too far before, but kept near at hand, so that the bright light of the lantern might guide his master's steps.

When he came to any part of the road where there was a deep rut or hole, he would turn round to his master, as much as to say, "Take care; there is a hole here."

The dog's master lived about a mile from the town; and when he could not get home before dark, Carlo used to be sent to him with the lantern.

"Come, Carlo, go for master!" was the order; and it never had to be given twice. Carlo knew where to go, quite as well as he knew the road which his master would take.

But Carlo did not always at once find his master. When he got to the town, he would run off to a house where he knew his master often was. Still holding his lantern, he would scratch at the street-door and bark; as much as to say, "Here am I, master—lantern as well; are you ready for home?"

Some one would perhaps come to the door and say. "Your master is not here, Carlo." Carlo would growl, as if he meant to say, "Then he is somewhere else, and I must find him."

He would then run off to one house after another, until he found his master; when the two set off together for home.

QUESTIONS

What was the name of the dog in the picture? What had he been taught to do? Why was this of great use? What did he do when he came to a hole? What order was given to him after dark? How did he find his master?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

TRUTH

THE child who learns to hate a lie,

And scorns to feign a false reply,

To cover faults or errors done,

Love and forgiveness both hath won.

For Truth both gentle is and brave,

But Falsehood is a coward knave,

Who vainly tries his faults to screen

By lying words most base and mean.

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE I

ANIMALS

THE SHEEP.—What does the sheep give us? Wool.

What is all the wool of one sheep called? A fleece.

What do we make of wool? Flannel, blankets, carpets, coats, warm gloves and socks, and many other useful things.

What do we get from the sheep besides wool? We make its skin into leather; we use its flesh as food.

What do we make of leather? We make boots and shoes, straps and belts, saddles and harness, covers of books, and many other things.

What is the skin of an animal called before it is made into leather? A hide.

Who makes the hide into leather? The tanner.

Who makes the leather soft, and colours it? The currier.

Who makes the leather into shoes? The shoemaker.

What is the flesh of the sheep called? Mutton.

And of the young sheep? Lamb.

What do sheep feed on? On grass.

What do you call a great number of sheep going together? A flock.

And the man who watches them? A shepherd.

THE COW.—What do we get from the cow? Milk and cream.

And what is made of milk? Butter and cheese; and we use it to make puddings and cakes.

What do you call a man who deals in milk? A milkman or dairyman.

And a woman? A milkmaid or dairymaid.

And the place where it is kept? A dairy.

What else do we get from the cow? Leather, horn, and meat.

What do we make of horn? Combs, spoons, knife-handles, buttons, and drinking cups.

What is a bugle-horn? A musical instrument, made of brass.

Why is it called a horn? Because the first musical instruments of that kind were the horns of animals.

What is the flesh of the cow or ox called? Beef.

What is a young cow? A calf.

What is calf's flesh called? Veal.

What is a man who sells meat called? A butcher.

What is the ox used for in some countries? To draw carts and ploughs.

THE HORSE.—What do we chiefly use the horse for? To carry us, and to draw carts and carriages.

How is a horse fastened to a cart or a carriage? By leather straps and iron chains.

What are all the straps and chains on a horse? Its harness.

What is the seat on a horse's back called? A saddle.

And the strap for guiding it? A bridle, or rein.

And the bar in its mouth, joined to the bridle? A bit.

What is a young horse called? A foal.

And a little horse? A pony.

What other use do we make of the horse? We make leather of its skin, and hair-cloth and mattresses of the long hairs of its tail.

Do we eat its flesh? No; but in some countries its flesh is eaten, and mare's milk is used for food.

OTHER ANIMALS.—What animals are used for food besides the sheep and the cow? Swine, fowls, ducks, geese, turkeys, rabbits, and hares.

What is swine's flesh called? Pork, when it is fresh; and bacon and ham, when it is salted and dried.

What else do we get from swine? Leather, and the stiff hairs of which brushes are made, called bristles.

What is glue made of? Of parts of the hoofs and skins of animals.

What do fowls give us for food while they are alive? Eggs.

And what do we get from them after they are dead? Feathers, to make beds and pillows.

What is a silk dress made of? Threads spun by a little worm.

What is fur? The hairy skin of animals.

What are the leaves of pocketbooks often made of? Of part of the skin of the ass.

What is a quill pen? A feather from the wing of a goose.

Where do we get whalebone? In the mouth of the whale.

What else do we get from the whale? Oil, for lamps.

What are candles made of? Tallow, or the fat of animals.

What do we make from tallow and oil? Soap.

What are the finest candles made of? Of wax, made by the bees.

What else do we get from the bees? Honey.

LESSON 19

THE CAMEL

IN some parts of the world there are great tracts of country called deserts. In these deserts there are no houses, no pleasant streams, and no trees.

Nothing can be seen around but sand, and stones and rocks, as far as the eye can reach.

In crossing these dreary deserts, the traveller must take with him every thing that he needs on the way.

He must carry enough of food and water to last himself and those who are with him for many days.

No horse could carry heavy loads across these great deserts; but God has given to man another animal fitted for the work.

This animal is the camel.

When sailors cross the sea in a ship, the ship must carry every thing they need. And as the camel has to do the same for its master in the desert, it has been called "the ship of the desert."

When the camel is being loaded it kneels, that its master may put the load on its back; and when the day's march is over, and the time for rest has come, it kneels again, to have its load taken off.

The camel can go without food for a long time; and, before it starts, it drinks enough of water to last it for several days.

It is no wonder that the Arab loves his camel, and sings songs in its praise. The horse carries his master, the cow gives him milk, and the sheep gives him wool for clothing. But to the Arab, the camel is all these in one.

It supplies the people of the desert with milk, and with almost all they need. After it is dead, its flesh is used for food, and its hair is made into cloth.

QUESTIONS

What are the only things to be seen in deserts? Of what are there none? What must the traveler in the desert carry with him? What animal carries his burdens? Why has it been called "the ship of the desert"? What does it do when it is being loaded, and unloaded? What can it go without for a long time? How much water does it drink before it starts?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 20

STORY OF A DOG

SOME years ago, a little boy, not more than eight years old, was sent on an errand.(1) As he was going home, a lame dog, rough and dirty, came limping after him.

A bad boy would have thrown stones at the poor dog; but the little boy of whom I am telling you, had been taught to be gentle and kind.

He saw that the dog had been ill used, and that it wanted a friend. So he let it follow him home.

When the little boy asked his mother if she would let the dog come into the house, the poor dog seemed to know what was said.

It looked, oh, so sad!And the children almost cried when they saw its large bright eyes looking up to them for pity.

The mother, who had taught her children to be kind and gentle, did not turn the poor, hungry, lame dog away. She let it go into the wash-house; and the children gave it some food, and some water to drink, and some clean straw to lie on.

After a few days it was well again. It soon made itself clean, and began to show how pleased it was with its new home.

It did all that a dog could do to show how thankful it was for the kindness shown to it. Instead of crouching,(2) as if it were afraid of being beaten, it would frisk about, and jump up to lick the hands of its little friends.

QUESTIONS

In what state was the little dog that came after the boy? What would a bad boy have done to it? What did this boy do? What did his mother do with the dog when he got home? And in a few days…? How did it show how thankful it was?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

The children gave the dog the name of Elf, and it was their friend as well as their pet.

I shall tell you how it was their friend. It used to go with them to school, and drive away any bad boys who tried to tease or to hurt them.

Then, when they went into school, Elf walked back to the house, and stayed in the yard with the fowls. It watched that they did not stray, and that no one stole them. No bad boys dared to throw stones at them when Elf was near.

When it was time for the children to leave school, their mother would say, "Elf, it is time to bring the children home." It was long before Elf could be taught what she meant. But at last it came to know it; and no sooner were the words said, than off it ran to the school.

Yes, and more than that; Elf at last became so clever a dog, that on a wet day it would carry an umbrella in its mouth when it went for the children!

Look at the picture, and you will see Elf all ready to start for school.

Sometimes boys in the street tried to take the umbrella from it; but Elf was too quick for them. It would run past them at full speed, and it always got safely away.

Thus did this once poor lame dog in many ways repay the kindness of its little friends.

QUESTIONS

What name did the children give the dog? How was it their friend? What did their mother say when schooltime was over? What is it doing in the picture?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Errand, message.

(2) Crouching, lying low; cowering.

LESSON 21

THE DONKEY

POOR donkey! I'll give him a handful of grass;

I'm sure he's an honest, though stupid, old ass.

He trots to the market to carry the sack,

And lets me ride all the way home on his back;

And only just stops by the ditch for a minute,

To see if there's any fresh grass for him in it.

'Tis true, now and then, he has got a bad trick

Of standing stock-still(1) , and just trying to kick;

But then, poor old fellow! you know he can't tell

That standing stock-still is not using me well;

For it never comes into his head, I dare say,

To do his work first, and then afterwards play.

No, no, my good donkey, I'll give you some grass,

For you know no better, because you're an ass;

But what little donkeys some children must look,

Who stand, very like you, stock-still at their book,

And waste every moment of time as it passes—

A great deal more stupid and silly than asses!

—JANE TAYLOR

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Stock-still, still as a fixed post.

LESSON 22

STORY OF THE SHEEP AND THE LAMB

A LAD was one day walking in a field, when he saw a sheep coming towards him.

The poor thing came running up quite close to him. She then went on a few steps, at the same time turning round, and looking up in the lad's face, and bleating loudly.

The lad had never seen a sheep act in this way before; and wishing to find out what the creature wanted, he began to follow her across the field.

On and on she went, every now and then turning round to see if the lad was coming.

At last she led the way to a place where there was a running stream, and a deep pool of water.

As soon as he came to this spot, the lad saw a little lamb struggling in the water. It had fallen over the bank into the pool below, and was trying in vain to get out.

The poor mother sheep must have known that better help than she could give was needed, to save her little one.

The lad, by leaning over the bank, found that he could just reach the little creature.

He soon caught hold of it, and lifted it up on the bank. The mother sheep seemed greatly pleased to have her little one again beside her.

QUESTIONS

What is the lad in the picture doing? How did he know that something was wrong? What would have happened if he had not come? How had the lamb got into the pool? What did the mother sheep seem, when her lamb was again beside her?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 23

THE BROWN BEAR

THE Brown Bear lives in the woods. He is a good climber, and likes to make his home in a hollow tree.

He is very fond of wild fruits, of which he finds plenty in the forest.

He is also fond of honey, and robs the hives of the wild bees. The wild bees make their hives in hollow trees, and the brown bear finds them out by the smell of the honey.

When he finds a hive, he climbs the tree, and for hours and hours he gnaws the bark and the wood, till he makes a hole large enough to let his paw in.

Then, in spite of the stings of the bees, he thrusts in his paw, and scoops out lumps of the comb with the honey in it. Nor does he stop till he has robbed the poor bees of all their store.

When winter comes, the bear creeps into a hole or cave under the thick trees. There he makes for himself a bed of leaves and twigs; and when the snow comes it covers him, and he lies snugly hid beneath it. He closes his eyes, and sleeps during the rest of the winter.

In spring he wakens up again, and begins once more to roam about the woods.

Men go to the forest to hunt the bear. They wish to get his skin to make coats, and blankets, and muffs. They also eat his flesh, and make oil from his fat.

QUESTIONS

Where does the brown bear live? Where does he like to make his home? He is a good…? He is very fond of…? and also of…? Where does he get the honey? How does he find out the hives? How does he get at the honey? What does he do in winter? When does he waken up again? Why do men hunt the bear? What do they make of his fat?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 24

THE LION AND THE MOUSE

ONE day, as a lion was lying asleep in a forest, some mice began to amuse(1) themselves by running over him. At last they awoke him; and, starting up, he laid his paw upon one little thing that could not get away with the rest.

The lion was just going to kill the little thing, when it began to plead(2) for its life. It pleaded so hard, that at last the lion let it go; and the grateful(3) mouse said, "Noble lion! I trust I may one day be able to repay(4) your kindness to me."

The lion smiled at the idea of such a little animal ever being of use to him; and the mouse ran off to its hole.

Some time after this, the lion was caught in a strong net made of ropes, that had been spread for him in the forest by some hunters. He struggled in vain to get free, and roared with pain and terror.

The little mouse heard him, and ran to his help. It set to work with its sharp teeth; and at last, after a great deal of labour, it gnawed(5) through the rope, and set the lion free!

A lion, prowling(6) through the woods,

In eager search for prey,

By chance was caught within a net,

And could not get away.

He tried in vain to free himself

From this unwelcome house,

When, lo! from out its hole there crept

A tiny little mouse.

It nibbled, with its teeth so small,

The cords that formed the net,

Till, one by one, the strings gave way,

And free the lion set!

This shows that we should not despise(7)

The humblest(8) thing that lives;—

The strongest at some time may need

The help the poor man gives.

QUESTIONS

What were the mice doing when the lion was asleep? What did the lion do when he awoke? What did the mouse do, when the lion was going to kill it? What did it say when it got off? Why did the lion smile? When did the mouse repay his kindness? What does this story show?

PRONUNCIATION

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(1) Amuse, play.

(2) Plead, beg very hard.

(3) Grateful, thankful.

(4) Repay, pay back.

(5) Gnawed, bit through by little and little.

(6)  Prowling, roaming; searching for prey.

(7) Despise, look down on; scorn.

(8) Humblest, weakest; meanest.

LESSON 25

THE PET LAMB

ONE little thing after another had been sold, to buy food and clothing for the family. At last nothing was left that could be sold but the pet lamb. But the mother's heart felt sad at the thought of parting with Daisy; for the children loved it very much.

At last she had to make up her mind to sell the lamb. She could not ask one of the children to go for the butcher. So she went herself, with a heavy heart, and bargained(1) for the sale of Daisy.

While the children were all playing with the lamb, the butcher and his boy came to the door.

"Good morning, Mrs. Grant!" he said, in a loud voice. "You see I am here for the lamb."

"For what, mother?" asked one of the children, running to her side, and looking up into her face in alarm.(2)

"Go away, dear," said Mrs. Grant, gently pushing the child aside.

"That's my lamb now, Charlie!" said the butcher's boy, in a playful tone, going up to Daisy with a rope in his hand.

"No, it is not your lamb. It is our lamb!" said the little boy, placing himself in front of it.

But the lad, pushing him aside, threw a rope round Daisy's neck, and began to drag the little creature away. The poor lamb bleated very sadly.

The cry of grief which fell upon the mother's ears was too much for her, and her heart sank within her. In a moment after, the children were all around her, pleading(3) with tearful eyes, and voices choked with sobs, for their little pet.

"Pray tell your boy to stop a moment," she said in husky tones to the butcher.

The boy, at a word from his master, stopped dragging the lamb, and the little creature ceased(4) its bleating.

"My dear children," began the mother, in a voice that shook, "I am very poor now, and cannot earn(5) money as your father did when he was alive. The kind butcher has given me money for Daisy; and with this money I will buy you bread to eat."

"No!—no!—no!" the children cried; "we don't want you to sell Daisy! We won't have our dear little lamb sold! It is our lamb, and you must not sell it, mother. We will rather go without bread than have the lamb sold!"

It was in vain that Mrs. Grant tried to make her children see that she could not help selling the lamb. The more she talked, the stronger did they plead for Daisy.

At last she handed back the silver, saying, "I cannot sell it just now, sir. Wait until another time. I must try to keep up a little longer."

The butcher, who had been watching all that went on, was touched in his heart; and when Mrs. Grant offered to return the money, he said, "I'll take neither the lamb nor the money, Mrs. Grant.

"Though I am a butcher, I have no harder heart than other men. I'll not rob the children of their pet. I'll buy Daisy from you, and give it back to the children.

"Come, Joe, you must not take that lamb. It shall never be killed by me."

And as he spoke, his voice shook, and he dashed his hand quickly across his eyes.

Daisy was at once set free; and as the children gathered round and stroked the pet, their little hearts were filled with joy.

By the kind help of some friends, the poor mother never again found herself so hard pressed as when she tried to sell the children's pet lamb.

QUESTIONS

Why was the mother forced to sell the lamb? Why was she sorry to do so? Who went to bargain for the sale? What were the children doing when the butcher and his boy came? What did the butcher's boy say as he went up to Daisy? What did Charlie say? When was it that the mother's heart sank within her? What did she tell the children she would do with the money? What did they say? What did Mrs. Grant at last do? What did the butcher say? What did he do with the lamb?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Bargained, agreed upon the price.

(2) Alarm, great fear.

(3) Pleading, begging very hard.

(4) Ceased, stopped.

(5) Earn, work for; gain by labour.

LESSON 26

PERSEVERE

DRIVE the nail aright, boys,

Hit it on the head;

Strike with all your might, boys,

While the iron's red.

When you've work to do, boys,

Do it with a will;

They who reach the top, boys,

First must climb the hill.

Standing at the foot, boys,

Gazing at the sky,

How can you get up, boys,

If you never try?

Though you stumble oft, boys,

Never be down-cast;

Try, and try again, boys,—

You'll succeed at last.

LESSON 27

THE CROW AND THE PITCHER

A CROW that was very thirsty flew to a pitcher, hoping to find some water in it. Water there was, but so little of it, that with all her efforts the poor crow could not so much as wet the tip of her bill.

"Never despair,(1) " said the crow to herself; "where there's a will there's a way!"

A clever thought came into her little black head. She could not get down to the water; but she might make the water rise up to her.

The crow picked up a pebble, and dropped it into the pitcher; another, and then another. As they sank, the water began to rise.

Before the crow had dropped in many pebbles, her labour was rewarded,(2) and she drank at her ease of the water, which, but for her clever thought, she would never have been able to reach.

QUESTIONS

Where did the crow go in search of water? Was there water in the pitcher? Why could she not get it? What did the crow say to herself? What thought came into her head? How did she make the water rise? And so her labour was…?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Despair, lose heart.

(2) Rewarded, repaid.

LESSON 28

THE SOLDIER AND THE HORSE

A POOR soldier was one day passing along a street in London. All at once he was seen to stop, and look for some time at a horse on the other side of the street.

"I know him! I know him!" cried he, as he ran across the street. "He is my own old horse. Dear old fellow!"

The horse seemed to know the voice. He laid back his ears, and pushed his nose against the hand that stroked him so kindly.

After a few moments, the poor soldier put his hand in his pocket; and as he did so he said, "Yes, he shall have it, though it were my last penny! I have enough to buy him a feed of corn."

Away he went to bring it; and in a few minutes he came back with the corn, and stood kindly feeding the horse with his own hand.

After staying beside him for some time, he asked where his stable was, that he might go and see him some other day.

He then went his way, saying to the driver as he left, "Be good to him, poor fellow! and use him well."

It was a beautiful sight; and it was no wonder that some little boys who stood near, cried out, Hurrah! when they saw the poor soldier's kindness to his old friend.

It was a lesson on kindness to animals which they were not likely soon to forget.

QUESTIONS

What did the poor soldier stop to look at? What did he cry as he crossed the street? How did the horse show that it knew him? What did he buy for it? Why did he ask where its stable was? What did he say to the driver? Who cried hurrah?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 29

LESSONS

NOW'S the time to study hard;

Work will bring its own reward:

Then work, work, work!

We must spell and we must read,

Nothing but our lessons heed,—

Sure and steady must succeed:

Then work, work, work!

Who would like an empty purse?

Empty brain would be still worse:

Then work, work, work!

With a will the task begin;

Now's the time the prize to win;

Pour the golden knowledge in,

And work, work, work!

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 30

THE WHITE BEAR

IN the cold cold North there is always snow on the ground. Even in summer it is very cold, as great blocks of ice float about in the sea.

Here is the home of the Polar Bear. He does not mind the cold; for God has given him a coat of thick fur to keep him warm. He enjoys the sharp air as much as you do the warm sunshine.

He never slips on the ice, as you do; for the soles of his feet are covered with long hair. He walks as softly as if he had a pair of fur boots on.

The bear lives near the sea; for he likes to swim in the water. And there, too, he generally finds plenty to eat.

He is very fond of catching a seal for his dinner. He roams over the ice till he comes to a place where he sees that the ice is melted.

He knows that this is a likely place for a seal to pop up its head. So he sits down and watches.

By-and-by, up comes the round head of the seal. The bear pounces upon it. He drags the seal out of the water, tears it to pieces, and eats it.

Sometimes he dives into the water after a fish, and is so quick, that he catches it before it can escape. Sometimes he comes upon a bit of dead whale, and thinks it a great treat.

When he cannot find food on the coast, he goes to some spot where the snow has melted, and feeds on berries. If he is very hungry indeed, he is glad to eat even the sea-weed on the shore.

QUESTIONS

Where does the Polar Bear live? Why does he not mind the cold? Why does he not slip on the ice? Why does he live near the sea? What food is he very fond of? What does he think a great treat? When he cannot find food on the coast where does he go? What does he get there?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

NEVER PUT OFF

WHENE'ER a task is set to you,

Don't idly sit and view it;

Nor be content to wish it done;—

Begin at once and do it.

LESSON 31

THE FOX AND THE GOAT

EVERY one had heard of the fox's cunning;(1) and every one but the goat believed in it.

One very hot summer, when all the springs and brooks were dry, a fox looked about all day in vain for water to drink. He even crept slyly into a farm-yard; but the dog saw him, and he had to leave in a great hurry.

At last he thought of an old well in the middle of a field near the farm; and to it he set off with all speed. When he came to it, he found that the water was quite out of his reach.

He tried again and again to reach it, and at last tumbled in, heels over head!

He got a great fright, but he was not much hurt; and as the water was not very deep, he was glad enough to drink.

When his thirst was gone, he wished to get out; but the sides of the well were steep, and even when standing on his hind legs, he could not reach halfway to the top. There he was, a close prisoner!

The next morning, a goat came down to the well; and seeing the fox there, she said, "Is the water good?"

"Oh!" said the fox, "come down, my friend; it is so good, that I cannot stop drinking it!"

Down jumped long-beard at once; but no sooner was she down than the fox leaped on her back, and in an instant was on the green grass! As he sprang to the top of the well, he turned round and said, "Thank you, madam; I bid you good morning!"

The silly goat soon saw how foolish she had been, to listen(2) to the cunning fox.—Never trust those who are known to be sly and selfish(3) .

QUESTIONS

Who would not believe in the fox's cunning? What made her change her mind? How did the fox get into the well? What did he find, when he had done drinking? How did he tempt the goat to jump down? As soon as she was down, what did he do? What did the goat then see? Never trust those who are known to be…?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Cunning, slyness.

(2) Listen, give heed.

(3) Selfish, caring only for oneself.

LESSON 32

PLAY

NOW'S the time for merry play,—

No more lessons for to-day!

Then play, play, play!

Duty has been bravely done,

Knowledge has been wisely won,

Now for frolic(1) and for fun!

Then play, play, play!

Join we in a cheerful ring,

Lightly laugh and gaily sing!

Then play, play, play!

Industry(2) can frolic earn,

Ready was the head to learn,

Now the feet must have their turn!

Then play, play, play!

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Frolic, wild sport.

(2) Industry, hard work.

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE II

A HOUSE

THE OUTSIDE.—What part of a house is built first? The foundation.

Where is it built? Under the ground.

Why is it built under ground? To make the house stand firmly, and to keep rain and damp from getting under the walls.

What is built on the foundation? The walls.

Of what are they built? Of brick or stone, and mortar.

Of what are they built when bricks or stones cannot be had? Of wood; sometimes of iron.

What is a place where stones are got? A quarry.

Of what are bricks made? Of clay and ashes, burned in the fire.

What is a man who builds with bricks? A bricklayer.

And one who builds with stone? A mason.

What has the mason to do, which the bricklayer has not? To hew and shape the stones.

Why does the bricklayer not need to do that? Because the bricks are made in moulds, and are all of the same size and shape.

What is mortar made of? Of lime and sand, mixed with water.

What is lime? It is a stone got in the earth, and burned in a kiln.

Why do the builders leave square openings in the walls? For the doors and windows.

What are the doors made of? Of wood.

Why can a child open a door which ten children could not carry? Because it moves so easily on its hinges.

What are the hinges made of? Of iron; sometimes of brass.

How is the door kept shut? By a latch or lock.

Of what are the windows made? Of wooden frames filled with glass.

Why are they made with glass? To let in the light, and keep out the wind and the rain.

What is glass made of? Of sand or flint and soda, which are melted together.

What do you call each square of glass in a window? A pane.

Why should the windows always be made to open? To let in fresh air during the day.

When the walls are built, how is the top of the house closed in? By the roof.

Of what is the roof made? Of wood, covered with slates or tiles.

What do you call the wooden beams in the roof? Rafters.

What are slates? A dark-coloured stone, easily split into thin plates.

What are tiles? Broad thin bricks, made of clay.

With what are cottages often covered? With straw, then called thatch.

What part of the wall rises higher than the roof? The chimneys.

Why is this? That the smoke may be carried away from the house.

What are generally put on the top of the chimneys? Chimney cans, made of clay.

THE INSIDE.—How is the inside of a house divided? Into rooms, and stairs, and passages.

Why are there different rooms in a house? Because it is not good for us to eat our food in the same room in which it is cooked; or to sleep at night in the same room in which we live by day.

What is the room for cooking in called? The kitchen.

And rooms for sleeping in? Bed-rooms.

And rooms for dining in? Dining-rooms.

What are small sitting-rooms often called? Parlours.

What is the finest room in a house called? The drawing room.

Why is it so called? Because it is the room for with-drawing to after meals.

What are under-ground rooms called? Cellars.

For what are they used? To keep wine, and beer, and stores, and coal in.

Why are they not good to live or work in? Because they are generally damp and dark.

What are rooms in the roof of the house called? Attics or garrets.

What do all the rooms on one level make? A story.

How do you get from one room to another on the same story? By a passage.

What is the broad part of the passage at the entrance to a house? The lobby or hall.

How do you get from one story to another? By the stairs.

What are the stairs? A number of steps, made of wood or stone.

Why is it safer to have stone steps? In case of fire, wooden stairs are often burned before people in the upper stories can get out.

What are the floors made of? Generally of wood, cut into planks, and fitted closely together.

Of what is the kitchen floor often made? Of stone or brick.

What is the inside roof of a room called? The ceiling.

What are the floors covered with? With carpets, made of wool.

With what are the inside walls and the ceiling covered? With plaster, a mixture of lime, sand, and hair.

On what is the plaster generally laid? On thin strips of wood fastened to the wall, called laths.

How are the plaster walls covered? Sometimes by painting them; sometimes with paper-hangings.

How can we prevent too much light from coming into the room? By drawing down the blind.

How can we make the room quite dark during the day? By closing the shutters.

Of what use are shutters at night? They keep out wind, noise, and robbers.

How do we light our rooms at night? By candles, oil-lamps, gas, or electricity.

Why can you not see gas till it is lighted? Because it is a vapour or air-like body.

From what is it made? It is the vapour which rises from some kinds of coal when heated in an iron box.

How is it brought to the house? It is brought from the gas-work in iron pipes laid under the road or street.

How is it carried through the house? In lead pipes.

What else is carried in lead pipes? Water.

What is the large box in which the water is kept? A cistern.

Are all houses supplied with water? No; some people have to carry it from a well or pump.

Why should every house be supplied with water? Because it is needed for health, as much as air or food, and because no drain can work without it.

What are stoves or grates made of? Of iron.

How do we prevent the fire from burning the floor? The part of the floor nearest the fire is made of stone—it is called the hearth-stone.

LESSON 33

THE TRAVELLER AND THE LION

A TRAVELLER in South Africa once set out on a long journey.(1) When crossing a wide plain, far from home, he saw a lion at a distance. The lion saw him at the same time, and began slowly to follow him.

When the traveller walked fast, the lion walked fast! When he stopped, the lion stopped! The man saw that the lion meant to follow him until dark, and then spring upon him.

He was not able to run away from the lion, for the lion could run faster than he. So he thought of a plan to cheat him.

He came to a high cliff, below which was a deep hollow. Crouching down, he hid behind a rock, where the lion could not see him. Then taking a branch which he found among the rocks, he put on it his coat and his hat, so as to make them look like a man.

He then held the branch above the rock behind which he was hid.

Soon the lion came creeping slyly along. The moment he saw the coat and the hat, he made a sudden spring at them. He bounded(2) right over the place where the man lay, and, falling down among the rocks, was killed!

The traveller was saved, and ere long he reached his own home.

QUESTIONS

What did the traveller see at a distance? What did the lion do? What did the man think the lion meant to do? What plan did the man think of? What place did he choose for doing it? What did he put upon a branch? What did the lion think they were? What did the lion do when he saw them? What happened to the lion? And the man…?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Journey, travel; march.

(2) Bounded, sprang.

LESSON 34

THE BEAR IN SCHOOL

I.

A BOY rambling(1) in the woods many years ago, in a part of America where bears used to live, one day found the cub(2) of a Black Bear. It was very young, and looked like a little dog covered all over with thick brown hair.

The boy carried it home. It was fed and brought up about the house, and soon became as tame as a dog.

Every day the boy had to go to school some way off. It was not long before the bear went with him, and it used to roam about the fields till school was over.

At first the other boys were afraid of Henry's bear, but before long they became great friends.

Many of them used to bring their dinners to school in small bags or baskets. These were hung on pegs on the wall, and at the play-hour they were taken down, and the bear was sure then to get a good share of the bread and butter, and apples and pears.

Things went on in this way for a long time; but one day the animal was nowhere to be seen. It had found its way to the woods, and did not return.(3) Search was made for it, but without success.

QUESTIONS

What did the boy find in the woods? What did he do with it? What did it soon become? Where used it to go with him? What did the boys give it? Where had it gone when it was missed?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

II.

Many years passed away, in which time great changes took place in the school. The old master died, and a new one took his place.

A new set of boys filled the seats in the old school-house.

One very cold wintry day, while the master was out, a boy chanced to leave the door half open, and on a sudden a large black bear walked into the school!

The boys were in terror.(4) Some ran to the door, others made for the tables. One big fellow jumped out of the window. Two or three little girls hid themselves under the desks. But one brave boy seized a piece of wood, and told the girls not to be afraid, for he would protect(5) them!

But the bear did not harm any one. It walked up quietly to the fire, and warmed itself. It seemed to be very much at home, and to feel very glad to get into such warm, snug quarters.(6)

It sat by the fire for a short time, and then walked up to the wall where the dinner baskets of the scholars were hanging.

Standing on its hind feet, it put its paw into the baskets, and helped itself to the bread and fruit, and other good things in them! It then quietly walked out of the school by the way it had walked in.

In the meantime, the boy who had jumped out of the window had alarmed(7) the village.

A number of young men started with their guns, to shoot the bear. As its track was very plain in the snow, they soon came up with it, and killed it.

Then it was that they found, by certain marks upon its skin, that the poor bear was no enemy, but the old friend of their own schooldays! Great was the sorrow felt for its death.

QUESTIONS

What changes took place in the school in the course of time? What happened one cold day in winter? What did the boys and the girls do? Where did the bear go? What did it do when it had warmed itself? What had the boy who jumped out of the window done? How did the men follow it? What did they do to it? What did they then find?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Rambling, wandering; roaming.

(2) Cub, young one; whelp.

(3) Return, come back.

(4) Terror, great fear.

(5) Protect, guard; keep harm off.

(6) Quarters, place to live in.

(7) Alarmed, called the men together; roused.

LESSON 35

THE FAIRY RING

LET us laugh and let us sing,

Dancing in a merry ring;

We'll be fairies on the green,

Sporting round the Fairy Queen.

Like the seasons of the year,

Round we circle in a sphere;(1)

I'll be Summer, you'll be Spring,

Dancing in a fairy ring.

Harry will be Winter wild;

Little Charlie, Autumn mild;

Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring,

Dancing in a fairy ring.

Spring and Summer glide(2) away,

Autumn comes with tresses(3) gray;

Winter, hand in hand with Spring,

Dancing in a fairy ring.

Faster! faster! round we go,

While our cheeks like roses glow;(4)

Free as birds upon the wing,

Dancing in a fairy ring.

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Sphere, a circle; a ring.

(2) Glide, pass swiftly and smoothly.

(3) Tresses, knots of hair; ringlets.

(4) Glow, become red.

LESSON 36

THE WHALE

THE whale is the largest animal in the world. It is so large, that perhaps you have never seen a room big enough to hold one.

It is commonly called a fish; but learned men say that it is not a fish, for it breathes air as we do.

As it does not live on land, it does not need legs to walk with. It swims in the sea by the help of its tail and fins.

Though it has a very large mouth, it has no teeth; so it lives on the small creatures that it finds swimming in the sea, and it swallows them whole. Only think what a number of shrimps a whale must need to eat for dinner!

Men go in ships to those parts of the world where whales are found, and kill them with iron spears, called harpoons.(1) But it is very dangerous(2) work; for a whale often upsets a boat with a blow of its tail.

When the whale is dead, the sailors put its fat, called blubber, into casks, and bring it home, to be made into oil.

Whalebone, which comes from its jaws, is used in making umbrellas, and many other things; and part of one kind of whale, called the Sperm Whale, is used for making candles.

Plunging away through the deep deep sea,

The huge whale sports in his kingly glee.(3)

Down to the bottom sometimes he will go,

Then up to the surface(4) again, to blow.

There is danger and dread in catching the whale,

For he'll toss o'er a boat with a blow of his tail;

And then with a plunge away goes he,

Bounding(5) along through the deep deep sea.

The whale! the whale! the mighty and free,

Is the monarch(6) and pride of the deep deep sea!

QUESTIONS

Which is the largest animal in the world? Why is it not a fish? Why must it live on very small fishes? What are the spears called with which the whale is hunted? Why is whale-hunting dangerous? What do the ships bring home from the whale-hunt? Where does whalebone come from? What is it used for?

————————————————————

(1) Harpoon, a spear used to kill the whale.

(2) Dangerous, unsafe.

(3) Glee, joy.

(4)  Surface, the top of the water.

(5) Bounding, moving forward quickly; springing.

(6) Monarch, king.

LESSON 37

THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE

A HARE, very proud of her speed, once ran a race with a tortoise. In a moment the hare got far before her rival,(1) who, with his heavy shell on his back, could move only at a very slow pace.(2)

"Ha! ha!" laughed the hare, as she stopped half-way to glance back at the tortoise creeping on far behind; "if you don't ply your short legs a little faster, my friend, I'll be half over the country before you reach the end of the field."

The tortoise said not a word, but toiled on.

"Really," said the saucy hare, "if I were to hop on three legs I should get on much faster than you do! I think that I'll take a short nap. If you were but a yard from the goal,(3) I could overtake you with a few bounds."

So the hare lay down on the grass, and soon fell fast asleep. She heard not the little feet of the tortoise, as he came creeping up to the place; she saw him not as he went steadily on, never stopping to look behind.

Presently the hare awoke, and sprang up, ready to dart on like the wind. "Where is the tortoise?" cried she.

"Here," cried a voice from the end of the field;" slow and steady has won the race!"

QUESTIONS

With whom did the hare once run a race? Who got far ahead in a moment? What did she say as she glanced back? What did the tortoise say? What did the hare then do to fill up the time? What did the tortoise do in the meantime? What did the hare cry out when she awoke? What was the answer?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Rival, the one she was striving with.

(2) Pace, rate of walking.

(3) Goal, the winning-post.

LESSON 38

SPEEDY AND STEADY

"WELL, Amy, how are you getting on with your napkin?" cried Lizzy, whose swift fingers seemed to fly over her work.

"Not very fast," replied quiet little Amy, without raising her eyes; "I have almost finished(1) one side."

"One side!" said Lizzy, with a laugh which was neither pleasant nor kind; "why, we both began hemming our napkins at the same time, and I'm now at the fourth side of mine!"

"I know that I am slow," sighed Amy.

"You may well say that!" cried Lizzy.

"But I'll try to be steady, and to do my best," said the little girl, as she threaded her tiny needle, and went on with her work.

"As I sew so fast," cried Lizzy, "I am sure to have finished my napkin long before the bell rings for dinner. I'll just run for a minute to the garden, to see if the roses are out;"—so, tossing down her work on a chair, Lizzy flew off.

Amy longed for the fresh air and the flowers, but her work must first be done. Steadily she laid down her broad hem, and had finished the second side of her napkin before her sister came back.

"Ah, you plodding little thing!" cried Lizzy; "you will never get up to me. I'll have time to go to my room and put my new picture on the wall."

Off went gay little Lizzy: Amy went on with her work. Before her sister again entered the room, the third side of her napkin was hemmed.

"Had you not better finish your sewing?" said Amy. "It must be near dinner-time now."

"Oh! I can finish it in two minutes; only I want to look at that story, which Tom told us was so amusing."

"But if you are late?"

"No fear of that!" cried Lizzy; "no one is so likely to be late as a slow little creature like you!"

Poor Amy made no reply; stitch after stitch, stitch after stitch, quietly she worked on. Lizzy was soon so deep in her story that she forgot all about her work, till startled by the sound of the bell.

"Can it be dinner-time!" she cried. "Oh dear, and my napkin is not hemmed! And yours—"

"It is just finished," said Amy, as she quietly folded it up.

"'Tis just like 'The Hare and the Tortoise,'" thought Lizzy, who, though pert(2) and vain, had enough of sense to take a lesson.

Quickness may have the start, but the quiet, steady worker does most in the end.

QUESTIONS

What work were the two sisters doing? Which was furthest on? What did she think she might do? What had Amy finished before her sister came back? What did Lizzy then think she had time to do? When she came back, how far had Amy got on? Did Lizzy then take up her work? What then? What startled her while she was reading? How far on was Amy? In what state was Lizzy's work? What did she say it was like?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Finished, ended; done.

(2) Pert, forward.

LESSON 39

THE WOOD-MOUSE

DO you know the little wood-mouse,

That pretty little thing

That sits among the forest leaves,

Beside the forest spring?

Its fur is as red as the chestnut,

And it is small and slim;

It leads a life most innocent(1)

Within the forest dim.

'Tis a timid,(2) gentle creature,

And seldom comes in sight;

It has a long and wiry tail,

And eyes both black and bright.

It makes its nest of soft dry moss,

In a hole so deep and strong;

And there it sleeps secure(3) and warm,

The dreary winter long.

And though it keeps no almanac,(4)

It knows when flowers are springing;

And waketh to its summer life

When nightingales are singing.

Upon the boughs the squirrel sits,

The wood-mouse plays below;

And plenty of food it finds itself

Where the beech and chestnut grow.

In the hedge-sparrow's nest it sits,

When its summer brood(5) is fled,

And picks the berries from the bough

Of the hawthorn overhead.

I saw a little wood-mouse once,

Like Oberon(6) in his hall,

With the green green moss beneath his feet,

Sit under a mushroom tall.

I saw him sit, and his dinner eat,

All under the forest tree;

His dinner of chestnut ripe and red,

And he ate it heartily.

I wish you could have seen him there!

It did my spirit good,

To see the small thing God had made

Thus eating in the wood.

I saw that He regardeth(7) them—

Those creatures weak and small;

Their table in the wild(8) is spread

By Him who cares for all.

—MARY HOWITT

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Innocent, harmless.

(2) Timid, full of fear.

(3) Secure, safe.

(4) Almanac, a list of the days and months.

(5)  Brood, the young birds.

(6) Oberon, the king of the fairies.

(7) Regardeth, cares for; watches over.

(8) Wild, the forest.

LESSON 40

THE BOY AND THE PLUMS

A MAN was taking a basket of plums to market. He carried the basket on his head. As he walked along the road, three or four of the plums dropped out, and fell on the ground.

The man did not notice them fall, so he went on. But a poor boy saw them fall, and picked them up.

"Here! here!" he called to the man; who turned round when he heard him, and stopped. The boy brought the plums to him, and put them in his hand.

"Thank you kindly," said the man as he took the fruit; "and now," said he, putting his basket on the ground, "take the best you can pick for yourself, for you are an honest boy."

When the man had gone on, a lad came up and said to the boy, "You might as well have kept all that fell; for then you could have given some tome."

"No, no," replied the boy: "you may have this plum if you like, for it is mine to give; but if I had given you what was not mine, I should have been stealing. Poor as I am, I am too proud to lose my good name."

QUESTIONS

What had the man in his basket? What happened as he walked along the road? Who picked them up? Did he keep them? What did he do? What did the man say to him? What did he offer him? What did the lad who came to him say? What did the boy reply?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 41

THE TWO CROSSING-SWEEPERS

THEY could not claim a single friend

Beneath the wide-spread sky;

But to each other they were bound

By poverty's strong tie.

Though poor, they were too proud to beg,

Too upright far to steal;

And gladly would they sweep and clean,

To gain an honest meal.

But, sad to say, the only food

They often had to eat

Was scraps of bread and broken fruit

They picked up from the street.

It was a bleak and bitter morn

Just at the close of March,

And they had slept the night before

Within a market arch.

As very hungry, very cold,

They wandered down the street,

Joe picked an apple from the ground,

And thought, "Why, here's a treat!

"It has been rather kicked about,

But it's a good one still;"

And, turning to his mate, he said,

"What have you picked up, Bill?"

"I haven't found a single scrap,"

Bill mournfully did say—

"Then, as you are the younger, Bill,

Here—take and bite away."

The poor boy bit a small piece off:

"Ha! that won't do!" cried Joe;

"Bite bigger, Billy—bigger yet!

You're welcome—that you know!"

A noble lesson this should teach,

Dear children unto you:

Do unto others as you would

That they to you should do.

—R. P. S.

QUESTIONS

What were the two boys too proud to do? and too upright to…? How did they get their living? What was the only food they often had? Where did they spend a night in March? What did Joe find in the morning? Did he begin to eat it himself? That would have been…? What did he do with it? What did he say when Bill bit off a small piece? What lesson should this teach us?

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE III

THE SEASONS

INTO how many seasons is the year divided? Four: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

WINTER.—Which is the coldest season? Winter.

Is it winter all over the Earth at the same time? No; when it is winter in the northern half of the Earth, it is summer in the southern half; and when it is summer in the north, it is winter in the south.

When is it winter in either half of the Earth? When that half is least directly under the sun's rays.

What effect has this on the length of the days? The days are shortest in winter, and the nights longest. The shortest day is the middle of winter.

What kind of weather have we in winter? Very cold, with frost and snow.

What is snow? Water frozen as it falls from the clouds.

What is it when the drops are frozen into little balls? Hail.

Of what use is snow? It covers the earth, and guards the seeds and young plants from the frost.

Of what use is frost? It kills many insects that injure plants; and it crumbles the clods and makes them fit to receive the seed.

What is frozen water? Ice.

How do we play on the ice? We skate and slide.

How do we play with the snow? We build snow-houses, and throw snow-balls.

Where do the birds go in winter? Many of them go to warmer countries—as the swallow, the cuckoo, and the nightingale.

What do those that remain do? They come near our houses, and become very tame.

How are the birds fed on Christmas-day in some countries? A sheaf of corn is tied on a pole, and put up for them to eat.

What birds often hop into the house in winter? The robin redbreast in Britain; the black and white snow-bird in America.

What do some animals do in winter? Hide themselves in holes, and sleep for weeks at a time.

How do we keep our houses warm in winter? We have fires in our rooms.

What does the fire burn in? The grate.

What do we burn in it? Wood and coal.

Where does coal come from? It is dug out of deep pits, far below the surface of the ground.

After the middle of winter, what do the days become? Longer and longer.

SPRING.—Which season follows Winter? Spring: so called because plants then begin to spring or grow.

What changes do you then see in nature? The grass becomes green, the flowers begin to send up new leaves, and the little buds appear on the hedges and trees.

What does the farmer do in spring? He ploughs and harrows the ground, and sows the seed.

What is a harrow? A large kind of rake with long teeth, used to break the clods of earth which the plough has turned up.

When is the ground harrowed again? After the seed is sown, to cover the seeds with earth.

What is the young corn like? Green, like blades of grass.

What helps it to grow? The rain and the sunshine.

What do the birds do in spring? They begin to build their nests.

What are the chief birds of spring? The thrush and the cuckoo, in England; in America, the robin and the song-sparrow. The cuckoo is called in England the bird of spring.

What is the length of the day in the middle of spring? The day is exactly the same length as the night. The sun rises at six in the morning, and sets at six in the evening.

SUMMER.—Which is the next season? Summer, the warmest season of the year.

What goes on in the fields in summer? Hay-making.

What is hay? Ripe grass cut down and dried in the sun.

For what is it used? To feed horses and cows, chiefly in winter, when they cannot get fresh grass.

What is the corn like in summer? It is full-grown, the ears are formed on the stalk, and it is growing yellow as it ripens in the sun.

What do you notice about the sheep in summer? It is the time when the little lambs play in the fields.

What is done to the sheep then? They are washed in a pool or stream, and then their wool is shorn.

What are the birds doing in summer? The young birds have learned to fly about, and are singing in the woods.

What bird comes back to us in summer? The swallow.

Why are the woods and fields so pleasant in summer? The flowers are in full bloom, the air is sweet and soft, and the trees shelter us from the warm sunshine.

What is midsummer day? The longest day in the year.

And after that? The days get shorter and shorter, and so we are carried into Autumn.

AUTUMN.—What is Autumn the season of? Of harvest.

What is harvest? The ingathering of the fruits of the earth.

What is the first work the farmer has to do then? Reaping, or cutting down the corn.

What is done with it after it is cut down? It is left in the fields to dry for some time, and is then built into stacks.

What is done with it, when it is required for food? It is sent to the threshing-mill, where the seeds are separated from the straw and from the chaff.

What is straw? The stalk or stem of corn.

What is it used for? As bedding for horses and as roofing for houses. Sometimes it is plaited, and made into hats and bonnets.

What is chaff? The empty husk of the corn-seed.

Where is the seed sent, from the threshing-mill? To the flourmill, to be ground into flour and meal.

Where is it sent next? It is now ready for the baker, who makes it into loaves and rolls.

What kind of flour is chiefly used in making bread? Wheat flour.

What does the farmer grow besides hay and corn? Pease and beans for his horses; turnips for his cattle in winter; and potatoes, to last us till next summer.

What else is gathered in autumn? Fruit is gathered, in gardens and orchards; nuts and blackberries are gathered in the woods.

What is the length of the day in the middle of autumn? The same length as the night,—as in the middle of spring.

But what difference is there? After the middle of spring, the days get longer and the nights shorter; after the middle of autumn, the days get shorter and the nights longer.

And after autumn? We pass again to the cold days of winter.

LESSON 42

TOO CLEVER

FRED came from school the first half-year

As learned as could be,

And wished to show to all around

How smart a boy was he.

And so at dinner he began,—

"Papa, you think you see

Two roasted chickens on that dish,

Now I will prove them three!

"First, this is one, and that is two,

As plain as plain can be;

I add the one unto the two,

And two and one make three."—

"Just so," then answered his papa;

"If what you say is true,

I will take one, mamma takes one,

The third we leave for you!"

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 43

THE PRINCE AND THE PRISONERS

THERE was once a prince who now and then paid a visit to the chief prison in the land over which he ruled.

One day he saw in the prison yard five prisoners, with chains on their wrists, going to their work.

He made them halt before him, and then asked them, one by one, how they came to be in prison.

The first man said that he had done no wrong, but that the chief witness against him had told a lie.

The second said that the judge who had put him in prison had had a spite against him.

The third said that he had been found guilty through a mistake.

The fourth said that he had been taken for another man.

For these reasons they all begged the prince to pardon them.

But he turned to the fifth man, and said, "And why are you here?"

"Alas!" he replied, "I stole a purse, and dare not ask your pardon."

"Then," said the prince," you are not fit to live with such honest men as these, who say that they have done no wrong!"

Turning to the jailer, he said, "Take off this man's chains, and send him away. He has not added to his crime the sin of telling a lie."

QUESTIONS

Where did the prince see the five prisoners? What did he ask them? What did the first man say? And the second? And the third? And the fourth? What did these all beg? What did the fifth say? What did the prince answer? What did he tell the jailer to do? Why?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 44

THE BRAVE LITTLE HOLLANDER

IN some parts of Holland the land lies so low, that the people have to build great walls of sand and earth, to keep out the sea. These walls are called dykes.

Sometimes the waves break down these walls, and then the sea rushes in through the breach, and spreads over the land.

Houses and trees, cattle and sheep, have thus been washed away, and many people drowned.

Once, when a little boy was going home in the evening, he saw a hole in one of the dykes, through which the water was trickling.

His father had often told him that when this happened, unless the water was stopped it would soon make the hole so big that the sea would flow over the land.

At first, he thought he would run home and tell his father. But then he said to himself, "It may be dark before father can come, and we shall not be able to find the hole again. Or it may get so large that it will be too late to stop it. I must stay now, and do the best I can alone."

The brave little boy sat down, and put his hand in the hole, to keep back the water. There he stayed, hour after hour, in the cold and the dark, all through the night!

In the morning, a man came past and saw him. He could not think what the boy was doing there. So he called out to him,—

"What are you doing there, my boy?"

"There is a hole in the dyke," said the boy, "and I am keeping back the water."

Poor little boy! he was so cold and tired that he could scarcely speak.

The man came quickly and set him free. He got the hole closed up, and thus the land was saved,—thanks to the brave little Hollander!

QUESTIONS

What are dykes? What happens when they are broken down? What did a little boy once notice on his way home? What had his father told him? What did he at first think of doing? Why did he not do this? What did he do? How long did he remain there? Who found him there in the morning? In what state was he? What had the brave little Hollander done?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 45

WHAT THE SPARROW CHIRPS

I'M only a little sparrow,

A bird of low degree;(1)

My life is of little value,—

But there's One who cares for me.

He gave me a coat of feathers:

It is very plain, I know,

With never a speck of crimson,

For it was not made for show;

But it keeps me warm in winter,

And it shields(2) me from the rain;

Were it bordered with gold or purple,

Perhaps it would make me vain!

And now that the spring-time cometh.

I will build me a little nest,

With many a chirp of pleasure,

In the spot I like the best.

I have no barn or store-house,

I neither sow nor reap;

God gives me a sparrow's portion,

But never a seed to keep.

If my meal is sometimes scanty,

Close picking makes it sweet;

I have always enough to feed me,

And "life is more than meat."

I know there are many sparrows—

All over the world we are found;

But our heavenly Father knoweth

When one of us falls to the ground.

Though small, we are never forgotten;

Though weak, we are never afraid:

For we know there is One who keepeth

The life of the creatures He made.

I fly through the thickest forest,

I light on many a spray;

I have no chart nor compass,

But I never lose my way.

And I fold my wings at twilight,

Wherever I happen to be;

For the Father is always watching,

And no harm will come to me.

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1)  Degree, rank.

(2) Shields, protects.

LESSON 46

THE LION

THE lion is called the "king of beasts." He is fierce and bold, very noble-looking, and of great strength.

The home of the largest lions is far away in the wild mountains and great plains of Africa.

The lion lives also in Asia; but there he is not so large and strong as the lion of Africa.

He is seldom seen abroad during the day; but when the sun is going down, the lion leaves his den and goes forth to hunt. He steals along softly, and makes no sound as he treads.

When all is still, his terrible voice is heard. In the silence of the night it sounds like thunder.

If he is near a village, the dogs bark, and the horses, oxen, and camels rush about in terror; for they know the voice of the lion. The men light fires all around, and toss about flaming torches, to scare(1) him away.

But he minds them very little. He goes on to the place where the cattle are kept, and in a few minutes a horse or a cow falls beneath his terrible paw. In this way the natives of the north of Africa often lose a great part of their flocks and herds.

Although the lion seldom leaves his den before evening, yet, when he is hungry, he may even in the day-time be found roaming over the plains.

There, large herds of wild asses and antelopes go trooping along.

They scent the lion at a great distance; and when they hear his voice, they scour(2) away over the desert like the wind.

In their terror, some of them come near the place where the lion lies hid. Then he couches,(3) his eye glares, and with one bound he springs on his prey.

The lion has a long, shaggy mane, and his skin is of a dull yellow colour.

LION

LIONESS

The lioness is much smaller than the lion, and she has no mane.

She makes her home in the deepest part of the forest, and there she lives with her young ones. Woe to him, whether man or beast, that come snear the lioness in her den!

QUESTIONS

What is the lion called? For what is he remarkable? Where is the home of the largest lions? Where else is the lion found? When does he go forth to hunt? How are the other animals then alarmed? How do men try to scare him away? Where do flocks and herds suffer greatly from his attacks? What sometimes makes him come out in the day-time? What animals does he then prey upon? How does he catch them? In what does the lioness differ from the lion?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Scare, frighten.

(2) Scour, rush swiftly.

(3) Couches, lies down, prepared to spring.

LESSON 47

THE TIGER

IN India, there are vast tracts of waste land called jungle. The jungle is a part of the forest overgrown with tall thick grass and bushes. It is there chiefly that the tiger has his haunts.(1) There, by day as well as by night, he is on the watch for his prey.(2)

The skin of the tiger is covered all over with beautiful black stripes.

Though the tiger is very handsome with his beautiful striped skin, he is more fierce and cruel than any other creature that lives in the forest. People are even more afraid of him than they are of the lion. The lion is content with enough to satisfy his hunger, but the tiger is never satisfied. He tries to kill all he can, and dreadful is the havoc(3) he often makes.

The tiger creeps through the jungle so softly, that he can get near his prey without noise or alarm. Then with a swift bound he springs upon his victim,(4) and strikes it down.

The tiger does not run, as the horse does. He goes over the ground by making bounds or springs, one after the other, faster than the fleetest horse can run!

When an army is encamped near a jungle, the men require to be on the watch, for sometimes a tiger springs out. He has been known to seize a man and carry him off, before anything could be done to save him.

The tiger swims with the utmost ease. When he is hunted, if he is near a river he will plunge into it at once, and swim boldly across to the jungle on the other side. In this way he often escapes from the hunters. In India the tiger is hunted with elephants and dogs.

QUESTIONS

What is the jungle? What animal has his haunts there? What difference is there between the tiger and the lion? What is the colour of the tiger's skin? Why are people more afraid of him than of the lion? How does he catch his prey? How does he go over the ground? What has he been known to do when an army was encamped near the jungle? How does he often escape from the hunters? How is he hunted?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1)  Haunts, the places he frequents.

(2) Prey, animals seized for food.

(3) Havoc, destruction; slaughter.

(4) Victim, prey.

LESSON 48

THE LEOPARD

THE leopard is one of the most beautiful of the animals of the cat tribe. It is found both in Asia and in Africa. It is not so large as the tiger, but its form is more graceful, and its yellow skin is covered with beautiful black spots.

In India it is called the tree-tiger; because it can run up a tree like a cat, and climb from bough to bough. It thus catches many creatures of the forest that the lion and the tiger could not reach.

When a leopard is hunted, he hides himself as long as he can in the jungle; but the dogs run among the long grass, and soon find him out. When driven from his refuge,(1) he tries to escape by running up a tree.

There he is safe from the dogs, but not from the guns of the hunters. But they dare not go too near, lest he should spring upon them. They keep at some distance, and try to shoot him.

Sometimes he is shot down at once; but if he is only wounded, he will spring upon them. Many a hunter has been hurt by the teeth and claws of a wounded leopard.

The leopard is as fond of chickens as the fox; and, like him, he prowls(2) about the henroost at night. In the morning the farmer will know that he has had a visit from the leopard, when he finds, as he sometimes does, that all his fowls are gone.

The leopard has often been tamed, and in a tame state he is very playful. The cubs of the leopard are pretty, graceful creatures, and sport about with each other like so many kittens.

QUESTIONS

To what tribe of animals does the leopard belong? Where is it found? What is its skin covered with? What is it called in India? Why? What does a leopard do when he is hunted? What, when driven out of the jungle? How is he killed then? Why do the hunters need to be careful? Of what does he often rob the farmer?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Refuge, hiding-place.

(2) Prowls, roves in search of prey.

LESSON 49

THE ZEBRA

THE zebra is the most beautiful of all the animals of the ass tribe. Its home is in Africa.

Its skin is smooth as velvet. Its body is marked all over with black stripes, which extend down to its very feet.

It is found chiefly in hilly districts, which it loves better than the plains.

It is a very timid creature, fleeing to its mountain home when alarmed by the sight of any strang eobject.

Travellers say that troops of beautiful striped zebras may often be seen in Africa drinking at springs of water.

They go to the springs generally between sunset and sunrise.

There they are followed by the lion, who often steals upon them before they are aware of their danger.

The moment the zebras know of the presence of their terrible foe, they flee in the wildest terror to the hills, or across the plain.

It is said that the lion will not go to the springs when the moon shines brightly, as then he would easily be seen.

He loves the darkness; for then the beautiful zebra more readily becomes his prey.

It has been found impossible to tame this beautiful creature. The zebra cannot be made to work like the horse or the ass.

It has been made for a life of freedom—to gallop about among the hills and the wild desert plains of Africa.

QUESTIONS

To what tribe of animals does the zebra belong? What marks has it on its skin? Where is it chiefly found? When do the zebras go to the springs? What animal follows them there? What do the zebras do when they know of his approach? When does the lion not go to the springs? Why? What great difference is there between the zebra and the horse or the ass?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 50

THE JAGUAR

THE jaguar has his home in the New World. He lives in the great forests of South America.

His skin is covered with dark spots, something like the leopard's, and he may be called the leopard of America.

The favourite food of the jaguar is the flesh of the monkey; but he finds it no easy task to catch the nimble(1) monkeys.

Sometimes, however, he finds them sleeping high up on the trees; and then he steals among them before they are aware that he is near.

A few strokes of his terrible paw soon dashes some of them to the ground. The jaguar then descends, to feast at his leisure.(2)

Travellers in the forests often hear the fierce roar of the jaguar, mingled with the yells of the monkeys. These sounds tell of the deadly work that is going on among the trees.

The jaguar also feeds on other animals, and is strong enough to kill a deer or a horse.

If any animal pursued by the jaguar should take to the water, that makes no difference to him. He plunges into the water after it, and soon seizes his prey.

The jaguar is also fond of fish, and watches for them by the river-side.

As soon as a fish comes within reach, he strikes it with his paw, and with his sharp claws he throws it on the bank.

He catches birds too; and so quick are his movements, that he will bound within reach of a bird, and strike it down before it has time to escape.

QUESTIONS

Where does the jaguar live? What other animal is he like? What is his favourite food? How does he best succeed in catching them? What other animals does the jaguar feed on? What does he do if his prey takes to the water? How does he catch fish? What else does he catch? How?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Nimble, active; quick in motion.

(2) Leisure, spare time; ease.

LESSON 51

METALS

METALS are seldom found in a pure state. They are generally found mixed with earth, stones, or other metals, from which they are separated by washing, crushing, or burning.

Gold is yellow and bright, heavy and soft. It is found chiefly in Africa and in North America.

The districts(1) where gold is found are called "gold diggings." It is usually obtained in the form of small grains called "gold dust," but sometimes also in that of lumps called "nuggets." Gold is also found mixed with sand in the beds of rivers.

Gold is the most precious(2) of all metals. It is chiefly made into coins and ornaments. Sovereigns, half-sovereigns, brooches, bracelets, rings, watches, and chains are made of gold.

Silver is white and shining. It is heavy, but not so heavy as gold. Silver is found chiefly in America.

Silver is a precious metal, next in value to gold. It is made into coins, ornaments, and many useful articles. Half-crowns, florins, shillings, sixpences, and threepenny pieces are made of silver.

There are also silver brooches, watches, and chains; silver knives and forks; silver spoons, cups, and boxes.

Lead is of a bluish-gray colour. It is the softest of all metals. It is found in various parts of the British Isles, as well as in other parts of the world.

Lead is one of the common metals. Being very soft, it is easily made to assume(3) any shape. It is sometimes used to cover the roofs of houses and churches; it is also made into water pipes and cisterns.(4)

Iron is of a dark gray colour. It is hard and brittle. Great Britain produces it in large quantities.

Iron is the most useful metal known. It is required in nearly every trade. Ships, houses, churches, engines, and carriages of all kinds, require more or less iron.

With gold and silver we make our coins, pay our accounts, and adorn our persons. With iron we make our tools, defend our country, and supply a thousand wants.

QUESTIONS

In what state are metals generally found? What qualities does gold possess? Where is gold chiefl y found? What are gold diggings? In what form is gold usually obtained? What are nuggets? Where also is gold sometimes found? For what is gold used? Describe silver. For what is silver used? Describe lead. For what is lead used? Describe iron. For what is iron used? Compare the uses of gold, silver, and iron.

PRONUNCIATION

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(1) Districts, tracts of country.

(2) Precious, costly.

(3) Assume, take.

(4) Cisterns, water-tanks.

LESSON 52

HIS GOOD ANGELS

ONE bleak winter night two little girls went out into the streets to go in search of their father. The wind swept fiercely(1) along, and almost drove them back.

But they tightly clasped each other's hands, and, bending their little forms to meet the pressure of the cold, rushing air, hurried on as fast as they could.

The streets were dark and deserted, but the children were not afraid: love filled their hearts, and left no room for fear.

At last they stopped before a house, over the door of which was a handsome gas-lamp, and a sign in large gilded letters.

It was a strange place for little girls to enter, and at such an hour; but, after standing for a moment, they pushed open the green door, and stepped into a large and brilliantly(2) lighted room.

"Well, now!" exclaimed a man who sat reading at a table. "Here are those babes again!—Come here, my little girls."

The children stopped and looked at him. Then he signed to them to approach;(3) and they did so.

"Are you looking for your father?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," replied Ada.

"Does your mother know you have come?"

"Yes, sir. She told us to go to bed: but we could not go until father returned; and so we came for him first."

"He is here."

"Is he?" And the children's faces brightened.

"Yes. He is at the other side of the room, asleep. I will wake him for you."

Being sound asleep, it was with difficulty that their father could be aroused.

As soon, however, as his eyes were fairly opened, and he found that Ada and Jane had each grasped tightly one of his hands, he rose up, and suffered them to lead him away.

"Oh dear!" exclaimed a man who had looked on with wonder and deep interest; "God bless the little ones, and give them a sober father!"

"They are his good angels," remarked another. "But I'm afraid they are not strong enough to lead him back to the paths he has forsaken. But God may yet turn his heart, and give these children a happy home."

The next evening, to the joy of his family, their father came home quite sober. After tea, while Ada and Jane were standing one on either side of him, he said, in a low whisper, "You shall never again have to go out at night to bring me home."

The children lifted their eyes quickly to his face, only half understanding what he meant.

"God helping me, I will never go to that place again," he added. "I will always stay at home with you."

Ada and Jane, now understanding what their father meant, hid their faces in his lap and wept for very gladness.

The children's love had saved their father. They were indeed his good angels. But he did not trust to his own strength alone: he continued to ask God to help him in his endeavours(4) to live a sober life; and ere long it was seen that he was a changed man.

QUESTIONS

Why did the little girls go out by night? How did they meet the wind? Why were they not afraid? Where did they stop? What did they do? What did a man say? What did he do? What passed between him and the children? Where was their father? What did he do when he saw Ada and Jane? What did a man say? What did another man call the children? What happened the next night? What did their father say? What had saved their father? What was the result?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Fiercely, wildly.

(2) Brilliantly, splendidly.

(3) Approach, come near.

(4) Endeavours, attempts.

LESSON 53

ABOUT KINGS AND QUEENS

KINGS and Queens are the chief persons in the countries over which they rule. The British Commonwealth and Empire(1) is ruled over by Queen Elizabeth II, who came to the throne after the death of her father, King George VI.

Kings and Queens have crowns, which are generally(2) made of gold and precious stones. The crown of the sovereign(3) of Britain is worth many thousands of pounds!

Some boys and girls may have seen the Queen of Great Britain passing through the towns in which they live; but it is very unlikely that they have seen her wearing her crown.

It is too heavy to be placed on her head, but it is sometimes carried before her. Except upon great occasions, such as her coronation, the Queen dresses just like any other lady in the land.

Here is a picture of some of the things which belong to the Queen.

The crown is placed on a velvet cushion, and lying near it are the golden orb and the sceptre. The swords which you see are carried before her by her officers.

Some people think that if they were kings and queens they would always be happy. This is a great mistake. The poorest subject is sometimes much happier than his sovereign.

Queen Elizabeth's time is not her own. She cannot always be seeking to please herself; for God has given her a great empire to rule over. The Bible tells us to honour those who rule over us; therefore it is our duty to obey the laws of our country.

QUESTIONS

What are kings and queens? Who rules over the British Commonwealth and Empire? Of what are crowns made? Where may boys and girls have seen the Queen? Why does not the Queen wear her crown? Name some of the things which belong to Queen Elizabeth. What do some people think of kings and queens? Why is the Queen's time not her own? What are wet aught in the Bible?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) British Common-wealth and Empire, all places united under the British crown.

(2) Generally, nearly always.

(3) Sovereign, chief ruler.

LESSON 54

WORDS WHICH DECEIVE

ONE day a man gave his son some wood to saw. The boy did not want to do such work; so after his father had gone away, he threw the saw down, and it broke.

"I did not break the saw," said the boy to himself; "it broke itself." He tried to deceive himself with words; but he knew in his heart that they were false words, and he was afraid to meet his father.

One day a mother said to her son, who had just returned from school, "It is six o'clock, and your school closes at four—where have you been, my boy?"

"O mother," said Ned, "when we play at ball, we forget everything else. We do not think of the time, or of coming home. Is tea ready?"

The boy's mother was deceived.(1) Ned's answer led her to think that he had been playing with his companions.(2) But he had not been playing at all.

He had been "kept in" by his teacher, because he had not learned his lessons. He did not like to tell his mother that. He wished her to think that he had been playing.

"What a shame and a sin it is for you to try to deceive your mother," said something in Ned's heart, as he sat down to his tea.

"I don't care," said the boy to himself, "I don't care. I did not tell a lie—I did not say that I was playing."

"But", said the voice, "you used(3) words which made your mother think that you had been playing, and that was the same as if you had said so."

"I did not tell a lie," said Ned.

What do you think, my little reader? Did Ned tell a lie, or did he not? I am sure you will say—"Of course he did."

If we use words which are intended to deceive, we tell a lie; and Ned's lie was a very bad one, for it looked so like the truth. A lie that looks like the truth is the worst kind of lie.

QUESTIONS

What did a man give his son to do? What did the boy do with the saw? What happened to it? What did the boy say to himself? What did he know in his heart?—What did a mother say to her son? What did Ned reply? What effect had Ned's words on his mother's mind? What had made him late? What did he wish his mother to think? What did something in Ned' sheart say? What did the boy say? What did the voice reply? What did Ned say? What will the little reader say? What are words which are intended to deceive? Which kind of a lie is the worst kind?

PRONUNCIATION

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(1) Deceived, cheated; misled.

(2) Companions, playmates.

(3) Used, spoke.

LESSON 55

THE SEA-GULL

"IF I were to be a bird, I should never choose to be a sea-gull," said Ellen Burns, as she gazed(1) forth on the rough waves and the stormy sky.

"I would be a happy little lark, singing as I soared, and then dropping down into some pleasant field. Or I would be a beautiful swan, gliding softly over still waters, with my nest amidst the tall rushes.

"Mamma, has the sea-gull any home, or does she fly up and down for ever as I see her now, with her white silvery wings flashing against the dark sky?"

"She builds her nest upon the bare rock, and rears her young within sound of the dashing billows. God has fitted her for the restless, roaming life which she leads," said Mrs. Burns.

"But where does she get food, mamma? There is no corn on the bare rock, no pleasant fruit on the tossing sea."

"The sea is for her what the fruitful field is for the land-bird. She is a bold and skilful(2) fisher, and neither needs nor would care for the waving wheat or the sweet ripe berry."

"But is she never cold and wet in stormy winter nights, while we are shivering over the fire and she is skimming over the waves?"

"There is an oil on her feathers, Ellen, which prevents them from being wet. Dry in the midst of water, safe in the midst of danger, the sea-gull, with her silvery wings, ever reminds me(3) of some brave spirit, trusting in God, and never damped(4) by the trials of life."

QUESTIONS

What bird did Ellen say she should never choose to be? What birds would she rather be? What did she ask her mamma? Describe the home of the sea-gull. What did Ellen next ask? Where does the sea-gull obtain its food? What was Ellen's next question? What prevents the sea-gull from being wet? Of what did the sea-gull remind Mrs. Burns?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Gazed, looked.

(2) Skilful, clever.

(3) Reminds me, puts me in mind of.

(4) Damped, cast down.

LESSON 56

KINDNESS REWARDED

ONE day a lady, who was riding in a coach, saw a lad on the road bare-foot and seemingly very foot-sore.(1) She asked the coachman to take him up, and said she would pay for him.

When the coach reached the end of its journey, the kind lady found that the poor lad was bound for the nearest sea-port, to offer himself as a sailor.

Twenty years afterwards, on the same road, a sea-captain who was on a coach saw an old lady walking wearily along, and he made the coachman pull up his horses.

He put the old lady inside, saying, "I'll pay for her." When they next changed horses the old lady thanked the captain; "for," said she, "I am too poor to pay for a ride now."

The captain told her that he always felt for those who had to walk as she had been doing; and said, "I remember, twenty years ago, near this very place, I was a poor lad walking along the road, and a kind lady paid for me to ride."

"Ah," said she, "I am that lady! but things have changed with me since then."

"Well," said the captain, "I have made a fortune, and have come home to enjoy it. I will allow yout wenty-five pounds a year as long as you live." The old lady burst into tears, and gratefully accepted the sailor's offer.

"Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days." Let me explain these words. In the land of Egypt(2) the river Nile overflows its banks once a year.

When the fields on the river sides are covered with the water, the people cast their seed on it, and the seed sinks down into the soft mud.

When the water disappears,(3) the seed takes root. "After many days" comes the harvest, and rich crops of grain are reaped.

The lady had cast her bread upon the waters. She had done a kind act to a poor boy; and, "after many days," he in return was able to do her a great kindness.

QUESTIONS

Whom did a lady one day see? What did she do? Where was the lad going? What happened twenty years afterwards on the same road? What did the captain do? What did the old lady say to the captain? What did the captain tell the lady? What did the lady then reply? What offer did the captain make to the lady? What text is here given? What does the river Nile do? Where do the people cast their seed? What happens when the water disappears? What is seen after many days? How had the lady "cast her bread upon the waters"? How did she find it "after many days"?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Footsore, tired; weary.

(2) Egypt, a country in Africa.

(3) Disappears, is lost sight of.

LESSON 57

TEA AND COFFEE

TEA is the leaf of an evergreen(1) shrub which grows in China and Japan, and also in some parts of India. The tea plant has glossy green leaves and white blossoms.

At certain seasons(2) the young leaves are gathered. They are then dried, rolled between the hands, and packed in boxes or chests.

Two kinds of tea are imported(3) into this country—black and green. The difference in colour isdue to different ways of drying the leaf. For black tea the leaves are exposed to the open air for some time before they are roasted, and they are then dried slowly over charcoal fires. For green tea the leaves are roasted quickly, almost as soon as they are gathered.

THE TEA PLANT

When tea was first brought to England it was very costly, and some of the people did not know how it should be made; so they boiled the leaves and ate them, after having thrown the liquid away!

BERRY

THE COFFEE PLANT

The Coffee plant is a shrub which resembles(4) the laurel. It has a slender stem, pointed glossy leaves, and clusters of pretty white blossoms. When the flowers fall off, green berries are left behind. When the berries are ripe, they are found to contain two seeds. From these seeds, when roasted and ground, we make the pleasant drink called Coffee.

The Coffee plant grows in Arabia, in the Southern States of North America, in Brazil, in the East and West Indies, and in Ceylon.

QUESTIONS

What is tea? Where does the tea plant grow? Describe its leaves and its blossoms. What is done with the leaves? What two kinds of tea are there? To what is the difference in colour due? How is black tea prepared? How is green tea prepared? How did some people prepare tea for food?

Describe the coffee plant. From which part of the plant is coffee obtained? Where does the coffee plant grow?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Evergreen, always green.

(2) Seasons, times.

(3) Imported, brought.

(4) Resembles, looks like.

LESSON 58

THE IDLE BOY

THE IDLE BOY AT SCHOOL

"O DEAR me! what a terrible trouble it is to me to learn lessons! Here I have one, two—no, not two, but a whole column and a half of words with meanings, to get by heart. I wish words had no meanings!

"Well, I suppose I must begin to learn them. P-r-i-s pris, o-n on, prison, 'a place where people are confined.' Why shouldn't they say school at once?—that's a prison, I'm sure. P-u-n pun, i-s-h ish, punish. I know the meaning of that word without the book.

"Oh, this ugly lesson! I shall never get it. P-l-e-a-s pleas, u-r-e ure, pleasure, 'that which Pleases.' Yes, I know that pleasure means swinging on gates and playing ball.

"I dare say if John Grant heard me, he would say pleasure meant having a new book. Read, read, read—I hate reading! When I become a man, I'll never open a book. Oh, how I wish I were a man now!"

THE IDLE BOY BECOMES A MAN

"Yes, I am a man; and woe is me for having been such a little fool when I was a boy! I hated my books, and took more pains to forget my lessons than ever I did to learn them.

"'Do, James,' said my father, 'learn your lessons, else you will be fit for nothing when you become a man.' 'Do, James, give your mind to your books, else I shall be ashamed to own you for my boy,' said my mother.

"Now, there was John Grant; he liked play well enough, but he liked reading better; and he learned more out of school-hours than I did in them. John Grant is now, like myself, a man, but a very different kind of a man.

"I see my error now—but it is too late. I have no time to read, for I must work for my daily bread."

Behold the bitter fruits of idleness in childhood!

QUESTIONS

What did the idle boy say was a terrible trouble? What did he wish? What did he say that school was? What word did he know the meaning of without any book? What did he say that pleasure means? What would John Grant say that pleasure meant? What did the idle boy hate? What did he say he would not do when he became a man? What did the idle boy say when he became a man? What did his father once say to him? What did his mother once say? What does he say about John Grant? What does he see now? Why is it too late? What are we to behold?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 59

THROUGH THE SNOW

"OH, mother!" said Maggie Brown, "look at pussy making her way through the snow, and putting down her little paws as if she were afraid of sinking over head, shoulders and all!"

Mrs. Brown had just come home. She had had a long, weary walk for miles through the snow. She had been heavily laden, and wearily her basket had hung on her arm, with several big parcels in it.

Maggie should have run to relieve(1) her mother of that heavy basket, and taken care to have a nice cup of tea ready to warm her after so chilling(2) a walk.

She loved her mother dearly, but she was rather a thoughtless girl; so she did not even help Mrs. Brown to pull off her boots, which were quite wet with melted snow.

"My feet are like ice," said Mrs. Brown; "and no wonder, for my very stockings are wet."

"Poor little pussy! she has neither stockings nor boots," laughed Maggie; "and these velvet paws of hers will be half frozen with cold!

"I wonder why she goes struggling on through the snow and the wet, when she might have such a warm place by our fire."

"You forget that pussy has kittens in the loft of the stable," replied Mrs. Brown. "She cares more for them than she does for her own comfort. She comes here for a little food; but nothing would tempt her to remain.

"When the stable-door was locked last night, the poor cat waited outside in the bitter cold, mewing and whining, till Joe got up and let her in, that she might get to her kittens again."

"Ah, pussy is a mother!" cried Maggie. "I wonder if those kittens will ever repay her for the trouble which they give her, and the love which she shows them."

Mrs. Brown shook her head as she replied, "Pussy is like many a mother, who must look for little return for all that she does for her children, except the comfort of knowing that they never want for anything."

Maggie turned quickly round. The gentle words had touched her heart. She looked at her tired parent,(3) cold, hungry, and wet; then on the table, heaped with food for a little girl's eating, and with clothes for a little girl's wear.

"Oh, mother," cried Maggie, "how thoughtless I have been!"

In a minute she was down on her knees rubbing her mother's ice-cold feet, to bring back to them warmth and comfort.

Then she ran for dry shoes, and for her own warm little shawl to wrap round her mother.

Then she filled the kettle, and set it upon the fire, put the loaves on the shelf, the tea in the box, and the sugar into the brown jar.

Maggie never forgot the lesson; and never again had Mrs. Brown cause to think that her daughter could neglect(4) her best earthly friend, or forget what a deep debt of love is due from a child to a tender mother.

QUESTIONS

What did Maggie say to her mother? In what state was Mrs. Brown? What should Maggie have done? What kind of girl was she? Why were Mrs. Brown's feet like ice? What did Maggie say about pussy? What did Mrs. Brown say? At what did Maggie wonder? How is pussy like many a mother? What effect had Mrs. Brown's words on her daughter? What did Maggie do? What had Mrs. Brown never again cause to think?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Relieve, help.

(2) Chilling, cold.

(3) Parent, mother.

(4) Neglect, not attend to.

LESSON 60

TRUE COURAGE

A TEACHER had been much annoyed(1) by some of his boys whistling during school hours. At last he was obliged to threaten with punishment any one who should repeat the offence.

The next morning, when the room was very quiet, a loud whistle was heard! The scholars were very much startled, and the teacher at once looked around to discover(2) the offender.

The blame fell on a bad boy who was often in mischief. When charged, he strongly denied the act: yet his words were not believed, for I am sorry to say he was not a truthful boy; so the master brought him up for punishment.

Seeing what was about to take place, a slender little fellow, about nine years old, who had been anxiously watching the proceedings, sprang from his seat.

"Do not punish John, sir," he said to the teacher. "It was I who whistled. I was doing a long, hard sum, and in rubbing out another sum to make room for it, I rubbed out the difficult one by mistake. I spoiled it all, and before I remembered where I was, I had whistled right out, sir! I am very, very sorry, sir; I did not mean to whistle, but I cannot let John be punished for my fault." And with all the firmness he could command, the little fellow held out his hand to be punished!

Taking the little boy's hand, the teacher said, "Charles, you have done right. No one can doubt that you have spoken the truth, and that you did not intend to whistle. I cannot punish you, my boy, after having acted so nobly."

Charles returned to his seat with a flushed face, and even the youngest child in the school felt proud of him; for every scholar could see how bravely he had acted.

Charles was truly a brave boy. He had done that which he knew to be right, even though at the time it might have brought suffering upon himself.

True courage(3) may also be shown by refusing to do that which we know to be wrong, though bad companions(4) may laugh at us, and call us cowards, for saying No.

QUESTIONS

What had annoyed the teacher? What was the teacher obliged to do? What was heard next morning? What did the teacher then do? Upon whom did the blame fall? Why were the words of the bad boy not believed? Who sprang from his seat? What did this boy say? What was the teacher's reply? What were the feelings of the children? How was Charles a brave boy? How may true courage be shown?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Annoyed, vexed.

(2) Discover, find out.

(3) Courage, bravery.

(4) Companions, friends.

LESSON 61

THE WIDOW'S LAMP

ONCE there was a poor widow who lived on a hill near the sea-shore. She had no children, and she passed a lonely life. She was so poor that she had to work hard every day.

But one night as she sat at her work the widow said to herself, while the winds blew and the waves dashed on the rocks, "I wish I could be of some use in the world. Can I not do good to some one besides myself?"

At last she bethought her that ships were sometimes wrecked on the coast(1) near her house, as there was no light-house to warn(2) them of their danger at night.

From her window she could look out on the sea. Why might she not keep a lighted lamp at the window every night, so as to warn the poor sailors when their ships came near to the rocks on the coast.

The widow felt glad when the thought flashed through her mind. She found that, if she worked an hour later each night, she could earn enough to pay for the oil to feed the lamp.

So she sat up and earned money to buy the oil; and then she trimmed the lamp, and placed it at the window each night, and in this way she saved many lives.

She had been doing this for five years without reward,(3) or the hope of reward; but good deeds,(4) even in this world, are often found out.

The sailors whose lives had been saved now began to send gifts to her from far-off lands. They sent her tea from China and shawls from India, silks from France and grapes from Spain.

But the poor widow did not need these gifts to make her happy. She used to give many of them to the poor and the sick.

She was happy with the thought that she was doing good; and so, as long as she lived, she lit her lamp each night, and put it at the window.

QUESTIONS

Where did the poor widow live? How was her time occupied? What did she say to herself one wild night? What did she remember? What could she see from her window? What did she think she might do with her lamp? What did she find? What did she do? How long did she do this without any reward? What did the sailors whose lives she had saved begin to do? What did the widow do with many of those gifts? What effect had her good deed on her own mind?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Coast, sea-shore.

(2) Warn, give notice to.

(3) Reward, pay; return.

(4) Deeds, actions.

LESSON 62

A GOOD EXAMPLE

A POOR boy once went to a ragged school, where his face was well washed. When he returned home, the neighbours(1) looked at him with astonishment.(2)

They said, "That looks like Tom Rogers, and yet it can't(3) be, for he is so clean."

Presently his mother looked at him, and seeing that his face was so clean, she fancied(4) that her own face was dirty, and forthwith(5) she washed it.

The father soon came home from his work, and, seeing his wife and his son so clean, he thought that his face was dirty, and so he followed their example.(6)

Father, mother, and son being clean, the mother began to think that the room looked dirty; so she went down on her knees and scrubbed the floor clean.

A woman lived next door. Seeing so great a change in her neighbours, she thought that her face and her room were very dirty; so she, too, speedily(7) set about cleaning them.

This story shows how two houses and their occupants(8) were made tidy and comfortable, simply by the example of the clean face of one ragged school boy.

Children, as well as grown-up people, should always set a good example. We never know how much good may be done in that way; nor can we tell how much harm results from a bad example.

QUESTIONS

Where did a poor boy get his face washed? How did the neighbours look at him on his return? What did they say? What did his mother fancy? What did she do? What did his father think? What did he do? What did the mother think? What did she do? What did the woman next door see? What did she think? What did she do? What does this story show? What should children always do? What do we never know?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Neighbours, persons who lived near.

(2) Astonishment, wonder.

(3) Can't, cannot.

(4) Fancied, thought.

(5) Forthwith, at once.

(6) Example, copy.

(7) Speedily, quickly.

(8) Occupants, tenants; inmates.

LESSON 63

A NOBLE BOY

THE woman was old, and feeble, and gray,

And bent with the chill of the winter's day:

The street was wet with the recent snow,

And the woman's feet were weary and slow.

She stood at the crossing and waited long,

Alone, uncared for, amid the throng.

Down the street, with laughter and shout,

Glad in the freedom of "school let out,"

Came the boys, like a flock of sheep,

Hailing the snow, piled white and deep.

Past the woman so old and gray

Hastened the children on their way,

Nor offered a helping hand to her,

So meek, so timid, afraid to stir.

At last came one of the merry troop—

The gayest boy of all the group;

He paused beside her, and whispered low,

"I'll help you across, if you wish to go."

He guided the trembling feet along,

Proud that his own were firm and strong.

Then back again to his friends he went,

His young heart happy and well content.

"She's somebody's mother, boys, you know,

For all she is old and poor and slow.

And I hope some fellow will lend a hand

To help my mother—you understand—

If e'er she be poor and old and gray,

When her own dear boy is far away."

And "somebody's mother" bowed low her head

In her home that night, and the prayer she said

Was, "God, be kind to the noble boy,

Who is somebody's son and pride and joy."

LESSON 64

WHAT MAGGIE'S PENNY DID

"PLEASE take my penny," said Maggie to old Dan the fisherman, who sat on a bench mending his nets. Her brother Andrew drew her back, whispering, "Maggie, he is not a beggar!"

But Maggie gave no heed. "Please take it," she said again. Old Dan smiled, and took it. "Thank you, little miss," he said, "it is kindly meant."

After that, Maggie and Andrew went to different parts of the beach(1) to gather shells, agreeing to meet in a while and see whose were the prettier. Maggie never thought how fast the hours were passing, till, being tired, she sat down on a rock beside a little pool full of lovely sea-weeds.

Soon she was startled by a noise near her, and Dan's large dog Rover bounded down from a rock! He licked her hands and made a whining noise, and then began gently to pull her frock.

"Rover wishes me to come away, I see," she said, patting him; and she rose from the rock and began to go home.

Alas! that was not so easy as she had expected. Places she had gone down with ease she found very difficult(2) to climb up; and as the tide had been coming in for some time, she found some of the stones wet and slippery.

What could poor Maggie do? She sobbed and cried, but the waves made a much louder noise than she could make; and perhaps she would have been drowned but for good wise Rover.

He sprang upon a boulder-stone and raised his loud, hoarse bark, until even the waves could not drown it.

When Andrew was tired of gathering shells, he went to meet Maggie; but as she did not come, he thought that she had gone home. But when he reached home she was not there!

In the meantime the fisherman had taken his nets to the top of the cliffs, and was laying them out in the sun, when he heard the loud barking of a dog.

He felt sure that it was Rover, and Rover in distress;(3) so, going to the edge of the cliffs, he looked over. There he saw it all—Rover barking for help, and the little bewildered(4) child standing beside him.

"Bless her! it is the little one that was so kind-spoken to me this morning!" he cried; and he hurried to his sons' cottage.

"Quick, boys, quick!" he said; "get to the boat, and row fast to the mussel bay: there is a poor child there just waiting to be drowned."

The fishermen lost no time, and soon little Maggie and Rover were rowed safely to land! Old Dan was waiting there to lift her out, and give her into her mother's arms.

"It was the penny that did it, ma'am!" he said afterwards to Mrs. Weston. "I saw Rover looking at her when she put the penny so kind-like into my hand—just as if he would have said, 'Rover will be your friend now, little girl.' And I am thinking he had been looking after her all the day, for he never came near me after that."

Mrs. Weston would gladly have bought the dog, only Dan could not part with his favourite. Some years afterwards, Rover came to Maggie's home with a little note, in which was written:—

"Will Maggie comfort Rover?—

his master is dead."

QUESTIONS

What did Maggie do with her penny? What did her brother say? What did Dan say? What did Maggie and Andrew then do? Where did Maggie sit down? What startled her? What did the dog wish her to do? Why could she not go home? What did she do? What did Rover do? What did Andrew do? What did the fisherman hear? What did he see? What did he say? Whom did he fetch? What happened next? What did old Dan say? What did Mrs. Weston wish to do? What message did Rover bring to Maggie?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Beach, shore.

(2) Difficult, hard work.

(3) Distress, trouble.

(4) Bewildered, puzzled.

LESSON 65

LET US SPEAK THE BEST WE CAN

NAY, speak no ill! a kindly word

Can never leave a sting behind;

And oh! to breathe each tale we've heard

Is far beneath a noble mind.

Full oft(1) a better seed is sown

By choosing thus the better plan

For if but little good be known,

Still let us speak the best we can.

Give me the heart that fain(2) would hide—

Would fain another's guilt efface:(3)

How can it pleasure human pride

To prove humanity but base?

No; let us reach a higher mood,

A nobler estimate of man;

Be earnest in the search of good,

And let us speak the best we can.

Then speak no ill, but lenient(4) be

To others' failings as your own;

If you're the first a fault to see,

Be you the last to make it known.

For life is but a passing day,

No tongue may tell how brief its span;

Then, all the little time we stay,

Still let us speak the best we can.

—ANON

PRONUNCIATION

————————————————————

(1) Oft, often.

(2) Fain, gladly.

(3) Efface, rub out.

(4) Lenient, gentle.

LESSON 1

THE SNAIL ON THE WALL

"WHAT ails(1) you, lad?" said Dame(2) Bell to a little boy, who sat near a wall at the back of her house. He had a book in his hand, and tears were in his eyes.

"We have all got a poem called Little Jim to learn,(3)" said the boy, whose name was Tom Blair; "and the one who says it best is to get a prize from the master. But I don't think I can learn it."

"Why not?" said the dame.

"The boys say that I can't, and that I need not try," said Tom in a sad tone.

"Don't mind what the boys say. Let them see that you can learn it," said his friend.

"But I don't think I can," said Tom; "it is so long, and some of the words are so hard.(4) I know I need not try for the prize. But I should like to learn the poem as well as I can; for the boys laugh at me, and call me 'Slow Tom.'"

"Well, dear," said the dame, in a kind voice, "if you are slow, and can't help it, try to be 'slow and sure,' as they say. Look at that snail on the wall; how slow it is! And yet, if you watch it, you will see it will get to the top in time. So just try to learn a few lines each day, and you may gain(5) the prize in the end. And when you are like to lose heart, think of the snail on the wall."

When Dame Bell had said this, she went on her way. And Tom thought that (though he could not keep up with the boys) he might run a race with the snail. So he resolved(6) to try to learn his task,(7) by the time the snail got to the top of the wall.

At last, the day came on which the master was to give the prize, and he called up the boys to repeat the poem. When five or six had recited,(8) it came to Tom's turn. There was a laugh when he got up; for most of the boys thought he would fail. But he did not miss a word; and his heart was full of joy when the master said, "Well done. Tom Blair!"

When the rest of the class had tried, the master said Tom had done best; and he gave him the prize.

"And now tell me," said the master, "how you learned the poem so well."

"Please, sir, it was the snail on the wall that taught me how to do it," said Tom.

There was a loud laugh when Tom said this. But the master said, "You need not laugh, boys; for we may learn much from such things as snails.—How did the snail teach you, Tom?"

"Please, sir, I saw it crawl up the wall bit by bit. It did not stop, nor turn back, but went on, and on. And I thought I would do the same with my task. So I learned it bit by bit, and did not give up. And by the time the snail had got to the top of the wall, I had learned it all."

"Well done, Tom!" said the master.—"Now, boys, let us give a good cheer for Tom Blair and the snail on the wall." And the old house rang with a loud, long cheer. For all were glad that "Slow Tom" had got a prize at last.

QUESTIONS

Why did Tom cry? What did the other boys call him? What did Dame Bell tell him to watch? What did Tom then make up his mind to do? Who got the prize? When was there a loud laugh? Why did the boys at last give a loud cheer?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Ails, is wrong with.

(2) Dame, an old woman.

(3) Learn, to get by heart.

(4) Hard, not easy to learn.

(5) Gain, win.

(6) Resolved, made up his mind.

(7) Task, lesson.

(8) Recited, repeated aloud.

LESSON 2

LITTLE JIM

THE cottage was a thatched(1) one,

The outside old and mean;

Yet everything within that cot

Was wondrous(2) neat and clean.

The night was dark and stormy,

The wind was howling(3) wild;

A patient(4) mother knelt beside

The deathbed of her child:

A little worn-out creature—

His once bright eyes grown dim;

He was a collier's only child—

They called him little Jim.

And oh, to see the briny(5) tears

Fast hurrying down her cheek,

As she offered up a prayer in thought;(6)

She was afraid to speak,

Lest she might waken one she loved

Far better than her life;

For there was all a mother's love

In that poor collier's wife.

With hands uplifted, see, she kneels

Beside the suff'rer's bed;

And prays that He will spare her boy

And take herself instead!

She gets her answer from the child;

Soft fell these words from him:

"Mother, the angels do so smile,

And beckon(7) little Jim!

"I have no pain, dear mother, now;

But oh, I am so dry!

Just moisten(8) poor Jim's lips again;

And, mother, don't you cry."

With gentle, trembling haste she held

The tea-cup to his lips;

He smiled, to thank her, as he took

Three tiny little sips.

"Tell father, when he comes from work,

I said good-night to him;

And, mother, now I'll go to sleep"—

Alas! poor little Jim!

She saw that he was dying—

The child she loved so dear

Had uttered the last words that she

Might ever hope to hear.

The cottage door was opened,

The collier's step was heard;

The mother and the father met,

Yet neither spoke a word!

He knew that all was over—

He knew his child was dead;

He took the candle in his hand,

And walked towards the bed.

His quivering(9) lips gave token(10)

Of grief he'd fain(11) conceal;(12)

And see! his wife has joined him—

The stricken(13) couple kneel!

With hearts bowed down with sadness,

They humbly ask of Him,

In heaven once more to meet again

Their own poor little Jim.

— Edward Farmer

QUESTIONS

Where was the mother kneeling? In what state was the boy? Why did she offer up her prayer in thought? From whom did she get her answer? What were Jim's last words? What did his mather do when he came in? What did both father and mother then do?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Thatched, with a straw roof.

(2) Wondrous, causing wonder; more than you would look for.

(3) Howling, making a loud, dreary sound.

(4) Patient, bearing much without a grumble.

(5) Briny, salt, like sea-water.

(6) In thought, in the mind, without speaking.

(7) Beckon, call by a wave of the hand.

(8) Moisten, make wet.

(9) Quivering, shaking; trembling with strong feeling.

(10) Token, sign, or proof.

(11) Fain, gladly.

(12) Conceal, hide.

(13) Stricken, bowed down with grief.

LESSON 3

THE TEA-FARMER

ONCE upon a time there was no tea at all in our country. In England, in the olden time, people used to drink ale, and a sweet kind of wine called mead.(1) Great tankards(2) of ale stood on the breakfast table. Now we use tea and coffee.

When tea was first brought to England, an old man and woman had some sent to them as a great treat. But when they got it, they did not know how it ought to be used. At length they boiled the leaves, and strewed(3) them on a piece of bacon which they were going to have for dinner. They ate the leaves, and threw the tea away!

In those days, a pound of tea cost so much money that only the rich could buy it. Now it is so cheap that even the poorest can enjoy it.

Tea is the leaf of a plant which grows plentifully(4) in China, Japan, and other Eastern lands. The Chinese drink their tea without either milk or sugar. Whenever a visitor comes into a house, a servant always brings him a cup of tea.

Every cottager in China has his little tea-garden. He sells what he does not use, and can thus buy food and clothing for his family.

When a man has a large piece of ground, and grows a great many tea-plants, he is called a tea farmer. When the tea-leaves are ready to be gathered, the farmer and his family are very busy. They pull off the leaves and throw them into baskets. When the baskets are full, they are carried into the house.

The leaves are dried in iron pans over a fire. While they are drying, men and women keep turning them about. As soon as they begin to crack, they are taken out and spread upon a table. Then the work-people roll them up in their hands, and press all the juice they can out of them.

After being once more dried in the air, the leaves have to go into the pan again over the fire. There they begin to curl and twist; and at last they look as we see them in this country.

The farmer then picks out the best leaves, and gets them ready for market. He may be seen marching off to the town, with his chest of tea slung over his shoulder, on a pole made of bamboo.(5)

He goes to a tea merchant(6) and offers the chest of tea for sale. The merchant looks at it, and if he thinks it good he buys it. Then the farmer marches home again, with his money slung over his shoulder. His money consists of a number of strings of brass coins,(7) of so little value that a great many of them make but a small sum.

QUESTIONS

What was used in England for breakfast before tea and coffee were known? What mistake did an old man and woman make, when tea first came in? What is tea? Where does it come from? What is a man called who grows a great many tea-plants? What is the first thing done with the leaves when they are pulled? What next? and next? How does the grower carry his tea to market? What does he bring back?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Mead, a sweet kind of wine, made of honey and water.

(2) Tankard, a large drinking-can.

(3) Strewed, spread, or scattered loosely.

(4) Plentifully, in great abundance.

(5) Barmboo, the stem of a tall, strong reed.

(6) Merchant, one who buys and sells.

(7) Coins, pieces of stamped metal, money.

LESSON 4

TIT FOR TAT

A BOY was one day sitting on the steps of a door. He had a broom in one hand, and in the other a large piece of bread and butter, which somebody had kindly given him. While he was eating it, and merrily(1) humming(2) a tune, he saw a poor little dog quietly sleeping not far from him. He called out to him, "Come here, poor fellow!"

The dog, hearing himself kindly spoken to, rose, pricked up his ears, and wagged his tail. Seeing the boy eating, he came near him. The boy held out to him a piece of his bread and butter. As the dog stretched out his head to take it, the boy hastily drew back his hand and hit him a hard rap on the nose. The poor dog ran away, howling most dreadfully,(3) while the cruel(4) boy sat laughing at the mischief(5) he had done.

A gentleman, who was looking from a window on the other side of the street, saw what the wicked boy had done. Opening the street door, he called him to cross over; at the same time holding up a sixpence between his finger and thumb.

"Would you like this?" said the gentleman.

"Yes, if you please, sir," said the boy, smiling; and he hastily ran over to seize(6) the money.

Just at the moment that he stretched out his hand, he got so severe(7) a rap on the knuckles, from a cane which the gentleman had behind him, that he roared out like a bull!

"What did you do that for?" said he, making a very long face, and rubbing his hand. "I didn't hurt you, nor ask you for the sixpence."

"What did you hurt that poor dog for just now?" said the gentleman. "He didn't hurt you, nor ask you for your bread and butter. As you served(8) him I have served you. Now, remember(9) dogs can feel as well as boys, and learn to behave kindly towards dumb animals in future.(10)"

QUESTIONS

What did the dog think he was going to get? What did the boy do to him? How was the boy punished? What did he say? What did the gentleman tell him to remember?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

PROVERBS

The following are all the words required in this Exercise.

IT takes two to make a __________.

All is not gold that __________.

Be slow to promise, but quick to __________.

A young man idle, an old man __________.

Do what you ought, come what __________.

Keep good company, and be one of the __________.

Better to slip with the foot than with the __________.

Command your temper, lest it __________ you.

————————————————————

(1) Merrily, in a happy way.

(2) Humming, singing without words.

(3) Dreadfully, very much; full of fear.

(4) Cruel, unkind; wicked.

(5) Mischief, naughty trick.

(6) Seize, lay hold of.

(7) Severe, sharp; sore.

(8) Served, did to; treated.

(9) Remember, keep in mind.

(10) Future, time to come.

LESSON 5

THE HUMMING-BIRD

UNDER the shade of a tree, at the end of one of the twigs, hangs a tiny little nest. It swings in the air, and is as light as a feather; for it is made chiefly of moss and down.(1) It is very snug; and within it lie two tiny eggs, of the size of peas, and as white as snow.

Watch a moment, and we shall see what bird it is that has built the nest; for she has only gone to have a sip of honey. It is a lovely place to watch in. Flowers scent(2) the air. Yonder is a deep wood; and strange flowers of every shape and size grow all about. Some are like monkeys, some like bees, some like butterflies. These flowers are called orchids. They grow in England, only not nearly so large as in warm countries.

Hark! the bird is coming. It is the smallest bird in the whole world. Its body is no bigger than a hazel-nut. But its feathers are more lovely than I can describe.(3) It has a green crest on its head, which sparkles(4) like a little star. The colours on its body are green, and gold, and purple. You can scarcely tell where one ends and another begins.

If you look about, you will see more of these little creatures. They are called humming-birds, and live in hot countries,—in India, as well as in America. The woods and groves are alive with them. They flash about here and there, clad in all the colours of the rainbow. The eye is never tired of watching them.

The humming-bird in the picture is sitting on its eggs, to hatch its young ones. When the mother bird is tired, her mate(5) comes and takes her place. Then up she springs, and darts away into the woods, where she chooses(6) some flower that has honey in it.

As she hovers(7) in the air, she moves her wings about so quickly that you can hardly see them. Her wings make a humming sound as she hovers over the flower; and it is from this that she gets her name.

But she is thinking now about the insects.(8) There are a great many of these, hidden at the bottom of the flower. She soon spies them out, and she darts her long tongue into the midst of them. Some insects stick to it; for the tongue is sticky, as if it had been rubbed with glue. The insects are drawn into her mouth; she swallows them, and then darts out her tongue for more.

All this time, she is hovering over the flower, and humming with her wings. When she has had enough of insects, she sips a little honey, and flies back to her nest.

QUESTIONS

Of what is the nest of the humming-bird made? Where does it hang? What is the size of the bird? In what kind of countries do they live? What is the humming-bird in the picture doing? Who takes her place when she is tired? What causes the humming? What do these birds feed upon?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Down, the soft hair under the feathers of birds.

(2) Scent, fill with sweet smell.

(3) Describe, draw, or paint in words; explain.

(4) Sparkles, twinkles.

(5) Mate, the male bird.

(6) Chooses, picks out.

(7) Hovers, flutters.

(8) Insects, very small creatures, as flies.

LESSON 6

THE HUMMING-BIRD

THE humming-bird! the humming-bird!

So fairy-like and bright;

It lives amongst the sunny flowers,

A creature of delight!(1)

In the radiant(2) islands of the East,

Where fragrant(3) spices grow,

A thousand thousand humming-birds

Go glancing(4) to and fro.

Like living fires they flit about,

Scarce larger than a bee,

Amongst the broad palmetto(5) leaves,

And through the fan-palm(6) tree.

There builds her nest the humming-bird,

Within the ancient(7) wood,

Her nest of silky cotton-down,

And rears her tiny brood.

She hangs it to a slender(8) twig,

Where it waves light and free,

As the campanero(9) tolls his song

While rocks the mighty tree.

All crimson is her shining breast,

Like to the red, red rose;

Her wing is the changeful green and blue

That the neck of the peacock shows.

Thou happy, happy humming-bird,

No winter round thee lowers;(10)

Thou never saw'st a leafless tree,

Nor land without sweet flowers:

A reign of summer joyfulness

To thee for life is given;

Thy food the honey from the flower,

Thy drink the dew from heaven!

— MARY HOWITT

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Delight, happiness.

(2) Radiant, shining; sending out rays; cheerful.

(3) Fragrant, sweet-smelling.

(4) Glancing, darting quickly, like rays of light.

(5) Palmetto, a kind of fan-palm, found in the Southern States of America.

(6) Fan-palm, palm-trees with leaves like a fan.

(7) Ancient, old.

(8) Slender, very slight.

(9) Campanero, the bell-bird of Guiana, in South America. Its note sounds like a bell—hence its name.

(10) Lowers, falls; comes down.

LESSON 7

THE BOY WHO WAS ALWAYS TOO LATE

SOLOMON SLOW was the son of a gentleman, who lived on the border(1) of the New Forest.(2) His mother called him Solomon, "Because," she said, "he is a wise child; 'slow and sure' is sure to do well."

"Yes," said his father; "but he is too slow; and unless he become a little more quick, and a little less lazy, I shall never make a man of him."

When he was about ten years old, his father and some friends planned a picnic(3) in the Forest, and hired(4) a large van to take them there. They were to set out at seven in the morning. Solomon knew this, as he had heard his father say so the night before.

The sun was shining very brightly when he awoke at six the next morning; but he was as lazy as ever. "If I get up about ten minutes before seven," said he, "I shall be down in plenty of time." So he lay still in bed, and heard all the party pass his door as they went down stairs.

They even called to him; but he gave no answer, and only lazily rolled himself up in the clothes. At last, up he jumped, dressed, and ran down stairs; but he found the breakfast-room empty, and the van gone!

Snatching(5) up his hat, he ran as fast as he could down the road; but there was a high wind, and the dust was in clouds everywhere. He screamed and bawled for the van to stop; but all in vain.(6) No one could hear him; and at last, tired with running, and half choked with dust, he walked sulkily home.

But even this did not cure him. He was a lazy boy, and grew up to be a lazy man; and when in business,(7) though the coach passed his door every day, he was seldom ready. Just look at him, in the picture, running up the hill, and bawling "Stop! stop!"

QUESTIONS

What was the boy's name? Where did he live? What did his mother say of him? What did his father say of him? At what time was the picnic party to start? When did Solomon awake? What did he say to himself? What did he find when he did come down stairs? What did he then do? Did he succeed? What kind of man did he turn out?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Border, edge or outside.

(2) New Forest, a wide plain in Hampshire, in the south of England.

(3) Picnic, a feast in the open air.

(4) Hired, paid for the loan of.

(5) Snatching, seizing quickly.

(6) In vain, without success.

(7) Business, trade or employment.

LESSON 8

THE SAILOR AND THE MONKEYS

A SAILOR once went ashore on the coast of South America. He had with him a number of red woollen caps for sale. On his way to a town at some distance from the coast, he had to pass through a forest, in which troops(1) of monkeys were everywhere seen climbing among the trees.

At noon, as the sun was right overhead, the sailor had to take shelter(2) from its burning rays. He lay down to rest under the shade of a large tree.

Taking one of the caps out of his bundle, he put it on his head, and soon fell fast asleep.

When he awoke, he found, to his utter(3) amazement,(4) that the caps were all gone! A most unusual(5) chattering among the dense(6) branches above him drew his attention. Looking up, he saw the trees alive with troops of monkeys, and on the head of each monkey was a red woollen cap!

The little mimics(7) had watched his proceeding;(8) and, having stolen his caps while he slept, had adorned their black pates with their booty.(9) The monkeys gave no heed to his shouts, but only grinned at his rage.

Finding every attempt(10) to get back his caps fruitless, he pulled off the one which he had put on his head, and threw it on the ground, crying out, "Here, you little thieving rogues,(11) if you will keep the rest, you may take this one too!"

No sooner had he done this, than, to his great surprise, the little animals at once did the same. Each snatched the cap from his head and threw it on the ground! The sailor regained(12) all his caps, and marched off in triumph.(13)

QUESTIONS

Who is that lying on the ground? What is he doing? What do you see on the trees? What have they got on their heads? What is the monkey on the ground doing? Where did the others get their caps? How were they made to give them up again?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Troops, great numbers.

(2) Shelter, refuge.

(3) Utter, very great; extreme.

(4) Amazement, wonder; surprise.

(5) Unusual, rare; not often heard.

(6) Dense, thick; closely set.

(7) Mimics, imitators.

(8) Proceedings, on-goings; what he did.

(9) Booty, what they had stolen; plunder.

(10) Attempt, effort; plan.

(11) Rogues, tricky fellows.

(12) Regained, got back.

(13) In triumph, with great joy at his success.

LESSON 9

THE VOICE OF SPRING

I AM coming, little maiden!

With the pleasant sunshine laden,(1)

With the honey for the bee,

With the blossom for the tree,

With the flower and with the leaf:—

Till I come, the time is brief.(2)

I am coming, I am coming!

Hark! the little bee is humming;

See! the lark is soaring(3) high

In the bright and sunny sky;

And the gnats(4) are on the wing.

Wheeling round in airy ring.

See! the yellow catkins(5) cover

All the slender willows over;

And on banks of mossy green

Star-like primroses are seen;

And, their clustering leaves below

White and purple violets blow.(6)

Hark! the new-born lambs are bleating;

And the cawing rooks are meeting

In the elms—a noisy crowd!

All the birds are singing loud;

And the first white butterfly

In the sunshine dances by.

Look around thee—look around!

Flowers in all the fields abound;(7)

Every running stream is bright;

All the orchard(8) trees are white,

And each small and waving shoot

Promises sweet flowers and fruit.

Turn thine eyes to earth and heaven!

God for thee the Spring has given;

Taught the birds their melodies,(9)

Clothed the earth, and cleared the skies,

For thy pleasure or thy food:—

Pour thy soul in gratitude?(10)

—MARY HOWITT

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Laden, loaded; burdened.

(2) Brief, short.

(3) Soaring, mounting on the wing.

(4) Gnats, very small insects.

(5) Catkins, a kind of flower, in shape like a cat's tail, growing on willow, birch, hazel, and other trees.

(6) Blow, bloom; put forth flowers.

(7) Abound, are plentiful.

(8) Orchard, a garden of fruit-trees.

(9) Melodies, sweet songs.

(10) Gratitude, thankfulness.

LESSON 10

THE WONDERFUL PUDDING

OUR Uncle Robert one day came to us, and asked us to dinner. He said he would give us a pudding, the materials(1) of which had given work to more than a thousand men!

"A pudding that has taken a thousand men to make! Then it must be as large as a church!"

"Well, my boys," said Uncle Robert, "tomorrow at dinner-time you shall see it."

Scarcely had we taken our breakfast next day, when we prepared(2) to go to our uncle's house.

When we got there, we were surprised(3) to see everything as calm and quiet as usual.

At last we sat down to table. The first dishes were removed(4)—our eyes were eagerly(5) fixed on the door—in came the pudding! It was a plum-pudding of the usual(6) kind—not a bit larger!

"This is not the pudding that you promised us,(7)" said my brother.

"It is, indeed," said Uncle Robert.

"O uncle! you do not mean to say that more than a thousand men have helped to make that little pudding?"

"Eat some of it first, my boy; and then take your slate and pencil, and help me to count the workmen," said Uncle Robert.

"Now," said Uncle Robert, "to make this pudding we must first have flour; and how many people must have laboured to procure(8) it! The ground must have been ploughed, and sowed, and harrowed, and reaped. To make the plough, miners, smelters,(9) and smiths,—woodcutters, sawyers, and carpenters,—must have laboured.

"The leather of the harness for the horses had to be tanned, and prepared for the harness-maker. Then, we have the builders of the mill, and the men who quarried the mill-stones, and made the machine-work of the mill.

"Then think of the plums, the lemon-peel, the spices, the sugar;—all these come from distant countries; and to get them hither, ships, ship-builders, sail-makers, sailors, growers, merchants, and grocers, have been employed.(10)

"Then we need eggs, milk, and suet."

"Oh, stop, stop, uncle!" cried I. "I am sure you have counted a thousand!"

"I have not reckoned(11) all, my child. We must cook the pudding, and then we must reckon colliers who bring us coal, miners who dig for tin and iron for the sauce-pan. Then there is the linen of the cloth it was wrapped in. To make this we must reckon those who grow the flax, and gather it, and card(12) it, and spin it, and weave it, and all the workmen who make the looms(13) and machines."

Robert and I both said we were quite satisfied that there were more than a thousand men employed.

QUESTIONS

To how many men had the pudding given work? What kind of pudding was it? What was its size? How could that pudding employ so many men? Were the boys satisfied?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Materials, the things it was made of.

(2) Prepared, got ready.

(3) Surprised, in a state of wonder; astonished.

(4) Removed, taken away.

(5) Eagerly, with great interest; anxiously.

(6) Usual, common, ordinary.

(7) Promised us, said we should have.

(8) Procure, get; obtain.

(9) Smelters, men who melt the iron ore to get the iron.

(10) Employed, made use of; engaged.

(11) Reckoned, taken into account.

(12) Card, comb with a thing called a card.

(13) Looms, weaving machines.

LESSON 11

STORIES OF THE ELEPHANT

IN the Island of Ceylon,(1) there are large herds of wild elephants. Many have been caught and tamed, and made useful in helping to build bridges, houses, and churches.

Travellers tell us, that some of them are as careful about the neatness of their work as men could be! An elephant has been known to step back a few yards to see if it had laid a block of wood or stone straight; and then, if not satisfied,(2) to return and push it into its right place!

Some years ago, an engineer(3) in Ceylon had to lay pipes to convey water nearly two miles, over hills and through woods where there were no roads. To help him in his work, he had to employ(4) several(5) elephants; and nothing could be more interesting(6) than to watch the way in which the elephant engineers did their work.

Lifting up one of the heavy pieces of pipe, and balancing it in its trunk, each animal would march off with its load, and carry it safely over every obstacle,(7) to the place where it was to be laid. When it reached the spot, it would kneel down and place the pipe exactly(8) where the driver wished.

Once, when one of the elephants found it hard to get one of the pipes it had brought fitted into another, it got up and went to the end of the pipe, and putting its head against it, soon forced it into its right place.

In a show of wild beasts at Bath, some years ago, there was a large good-natured elephant. Among the crowd that went to see it was a baker. He thought it a clever thing to tease the elephant, by pretending to give it a cake, and then pulling away his hand.

The elephant bore this for some time well enough, but at last it got angry. Putting its trunk out of the cage, it caught the baker round the waist, lifted him to the top of the caravan, and bumped his head with great force against the roof.

Everybody thought the man would be killed. But all at once the elephant loosened its trunk, and dropped him from the roof to the ground, in the very midst of the people. There he lay for a minute or two, looking half dead; but when the people came to him, he got up and walked away as if nothing had happened.

Though he was very much frightened, he was not hurt; but you may be sure he never tried to play tricks upon elephants again.

A poor woman, in one of the cities of India, had a stall in the market-place, where she sold fruit. An elephant used to go by, and always stopped to look at her stall. She knew how fond the elephant was of fruit; and she used, now and then, to give him some.

One day the elephant fell into a passion with his keeper. He broke loose, and ran through the market, trampling down everything before him.

The people at the stalls ran away as fast as they could. The poor woman left her stall and ran too. But she forgot, in her fright, that her little child was sitting on the ground, close by the stall!

It was just in the elephant's way, and you would think it must have been trampled to death. But the elephant knew the child again, and knew that this was the stall where he had been fed with fruit.

Though he was in a passion, he stopped. He looked at the child, and picked it up with his trunk. Then he set it out of his way, and went on. You may think how glad the poor woman was to see her child safe.

QUESTIONS

Where are there large herds of wild elephants? For what are they useful when tamed? What are the elephants in the picture doing? When did this take place? What did one of the elephants do when it could not get the pipe to fit? What did the elephant at Bath do to the baker who teased him? How did the poor woman in India make the elephant her friend? How did he reward her?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE I

CLOTHING

Cotton.—What is Cotton? It is the soft down that grows in the seed-pod of the cotton-plant.

Where does this plant grow? In the United States, Egypt, and in India.

How is the Cotton made into Cloth? It is spun into yarn, and then woven into a web of cloth.

Where is the chief seat of its manufacture? Manchester, in Lancashire.

What is Cotton Cloth generally called? Calico, from Calicut, in India, where it was first made.

What is Nankeen? A kind of cotton, naturally of a yellow colour, first made at Nankin, in China.

What is the finest kind of cotton? Muslin; much used for ladies' dresses. The best is made in France.

Linen.—What is Linen made from? From the threads in the stem of the flax-plant.

Where does this plant grow? In Ireland, Holland, Germany, and Russia.

What do we get from the seeds of the flax-plant? Linseed oil and meal; and oil-cake, with which cattle are fed.

What is Damask? Linen with figures woven in it; so called from Damascus, in Syria, where it was first made.

What is the finest kind of Linen? Cambric; so called from Cambray, in France, where it was first made.

Wool.—What is Woollen Cloth made from? From the fleece of the sheep.

Where is it chiefly made? In the West of England, and in Yorkshire.

What is Worsted? It is the name given to woollen stuffs woven of double yarn. It is also the name of the woollen thread or yarn used in knitting stockings.

What is Merino? It is a fine kind of woollen cloth: so called from the Spanish merino sheep.

Does all our Merino Wool come from Spain? No; the merino sheep is now reared in Australia, and much of our merino wool comes from that colony.

What is Alpaca? It is a silky woollen cloth, made from the hair of the Alpaca sheep, which lives in Peru, in South America.

What is the finest kind of Woollen Cloth? Cashmere, made from the wool of the Cashmere goat.

Silk.—From what is Silk made? From the fine threads made by a caterpillar called the silk-worm, and wound round its body before it turns into a chrysalis.

Where did the Silk-worm first come from? From China; but it is now reared in all the warmer countries of Europe, especially in France.

What is Ribbon? Silk woven in narrow webs or bands.

What is Satin? A closely-woven and glossy silk fabric.

What is Sarcenet? A very fine, thin silk, first made by the Saracens.

What is Velvet? A thick silk cloth, with a shaggy pile on the surface.

What is Velveteen? Cotton velvet; an imitation of silk velvet, made of cotton.

What is Crape? A kind of gauze, made of raw silk, and stiffened with gum-water.

Lace.—What is Lace? A fine kind of network, made of loops of linen, cotton, and silk threads.

Where is the finest Lace made? What is called real lace is best made at Brussels: it is made of linen-thread.

Of what is common Net made? Of cotton-thread.

What towns in the British Isles are famous for Lace-making? Nottingham in England, and Limerick in Ireland.

Leather.—What is Leather? The skins or hides of animals, made clean, soft, and lasting by a process called tanning.

What is Morocco? A very soft kind of leather, made from goats' skins; so called because it was first brought from Morocco, in Africa.

What is Chamois? The soft leather made from the skin of the Swiss goat.

Hats and Caps.—Of what are Men's tall Hats made? They used to be made of the skin of the beaver; but they are now made of a silk cloth, with a long nap on it like the beaver's hair, and are called silk hats.

Of what are Caps made? Of woollen or worsted cloth.

What is Felt? Woollen cloth pressed and beat till it becomes close and stiff.

Of what are Hats usually made? Of the straw or stems of wheat plaited together, of felt and other materials.

What part of England is famous for Straw-plaiting? The counties north of London, especially Bedfordshire.

Gloves.—Of what are Gloves made? Of woollen and worsted cloth, of cotton and linen thread, and of different kinds of leather.

Of what kinds of Leather are they made? Of dog-skin, doeskin, calf-skin, and especially of kid, the skin of the young goat.

Where are the best Kid Gloves made?

In Paris and Grenoble, in France.

COMMON THINGS

Paper.—From what is Paper made? From cotton and linen rags, from some kinds of straw, and from wood-pulp.

How is it made? First, the rags are torn into very small shreds, and boiled till, with the water, they form a thin pulp not unlike gruel.

What is done with this Pulp? It is passed through a machine, in which it is strained, dried, and pressed, and so becomes a web of paper.

What is now much used in making Paper for printing? A kind of grass that grows in Spain.

From what does Paper take its name? From the papyrus—a plant which was used by the Egyptians for writing on.

What is Rice Paper? Paper made of the pith or rind of the rice-plant, used by the Chinese.

What is Blotting Paper? It is soft, porous paper, unsized.

How is Paper sized? By the addition of a thin resin, which makes it to some extent water-proof.

From what is Brown Paper made? From sacking, canvas, and other coarse hempen materials.

How are Paste-board and Card-board made? By pasting and pressing together several layers of paper.

Ink.—What is Ink made of? Of gall-nuts and a preparation of iron, mixed with water and gum-arabic.

What are Gall-nuts? Little balls formed on those parts of the tender shoots of the oak where an insect has laid its eggs.

Where do the best Gall-nuts come from? From Aleppo and Smyrna, in Asia-Minor.

Pens.—What are Pens made of? Of quills and of metal.

What are Quill Pens? The quills or wing-feathers of the goose, swan, or other bird; but such pens are now seldom used.

What are Metallic Pens chiefly made of? Of steel; but sometimes the points are of gold, silver, or platinum.

When were Steel Pens first made? In 1803.

What were used as Pens in ancient Times? Reeds cut and pointed like a quill.

Pencils.—What are Pencils made Of? Of a mineral called black-lead or plumbago, enclosed in a small stick of cedar-wood.

Where is the best Black-lead found? In Cumberland.

————————————————————

(1) Ceylon, a large island in Asia, south of India.

(2) Satisfied, pleased with its work.

(3) Engineer, one who makes railways, and other great works.

(4) Employ, make use of.

(5) Several, more than one; a good many.

(6) Interesting, pleasing; amusing.

(7) Obstacle, anything in the way.

(8) Exactly, without mistake; precisely.

LESSON 12

HOW A DOG GOT HIS DINNER

IN a town in the south of France, twenty poor people were served(1) with dinner, at a certain(2) hour every day. A dog belonging to the place was always present at this meal, to watch for the scraps that were now and then thrown to him.

The guests,(3) however, were poor and hungry, and of course not very liberal.(4) So the poor dog hardly did more than smell the feast, of which he would have liked a share.

Now it happened that this dinner was served out to each one on his ringing a bell; but, as the person who served the dinner handed it through a small opening, he did not see who received(5) it.

Well, one day the dog had waited till all the poor people were gone. Having himself got very little to eat, he reached up, took hold of the rope by his teeth, and rang the bell. A good dinner was at once handed out, and the dog ate it with great delight.(6)

This was done by the dog for several days; but the rogue was at length found out. It was thought, however, so clever for a dog, that he was allowed to take his regular turn at the dinner every day. And thus he went on for a long time, ringing the bell, and taking his meal with the other beggars!

QUESTIONS

What is the dog in the picture doing? Why? What is that coming through the opening? For whom is it? How did the dog learn to do this? How long did he do it before he was found out? Why was he allowed to continue it? Where did this take place?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Served, provided; treated.

(2) Certain, fixed.

(3) Guests, persons asked to the dinner.

(4) Liberal, free to give.

(5) Received, got.

(6) Delight, joy; pleasure.

LESSON 13

THE SALE OF THE PET LAMB

A THOUSAND flocks were on the hills,

A thousand flocks and more,

Feeding in sunshine pleasantly:

They were the rich man's store.

There was the while(1) one little lamb

Beside a cottage door;

A little lamb that rested

With the children 'neath the tree;

That ate, meek creature, from their hands,

And nestled(2) to their knee;

That had a place within their hearts—

One of the family.

But want, even as an armed man,

Came down upon their shed:

The father laboured all day long

That his children might be fed;

And, one by one, their household things

Were sold to buy them bread.

That father, with a downcast eye,

Upon his threshold(3) stood;

Gaunt(4) poverty each pleasant thought

Had in his heart subdued.(5)

"What is the creature's life to us?"

Said he; "'twill buy us food.

"Ay, though the children weep all day,

And with down-drooping head

Each does his small task mournfully,

The hungry must be fed;

And that which has a price to bring

Must go to buy us bread."

It went. Oh, parting has a pang(6)

The hardest heart to wring;(7)

But the tender(8) soul of a little child

With fervent(9) love doth cling,

With love that hath no feignings(10) false,

Unto each gentle thing.

Therefore most sorrowful it was

Those children small to see;

Most sorrowful to hear them plead

For the lamb so piteously:(11)

"O mother dear, it loveth us!

And what besides have we?"

"Let's take him to the broad green hill."

In his impotent(12) despair,(13)

Said one strong boy—"let's take him off,

The hills are wide and fair;

I know a little hiding-place,

And we shall keep him there."

Oh, vain!—They took the little lamb,

And straightway tied him down;

With a strong cord they tied him fast,

And o'er the common brown,

And o'er the hot and flinty roads,

They took him to the town.

The little children through that day,

And throughout all the morrow,

From everything about the house

A mournful thought did borrow;

The very bread they had to eat

Was food unto their sorrow.

—MARYY HOWITT

QUESTIONS

Why had the pet lamb to be sold? Who were very vexed? Why? What did they think of doing? Did they succeed? Why did the bread they got to eat make them sadder?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) The while, at the same time.

(2) Nestled, lay close, as in a nest.

(3) Threshold, the stone under the door of a house.

(4) Gaunt, thin; starved-looking.

(5) Subdued, overcome; brought down.

(6) Pang, a sting of sorrow.

(7) Wring, twist, or force painfully.

(8) Tender, loving.

(9) Fervent, warm; burning.

(10) Feignings, pretences.

(11) Piteously, with great pity, or sorrow.

(12) Impotent, powerless; useless.

(13) Despair, utter want of hope.

LESSON 14

BRAVE BOBBY

SOME years ago, a ship bound for(1) China had on board, with other passengers,(2) an officer, his wife, their only child—a little boy five years old, and a large Newfoundland(3) dog called Bobby.

Everybody in the ship liked Bobby, he was so good-tempered and frolicsome;(4) but the boy was the dog's constant playmate. He was a merry little fellow, and as fond of Bobby as Bobby was of him.

One evening while the little boy and the dog were romping together, the ship gave a roll, and splash went the child into the sea!

A cry was raised, "A hand(5) over! a hand over!" and the brave dog sprang over the side of the ship, clearing(6) it like a greyhound, and swam towards the stern.

The little boy's father, half frantic,(7) leaped with others into the jolly-boat;(8) but it was too dark to see far before them. All gave the child up for lost.

At last they heard a splash on the left side of the ship. "Pull on, quick!" cried the father. The boat was turned, the men pulled with all their might, and in a moment brave Bobby was alongside, holding up the child in his mouth! Joy! joy! joy!

The boat was rowed back to the ship; the half-drowned boy soon got better; the parents were delighted; and brave Bobby was caressed(9) by all.

At the Cape-of-Good-Hope,(10) the passengers were to be landed. The officer got into the boat, with his wife and child; but he told the sailors to hold the Newfoundland dog tight by the collar till the boat was some distance from the ship. "You will then see," said he, "what a strong swimmer he is."

Brave Bobby pulled and tugged to get loose, but all in vain; for they held him till the boat was near the shore. But no sooner did the officer give the signal than the dog was set at liberty, and away he went full dash into the sea.

Suddenly the poor animal set up a shrill howl, and threw himself out of the water. At first it was thought he had been seized with cramp;(11) but it was worse than that—a shark was after him!

"A shark! a shark!" sounded from the boat to the ship. Bobby swam right and left, and dived and doubled,(12) showing his teeth, and never allowing the shark time to turn on his back; without doing which the monster could not bite him.

The officer in the boat soon saw that there was little chance of reaching the spot in time to save the dog. Poor Bobby swam and dodged, till he was almost tired out. "Stop rowing," cried the officer to the men, "and turn the boat round."

Just at that moment the shark, which had got very close to the dog, turned on his back and opened his horrid mouth!

Bobby was all but gone. His master rose, pointed his gun, and fired. In a moment the water was tinged with blood: the horrid jaws of the shark were shattered(13) to pieces!

The men then rowed to the spot where Bobby was swimming about. The officer pulled the dog into the boat; the child threw his little arms around him; and the men in the boat, and the sailors in the ship, cried out with joy, "Hurrah! hurrah! joy! joy! Bobby is safe! the shark is killed! Hurrah! hurrah!"

QUESTIONS

How does the dog in the picture happen to be in the water? When did this occur? What fish is that near the dog? Why is it turning on its back? Who are in the boat? How was the dog saved? Why was he so much loved by his master?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Bound for, ready or fixed to go to.

(2) Passengers, travellers by a public conveyance.

(3) Newfoundland, a large island in North America.

(4) Frolicsome, playful.

(5) Hand, one of the crew.

(6) Clearing, leaping over without touching.

(7) Frantic, beside himself; out of his senses; mad.

(8) Jolly-boat, a small boat belonging to a ship; a yawl-boat.

(9) Caressed, made of, fondled.

(10) Cape-of-Good-Hope, the most southerly point of Africa.

(11) Cramp, a stiffening of the limbs, which makes swimming impossible, and often causes drowning.

(12) Doubled, went back again over the same line.

(13) Shattered, broken; shivered.

LESSON 15

THE TRAVELLERS AND THE BEAR

Two men were going through a forest.

"I am afraid," said one, "that we may meet with wild beasts; I see the tracks of their paws on the ground."

"Fear nothing, friend Quickwit," cried the other, whose name was Braggart. "In case of an attack we shall stand by one another like men. I have a strong arm, a stout heart, and—"

"Hark!" cried the first in alarm, as a low growl was heard from a thicket(1) near. In an instant Braggart, who was light and nimble,(2) climbed up a tree like a squirrel, leaving his friend, who was not so active, to face the danger alone!

But Quickwit's presence of mind(3) did not fail him. He could not fight, he could not fly; but he laid himself flat on the ground, and held his breath, so as to appear quite dead. Out of the thicket rushed a huge bear, and at once made up to poor Quickwit; while Braggart looked down, trembling, from his perch in the tree.

One may guess what were the feelings of Quickwit when the bear snuffed all round him, coming so near that he could feel its warm breath, when its muzzle(4) was close to his ear! But Quickwit did not wince(5) or move; and the bear, thinking him dead, plunged(6) again into the thicket, leaving him quite unharmed!

When Braggart saw that the danger was over, he came down from the tree. Somewhat ashamed(7) of his cowardly conduct, he tried to pass off the matter with a joke.

"Well, my friend Quickwit," he said, "what did the bear say to you when he whispered into your ear?"

"He told me," replied Quickwit, "never again to trust a boaster like you!"

The hour of danger often shows that the greatest boasters are the greatest cowards. Let courage(8) be proved by deeds, not by words.

QUESTIONS

What were the names of the two friends? Which appeared to be the braver, from his way of speaking? What did he do when the growl of the bear was heard? Who is lying close to the bear in the picture? Is he dead, or what? How did the other try to pass off the matter? What was the bear's advice?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Thicket, a place where shrubs are thickly set.

(2) Nimble, active, quick.

(3) Presence of mind, readiness of wit; knowing what to do.

(4) Muzzle, the biting part; the mouth and nose of an animal.

(5) Wince, start.

(6) Plunged, dived, as into water.

(7) Ashamed, filled with shame.

(8) Courage, bravery; spirit; fearlessness.

LESSON 16

THE DUN COW

"YES, Mary; now that I am at home, you may walk anywhere with me, and fear nothing!" cried Alfred, whisking(1) off the heads of the dandelions(2) in the field with his cane, as he strolled(3) along with his sister. "If a robber were to attack us now, or two, or half a dozen, I would—"

"Oh dear!" exclaimed(4) Mary suddenly, "I had forgotten that this is the field in which the farmer keeps that vicious(5) dun cow! There she is!—she has caught sight of us!"

"Run! run for your life!" shouted Alfred, as with levelled horns and tail in the air the dun cow came rushing towards them!

Both the children began to fly at their utmost speed, making for a stile(6) which was not far off.

"Stop, brother!—oh, stop!" cried poor Mary. "A bramble(7) has caught my jacket! Set me free—oh, set me free!"

The only answer which came was a bellow from the cow, which made Alfred run the faster, and so alarmed Mary that she pulled away her jacket by main(8) force, leaving half a yard of lace on the bramble!

Panting,(9) she reached the stile; and, scrambling over in a moment, joined her brother on the safe side.

The ill-tempered cow gave another bellow, seeing the children beyond reach of her horns.

"What does she mean by that roar?" cried Alfred, shrinking(10) back at the sound; for, however brave he might be against absent robbers, he was mightily afraid of a cow.

"I suspect,(11)" laughed Mary, who had got over her fright "that her bellow means much the same as the whisper of the bear to the traveller in the fable—'Let courage be proved by deeds—not by words!'"

—A. L. O. E.

QUESTIONS

What did Alfred say to his sister? What did Mary remember? What did Alfred do when he saw the cow? What did he do when his sister was in trouble? What did Mary say the cow's last bellow meant?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Whisking, nipping or cutting off by a quick motion.

(2) Dandelion, a common plant, with a yellow flower.

(3) Strolled, wandered or walked slowly.

(4) Exclaimed, called out.

(5) Vicious, wicked; ill-tempered.

(6) Stile, steps for climbing over a fence.

(7) Bramble, a wild, prickly shrub, bearing sweet black berries.

(8) Main, very great; powerful.

(9) Panting, breathing quickly; gasping.

(10) Shrinking, cowering from fear.

(11) Suspect, am inclined to think; guess.

LESSON 17

WE ARE SEVEN

I MET a little cottage girl,

She was eight years old, she said;

Her hair was thick with many a curl

That clustered(1) round her head.

"Sisters and brothers, little maid,

How many may you be?"

"How many? seven in all," she said,

And, wondering, looked at me.

"And where are they, I pray you tell?"

She answered, "Seven are we;

And two of us at Conway(2) dwell,

And two are gone to sea;

"Two of us in the churchyard lie,

My sister and my brother;

And in the churchyard cottage I

Dwell near them with my mother."

"You say that two at Conway dwell,

And two are gone to sea,

Yet ye are seven; I pray you tell,

Sweet maid, how this may be?"

Then did the little maid reply,

"Seven boys and girls are we;

Two of us in the churchyard lie,

Beneath the churchyard tree."

"You run about, my little maid,

Your limbs they are alive;

If two are in the churchyard laid

Then ye are only five."

"Their graves are green, they may be seen."

The little maid replied,

"Twelve steps or more from my mother's door.

And they are side by side.

"My stockings there I often knit,

My 'kerchief there I hem;

And there upon the ground I sit,—

I sit and sing to them.

"And often after sunset, sir,

When it is light and fair,

I take my little porringer(3)

And eat my supper there.

"The first that died was little Jane:

In bed she moaning lay,

Till God released(4) her of her pain,

And then she went away.

"So in the churchyard she was laid;

And, all the summer dry,

Together round her grave we played,

My brother John and I.

"And when the ground was white with snow,

And I could run and slide.

My brother John was forced to go;

And he lies by her side."

"How many are you, then," said I,

"If they two are in heaven?"

The little maiden would reply,

"O master! we are seven."

"But they are dead, those two are dead,

Their spirits are in heaven."—

'Twas throwing words away; for still

The little maid would have her will,

And said, "Nay, we are seven."

—WORDSWORTH

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Clustered, hung thickly.

(2) Conway, a town in the north of Wales.

(3) Porringer, a small bowl to hold porridge.

(4) Released, set free, eased.

LESSON 18

THE GATE WITHOUT A LATCH

THERE was a farmer, who had a little gate, which opened from his yard into a field. This little gate wanted a latch, and therefore could not be fastened.

When he passed through the gate, he was very careful to pull it after him; but other people were not always so mindful. Even with all his care, the wind would often blow it open again after he had closed it.

The result(1) was, that the gate was generally either flapping backwards and forwards in the wind, or standing wide open.

In this way the poultry were always getting out; and the sheep and lambs were always getting in. It took up half the children's time to run after the chickens and drive them back into the yard, and to send the sheep and the lambs back into the field.

The farmer's wife was always telling him that he ought to get the latch mended; but he used to say that it would cost sixpence, and that it was not worth while. He said that the children might as well be driving the sheep and the poultry in and out of the yard and the field as be doing nothing. So the gate remained without the latch.

One day a fat pig got out of its sty, and, pushing open the gate, ran into the field, and thence wandered into a thick wood. The pig was soon missed and a hue-and-cry(2) was raised after it.

The farmer was in the act of tying up a horse in the stable; but he left it, to run after the pig.

His wife was ironing some clothes in the kitchen; and she left her work, to follow her husband.

The daughter was stirring some broth over the fire; and she left it, to run after her mother.

The farmer's sons and his man joined in the chase after the pig; and away they all went, men and women, pellmell, to the wood.

But the man, making more haste than good speed, sprained his ankle in jumping over a fence. The farmer and his sons were obliged(3) to give up chasing the pig, to carry the man back to the house. The good woman and her daughter also returned(4) to assist(5) the poor man who was hurt.

When they got back to the house, they found that the broth had boiled over,—that the dinner was spoiled; and that two shirts, which had been hanging before the fire, were scorched(6) and utterly(7) ruined.

The farmer scolded his wife and the girl, for being so careless as not to take the shirts and the broth from the fire before they left the kitchen.

He then went to his stable, where he found that the horse, which he had left loose, had kicked a fine colt(8) and broken its leg. The servant was kept in the house for a fortnight, by the hurt to his ankle.

Thus, besides the injury done to the farmer's man, the farmer lost two weeks' work from his servant, a fine colt, a fat pig, and his two best shirts, to say nothing of the loss of his dinner—all for the want of a sixpenny latch!

In this way were two good old proverbs(9) verified:(10)—

For want of a nail the wheel comes off.

Safe bind, safe find.

QUESTIONS

Why was the yard gate often left open? What was always happening? What did the farmer's wife tell him? What did he say? What happened when the pig got out of its sty? Who joined in the chase? What made them stop? What did they find on coming back to the house? What had happed in the stable? And all this for the want of—?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Result, what followed.

(2) Hue-and-cry, chasing and shouting at once.

(3) Obliged, forced.

(4) Returned, went back.

(5) Assist, help

(6) Scorched, burned on the outside.

(7) Utterly, altogether.

(8) Colt, a young horse.

(9) Proverbs, well-known truths.

(10) Verified, shown to be true.

LESSON 19

THE SPIDER AND THE FLY

"WILL you walk into my parlour?" said the spider to the fly;

"'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy.

The way into my parlour is up a winding stair;

And I've got many curious(1) things to show you when you're there."

"Oh no, no," said the little fly; "to ask me is in vain,

For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."

"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring(2) up so high;

Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the spider to the fly.

There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin;

And if you like to rest a while, I'll snugly tuck you in!"

"Oh no, no," said the little fly; "for I've often heard it said,

They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!"

Said the cunning spider to the fly—"Dear friend, what can I do

To prove the warm affection(3) I've always felt for you?

I have within my pantry(4) good store of all that's nice;

I'm sure you're very welcome—will you please to take a slice?"

"Oh no, no," said the little fly, "kind sir, that cannot be;

I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see."

"Sweet creature,"said the spider, "you're witty and you're wise;

How handsome are your gauzy wings how brilliant(5) are your eyes!

I have a little looking-glass upon my parlour shelf,

If you'll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."

"I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you please to say;

And bidding you good-morning now, I'll call another day."

The spider turned him round about, and went into his den,

For well he knew the silly fly would soon come back again;

So he wove a subtle(6) web in a little corner sly,

And set his table ready to dine upon the fly.

Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing:

"Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with the pearl and silver wing;

Your robes are green and purple—there's a crest upon your head!

Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!"

Alas! alas! how very soon this silly little fly,

Hearing his wily,(7) flattering(8) words, came slowly flitting by.

With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,

Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, her green and purple hue—

Thinking only of her crested head—poor foolish thing! At last,

Up jumped the cunning spider, and fiercely held her fast!

He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal(9) den,

Within his little parlour—but she ne'er came out again!

And now, dear little children, who may this story read,

To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you, ne'er give heed;

Unto an evil counsellor(10) close heart and ear and eye,

And take a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly.

—MARY HOWITT

QUESTIONS

The spider asked the fly to…? He said he would show her…? The fly said…? because those who went there…? The spider then asked the fly to…? But the fly said…? When the spider told her that she was very handsome, she promised…? It was his…words that made her come; and then he…?

PRONUNCIATION

————————————————————

(1) Curious, not often seen; rare; nice.

(2) Soaring, mounting on the wing.

(3) Affection, love.

(4) Pantry, a store-room, or press.

(5) Brilliant, brightly sparkling.

(6) Subtle, very fine; cunningly made.

(7) Wily, deceitful; crafty.

(8) Flattering, speaking false praise.

(9) Dismal, causing horror; dark; gloomy.

(10) Counsellor, one who gives advice.

LESSON 20

TAKE CARE OF THE MINUTES

"I SHALL never find time to learn this tiresome lesson," said Robert to Frank as they left school; "I can't be ready with it to-morrow."

"You have ten minutes now before dinner; why not begin at once?" asked his brother.

"Ten minutes! that's nothing. Besides. I must have a run with Rover now," replied Robert, whistling to his dog.

After dinner, the two boys walked off to school again. Frank took out his book and began to learn. "What a book-worm!(1)" said the other, laughing; and he looked out for birds' nests in the hedge, till they got to the school.

"Come off to cricket!" shouted a party of school-fellows as they broke up from lessons. Robert bounded away with the rest. Frank promised to(2) follow in a quarter of an hour, and took out his book once more. This done, he played away with the rest, and enjoyed the game heartily.

The boys were tired that evening, and went to bed early. But when they returned to school next day, Frank knew his lesson perfectly, while Robert pleaded(3) that he had not had time to learn it.

"How did you find time, Frank?" asked his master.

"I had ten minutes before dinner yesterday, sir; a quarter of an hour going back to school; and as much before cricket. Then I looked over my lesson before I went to bed; and took ten minutes before breakfast this morning to make it perfect."

"Which make an hour's preparation,(4)" replied his master. "Go to the bottom of the class, Robert; and learn that for those who take care of the minutes, the hours will take care of themselves."

QUESTIONS

What was Robert's first excuse for not learning his lesson? What did Frank do on his way to school? What did Robert call him? Where did Robert go when lessons were over? What excuse did he make next day for not knowing his lesson? How was he punished? The master told him that "for those who…? the hours will…?"

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Book-worm, one who reads a great deal.

(2) Promised to, said that he would.

(3) Pleaded, said in excuse.

(4) Preparation, learning one's lessons.

LESSON 21

THE BEGGAR MAN

AROUND the fire, one wintry night,

The farmer's rosy children sat;

The fagot(1) lent its blazing light,

And jokes went round, and careless chat;

When, hark! a gentle hand they hear

Low tapping at the bolted door;

And thus, to gain their willing ear,

A feeble voice was heard implore:(2)—

"Cold blows the blast across the moor,

The sleet drives hissing in the wind;

Yon toilsome(3) mountain lies before—

A dreary, treeless waste behind.

"My eyes are weak and dim with age,

No road, no path can I descry;(4)

And these poor rags ill stand the rage

Of such a keen, inclement(5) sky.

"So faint I am, these tottering feet

No more my palsied frame can bear;

My freezing heart forgets to beat,

And drifting snows my tomb prepare.(6)

"Open your hospitable(7) door,

And shield me from the biting blast:

Cold, cold it blows across the moor—

The weary moor that I have passed!"

With hasty steps the farmer ran,

And, close beside the fire, they place

The poor half-frozen beggar-man,

With shaking limbs and pale-blue face.

The little children flocking came,

And chafed(8) his frozen hands in theirs;

And busily the good old dame

A comfortable mess(9) prepares.

Their kindness cheered his drooping soul;

And slowly down his wrinkled cheek

The big round tear was seen to roll,

Which told the thanks he could not speak.

The children then began to sigh,

And all their merry chat was o'er;

And yet they felt, they knew not why,

More glad than they had done before.

—AIKEN

QUESTIONS

Who were sitting round the fire? What were they doing? Who came to the door? What did he ask? What did the farmer do? And the children…? And the good old dame…? What told the old man's thanks? How did the children feel? Because they had done an act of…?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Fagot, a log used for fuel; firewood.

(2) Implore, beg; ask earnestly.

(3) Toilsome, hard to climb.

(4) Descry, find out; see.

(5) Inclement, rough, stormy.

(6) Prepare, make ready.

(7) Hospitable, kind to strangers.

(8) Chafed, warmed by rubbing.

(9) Mess, a dish of food; a meal.

LESSON 22

HALF THE PROFIT

A NOBLEMAN, who dwelt in a castle a long way from the sea-shore, was about to hold his marriage-feast. There was plenty of meats, game, and fruit, for the great occasion,(1) but no fish, as the sea had been very rough.

On the very morning of the feast, however, a poor fisherman came to the castle with a large turbot. There was great joy in the house, and the fisherman was brought with his prize into the large room where the nobleman stood in the midst of his guests.(2)

"A fine fish," said the nobleman. "Fix your own price; you shall be paid at once. How much do you ask?"

"Not a penny, my lord; I will not take money. One hundred lashes on my bare back is the price of my fish! I will not take one lash from the number."

The nobleman and his guests were not a little surprised;(3) but the fisherman was firm. They reasoned with him(4) in vain. At length the nobleman said,—

"Well, well, this fellow has a strange whim,(5) but we must have the fish. So lay on lightly, and let the price be paid in our presence."

After fifty lashes had been given, "Hold, hold!" cried the fisherman; "I have a partner in this business, and it is right that he should get his share."

"What! are there two such fools in the world?" said the nobleman. "Where is he to be found? Name him, and he shall be sent for at once."

"You need not go far for him," said the fisherman. "You will find him at your own gate, in the shape of your own porter. He would not let me pass until I promised that he should have half of whatever I should get for my turbot."

"Oh, ho!" said the nobleman, "bring him up at once; he shall certainly receive his half with the strictest justice."

The porter was therefore brought, and had to take his share of the bargain. He was then turned off from the nobleman's service, and the fisherman was amply(6) rewarded.(7)

QUESTIONS

What was wanting for the feast? Who brought one? What price did he ask? When did he cry, "Hold!"? Why? Who was his partner? What had the porter looked for? What did he get? What more was done to him? What was done to the fisherman?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Occasion, event.

(2) Guests, friends asked to the feast.

(3) Surprised, filled with wonder; astonished.

(4) Reasoned with him, tried to make him change his mind.

(5) Whim, an odd notion.

(6) Amply, fully; largely.

(7) Rewarded, paid for his fish as well as for his cleverness.

LESSON 23

STORIES OF TIGERS

I.

SOME years ago, a number of English officers in India went out to hunt. On their way home after their day's sport, they found in the jungle(1) a little tiger kitten, not more than a fortnight old.

They took it with them; and when they reached their tent, the little tiger was provided(2) with a tiny dog-collar and chain, and tied to the tent-pole, round which it played and frisked to the delight of all who saw it.

Just as it was growing dark, however, about two hours after the capture, the people in the tent were checked, in the midst of their mirth, by a sound that caused the bravest heart among them to quail.(3)

It was the roar of a tiger! In an instant the little kitten became every inch a tiger, and strained at its chain with all its baby strength, while it replied with a loud wail(4) to the terrible voice outside. The company in the tent were panic-struck,(5) there was something so sudden and so wild in the roar.

Suddenly there leaped into the centre of the tent a huge tigress! Without noticing a single man there, she caught her kitten by the neck. She snapped, by one jerk, the chain which bound it; and, turning to the tent door, dashed off at full speed. One cannot be sorry that not a gun was levelled(6) at the brave mother as she bore her young one off in triumph.(7)

QUESTIONS

What has the tigress in the picture got in her mouth? Where has she brought it from? How does it come to have a chain hanging from its neck? Who are these at the door of the tent in the distance? Did they fire at the tigress? Why? What is the use of her great whiskers to the tigress? What other animals have whiskers?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE II

COMMON THINGS

India-rubber.—What is India-rubber? The sap of a tree that grows in South America and the East Indies.

How is it got from the tree? Holes are made in the bark, through which the sap runs into clay cups or shells placed ready to receive it.

What is it like as it comes from the tree? It is white, and hardens in the air.

What is done to it afterwards? It is moulded into bottles of a pear shape, and passed through the smoke of a palm-nut fire.

What is it remarkable for? It is water-proof, and very elastic.

Why is it called Rubber? Because one of its earliest uses was to rub out pencil-marks.

To what other uses is it now put? Motor tyres, coats, shoes, and caps are made of it; as well as combs. trays, and a great many ornaments.

Gutta-percha.—What is Guttapercha? The sap of a tall tree that grows in the East Indies.

What is it remarkable for? It is tough, easily bent, and water-proof.

What things are made of it? Soles of shoes, water-pipes, speaking-tubes, picture-frames, cups, and many ornaments.

Why is it easily manufactured? Because a very slight heat softens it, and then it may be moulded into any shape.

Why is it used to cover telegraph-cables that pass under the sea? Because it keeps the water out, and because it keeps the electricity in.

Cork.—What is Cork? The outer bark of a kind of oak-tree.

Where does it grow? In Spain, France, Italy, and the north of Africa.

How is it gathered? The whole trunk is skinned of its bark once in every eight or ten years; for if the inner bark is uninjured, the outer bark grown again.

For what is it remarkable? It is very light, elastic, and proof against most liquids.

What is it used for? For making stoppers of bottles, net-floats, life-buoys, lining of shoes, and many other things.

Sponge.—What is Sponge! The soft skeleton of a sea-animal.

Of what does Sponge consist? Of a great number of tubes, which during the life of the animal are lined with a soft flesh, like jelly.

Where is it found? Chiefly in the Mediterranean; the finest coming from the Grecian Islands in the Archipelago.

How is it obtained? By diving: the natives of these islands are trained to be divers from childhood.

Coral.—What is Coral? It is a stony substance, formed by little sea-animals.

Where do these animals live? They are most abundant in warm seas: some small kinds are found near Britain.

What is the form of coral? It is sometimes in masses, but oftener branched.

What is a Coral-reef? It is a ridge of coral along a coast-line, produced by vast colonies of these small animals.

Are red and black coral the same as the common coral? No; they are produced in the interior of a fleshy body by similar small animals, which live at the bottom of the sea.

Pearl.—What is Pearl? A hard, shining substance, found in a shell-fish called the pearl-oyster.

Where is the Pearl-oyster found? Plentifully in the seas about the East Indies; also in the Persian Gulf, and in several parts of Europe.

In what parts of Europe? On the coasts and in some rivers of Scotland; and in a river in Bavaria.

How is Pearl-fishing carried on? Chiefly by diving; in the same way as sponge and coral are obtained.

What is Mother-of-pearl? It is made from the shells of the pearl-oyster.

Glass.—What is Glass made of? Chiefly of sand or flint, and potash or sods, melted together in clay vessels.

Where is the best Sand for Glass-making found? In Norfolk, and in the Isle of Wight.

What are the chief kinds of Glass? Flint-glass, crown-glass, and plate-glass.

For what is Flint-glass used? For making tumblers, wineglass, and other articles for domestic use.

How are these articles made into the required form? By blowing through a long tube, and by moulding.

For what is Crown-glass used? Chiefly for windows.

How is it made into sheets? By twirling a mass of the soft glass on the end of a rod rapidly before a furnace.

What is Plate-glass? It is the finest kind of sheet-glass, and is made by pouring the melted glass upon an iron table. The surface is then ground and polished.

What is done to all Glass after it is made, in order to render it less brittle? It is annealed, or slowly cooled after being brought to a great heat.

Sealing-wax.—What is Sealing-wax made of? Of a resin called shellac, mixed with Venice-turpentine, and some colouring matter, as ivory-black or vermilion.

What is Shellac? It is a crust formed on certain trees in the East Indies by an insect. What is Venice-turpentine? A thick, sticky substance, which comes from the larch-tree.

How is Sealing-wax made? When the materials are mixed, they are rolled into rods on a hot marble slab.

Gum-arabic.—What is Gum-arable?It is a sticky juice, which comes from the acacia-tree in Arabia, Egypt, &c., and hardens in the air.

Glue.—How is Glue made? By boiling the parings of hides, and the sinews and hoofs of animal, till they produce a firm jelly, which hardens as it cools.

How is it prepared for use? A pan containing the hard glue and a little water is placed in another pan containing water only; and as the water in the latter heats, the glue melts.

What is Gelatine? It is a fine kind of glue, made from the skins of animals, and used for making sweet jellies.

What is Isinglass? It is a still purer kind of glue, used for the same purposes as gelatine, and made from the skins of certain fishes.

Soap.—Of what is Soap made? Of fat or oil boiled with soda, which has been mixed with lime.

What is White-soap? Soap made with pure white tallow.

What is it called when scented, and moulded into cakes? Toilet-soap.

Of what is Yellow-soap made? Of resin, and palm-oil instead of tallow.

Of what is Soft-soap made? Of whale or seal oil and tallow, mixed with pearlash instead of soda.

Whalebone.—From what is Whalebone obtained? From the Greenland whale.

Is it made from its bones? No; it is found in its upper jaw.

How is it arranged there? In a series of plates or blades, having fringes of coarse fibres.

What purpose do these serve? They form a kind of strainer, to separate the food of the whale from the water which carries the food into its mouth.

What does the Whale feed on? On very small sea animals.

Why must it take very small animals? Because it has a very narrow throat and no teeth.

How is Whale-bone manufactured? It is first softened by boiling; then cut into strips: and when it cools it is harder than it was at first.

————————————————————

(1) Jungle, waste land overgrown with tall grass and brushwood.

(2) Provided, supplied; furnished.

(3) Quail, to sink with fear.

(4) Wail, a cry of distress.

(5) Panic-struck, struck with great fear.

(6) Levelled, aimed.

(7) Triumph, joy for her success.

LESSON 24

RED AND BLACK

"HURRAH for the sea-side!" cried Phil; "what fun I shall have with boating and bathing, and digging away in the sand! But the fishing will be the best fun of all; many a jolly red lobster shall I drag out of the sea!"

"Red lobsters!" cried Bill, with a loud, rude laugh; "you will be clever to catch them! If you had ever seen a lobster, as I have seen many brought in the fishermen' s baskets, you would have known that the creatures, with their strong big claws, are pretty nearly black."

"None of your nonsense for me!" cried Phil;—"as if I didn't know the look of a lobster, when my aunt has lobster-salad twenty times in the year! The shell is as red as a soldier's coat!"

"As black as a sweep's!" laughed Bill.

Phil was so angry at being thus contradicted,(1) that he began to look almost as red as a lobster himself. From high words the two boys were almost coming to blows, when, hearing their loud voices, Bill's grandfather drew near.

"Hollo! what's the matter?" said he.

"Grandfather, are not lobsters black?" cried Bill.

"Are they not red?" shouted his friend.

"Ah, my lads," said the old man, "how often it is our own ignorance(2) that makes us believe that no one knows the truth so well as ourselves! Neither of you, it seems, is aware(3) that lobsters are black until boiled, and that then their colour is changed.

"I would give Phil a sovereign(4) for every red lobster that he could fish out of the sea, and Bill another for every black one that he could eat at the table."

— A. L. O. E.

QUESTIONS

What colour did Phil say lobsters were? What did Bill say? Who heard their loud voices? What did he tell them? What makes us often think that no one knows the truth so well as ourselves?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Contradicted, spoken against; opposed in words.

(2) Ignorance, want of knowledge.

(3) Is aware, knows.

(4) Sovereign, a gold coin, worth twenty shillings.

LESSON 25

THE DAW IN BORROWED FEATHERS

A NUMBER of jackdaws lived very happily in the tower of an old church. Close at hand was a poultry-yard, belonging to a large house. Among the poultry(1) lived some peacocks, which were allowed to wander about the garden, and in front of the house, that their beautiful feathers might be seen.

Now one of the jackdaws thought that there was nothing he should like so much as to strut(2) about like a peacock, spreading his long tail in the sun, or drawing it up behind him in the shape of a wheel. Then, if he could shake all his feathers at once, and let them down as the peacocks did, while everybody gazed(3) at him, he thought how proud he should be.

So he resolved(4) what he would do. He gathered(5) up the peacocks' cast-off feathers, dressed himself in them, and began to strut about the poultry-yard, in the hope of passing for a peacock! But he was quite mistaken:(6) not only peacocks, but turkeys, guinea-fowls and even chickens and ducks, mocked(7) him! And, being provoked(8) by his foolish vanity, they tore the borrowed(9) feathers from him, pecked him, and drove him out of the yard.

The unhappy jackdaw then wished to return to his old friends in the church-tower, and would have been glad to lead his former happy life with them. But they would not notice him, and he was obliged to leave them, and lead a life of loneliness and misery.

This fable shows the folly of those who set their hearts on fine clothes, and who try to lead a life above their station.(10) So long as we keep in the place which God has given us, we are happy, and people honour and respect us; but nothing is so absurd as the vanity which makes us try to seem finer, or richer, than we really are.

QUESTIONS

What is the little black bird in the front of the picture? What has he got in his tail? Where did he get them? Why did he put them there? What are the other birds in the picture? What are they doing? Why? What is this fable meant to show?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Poultry, fowls kept for food; domestic fowls.

(2) Strut, to walk proudly.

(3) Gazed, looked in wonder.

(4) Resolved, made up his mind.

(5) Gathered, brought together.

(6) Mistaken, wrong.

(7) Mocked, made a fool of.

(8) Provoked, made angry.

(9) Borrowed, taken from others.

(10) Station, rank, or place in life.

LESSON 26

THE ANT AND THE CRICKET

A SILLY young cricket, accustomed(1) to sing

Through the warm sunny months of gay summer and spring

Began to complain,(2) when he found that at home

His cupboard(3) was empty, and winter was come.

Not a crumb to be found

On the snow-covered ground;

Not a flower could he see,

Not a leaf on a tree;—

"Oh, what will become," said the cricket, "of me?"

At last, by starvation(4) and famine(5) made bold,

All dripping with wet, and all trembling with cold,

Away he set off to a miserly(6) ant,

To see if, to keep him alive, he would grant

Him shelter fr om rain,

And a mouthful of grain.

He wished only to borrow,

And repay it to-morrow:

If not, he must die of starvation and sorrow.

Said the ant to the cricket, "I'm your servant and friend;

But we ants never borrow, we ants never lend.

But tell me, dear sir, did you lay nothing by

When the weather was warm?" Said the cricket, "Not I!

My heart was so light

That I sang day and night,

For all nature looked gay."

"You sang, sir, you say?

Go, then," said the ant, "and dance winter away."

Thus ending, he hastily opened the wicket,

And out of the door turned the poor little cricket.

Though this is a fable, the moral is good:—

If you live without work, you will go without food.

QUESTIONS

The cricket in winter found that his…? was empty. He was likely to die of…? So he went to…? and asked him to give him…? and lend him…? The ant told him that as he…? all summer, he must…? winter away. If you live…? you will go…?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Accustomed, used; in the habit of.

(2) Complain, to find fault; grieve.

(3) Cupboard, a shelf or press for keeping food.

(4) Starvation, dying from cold or hunger.

(5) Famine, great want of food.

(6) Miserly, too anxious about his stores.

LESSON 27

THE DOG AND THE SHADOW

As a dog was crossing a brook with a bone in his mouth, he saw his own image(1) in the clear water, and mistook it for another dog carrying another bone. Not content with what he himself possessed,(2) the greedy creature snatched at(3) the prize which he saw below. In doing so, he of course dropped the real bone, which fell into the brook and was lost!

The greedy, grasping at(4) more than they have, often lose even that which they might in peace have enjoyed.

QUESTIONS

What is the dog in the picture standing on? What is he looking into? What did he see there? What did he think it was? Something is dropping from his mouth: what is it? Why did he drop it? What kind of dog would you call him? How was he punished?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Image, likeness.

(2) Possessed, had of his own.

(3) Snatched at, tried to lay hold of.

(4) Grasping at, seizing eagerly.

LESSON 28

THE AMBITIOUS BOY

"I NEVER knew before, Cecil, that you were so fond of drawing," said Aunt Sophia, as she looked over the shoulder of her nephew, who was busy with his pencil. "You really have made great progress.(1)"

"I need to do so," cried Cecil, "if I am to carry off the prize for drawing, as I am resolved(2) to do this term.(3)"

"I should have thought," said the aunt, "that you had little chance against Lee. He is an artist's son, and has used the pencil, one might almost say, from his cradle."

"That will double the pleasure of beating him!" cried Cecil, dashing(4) the bough of a tree into his picture, as if he meant what he said. "I'm working now at this four hours a day; he never draws more than two."

"You are not neglecting(5) your Latin for it, I hope? You have had the Latin prize every term for these three years past," said Aunt Sophia.

"Yes," replied Cecil, with a proud smile; "there is no boy in our class can match me in that, though Russell is now working hard. But I am not content with one prize: I cannot rest till I have won the paint-box for drawing, of which Tom Lee makes so sure. It would be glorious(6) to beat the son of an artist on his own ground!"

"Take care," said his aunt, gently laying her hand on his shoulder, "that you do not lose the Latin prize, in trying for that which you are not likely to gain. Remember the fable of the dog that dropped the substance,(7) in catching at the shadow."

On the evening of the day on which the names of the prize-winners were read out, Cecil came home from school gloomy and grave. His looks told his aunt enough to make her spare him the pain of questions; but his little sister Rosey was not so thoughtful.

"O Cecil," she cried, running eagerly up to him, "tell me, are you to get the two prizes?"

"No," said Cecil, with a growl.

"Only one," cried the child in a sorrowful tone.

"Not one," muttered(8) the boy. "I was so busy trying to beat Lee, that I could not hold my ground against Russell."

Cecil flung himself on a chair, in so angry a mood that even Rosey did not dare to question him further. Their aunt silently hoped that the lesson might prove worth the pain which it cost, and that the ambitious(9) boy might not again need to be reminded of the dog in the fable.

— A. L. O. E.

QUESTIONS

Cecil had always taken the…? prize. He was now determined to carry off the…? as well. He worked hard at his…? but…? his Latin. In trying to take…? prizes, he lost…? He was too…?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Progress, advance; improvement.

(2) Am resolved, have made up my mind.

(3) Term, a division or part of a year spent at school.

(4) Dashing, drawing quickly with his pencil.

(5) Neglecting, overlooking.

(6) Glorious, grand; splendid.

(7) Substance, the real thing, not the image.

(8) Muttered, said in a grumbling voice.

(9) Ambitious, anxious to beat others.

LESSON 29

THE BETTER LAND

"I HEAR thee speak of the Better Land,

Thou call'st its children a happy band;

Mother, oh! where is that radiant(1) shore?

Shall we not seek it, and weep no more?

Is it where the flower of the orange blows,

And the fire-flies(2) glance through the myrtle boughs?"

"Not there, not there, my child!"

"Is it where the feathery palm-trees rise,

And the date grows ripe under sunny skies?

Or 'midst the green islands on glittering seas,

Where fragrant(3) forests perfume(4) the breeze,

And strange bright birds, on their starry wings,

Bear the rich hues(5) of all glorious things?"

"Not there, not there, my child!"

"Is it far away in some region(6) old,

Where the rivers wander o'er sands of gold;

Where the burning rays of the ruby(7) shine,

And the diamond lights up the secret mine,

And the pearl gleams(8) forth from the coral strand;(9)

Is it there, sweet mother, that Better Land?"

"Not there, not there, my child!—

"Eye hath not seen it, my gentle boy;

Ear hath not heard its deep songs of joy;

Dreams cannot picture(10) a world so fair:

Sorrow and death may not enter there;

Time doth not breathe on its fadeless(11) bloom;

For beyond the clouds and beyond the tomb—

It is there, it is there, my child!"

— MRS. HEMANS

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Radiant, bright; glittering.

(2) Fire-flies, small beetles, common in South America, which send forth from their bodies a bright light of a greenish yellow colour.

(3) Fragrant, sweet-smelling.

(4) Perfume, fill with sweet smell.

(5) Hues, colours.

(6) Region, country; division of the Earth.

(7) Ruby, a precious stone of a dark red colour.

(8) Gleams, shoots forth rays of light.

(9) Coral strand, shore or beach formed of coral covered with earth, as the South Sea Islands are.

(10) Picture, imagine; paint in fancy.

(11) Fadeless, never-dying.

LESSON 30

THE ENGLISH GIRL AND HER AYAH

A LITTLE English girl in India was one day playing outside her father's tent, near the edge of a jungle.(1) Her attention was attracted(2) by a beautiful little fawn,(3) that seemed too young to run about, and which stood timidly gazing at the child with its soft, dark eyes.

The girl moved towards it; but the fawn started back, with a frightened look, and fled. The child gave chase; but the fawn was soon hid among the tall reeds and grass of the jungle.

When the girl's ayah(4) missed her charge, she quickly hurried after her. But, so eager had the child been in chasing the fawn, that she was some distance from the tent before the ayah overtook her. Catching up the girl in her arms, she tried to return; but the grass and reeds around grew so high that she could scarcely see two yards before her.

She walked some steps with the little girl in her arms; then stopped, and looked round with a frightened air. "We are lost!" cried the poor Hindoo, "lost in the dreadful jungle!"

"Do not be so frightened, Motee," said the fair-haired English girl; "God can save us, and show us the way back."

The little child could feel, as the Hindoo could not, that, even in that lonely jungle, a great and loving Friend was beside her. Again the ayah tried to find her way; again she paused in alarm.

What was that sound, like a growl, that startled her, and made her sink on the ground in terror, clasping the little girl all the closer in her arms? Both turned to gaze in the direction from which that dreadful sound had come.

What was their horror on beholding the striped head of a Bengal tiger above the waving grass! The ayah uttered a terrified scream; and the little girl cried to God to save her. It seemed like the instant answer to that cry, when the sharp report of a rifle rang through the thicket, quickly followed by a second; and the tiger, mortally(5) wounded, lay rolling and struggling on the earth!

Edith for that was the girl's name, saw nothing of what followed. Senseless with terror, she lay in the arms of her trembling ayah.

It was her father whom Providence had sent to the rescue. Lifting his little girl in his arms, he bore her back to the tent; leaving his servants, who had followed in his steps, to bring in the dead tiger.

— A. L. O. E.

QUESTIONS

Where are the nurse and girl in the picture? What is an Indian nurse called? How do they happen to be there? Why have they stopped? What animal is that coming near them? What did the girl do when she saw it? How were they saved from it?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Jungle, waste land overgrown with tall grass and brushwood.

(2) Attracted, taken; held; engaged.

(3) Fawn, a young deer.

(4) Ayah, native Indian nurse.

(5) Mortally, so as to cause death.

LESSON 31

STORIES OF TIGERS

II.

WHEN taken young, the tiger can be tamed. The fakirs,(1) a class of people in India who are in the habit of going about begging, often lead with them tame tigers and leopards; but they are dangerous pets.

A story is told of a gentleman in India, who nearly lost his life by a tame tiger which he had reared.(2)

He was sitting one evening outside his tent reading, with his pet couched(3) down beside him. One hand hung by his side, while the other held his book.

The tiger began to lick his hand, and went on doing so for some time. A low growl made the gentleman turn his head and look down. He saw that his hand was covered with blood!

In a moment he knew that the wild nature of the animal had awakened, and that if he withdrew(4) his hand, the tiger would at once spring upon him. Calling to his servant, whom he saw at a little distance, he told him to fetch a loaded gun, and shoot the tiger dead on the spot.

He then sat quite still, allowing him to growl and to lick the blood at his pleasure. We may feel sure that the moments seemed very long to him. Speedily, however, the servant came near with the gun, very quietly, so as not to disturb the animal; took a steady aim, and shot him through the heart!

The general way of hunting the tiger is with elephants. Though the horse can be made to face a lion, he will seldom face a tiger. The elephant, on the other hand, stands steadily, while his rider takes aim just before the tiger makes his spring.

The Hindoos rarely hunt the tiger, or even fire on him. They let him prowl(5) about their houses, and carry away their cattle, and even their children! But wherever Europeans(6) go, they strive to rid the country of such dangerous animals.

Sometimes the tiger, when hunted, springs upon the elephant, and fastens his teeth and claws in his neck or shoulder. The latter tries to kneel on his enemy, so as to crush him by the weight of his great legs and heavy body.

Sometimes they both roll on the ground, and a fearful struggle follows; generally, however, ending in the death of the tiger, either from the strength of the elephant, or by a bullet from the hunter's rifle.

QUESTIONS

Who often lead about tame tigers? What kind of tiger is that in the picture? What is it doing? What is the servant going to do? Why? How is the tiger generally hunted? What does it sometimes do? How does the struggle usually end?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Fakirs, begging monks.

(2) Reared, brought up.

(3) Couched, lying, with the head raised.

(4) Withdrew, drew back or away.

(5) Prowl, rove about in search of prey.

(6) Europeans, natives of Europe.

LESSON 32

HOUSES MADE OF SNOW

ALL the winter, the Esquimaux(1) live in huts made of snow. These huts are very clean and white when they are new, but they soon turn dirty; and when the summer comes they begin to melt.

Sometimes the Esquimaux find logs of wood on the shore, which have been drifted(2) by the waves from some other country; and these they gather, and build their huts with them.

When they cannot get wood, they use the pure white snow. It is frozen so hard that it keeps firm all through the winter. Sometimes, when the hut becomes very warm with the lamps, and the people, and the dogs, the walls begin to drip(3) a little; but a piece of fresh snow rubbed over the place soon mends it.

The windows of these huts are not made of glass, but of ice.

Though there is no fire in the hut, it is as warm as the Esquimau can bear it. He warms it with his lamp; which is nothing but a vessel like a saucer, full of oil. A great many little wicks float on the oil, and he lights them all. The burning wicks make the room warm. A cooking-pot hangs over the lamp; but he often eats his meat raw.

He has no chairs or tables, for he does not know how to make them; but there is a raised ledge all round the hut, covered with warm skins. This is his seat during the day, and his bed at night. But under the skins there is nothing but snow.

When the warm weather comes, the Esquimau is glad to get away from the snow hut. Its walls begin to melt, and he gets wet as he lies in bed, and often catches cold. He is therefore very glad to escape(4) from it to his tent,which forms his summer residence.(5)

QUESTIONS

How do the Esquimaux sometimes get wood to build with? What do they use when they cannot get wood? How long does one of these houses last? How do they mend the walls when they get out of repair? What are the windows made of? How is the house warmed? What kind of bed does it contain? Where do the Esquimaux live in summer?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Esquimaux, North American Indians of the Frozen Zone.

(2) Drifted, driven along.

(3) Drip, to fall in drops; to melt.

(4) Escape, get away.

(5) Residence, dwelling-place; house.

LESSON 33

THE CHILD'S FIRST GRIEF

"OH! call my brother back to me!

I cannot play alone;

The summer comes with flower and bee—

Where is my brother gone?

The flowers run wild, the flowers we sowed

Around our garden tree;

Our vine(1) is drooping(2) with its load—

Oh! call him back to me!"—

"He would not hear thy voice, fair child!

He may not come to thee:

The face that once like spring-time smiled,

On Earth no more thou'lt(3) see.

A rose's brief bright life of joy,

Such unto him was given;

Go—thou must play alone, my boy!

Thy brother is in Heaven."—

"And has he left his birds and flowers?

And must I call in vain(4)?

And through the long, long summer hours.

Will he not come again?

And by the brook and in the glade(5)

Are all our wanderings(6) o'er?

Oh! while my brother with me played,

Would I had loved him more!"

— MRS. HEMANS

QUESTIONS

The child did not know that his brother was…? He wanted his mother to…? But his mother told him that his…was…? The child then was sorry that he had not…? when he was alive.

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Vine, the grape tree.

(2) Drooping, hanging downward.

(3) Thou'lt, thou wilt.

(4) In vain, without success.

(5) Glade, an open space in a wood.

(6) Wanderings, walks; rambles.

LESSON 34

THE FOX AND THE STORK

A FOX asked a stork to dinner, with the naughty purpose of playing a trick on his guest.

The stork came at the hour fixed, with a good appetite(1) for her meal. But little pleased was she on finding that it consisted(2) of mince,(3) served up in a dish so shallow that she could scarcely, with her long slender bill, pick up enough to satisfy a sparrow! The fox lapped up the food readily enough, only stopping a moment to say, "I hope, madam, that you like your feast? Don't you think that my mince is first-rate?"

The stork made no reply, but retired,(4) hungry and much displeased, from the almost untasted meal.

A few days afterwards the stork returned the compliment(5) by asking the fox to dinner.

Reynard(6) hastened(7) to the place of meeting, where the stork had made ready her meal. Great was the disgust of the fox to behold the food served up in a long-necked jar, which let in the stork's slender bill, but into which he could not thrust even his pointed nose!

"I hope, sir, that you like your feast?" said the stork, who was not generous(8) enough to return good for evil, and who wished to give Reynard a lesson. And as the hungry fox looked sadly up into her face, she added, "Those who cannot take a joke in good part should never make one. Never do to others, what you would not like them to do to yourself."

QUESTIONS

Why did the fox ask the stork to dinner? What did he put before her? What sort of dish was it in? What did the fox ask the stork while he was eating? How did the stork return the compliment? What is the picture about? Those who cannot…? a joke should neve…? one.

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Appetite, wish for food.

(2) Consisted, was made up.

(3) Mince, meat chopped very small.

(4) Retired, went off.

(5) Compliment, act of respect; favour.

(6) Reynard, a name given to the fox.

(7) Hastened, went quickly.

(8) Generous, noble; liberal.

LESSON 35

THE OSTRICH

THE humming-bird is the smallest and the ostrich the largest of birds. There are humming-birds no larger than bees, while the ostrich is often ten feet in height, from the crown of the head to the ground.

The home of the ostrich is in the sandy deserts of Africa and Arabia. Among the Arabs, it is called the camel bird, from the form of its neck and body. Like the camel, it dwells in the desert, and can live a long time without water.

Though the ostrich has wings, they are too small for it to fly with; but in running, it uses them like paddles.(1) Spreading them out, and flapping them in the air, it runs along with great speed. The swiftest horse cannot keep up with it! As is said in the Bible, "She lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth(2) the horse and his rider."

The nest of the ostrich is simply a hole in the sand; and there the female bird lays ten or twelve large eggs. She watches her nest very closely, always sitting on her eggs at night, and leaving them only during the hottest part of the day.

The eggs are prepared for food in various ways; and some people are very fond of them. The shells also are made into cups and ornaments of different kinds.

The ostrich is often hunted on horseback; but so rapid is its flight, that the hunters would seldom succeed in catching it, if they did not know that it never runs in an even course, but zig-zag.(3) So they let it go winding and doubling about, while they themselves push straight forward, thus saving time and keeping up with it.

The chase sometimes lasts two or three days, till the poor bird is tired out; for though swift, it is not so strong as a horse. When taken, it will turn round upon the hunters, and attack them furiously,(4) till it is brought down.

Dr. Moffat, in his book called Missionary Labours in South Africa, describes the method of the wild Bushmen in hunting the ostrich:—A native is dressed with the skin and feathers of one of these birds; and, thus disguised,(5) he goes near to a flock of ostriches. He mimics(6) the real bird, by pecking on the ground, and shaking his feathers. He trots and walks along, until he gets within bow-shot. Then he shoots a poisoned arrow at one of the flock, and generally succeeds in taking his prey.(7)

A traveller relates(8) that, at a French factory on the River Niger,(9) he once saw a young ostrich so tame, that it let a little black boy mount on its back. No sooner did it feel the weight of the boy than it set off. At first it moved at a sharp trot, and then it stretched out its wings, and ran with the fleetness of a race-horse round the village!

The ostrich is chiefly valued for the beautiful white feathers of its wings and tail. The young reader may not know that the crest(10) of the Prince of Wales is formed of three ostrich feathers, with a motto meaning "I serve." The origin of this is said to have been as follows:—The King of Bohemia, who was slain at the battle of Crecy in the year 1346, wore this crest and motto. These were assumed(11) by his conqueror, Edward, Prince of Wales, known as the Black Prince, and have been worn ever since by the heir to the British crown.

QUESTIONS

Where is the home of the ostrich? What four-footed animal is it like? Why? What is said about the ostrich in the Bible? How do horsemen run down the ostrich? How do the wild Bushmen hunt the ostrich? What is the story of the ostrich in the picture? For what is the ostrich chiefly valued? Whose crest is formed of three ostrich feathers?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Paddles, broad, short oars, used in pushing boats forward.

(2) Scorneth, thinks little of; despises.

(3) Zig-zag, with short turns; from side to side.

(4) Furiously, with great anger.

(5) Disguised, hidden by a false dress; concealed.

(6) Mimics, does the same things as; imitates.

(7) Prey, what is hunted; booty.

(8) Relates, tells as a story.

(9) Niger, a great river in Africa.

(10) Crest, the ornament for the top of a helmet.

(11) Assumed, taken to himself.

LESSON 36

DON'T BE TOO SURE

"FATHER, don't you want me to be clever and great?" said Willie to his father one day.

"I want you, my boy, to do your duty in the station, whatever it may be, to which it will please God to call you; and not to set your heart on any mere earthly success, or make too sure of anything.

"When I see folk, as the saying goes, counting their chickens before they are hatched, it brings into my mind what I read lately about the famous(1) Napoleon Bonaparte."

"Oh, let me hear about him, father. You can talk quite well at your work, and I like to hear what you get out of those learned books that you read."

"This was taken out of a large book, written by an Earl—the Life of the great William Pitt," said the father; "and it is all true—I have not a doubt of it.

"When Bonaparte was ruling over France, he wished to rule over Old England too; and so, being sure of conquest, he fixed on the very time when he would come over and invade us.

"He got a number of his soldiers together, and had ships ready to carry them across. He looked over the blue waves of the Channel,(2) and, thought he, 'I'll soon land in England, march up to London, and take it.'"

"He made too sure," laughed Willie.

"He made so sure," said the father, "that—would you believe it, my boy?—he had actually a medal made to celebrate(3) his invasion(4) of England!"

"But he never invaded it!" interrupted(5) Willie.

"And on the medal was stamped in French, 'Struck at London,'" continued(6) the father.

"But he never entered London!" cried Willie.

"He made so sure of success," said the father, "that he prepared a medal in honour of the conquest of a city, that he was never so much as to set his foot in!"

"Well, that was counting his chickens before they were hatched!" exclaimed(7) the boy. "That was making too sure! How ashamed Bonaparte must afterwards have felt, whenever he thought of that medal!—Have you any more stories for me, father?"

"Yes; I remember another, which I read some time ago," replied the father. "It's about a very different man from him who struck the medal;— it's about the Duke of Wellington—"

"Who beat Napoleon Bonaparte himself at the battle of Waterloo!" cried Willie. "I hope that he hadn't his medal rely beforehand?"

"You know, or perhaps you don't know, my lad, that Wellington was sent over to Portugal, to help the poor folk there who were fighting against the French. God gave wisdom to our great general, and success to a good cause. So the enemy's soldiers were driven out, and Portugal was free!"

"How glad the Portuguese(8) must have been," cried Willie; "and how they must have honoured our Duke! That was the time for striking a medal—when the battle had been fought and won."

"I don't know whether a medal was struck," said the father; "but I'll tell you what the Portuguese did. They had a print(9) made of the general, and under it were these words, in Latin, 'Invincible(10) Wellington, from grateful(11) Portugal.'"

"Oh, that was making too sure! The Duke might have won a hundred battles, but as long as he lived, no one could tell that he might not be beaten at last."

"Just hear the end of my story, my boy, and you'll see that the Duke was quite of your mind in that matter. A friend asked him to send him the print; so Wellington got a copy, and sent it.

"But he would not allow that boastful word to be at the bottom of his likeness, as if he thought himself sure of victory. He scored out 'invincible' with a dash of his pen, and underneath it he wrote, 'Don't halloo till you are out of the wood.'"

Willie burst out laughing. "That showed the Duke's good sense," said he.

"Ay, and good feeling too, my boy. It showed that he was not a man of a boastful(12) spirit, but knew that the highest may have a fall. When you are tempted,(13) Willie, to make too sure of the morrow, just think of Bonaparte and his medal—of Wellington and his print."

— A. L. O. E.

QUESTIONS

How did Bonaparte make too sure of success? What was stamped on the medal? What did the Portuguese put under the print of Wellington? What word did the Duke score out? What did he write in its place? This showed that he was not a man of a…?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Famous, much talked of; noted.

(2) The Channel, the narrow sea between France and England.

(3) Celebrate, to make famous; to keep in mind.

(4) Invasion, marching into another country as an enemy.

(5) Interrupted, broke in.

(6) Continued, went on.

(7) Exclaimed, called out.

(8) Portuguese, the people of Portugal.

(9) Print, a picture; likeness.

(10) Invincible, not to be conquered.

(11) Grateful, full of thanks.

(12) Boastful, fond of self-praise.

(13) Tempted, led; inclined.

LESSON 37

BUDS

LEAVES as well as flowers come from buds. The bud swells, the leaves push out, the flower forms, and then comes the fruit.

The buds of trees have brown scales over them. These scales shelter the tender bud from the cold of winter and early spring. They are glued tightly together by a sticky substance, and thus form a close little case for the bud, to protect(1) it from the sharp air. When the weather becomes warm enough, the swelling bud pushes the scales apart; and when the leaves are out, these scales drop off, because there is no more use for them.

In cold countries, the buds are always protected in this way, by a covering. The buds that we see in spring are not formed in the same year in which they appear. They are formed in the preceding(2) year, a little while before the leaves begin to fall; and as they form, they loosen the old leaves, and soon push them off.

Now in these little buds are locked up all the leaves and flowers that are to come out next spring. The precious(3) treasures(4) of another year are there, and they must be kept safe through the winter; and therefore they have coverings to guard them from the cold.

These coverings have been called by some one "the winter cradle of the buds;" and a very good name it is. The little buds in their cradles rock to and fro in the cold winds of winter, and are as safe from harm as the baby in its cradle.

The inside of these cradles is lined with soft down. This is the bud's little blanket, to keep it warm. In warm countries, the buds have not these "winter cradles." They do not need them there. The buds of the orange-tree and the lemon-tree have no coverings. There is no cold air for them to fear; and to put warm coverings on them would do harm instead of good.

QUESTIONS

When are the buds that we see in spring formed? How are they protected from the cold air? What have these coverings been called? What forms the bud's blanket? Why have the buds of the orange-tree no such coverings?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE III

THE BREAKFAST-TABLE

The Table.—Name three kinds of Wood much used for making Tables? Pine, birch, and mahogany.

Where do the best kinds of Pine grow? In Canada, Norway, and Russia.

Where does Birch come from? From the northern countries of Europe, Asia, and America.

Where does Mahogany come from? From America and the West Indies; chiefly from the countries round the Gulf of Mexico.

The Table-cloth.—Of what are Table-cloths generally made? Of linen.

The Cups and Saucers.—Of what are the Cups and Saucers made? Of clay, and other kinds of earth, mixed with powdered flint and water. They are called earthenware.

What is a man called who works in Earthenware? A Potter.

What is done with the Cup or Saucer after he has shaped it? It is baked in an oven, glazed, and baked again.

Where is the best English Earthenware made? At "the Potteries," a district of Staffordshire, and in Worcester.

What is the finest Earthenware called? China, because it first came from China, in Asia.

Where is very fine China now made in Europe? In Saxony (a country in Germany) and in France.

The Spoons.—Of what are Spoons made? Of iron, of mixed metal, and sometimes of silver.

The Knives and Forks.—Of what are Knives and Forks made? Of steel and other metals.

The Handles.—Of what are the Handles of knives and forks made? Of bone or ivory.

From what is Bone got? From the horns of the cow and the buffalo, and sometimes of the stag.

How is Horn worked? It is softened by heat, and pressed or moulded into the required shape.

What is Ivory? It is the tusk of the elephant or the walrus.

For what is it remarkable? It is hard and solid, of a beautiful white colour, and it takes on a high polish.

How is it worked? It is cut with sharp tools, and turned in the lathe.

Where does the purest Ivory come from? From the Cape of Good Hope; and from Ceylon, an island to the south of India.

Bread.—What are the Loaves and Rolls made of? Of wheat flour.

How is Bread made? The flour is mixed with water, and then yeast is added to make it rise.

How does the Yeast make it rise? It forms a kind of gas, which forces its way through the dough in all directions, and so swells it out.

What is done after this? The dough is cut in pieces, and baked in the oven.

Where does Wheat grow? In almost all countries; but it is not known where it first came from.

Does Great Britain grow enough of Wheat for its own use? No, it grows a great deal, but large quantities are imported from Canada, the United States, and other countries.

Of what other Grains is Bread sometimes made? Of barley and oatmeal.

What other Food is made of Oatmeal? A thick pudding called porridge, which is said to be very strength-giving.

Where is it very much used? In Scotland it is the usual breakfast of children, and of those who do hard work.

Tea.—What is Tea? It is the dried leaf of a plant which grows in China, India, and other Eastern countries.

What kind of plant is the Tea-plant? It is an evergreen plant, with flowers not unlike those of the white wild-rose.

When was Tea first brought to England? About two hundred years ago.

How can you give an idea of the amount of Tea consumed in Great Britain in a year? If all the chests of tea consumed in the British Islands in a year were ranged in a line, they would stretch from the north to the south of Scotland—nearly three hundred miles!

Coffee.—From what is Coffee made? From the berries of an evergreen shrub about ten or twelve feet high.

What are the Berries like? They are about the size of a cherry; and each contains two kernels, called coffee-beans.

How are the Beans prepared? They are dried and roasted, and then ground into the powder which we call coffee.

Where does Coffee come from? Some of our coffee comes from Arabia; but most of it comes from Brazil and from the West Indies.

Cocoa.—From what is Cocos made? From the oily seeds of the cacao, a shrub which grows in West Africa, the West Indies, and South America.

What else is made from these Seeds? Mixed with sugar and spices, they make a sweet paste called chocolate.

Sugar.—From what is Sugar made? It is made chiefly from the juice of the sugar-cane.

Whence does it come? From the East and West Indies, and from Brazil.

How is it made? The stems are crushed, to get the juice out of them; the juice is then cleared, boiled till it forms into crystals, and strained.

What is the liquid part strained from the sugar called? Molasses, or treacle.

What else is Sugar made from? From the maple-tree, from beet-root, and from the date-palm.

Milk and Butter.—What is the place called where Milk is kept after it comes from the cow? The dairy.

What forms on the surface of the Milk when it stands for some time? A thick, oily liquid, called cream.

How is Butter made? By putting cream in a churn, and stirring it violently, it is separated into butter and butter-milk.

What is Cheese? It is the curd of milk, salted, pressed, and dried.

How is the Curd formed? By putting a liquid called rennet in milk, it is made to turn sour, and to separate into a thick mass called curd, and a thin liquid called whey.

What kinds of Milk are used for food besides cow's milk? Coat's milk in Switzerland, reindeer's in Lapland, camel's in Arabia, and mare's in Tartary. We also make cheese of ewe-milk; and give ass's-milk to invalids.

Eggs.—What kinds of Eggs are commonly used for food? Chiefly those of the common hen; sometimes also those of ducks and turkeys.

Do the British Isles supply themselves with Eggs? Not entirely. They produce great quantities, but millions are imported every year from Denmark. England and Scotland also get large supplies of eggs from Ireland.

Salt.—Where is Salt obtained? Either from mines (Rock salt) or from salt water (Bay salt).

Where are the greatest Salt-mines? In Poland; but there are very large ones also at Northwich, in Cheshire.

How is Salt made from sea water? The water is boiled till it all goes off in steam, leaving only the salt behind.

Is Rock-salt used just as it comes from the mine? Not always: the Cheshire salt is first melted in sea water, and then prepared in the same way as Bay salt.

Why do we use Salt with our food? If we took our food without it, we should find it very insipid.

For what do we use it, besides for seasoning food? For preserving meat.

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(1) Protect, shelter, or guard.

(2) Preceding, going before.

(3) Precious, very valuable.

(4) Treasures, gathered wealth; riches.

LESSON 38

THE DUKE AND THE COW-BOY

A SCOTCH nobleman, who was very fond of farming, had bought a cow, from a gentleman who lived near him. The cow was to be sent home next morning. Early in the morning, as the duke was taking a walk, he saw a boy trying in vain to drive the cow to his house. The cow was very unruly,(1) and the poor boy could not manage(2) her atall.

The boy, not knowing the duke, bawled out to him, "Hello, man! come here and help me with this beast." The duke walked slowly on, not seeming to notice the boy, who still kept calling for his help. At last, finding that he could not get on with the cow, he cried out in distress,(3) "Come here, man, and help me, and I'll give you half of whatever I get."

The duke went and lent a helping hand.

"And now," said the duke, as they trudged(4) along after the cow, "how much do you think you will get for the job?"

"I don't know," said the boy; "but I am sure of something for the folk up at the big house are good to every body."

On coming to a lane near the house, the duke slipped away from the boy, and reached home by a different road. Calling a servant, he put a sovereign(5) into his hand, saying, "Give that to the boy who brought the cow."

He then returned to the end of the lane, where he had parted from the boy, so as to meet him on his way back.

"Well, how much did you get?" asked the duke.

"A shilling," said the boy; "and there's half of it to you."

"But surely you got more than a shilling?" said the duke.

"No," said the boy; "that is all I got; and I think it quite enough."

"I do not," said the duke; "there must be something wrong; and as I am a friend of the duke, if you return, I think I'll see that you get more."

They went back. The duke rang the bell, and ordered all the servants to be assembled.(6)

"Now," said the duke to the boy, "point me out the person who gave you the shilling."

"It was that man there," said he, pointing to the butler.(7)

The butler fell on his knees, confessed his fault, and begged to be forgiven; but the duke ordered him to give the boy the sovereign, and quit his service at once. "You have lost," said the duke, "both your place and your character,(8) by your deceit.(9) Learn for the future that honesty is the best policy.(10)"

The boy now found out who it was that had helped him to drive the cow; and the duke was so pleased with the manliness and honesty of the boy, that he sent him to school, and paid for him out of his own pocket.

QUESTIONS

What is the boy in the picture doing? Who is that standing near him? What did the boy promise him? Did he help him? How much did the boy give him afterwards? Who had cheated the boy? How was he punished? How was the boy treated?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Unruly, wild; not easily led.

(2) Manage, keep in order.

(3) Distress, great pain, or sorrow.

(4) Trudged, walked slowly.

(5) Sovereign, a gold coin worth twenty shillings.

(6) Assembled, brought together.

(7) Butler, a servant who has charge of wine and plate; a chief servant.

(8) Character, good name.

(9) Deceit, cunning.

(10) Policy, rule to act by.

LESSON 39

STORIES OF DOGS

SOME years ago, a fine dog, called Neptune, was kept at an inn in Wimborne, in the county of Dorset.(1) His fame spread far and wide.

Every morning, as the clock of the minster(2) struck eight, he might be seen, with a basket in his mouth, going to the baker's for bread. The basket contained(3) money to buy the bread; and Neptune, day after day, carried it safely across the street to the baker's shop.

The baker took the money, and placed the right number of rolls in the basket. With these, Neptune hastened back to the kitchen of the inn, and there laid down his trust. It is said that he never tried to take the basket, or even to approach(4) it, on Sunday mornings, when no rolls could be got.

On one occasion, when returning with the rolls, another dog made an attack upon the basket, for the purpose of stealing its contents.(5) On this, the trusty fellow, placing it on the ground, began to fight with his assailant.(6) He severely punished him, and then bore off his charge in triumph!

Two gentlemen, brothers, were one day out shooting wild-fowl. They had with them a noble Newfoundland dog.

Having thrown down their hats on the grass, they crept through some reeds to the river's bank. After firing at the birds, they proceeded(7) some way down by the side of the stream.

At length they began to wish for their hats. Calling the dog, they sent him back for them; and away he went to fulfill(8) the errand.(9)

When he reached the place, he made several attempts to bring both hats together in his mouth at once. Finding great difficulty in this, he at last noticed that one of the hats was smaller than the other. Placing the smaller hat within the larger one, and pressing it down with his foot, he was then able to carry both at the same time!

There are two ways of doing everything—a right and a wrong.

QUESTIONS

What did the Wimborne dog do every morning? At what time? On what day did he omit this? What did he do when another dog attacked the basket? How did the Newfoundland dog carry the two hats?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Dorset, a county in the south of England.

(2) Minster, a large church.

(3) Contained, had in it.

(4) Approach, go near.

(5) Contents, what it had in it.

(6) Assailant, one who attacks another.

(7) Proceeded, went on.

(8) Fulfill, carry out; do.

(9) Errand, what he was sent to do; message.

LESSON 40

LUCY GRAY

OFT I had heard of Lucy Gray:

And, when I crossed the wild,(1)

I chanced to see, at break of day,

The solitary(2) child.

No mate, no comrade(3) Lucy knew:

She dwelt on a wide moor,—

The sweetest thing that ever grew

Beside a human door!

You yet may spy the fawn(4) at play,

The hare upon the green;

But the sweet face of Lucy Gray

Will never more be seen.

"To-night will be a stormy night—

You to the town must go;

And take a lantern, child, to light

Your mother through the snow."

"That, father, will I gladly do!

'Tis scarcely afternoon—

The minster(5) clock has just struck two,

And yonder is the moon!"

At this the father raised his hook,

And snapped a fagot-band;(6)

He plied his work;—and Lucy took

The lantern in her hand.

Not blither is the mountain roe:(7)

With many a wanton(8) stroke

Her feet disperse(9) the powdery snow,

That rises up like smoke.

The storm came on before its time:

She wandered up and down;

And many a hill did Lucy climb,

But never reached the town!

The wretched parents all that night

Went shouting far and wide;

But there was neither sound nor sight

To serve them for a guide.

At day-break on a hill they stood,

That overlooked the moor;

And thence they saw the bridge of wood

A furlong(10) from their door.

They wept, and, turning homeward, cried,

"In Heaven we all shall meet!"—

When in the snow the mother spied

The print of Lucy's feet!

Then, downward from the steep hill's edge;

They tracked the foot-marks small;

And through the broken hawthorn hedge,

And by the long stone wall:

And then an open field they crossed—

The marks were still the same;

They tracked them on, nor ever lost,

And to the bridge they came.

They followed from the snowy bank

Those foot-marks, one by one,

Into the middle of the plank—

And further there were none!—

Yet some maintain(11) that to this day

She is a living child;

That you may see sweet Lucy Gray

Upon the lonesome(12) wild.

O'er rough and smooth she trips along,

And never looks behind;

And sings a solitary song

That whistles in the wind.

—WORDSWORTH

QUESTIONS

Why did Lucy Gray go out on the moor? What caused her to lose her way? What did her parents do all night? Where did they spy her foot-prints? How far did they track them? What had become of her?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) The wild, a wild place; a desert.

(2) Solitary, lonely; with no friends.

(3) Comrade, friend; companion.

(4) Fawn, a young deer.

(5) Minster, a large church.

(6) Fagot-band, the band round a bundle of sticks for fuel.

(7) Roe, a female deer.

(8) Wanton, playful, frisky.

(9) Disperse, scatter, throw about.

(10) Furlong, not very far; the length of which eight make a mile.

(11) Maintain, say strongly; hold it true.

(12) Lonesome, lonely; dismal.

LESSON 41

THE SAINT BERNARD DOG

THE Saint Bernard dog is very large and strong, with a large head, long hair, and a bushy tail. He is a noble-looking dog, and he is as noble and intelligent(1) as he looks.

His home is among the Alps,—high mountains in Switzerland. There are several very steep and narrow roads, called "Passes," which lead over these mountains into Italy.

There are snow-storms on these mountains even in summer; but in the long winter season they are extremely violent,(2) and the passes are then very dangerous.(3) These storms sometimes come on very suddenly,—often after a bright and pleasant morning. The snow falls so thickly, that in a few hours the traveller is buried beneath the drifts.(4)

Hundreds of persons have lost their lives in trying to pass over these mountains during the winter season. But many lives have been saved by the sagacity(5) and kindness of the Saint Bernard dogs.

These dogs take their name from the Convent of Saint Bernard, where they are kept. This house is situated far up in the pass of the Grand Saint Bernard,—one of the most dangerous of the Alpine(6) passes.

Here devoted monks live all the year, for the purpose of aiding travellers; and, with the help of their dogs, they are able to save many lives.

The dogs are trained to look for lost travellers; and every day in winter they are sent out, generally in pairs. One has a basket of food and a flask of wine or brandy strapped to his neck; the other has a cloak strapped upon his back. Thus any poor fainting man whom they may find may be at once supplied with food and clothing.

If the man can walk, they lead him towards the convent, barking loudly all the way for help, and to let the monks know that they are coming back. If the man is so faint and benumbed(7) that he cannot move, they go back to fetch the monks, and guide them to the spot where he is lying.

Sometimes the traveller is buried deep in the snow. If the monks were alone, they could never find him; but the keen scent of the dogs discovers(8) him; and they scratch up the snow with their feet, and they bark and howl till the monks come to the spot.

One dog is said to have saved in this way as many as forty-two lives! Its name was Barry, and it was as ingenious(9) as it was brave. Once a woman, who was going up the mountain with her little son, was carried away by a snow-slip. Barry found the little boy unhurt, but cold and stiff . He managed, however, to get him on his back; and thus carried him to the door of the convent, where he was taken good care of by the monks.

QUESTIONS

What are the narrow roads over the Alps called? What makes them very dangerous in winter? How are many persons saved in these mountains? Why is the Saint Bernard dog so called? Who live at the Convent of Saint Bernard? What do the dogs carry with them, when they go out to look for travellers? What do they do if they find a man who can walk? What, if the man cannot walk? How are travellers discovered under the snow? How many lives did Barry save? What did he do with the little boy he found?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Intelligent, wise; knowing what should be done.

(2) Violent, fierce; severe.

(3) Dangerous, full of risk; perilous.

(4) Drifts, heaps of snow driven together by the wind.

(5) Sagacity, quickness of wit; wisdom.

(6) Alpine, belonging to the Alps.

(7) Benumbed, powerless with cold.

(8) Discovers, finds out.

(9) Ingenious, skilful; ready in planning.

LESSON 42

THE LOST CHILD

I.

IT was a clear, cold, winter night,

The heavens were brightly starred,

When on St. Bernard's snowy height

The good monks kept their guard.

And round their hearth, that night, they told

To one, who shelter craved,(1)

How the brave dog, he thought so old,

Full forty lives had saved;

When suddenly, with kindling eye,

Up sprang the old dog there,

As from afar a child's shrill cry

Rang through the frosty air.

In haste the monks unbarred the door,

Rugs round the mastiffs threw;

And as they bounded forth once more,

Called, "Blessings be with you!"

II.

They hurried headlong(2) down the hill,

Past many a snow-wreath(3) wild,

Until the older dog stood still

Beside a sleeping child.

He licked the little icy hand

With his rough, kindly tongue;

With his warm breath he gently fanned

The tresses fair and long.

The child looked up, with eyes of blue,

As if the whole he guessed;

His arms around the dog he threw,

And sunk again to rest.

Once more he woke, and wrapped him fast

In the warm covering sent:

The dogs then with their charge, at last,

Up the steep mountain went.

III.

The fire glowed bright with heaped-up logs,

Each monk brought forth a light;

"Good dogs!" they cried, "good dogs, good dogs!

Whom bring you here to-night?"

In with a joyous bound they come—

The boy awoke and smiled:

"Ah me!" the stranger cried, "some home

Mourneth for thee, fair child!"

With morning light the monks and boy

Sought where the village lay—

I dare not try to paint the joy

Their coming gave that day.

QUESTIONS

What were the monks telling the stranger? What made the old dog spring up? What did the monks throw round the mastiffs? What did they call after them? What did the older dog find in the snow? What did the child do when he awoke the first time? And the second time? What did the stranger say when the boy was brought in? What did the monks do next morning?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Craved, begged; asked.

(2) Headlong, rapidly; without delay.

(3) Snow-wreath, a bank of drifted snow.

LESSON 43

THE BUSY LITTLE LAPP

THERE is a tribe of busy little people who live in the Frozen Zone,(1) and who are very seldom seen anywhere else. They are called Lapps, which is short for Laplander. Lapland is the name of the country where they live. You will find it in the north of the map of Europe.

They do not live in huts, because it would not suit them to do so. They are obliged(2) to wander up and down the country; sometimes on the mountains, and sometimes in the plains. So they pitch tents, which can be easily changed from place to place. The Lapp moves about in this way because of a very useful animal that God has given him, called the reindeer.

The reindeer likes to move about. In the summer some very fierce flies, called mosquitoes,(3) bite him. To escape from them, he runs up the cold mountains, where the Lapp follows him, and sets up his tent. In the winter the flies go away, and then the Lapp drives his reindeer down to the plain. So you see he has to shift his tent again.

You would not think the tent very nice to live in. The door is so small that you could hardly enter by it. There is no chimney, but the smoke goes out at a hole in the top;—that is, after it has made everybody's face very black.

There are no lamps or candles. The Lapps think the fire-light enough. They sit, and they sleep, on skins spread on the floor. They find out the time by looking at the sun. How many things the little Lapp has to do without!

But he is very happy and contented.(4) If he has a herd of reindeer, he thinks he is a rich man. He has very little to eat besides its flesh and its milk.

When winter comes, and the wild-fowl have flown away, and the sea is frozen too hard to let him catch fish, he goes to his herd of reindeer and kills one of them. Its flesh is as good to him as beef or mutton is to us.

Every morning and every night the reindeer are fetched up to be milked. The milk they give is thicker and nicer than that of the cow. The Lapp wife makes cheese of it; but she does not use butter.

The Laplanders ride in sledges drawn by reindeer instead of horses. The deer is fastened to the sledge by a strap, and his master ties a cord round his horns by way of a bridle.

When the reindeer dies, or is killed, his warm skin makes a coat or rug, or whatever garment(5) the Lapp chooses to have; so that he may be said to clothe, as well as to feed, his master.

This animal lives upon nothing but moss, which grows under the snow, and seems to have been put there on purpose for him. In winter, when it freezes so hard that you could not stand in the air a minute, the reindeer wanders about looking for moss.

He has no stable or shelter of any kind. But he turns up the frozen snow, and gets at the moss, and is quite content. A horse or a cow would die, if turned out in such a frost. But this is the home of the reindeer. He does not die, for God has placed him there to be a comfort to the little Lapp.

QUESTIONS

Where do the Laplanders live? Why do they wander up and down the country? Where does the reindeer go in summer? Why? How does a Laplander find out the time? What is his chief food? What does he ride in? What use does he make of the reindeer when it is dead? What does the reindeer live upon?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Frozen Zone, the region round the North Pole.

(2) Obliged, forced.

(3) Mosquitoes, stinging insects.

(4) Contented, easy in his mind; satisfied.

(5) Garment, covering, dress.

LESSON 44

THE DOG AT HIS MASTER'S GRAVE

"HE will not come," said the gentle child;

And she patted the poor dog's head,

And she pleasantly(1) called him, and fondly smiled:

But he heeded(2) her not in his anguish(3) wild,

Nor arose from his lowly bed.

'Twas his master's grave where he chose to rest—

He guarded(4) it night and day;

The love that glowed in his grateful(5) breast,

For the friend who had fed, controlled,(6) caressed,(7)

Might never fade away.

And when the long grass rustled near,

Beneath some hastening tread,

He stared up with a quivering(8) ear,

For he thought 'twas the step of his master dear,

Returning from the dead.

But sometimes, when a storm drew nigh,

And the clouds were dark and fleet,(9)

He tore the turf with a mournful cry,

As if he would force his way, or die,

To his much-loved master's feet.

So there, through the summer's heat, he lay,

Till autumn nights grew bleak,

Till his eye grew dim with his hope's decay,

And he pined, and pined, and wasted away,

A skeleton gaunt(10) and weak.

And oft the pitying children brought

Their offerings of meat and bread,

And to coax him away to their homes they sought;

But his buried master he ne'er forgot,

Nor strayed from his lonely bed.

Cold winter came, with an angry sway,

And the snow lay deep and sore;

Then his moaning grew fainter day by day,

Till, close where the broken tomb-stone lay,

He fell, to rise no more.

And when he struggled with mortal(11) pain,

And Death was by his side,

With one loud cry, that shook the plain,

He called for his master—but called in vain;

Then stretched himself, and died.

— MRS. SIGOURNEY

QUESTIONS

Where is the dog in the picture resting? What is the little girl trying to do? Why did the dog start up when he heard any one coming near? What did the children use to bring him? What happened when winter came?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Pleasantly, in a kind way.

(2) Heeded, minded; noticed.

(3) Anguish, very great grief.

(4) Guarded, kept watch over.

(5) Grateful, full of thanks.

(6) Controlled, kept in check; ruled.

(7) Caressed, made much of; fondled.

(8) Quivering, shaking from strong feeling; trembling.

(9) Fleet, flying very quickly.

(10) Gaunt, wasted away; thin.

(11) Mortal, causing death; deadly.

LESSON 45

THE STONE THAT REBOUNDED

"O BOYS, boys, don't throw stones at that poor bird," said an old gray-headed man.

"Why, sir," said a little fellow, "she makes such a squalling, that we can't bear her."

"Yes; but she uses the voice which God gave her, and it is probably as pleasant to her friends as yours is to those who love you. And, besides, I am afraid the stone will rebound,(1) and hurt you as long as you live!"

"Rebound! We don't understand you, sir!"

"Well, come and I will tell you a story."

"Is it a true story?"

"Yes; every word is true."

"Fifty years ago, I was a boy like you. I used to throw stones, and as I had no other boy very near me to play with, I threw them till I became very accurate(2) in my aim.

"One day I went to work for an aged couple of the name of Hamilton. They seemed very old people then. They were very kind to everybody and everything. Few had so many swallows making their nests under the roofs of their barns; few had so many pets that seemed to love them, as they.

"For seven years a bird had come, after the long winter was over, and built her nest in the same place, and there reared(3) her young ones. She had just returned on the day that I went there to work, and they welcomed her heartily. She hopped about, as if glad to get back.

"In the course of the day, I thought I would try my skill upon her. She sat upon a post near the spot where she was to build her nest, and looked at me trustfully, as much as to say, 'You won't hurt me?' I found a nice stone, and, poising(4) my arm, I threw it with my utmost skill. It struck the bird on the head, and she dropped dead!

"I was sorry the moment I saw her fall. But the deed was done. All day long her mate flew about, and chirped in tones so sad, that he made my heart ache. Why had I taken a life so innocent,(5) and made the poor mate grieve so?

"I said nothing to the old people about it. But, through a grandchild, they found it out; and, though they never said a word to me on the matter, I knew that they mourned for the bird, and were deeply grieved at my cruelty. I could never look them in the face afterwards as I had done before. Oh, that I had told them how sorry I was!

"They have been dead many, many years, and so has the poor bird; but don't you see how that stone rebounded and hit me? How deep a wound it made upon my memory!(6)—how deep upon my conscience!(7) Why, my dear boys, I would give a great deal to-day if I could undo that deed!

"For fifty years I have carried it in my memory. I have never spoken of it before; yet if what I have now said shall prevent(8) you from throwing a stone that may rebound and deeply wound your conscience, I shall rejoice.(9)"

The boys at once dropped the stones they had in their hands, and the bird had no more trouble from them.

QUESTIONS

What did the old man tell the boys not to do? What did he say the stone might do? Did he mean that the stone would actually hit them? How, then, would they be hurt? What had he done in this way when a boy?, What did it make a deep wound upon? What did the boys do when they heard the story?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Rebound, spring back upon those who threw it.

(2) Accurate, sure.

(3) Reared, brought up.

(4) Poising, balancing carefully.

(5) Innocent, harmless.

(6) Memory, the store-house of the mind.

(7) Conscience, the power of knowing right and wrong.

(8) Prevent, stop; hinder.

(9) Rejoice, be very glad.

LESSON 46

WHALE HUNTING

EVERY year, ships sail to the northern seas to hunt the whale. The men want its fat to make oil, and the whalebone, which is found in the roof of its mouth.

The ships carry with them a number of small boats. When the whaling ground is reached, men are sent to the top-mast to be on the look-out; and, at a signal(1) from them, the boats are launched(2) as soon as a whale is seen.

Each boat has a man in it called a harpooner.(3) He sits in the bow of the boat The harpoon is a long spear with a barbed point, made of tough iron. To the shaft of the harpoon a rope is fixed. This rope, which is sometimes a quarter of a mile long, lies carefully coiled up in the bow of the boat.

When the boat is near the whale, it is rowed up to it swiftly, but silently; the harpooner standing up, ready for his work. When the boat is within a few yards of the huge creature, the men rest for a moment on their oars. Up goes the arm of the harpooner, and in an instant he sends the harpoon with all his force into the body of the whale.

Smarting with the wound, the whale dives into the ocean, and swims away as far as he can. If the whale were a true fish, he could remain under water always, and never be caught. But he must come up to breathe. He is an animal like the cow or the horse, and cannot live without air.

The harpoon is now generally shot from a gun.

In the meantime, the men in the boat have rowed near the place where they expect him to rise. As soon as he comes up, another harpoon is driven into his body. Down dives the whale again; but he soon returns.

In his fury, he lashes the sea so violently with his huge tail, that the noise can sometimes be heard two or three miles off! At last, from pain and loss of blood, the poor whale is worn out. The boats are once more rowed up to him, and the men thrust long steel lances into his body.

Soon his huge carcass(4) floats lifeless on the water. Three cheers are given by the men in the boats, and the body of the whale is towed(5) in triumph to the ship. There it is cut into pieces and boiled down into oil; and when the fishing season is over, the oil is taken home in casks.

QUESTIONS

Where do ships go to hunt the whale? Why is it hunted? Where is the whalebone found? What is the man who spears the whale called? What is attached to the spear? What does the whale do when it is speared? Why must it come up again? What is done with its body when it is taken to the ship?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Signal, a sign; notice.

(2) Launched, pushed into the water.

(3) Harpooner, the man who uses the harpoon, or whale-spear.

(4) Carcass, dead body.

(5) Towed, dragged along in the water.

LESSON 47

THE BLIND BOY

OH! say, what is that thing called light,

Which I must ne'er(1) enjoy?

What are the benefits(2) of sight?

Oh! tell a poor blind boy!

You talk of wondrous(3) things you see,

You say the sun shines bright;

I feel him warm, but how can he

Or make it day or night?

My day or night myself I make,

Whene'er I sleep or play;

And could I always keep awake,

With me 'twere(4) always day.

With heavy sighs, I often hear

You mourn my helpless woe;

But sure with patience(5) I can bear

A loss I ne'er can know.

Then let not what I cannot have

My peace of mind destroy;(6)

While thus I sing, I am a king,

Although a poor blind boy.

— CIBBER

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Ne'er, never.

(2) Benefits, things to be gained; advantages.

(3) Wondrous, causing wonder.

(4) 'Twere, it were; it would be.

(5) Patience, calmness of temper; without murmuring.

(6) Destroy, put an end to.

LESSON 48

THE SPEAKING CHIP

As I had gone to work one morning without my square(1), I took up a chip, and with a piece of charcoal(2) wrote upon it a request(3) that Mrs. Williams would send me that article. I called a chief, who was looking after a portion of the work, and said to him, "Friend, take this; go to our house and give it to Mrs. Williams."

He was a strange-looking man. He had been a great warrior; and, in one of the many battles he had fought, he had lost an eye. Giving me a look of wonder with the other, he said, "Take that! She will call me foolish, and scold me, if I carry chip to her."

"No," I replied, "she will not. Take it and go at once; I am in haste."

Seeing that I was in earnest, he took it, and asked, "What must I say?"

I replied, "You have nothing to say; the chip will say all I wish."

With a look of surprise and contempt,(4) he held up the piece of wood, and said, "How can this speak? Has this a mouth?"

I desired him to take it instantly, and not spend so much time in talking about it. On reaching the house, he gave the chip to Mrs. Williams; who read it, threw it away, and went to the tool-chest. The chief wishing to see the result of this strange affair, followed her closely. On receiving the square from her, he said, "Stay, daughter; how do you know that this is what Mr. Williams wants?"

"Why," she replied, "did you not bring me a chip just now?"

"Yes," said the astonished warrior; "but I did not hear it say anything."

"If you did not, I did," was the reply, "for it made known to me what he wanted; and all you have to do is to return with it as quickly as possible."

Upon this, the chief rushed out of the house; and catching up the piece of wood, he ran through the settlement(5) with the chip in one band and the square in the other. Holding them up as high as his arms could reach, he shouted as he went, "See the wisdom of these English people; they can make chips talk!"

On giving me the square, he wished to know how it was possible thus to talk with persons at a distance. I explained the matter to him as well as I could; but it was so great a mystery,(6) that he actually tied a string to the chip, hung it round his neck, and wore it for some time!

During several following days, we often saw him surrounded by a crowd, who listened with the greatest interest while he told them the wonders which the chip had performed.(7)

QUESTIONS

What was written on the chip? What did the chief say when it was given to him? What did he say when he got the square? What did he do with the chip?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE IV

METALS

Gold.—Why is Gold so precious a metal? Because it is very rare, and difficult to get; also because it is lasting and very beautiful.

For what besides is it remarkable? It may be drawn out into very fine wires, and beaten into very thin leaves.

For what is Gold-leaf used? For gilding picture-frames, earthenware, the boards and edges of books, and many other things.

In what forms is Gold found? In dust, and in lumps called nuggets.

Where is it found in Dust? In the beds of rivers in Hungary, South America, and Africa.

Where is it found in Nuggets? In Russia, California, and Australia, mixed with a hard, flinty rock.

Are Coins and Jewellery made of pure gold? No; by itself it would be too soft. It is hardened by being mixed with silver and copper.

Silver.—For what is Silver remarkable? For its pure white colour, and its brightness when polished.

For what besides? It can be drawn out into wires finer than the human hair, and beaten into leaves.

Is Silver-leaf as thin as Gold-leaf? No; the thinnest leaf into which silver can be beaten is twice as thick as the thinnest gold-leaf.

In what state is Silver when it is dug out of the earth? It is mixed with stones and dross.

What is a metal in that state called? An ore.

How is the Silver got from the ore? By melting.

Where are the greatest Silver-mines? In Mexico, the United States, and Canada; but silver is also found in Australia and in several states of South America.

Copper.—what is Copper like? It is of a reddish colour, and when polished is a little like gold.

For what is it used? For making kettles and pans, plates for covering the bottoms of ships, and copper-wire.

Why is it not safe to use it for purposes of cooking? Because it is poisonous when acted upon by vinegar or sour fruits.

Where is it found? In Cornwall and Anglesey in England, but most of all in the United States.

Where are our largest Copper-works? At Swansea, in Wales.

Why is it not worked in Cornwall, where it is found? Because there is no coal there.

What is a metal called which is made by mixing two or more metals together? An Alloy, or compound metal.

What are the chief Alloys of Copper? Brass, bronze, and bell-metal.

What is Brass? It is an alloy of copper and zinc.

What is Bronze? An alloy of copper and tin, in which only one-tenth is tin. What used to be called "coppers" (copper coins), are now made of bronze.

What is Bell-metal? An alloy of copper and tin, in which one-fourth is tin.

Lead.—What kind of metal is Lead? It is a soft, coarse, heavy metal, of a bluish-gray colour.

For what is it used? For roofing houses, making water-pipes, lining cisterns, making bullets and small-shot, &c.

Where is it found? In large quantities in many parts of England and Wales, particularly in the Pennine range of mountains.

What are the chief Alloys of Lead? Solder, a compound of lead and tin; and type-metal, a compound of lead and antimony.

Iron.—Why is Iron so much used for manufacturing purposes? Because it is very hard, is easily worked, and can bear a great strain.

Where is it obtained? Both in England and Scotland in large quantities. It is one of the great sources of British wealth.

What other mineral is generally found in the same districts? Coal, which is much required in smelting and manufacturing iron.

What are the different kinds of Iron? The principal are castiron, wrought-iron, and steel.

What is Cast-iron? It is iron melted and run into moulds. It is very hard and very brittle.

What is it used for? For making grates, fenders, railings, and girders or beams of iron used in building bridges, houses, &c.

How is Wrought-iron made? By making a current of hot air pass through the iron while it is melting.

Wherein does it differ from Cast-iron? It is not brittle, but very tough; and it can be drawn out into wires and beaten into plates.

Can it be melted? No; but when red-hot, it can be moulded by blows with a hammer, and punched with sharp tools.

What things are made of Wrought-iron? Rails for railways, horse-shoes, and other things made by the blacksmith.

How is Steel made? It is made from wrought-iron, by heating it in charcoal, and beating it with heavy hammers.

For what is it remarkable? It is finer and harder than wrought-iron; and may be made either brittle (as in pen-knives), or elastic (as in watch-springs).

Where does the Iron that makes the best Steel come from? From Sweden.

What things are made of Steel? Knives, scissors, and sharp tools.

What is a man who works in Steel called? A cutler, or maker of things that cut.

What town in England is famous for its Cutlery? Sheffield, in Yorkshire.

Tin.—What kind of metal is Tin? It is white, silvery, and easily bent.

For what is it chiefly used? For coating other metals.

Is it pure Tin that the tinsmith uses? No; it is sheet-iron plated with tin.

What is Tin-foil? It is tin beat out into very thin leaves. It is used for covering cakes of soap, chocolate, &c.

Where does Tin come from? The largest tin-mines in the world are in the Malay Peninsula.

Into what Alloys already mentioned does Tin enter? Into bronze, bell-metal, and solder.

Mention another Alloy of Tin once much used? Pewter—a compound of tin and a small quantity of lead—of which drinking-cans were made.

What is the best Pewter made of? Of tin, mixed with antimony and copper. It is called Britanniametal, of which tea and coffee pots, as well as spoons, are often made.

Zinc.—What kind of metal is Zinc? It is a bluish-white metal, bright when polished, and easily bent when rolled into sheets.

For what is it used? For rainwater pipes and the gutters of houses.

Where is it found? In the lead-mines of Derbyshire and of the Mendip Hills, in England.

What Alloy contains Zinc? Brass.

Mercury.—what is peculiar in Mercury? It is a fluid metal.

Does it ever become hard? Yes; it freezes in very cold countries.

Why is it called Quicksilver? Because of its fluidity, and its resemblance to sliver. The word means "living silver."

For what is it used? For making barometers, thermometers, levels, &c.

Where is Mercury found? In Spain, South America, and some parts of Asia.

What is a Barometer? A weatherglass, an instrument for measuring the weight of the air.

What is a Thermometer? An instrument for measuring the heat or cold of air, water, &c.

————————————————————

(1) Square, an instrument used to show whether buildings, etc., are straight.

(2) Charcoal, burned wood.

(3) Request, desire; wish.

(4) Contempt, scorn.

(5) Settlement, place where foreigners settle in a new country.

(6) Mystery, something that cannot be explained.

(7) Performed, done.

LESSON 49

THE SAILOR'S MOTHER

ONE morning (raw it was and wet,

A foggy day in winter time),

A woman on the road I met,

Not old, though something past her prime;(1)

Majestic(2) in her person, tall and straight;

And like a Roman matron's(3) was her mien(4) and gait.(5)

The ancient spirit is not dead;

Old times, thought I, are breathing there:

Proud was I that my country bred

Such strength, a dignity(6) so fair:

She begged an alms, like one in poor estate;

I looked at her again, nor did my pride abate.(7)

When from these lofty thoughts I woke.

"What is it," said I, "that you bear

Beneath the covert(8) of your cloak,

Protected from this cold damp air?"

She answered, soon as she the question heard,

"A simple burden, sir—a little singing-bird."

And, thus continuing, she said,

"I had a son, who many a day

Sailed on the seas, but he is dead,—

In Denmark he was cast away;

And I have travelled weary miles, to see

If aught(9) which he had owned might still remain for me

The bird and cage they both were his:

'Twas my son's bird; and neat and trim

He kept it: many voyages

This singing-bird had gone with him:

When last he sailed, he left the bird behind;

From bodings,(10) as might be, that hung upon his mind.

He to a fellow-lodger's care

Had left it, to be watched and fed,

And pipe its song in safety;—there

I found it when my son was dead;

And now, God help me for my little wit!

I bear it with me, sir; he took so much delight in it."

— WORDSWORTH

QUESTIONS

What was the old woman carrying? Where did she carry it? To whom had it belonged? What was he? What had become of him? What did he usually do with the bird when he went to sea? Why had he not taken it on his last voyage? Where had she found it? Why was she carrying it with her?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Prime, best; time of life when the strength is greatest.

(2) Majestic, like a queen.

(3) Matron, an elderly lady.

(4) Mien, manner.

(5) Gait, way of walking.

(6) Dignity, noble bearing.

(7) Abate, become less.

(8) Covert, covering.

(9) Aught, anything.

(10) Bodings, fears for the future; foreshadowings.

LESSON 50

THE PRINCE AND THE JUDGE

HENRY V. was as brave a King as ever sat on the English throne, and gained one of the greatest victories ever won by English soldiers.

But when he was Prince of Wales, he was a very wild and riotous youth. He mixed with low companions, who led him to do many base and foolish acts, quite unworthy of a Prince.

On one occasion one of his friends was tried(1) for some offence before the Lord Chief Justice. He was found guilty, and was ordered to be sent to prison.

When the Prince, who was in the court, heard the sentence, he fell into a great rage. He spoke very rudely to the Judge, and commanded him to let his friend off.

"Prison," he said, "is no place for a Prince's friend. I am Prince of Wales, and I forbid you to send this man to prison, like a common thief."

"Prince or no Prince," replied the Judge, "you have no right to speak thus to the King's Judge. I have sworn to do justice; and justice I shall do."

The Prince, getting more enraged,(2) then tried to set the prisoner free himself. But the Judge told him it was none of his business, and ordered him to cease from such riot in court.

The calmness(3) with which the Judge spoke made the Prince still more angry; and he rushed up to the bench, and struck the Judge a severe blow on the face!

For this, the Judge ordered the officers of the court to seize the Prince, and take him to prison with his friend. "I do this," he said, "not because he has done me harm, but because he has insulted(4) the honour of the law."

Turing again to the Prince, he added, "Young man, you will one day be King. How can you expect your subjects(5) to obey you then, if you yourself thus disobey the King's laws now?"

On hearing this, the Prince was very much ashamed of himself. He had not a word to say; but, laying down his sword, he bowed to the Judge, and walked quietly off to prison.

When the King (Henry IV.) heard of this incident,(6) he said, "Happy is the King that has a Judge who so fearlessly enforces(7) the laws, and a son who knows how to submit(8) to them."

Shortly after this Prince had been crowned King, many of his people came to pay their respects to him. Some of those who knew how wild he had been as a young man, were anxious(9) to know how he would act as King.

Among the rest came some of his former riotous companions, expecting, no doubt, to be made at once the King's chief favourites.

But they were mistaken(10). The King told them that he had given up his foolish ways, and advised them to do the same. Nor would he let them come about his person, until they had shown that they had learned better manners.

The Judge also came, not knowing how he would be received. He feared that he might lose his office; but he did not care, as he had only done his duty.

He also was mistaken. The King received him very kindly, and thanked him for the sharp lesson he had given him. He told him still to keep the office which he had so worthily filled.

"If ever," said the King, "I have a son who shall behave as I did to you, may I have a Judge as bold and faithful as you to correct him!"

QUESTIONS

What sort of youth was Henry V. when he was Prince of Wales? What sort of companions did he mix with? What did the Prince say when one of these was sent to prison? What did the Judge reply? What did the Prince then try to do? When the Judge told him to cease from such riot, what did he do to him? What did the Judge then order? How did the Prince then behave? What did the King say when he heard of this? How did the Prince treat his former companions when he became King? How did he treat the Judge?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Tried, examined before a Judge.

(2) Enraged, full of rage; furious.

(3) Calmness, state of rest; coolness.

(4) Insulted, abused; trampled on.

(5) Subjects, persons under the law.

(6) Incident, what happened; occurrence.

(7) Enforces, puts in force.

(8) Submit, to be obedient.

(9) Anxious, very desirous; eager.

(10) Mistaken, wrong in opinion.

LESSON 51

A BEAVER TOWN

BEAVERS were at one time abundant(1) in Europe, but they are now found chiefly in Canada and other parts of North America. The name beaver comes from a word which means builder; and a wonderful little builder he is. But he not only builds houses; he is a capital wood-cutter and a skilful(2) engineer(3) as well.

During summer, each beaver lives by himself in a burrow,(4) which he digs out near a lake or stream. When winter comes, he quits this retreat,(5) and unites with his fellows to build a winter home. They generally combine(6) in troops of from two to three hundred; so that, when the houses are all built, they form a little beaver town.

They begin by choosing a good site for their town; sometimes on the bank of a lake or a river, and sometimes on an island. They like a river best, because the running stream helps to carry down the trees they use in building.

With no tool but their own sharp teeth, they soon cut down a tree. If it stands close to the water, the beavers manage(7) very cleverly to cut it down so that it shall fall into the fiver. In this way they can get the entire tree floated down the stream. But if the trees are at some distance, they have to cut them into several pieces, and drag them to the river-side with their teeth.

After they have got a supply of trees, the beavers begin their work of building. The first thing they do is to make a dam(8) across the river. This stops the current,(9) and forms a deep pond at the riverside. The dam is made of logs and branches firmly fixed into the bed of the stream.

The spaces between the posts are filled up with stones and clay, and the whole is made as firm as the little animals can make it. The trees are dragged with their teeth from place to place, as they are wanted; but the stones and clay are carried in an odd way between their fore-paws and their chins.

All the time they are at work, the beavers are constantly moving to and fro, trampling down the soft clay with their paws, and making all as smooth as they can. And it is a curious thing that they do all their work during the night.

Every care is taken to make the dam strong; and when any part of it is broken, the beavers never rest till they have mended it. They are ever on the watch; and the Indians, who know this, try to bring them out of their hiding-places by breaking the dam. In this way the poor beavers are often caught, as they rush forth to mend the breach.(10)

When the dam is finished, the beavers begin to build their little town. The houses are made of the same materials as the dam. They are all built on the edge of the pond; and passages run from them into the ground in all directions.

The door of a beaver's house is under the water—generally three or four feet below the surface.(11) There is no other opening of any kind. All the other passages lead to holes or caves where the beavers can hide themselves from their enemies.

Each house holds from ten to twenty beavers. It has two rooms in it, one above the other. The upper one is where the beavers live. The lower room is used as a place to store their food, which consists chiefly of the bark of the silver-birch and poplar trees. It is kept under water, safe from the frost, and brought up as it is wanted.

Like the bird and the bee, the beaver builds his house just as God has taught him. He has not reason to guide him in his work. This gift belongs to man alone. But the lower animals are born with the power of doing everything necessary to make themselves safe and comfortable. This power is called instinct.

QUESTIONS

Where are beavers now chiefly found? What does the name beaver mean? Where does the beaver live in summer? What do they do in winter? Why do they like the bank of a river best? How do they cut down trees? What is the first thing they build? What is the use of this? Where are their houses built? Where is the door made? How many live in one house? How many rooms are in each house? What is the use of each? What is their food?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Abundant, found in great numbers.

(2) Skilful, clever.

(3) Engineer, maker of great works.

(4) Burrow, hole in the earth.

(5) Retreat, a quiet place, where one lives alone.

(6) Combine, join together.

(7) Manage, plan; contrive.

(8) Dam, bank or wall to stop running water.

(9) Current, running water.

(10) Breach, broken part.

(11) Surface, top of the water.

LESSON 52

THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS

MORE than three hundred years ago, there stood near a small town on the coast of Spain an ancient(1) convent.(2) It still stands there, on a height above the sea, surrounded by a forest of pine trees.

A stranger, travelling on foot, with a little boy, one day stopped at the gate of the convent, and asked the porter to give him a little bread and water for his child.

Poor and friendless though he was, when he stood at the convent gate, he afterwards became one of the most famous of men. That stranger was the great Christopher Columbus; and the little boy was his son Diego.

Seven years afterwards, he was befriended(3) by Isabella, Queen of Spain; and, on the 3rd of August 1492, Columbus set sail from Spain with three small ships, on the great voyage which ended in the discovery(4) of America.

He wanted to find out a new way to India. He believed that the world was round, though few people knew it at that time. Columbus was not aware that there was such a country as America. He thought that if he sailed on and on, always keeping to the west he would at last come to India.

Look at the Map of the World, and you will see that, if there had been no such country as America, he would have been right. At that time, no one in Europe knew anything about America. So Columbus sailed into what was then an unknown sea. Many thought that he would never come back. On and on he went with his ships, not knowing where he was going!

For a long time there was no sign of land— nothing but the wide waters all around him. Day after day, and night after night passed by. The men who were with him became alarmed, and tried to compel(5) him to return. But he held bravely on his course, and would not turn back. At last the great Atlantic Ocean was crossed, and the ships came in sight of one of the West India Islands.

When the brave Columbus saw the land, he thought it was the India which he had come to seek. So he called it India. Afterwards, when it was found that this was not the country known before as India, it was called the West Indies, and the other India the East Indies.

When the people of the island saw the ships of Columbus, they were very much surprised; for they had never heard of Europe, or of the people who lived there. After filling his ships with treasure(6) got from the natives, Columbus sailed back to Spain.

When the other nations of Europe heard of the great discovery of a new world, they wished to share in its riches. Many nations, therefore, sent out ships and men to try to gain possession of part of it.

The poor natives were not well treated by many of the people who took their beautiful islands from them. Their new masters used them so cruelly, that they were soon almost all destroyed. Negroes were then brought from Africa to the West India Islands, and there forced to work as slaves. In this way there were soon negro slaves in all the islands.

After a long time, some of the islands came into the possession of England; but the English at that time were no better than other nations in regard to slavery. There were many in England who were engaged in the cruel slave trade.

At last the people of England began to think it was wrong to keep slaves, and a law was made that in all the countries belonging to Britain every slave should be set free.

There are still slaves in the islands which belong to Spain; but there is reason to hope that they will soon all be made free. Meantime, let us rejoice that not a slave now exists in the British dominions.(7)

The climate of the West India Islands is very warm, and most of the things grow there which are found in warm countries. The chief articles which we get from the West Indies are bananas, sugar, rum, tobacco, and cotton.

QUESTIONS

Who was the discoverer of America? Who befriended him? When did he set sail? Did he mean to sail to America? Where did he mean to go? What did his sailors try to do? What did he call the land he reached? Why? How were the natives treated by the Europeans who went out? Where were people taken from, to work there as slaves? What are the chief articles brought from the West Indies?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

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(1) Ancient, old; built long ago.

(2) Convent, a house in which monks or nuns live.

(3) Befriended, favoured; helped.

(4) Discovery, finding out for the first time.

(5) Compel, force.

(6) Treasure, costly things.

(7) Dominions, all the lands and possessions under one government.

LESSON 53

THE HEROIC DAUGHTER

I.

A CAPTAIN in the Russian army, who had been sent as an exile for life to a small village in the north of Siberia,(1) had a daughter named Catherine. She saw how unhappy her father and mother were, and she resolved to go to St. Petersburg(2) herself, and ask the Czar(3) to pardon her father.

When she told her father her plan, he only laughed at her; and her mother said that she ought to mind her work instead of talking nonsense.

"Here, my dear," said she; "dust the table for dinner, and then you may set off for St. Petersburg at your ease."

But neither her father's laughter nor her mother's sneers turned Catherine from her purpose; and after waiting patiently for three years she at length got her father to agree to let her go.

It was a terrible journey for a girl of eighteen to undertake alone. She had to travel on foot for hundreds of miles, through vast forests and across dreary snow-covered plains. She had no clothes with her except the faded ones which she wore; all that she had in her pocket was a single silver rouble;(4) but she had a brave heart, and unbounded trust in God.

She met with the greatest hardships and dangers on her travels. Once she was caught in a furious storm, at the end of a long day's journey, and had to take refuge from the wind and rain in a thicket(5) by the way. This gave her shelter for a time; but long before morning she was drenched to the skin.

At another time, she feared that the wretches with whom she lodged were going to murder her, for the sake of the money which they thought she had. It was only when they found that she had but a few coppers in her purse, that they let her go unharmed.

She was often driven from the doors of the rich as a beggar and a cheat. She was spurned(6) by matrons who should have known better, jeered at(7) by thoughtless boys and even attacked by dogs.

QUESTIONS

What was Catherine's father? Where did he live? What did she resolve to do? What did her father say to this? and her mother? How long had she to wait before her father let her go? What did she take with her for her journey? What did she do when caught in a storm?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

II.

BEFORE her journey was half done, winter overtook her, and greatly increased her hardships; but some carriers with whom she fell in were very kind to her. When her cheek was frost-bitten, they rubbed it with snow; when no sheep-skin could be got for her, they gave her theirs by turns, and took every possible care of her.

Her next mishap was to be tumbled out of a barge(8) on the river Volga.(9) This did so much harm to her health, that, before continuing her journey, she had to spend some months in a nunnery, where the nuns were very kind to her.

At last, after a journey of eighteen months, she reached St. Petersburg. She stood day after day for a fortnight on the steps of the Senate-house, holding out a petition(10) to the senators;(11) but without success. After many failures, she was fortunate enough to find friends who were able to take her to the Czar; and he was very kind to her, and promised that her father's trial should be at once revised.(12)

The result was, that the Czar pardoned her father, and allowed him to return with his wife from Siberia.

When the Czar, touched with her noble bearing, asked Catherine if she had anything to ask for herself, she replied that she would be quite satisfied if he would also pardon two poor old gentlemen, who had been kind to her in her exile. Her request was at once granted.

Very touching was the meeting between the heroic daughter and the parents whom she had delivered. When she came into their presence, they at once fell on their knees, to thank her; but she exclaimed, "It is God that we have to thank for your wonderful deliverance!"

But Catherine's health had been completely broken by her great exertions. She had bought her parents' freedom with her own life.

One morning, a few months afterwards, when the nuns with whom she lived went into her room, they found her with her hands clasped, quietly sleeping her last long sleep.

QUESTIONS

What increased her hardships before she had got half way? Who were then kind to her? How long did her journey to St. Petersburg take? What was the result? What did she say when her parents fell on their knees to thank her?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE V

THE EARTH

Form.—what is the Form of the Earth? It is round, like an orange or a ball.

What is the Whole Globe called? A sphere.

What is the Half of it called? A hemisphere, or half-sphere.

How could you see the whole outside of an orange at once? By cutting it in two, and placing the halves side by side.

How can you see a picture of the whole Globe at once? By placing pictures of the two Hemispheres side by side.

Surface.—Of what does the Surface of the Globe consist? Of Land and Water.

Of which is there most? Of the water: it covers three times as much space as the land.

How is the Land-surface of the Globe divided? Into low-lands, which are nearly at the level of the sea; and high-lands, which are much above the level of the sea.

How is the Water-surface of the Globe divided? Into the sea, which surrounds the land; and rivers, which drain the land, and flow into the sea.

What are Lakes? When a river, on its way to the sea, flows into a deep hollow or basin, it must fill that up before it can flow any further. This hollow filled with water is called a Lake or Loch.

What is the largest body of Water called? An Ocean.

And the largest body of Land? A Continent.

What is a portion of Land with water all round it? An Island.

If it has water round it at all parts but one? A Peninsula; which means, "almost an island."

What is an Isthmus? A narrow neck of land joining two larger portions.

What is a narrow neck of Water joining two larger portions? A Strait.

And a passage wider than a Strait? A Channel.

What is a Cape? A point of land jutting into the sea.

What is a body of Water stretching into the Land? A Gulf or Bay.

What is a Mountain? A portion of land rising high above the country around it.

What are smaller High-lands? Hills.

And what are sometimes called "Burning-mountains"? Volcanoes.

What is a tract of country lying between Hills? A Valley or Dale.

What is a Plain? Abroad portion of country nearly flat or level.

If the Plain is high up amongst Hills? A Table-land.

MOTIONS OF THE EARTH

Day and Night.—Is the Earth standing still? No; it is constantly turning round—spinning like a top—carrying everything on it round with it.

How much of the Earth gets the sunlight at one time? Only one-half, because the Earth is round.

What is the time called during which any place is in the Sun-light? Day.

And when it is out of the Sun-light? Night.

If the Earth did not spin round, what would happen? It would always be day on one side of the Earth, and always night on the other.

But since the Earth does spin round? All the parts of it are passing, one after another, into and out of the sun-light: and so day travels round the Earth.

What is Sun-rise at any place? The time when that place first comes in sight of the Sun.

In what direction does the Earth spin round? From west to east.

So Sun-rise travels round the Earth? From east to west.

What is the time when a place is just leaving the Sun-light? Sun-set.

What is Noon? The time when the Sun is highest in the heavens; or when a place is right in front of the Sun: also called mid-day.

Days and Hours.—What is the interval between Noon to-day and Noon to-morrow? A day.

How is a Day divided? Into twenty-four equal parts, called hours.

How do we measure Time as it passes? By the clock.

What is the end of the first hour after Noon? One o'clock.

And the twelfth? Twelve o'clock.

Is the next hour Thirteen o'clock? No.

Why? Because half a day has passed, and it is more convenient to number the hours after mid-night exactly as we numbered the hours after mid-day.

What o'clock is it at Noon? Twelve o'clock again.

How is each Hour divided? Into sixty minutes.

And each Minute? Into sixty seconds.

What do seven Days make? A week.

And two Weeks? A fortnight.

Pronounce in syllables, and spell, the name of the Days of the Week.

Sunday.

Monday.

Tuesday.

Wednesday.

Thursday.

Friday.

Saturday.

The Year and Months.—What motion has the Earth besides its spinning motion? An onward motion round the Sun.

How could you show the two motions by means of a top? While it was spinning, I could pass a string round its point and draw it round the table.

How long does the Earth take to make a journey round the Sun? Three hundred and sixty-five days.

What does one such journey make? A Year.

How is the Year divided? Into twelve Months.

Pronounce in syllables, and spell, the names of the Months.

January.

February.

March.

April.

May.

June.

July.

August.

September.

October.

November.

December.

The Seasons.—what have we seen the spinning motion of the Earth cause? The change from day to night.

What does its onward motion cause? The change of the Seasons.

Which is the warmest Season? Summer.

And the coldest? Winter.

What makes the difference between Summer and Winter? In one part of its onward journey, the Earth receives the sun-light more directly on its northern half than on its southern: then the north has Summer, and the south Winter.

What is the case at the opposite point in the journey? The Sun shines more directly on the southern half, and makes it Summer in the south, and Winter in the north.

What Season comes between Summer and Winter? Autumn, during which it becomes colder and colder, and the days grow shorter and shorter.

And between Winter and Summer? Spring, during which it becomes warmer and warmer, and the days grow longer and longer.

————————————————————

(1) Siberia, a country in the north of Asia, Part of Russia.

(2) St. Petersburg, the former capital of Russia in Europe.

(3) Czar, the Emperor of Russia.

(4) Rouble, a coin worth about three shillings.

(5) Thicket, a close shrubbery.

(6) Spurned, angrily driven away.

(7) Jeered at, made a fool of; mocked.

(8) Barge, a large river-boat.

(9) Volga, a large river in Russia in Europe.

(10) Petition, a paper containing a request.

(11) Senators, councillors of the Czar.

(12) Revised, gone over again.

LESSON 54

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

A GENTLEMAN once advertised for a boy to assist him in his office, and nearly fifty applied for the place. Out of the whole number he in a short time chose one, and sent all the rest away.

"I should like to know," said a friend, "on what ground you chose that boy. He had not a single recommendation(1) with him."

"You are mistaken," said the gentleman; "he had a great many:—

"He wiped his feet when he came in, and closed the door after him; showing that he was orderly and tidy.

"He gave up his seat instantly(2) to that lame old man; showing that he was kind and thoughtful.

"He took off his cap when he came in, and answered my questions promptly(3) and respectfully; showing that he was polite.(4)

"He lifted up the book which I had purposely(5) laid on the floor, and placed it on the table, while all the rest stepped over it, or shoved it aside; showing that he was careful.

"And he waited quietly for his turn, instead of pushing the others aside; showing that he was modest.

"When I talked with him, I noticed that his clothes were carefully brushed, his hair in nice order, and his teeth as white as milk. When he wrote his name, I observed that his finger-nails were clean, instead of being tipped with jet, like the handsome little fellow's in the blue jacket.

"Don't you call these things letters of recommendation? I do; and what I can tell about a boy by using my eyes for ten minutes, is worth more than all the fine letters he can bring me."

QUESTIONS

What did the gentleman advertise for? How many applied for the place? Why was his friend surprised? What was the boy's first recommendation? And his second? And his third? And his fourth? And his fifth? And his sixth? What did the gentleman say was worth more than fine letters?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Recommendation, a written character.

(2) Instantly, at once.

(3) Promptly, smartly; readily.

(4) Polite, well-bred; of good manners.

(5) Purposely, intentionally.

LESSON 55

MEDDLESOME MATTY

OH, how one ugly trick has spoiled

The sweetest and the best!

Matilda, though a pleasant child,

One ugly trick possessed,

Which, like a cloud before the skies,

Hid all her better qualities.(1)

Sometimes she'd lift the teapot lid,

To peep at what was in it;

Or tilt(2) the kettle, if you did

But turn your back a minute.

In vain you told her not to touch,

Her trick of meddling(3) grew so much.

Her grandmamma went out one day,

And by mistake she laid

Her spectacles and snuff-box gay

Too near the little maid;

"Ah! well," thought she, "I'll try them on,

As soon as grandmamma is gone."

Forthwith(4) she placed upon her nose

The glasses(5) large and wide;

And looking round, as I suppose,

The snuff-box too she spied:(6)

"Oh, what a pretty box is this!

I'll open it," said little Miss.

"I know that grandmamma would say,

'Don't meddle with it, dear;'

But then she's far enough away,

And no one else is near;

Besides, what can there be amiss(7)

In opening such a box as this?"

So thumb and finger went to work

To move the stubborn(8) lid;

And presently a mighty jerk

The mighty mischief(9) did;

For all at once, ah, woful case!

The snuff came puffing in her face.

Poor eyes, and nose, and mouth, and chin,

A dismal sight presented;

And as the snuff got further in,

Sincerely(10) she repented.(11)

In vain she ran about for ease—

She could do nothing else but sneeze!

She dashed the spectacles away,

To wipe her tingling(12) eyes,

And as in twenty bits they lay.

Her grandmamma she spies.

"Hey day! and what's the matter now?"

Cried grandmamma with lifted brow.

Matilda, smarting with the pain,

And tingling still, and sore,

Made many a promise to refrain(13)

From meddling evermore.

And 'tis a fact, as I have heard,

She ever since has kept her word.

—MRS. GILBERT

QUESTIONS

What was Matilda's one ugly trick? What did her grandmamma leave too near her one day? What did she first do when her grandmamma was gone? What did she then spy? What did she think her grandmamma would have said to her? Why did she not mind this? How was she punished for opening the box? What happened to the spectacles? What promise did she make? Did she keep it?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Qualities, parts; points of character.

(2) Tilt, raise on one side.

(3) Meddling, touching what she had no business with.

(4) Forthwith, immediately.

(5) Glasses, spectacles.

(6) Spied, caught sight of.

(7) Amiss, wrong.

(8) Stubborn, stiff; difficult to open.

(9) Mischief, harm; injury.

(10) Sincerely, truly; from the heart.

(11) Repented, was sorry for what she had done.

(12) Tingling, throbbing with sharp pain.

(13) Refrain, keep back; forbear.

LESSON 56

HABITS OF FLOWERS

NEARLY all flowers turn towards the light, as if they loved it. This can be seen by watching plants that are standing near a window. The flowers will all be bent towards the light, if the pots are allowed always to stand in the same position. But by turning them round a little every day, while the blossoms are opening, the plants can be made to show flowers on all sides.

Some flowers shut themselves up at night, as if they were going to sleep, and open again in the morning. This is the case with tulips.

The writer was one morning admiring(1) some flowers that had been sent to him the evening before. Among them were some tulips, and out of one of these, as it opened, flew a bee!

A lazy, dronish(2) bee he must have been, to be caught in this way, when the flower was closing for the night. Or, perhaps, he had done a hard day's work in gathering honey, and at last had become sleepy. At any rate, he stayed too long in the tulip, and so was shut in for the night.

The little daisy is one of the flowers that close at night; but it is as beautiful and bright as ever, on its "slender stem", when it awakes in the morning. When it shuts itself up, it forms a little green ball, not unlike a pea, and can hardly be known from the green grass amidst which it lies.

But look next morning, and the ball is open, showing, as the poet says, "a golden tuft within a silver crown." It is a very beautiful sight indeed to see the grass spangled(3) with daisies, shining in the bright sun.

It is said that this flower was at first called day's eye, because it opens its eye at the dawn of day; and that afterwards the name became daisy.

The golden flowers of the dandelion are shut up every night; and they are folded so closely together in their green coverings, that they look like buds which had never been opened. In places where the sun is very hot, the dandelion shuts itself up even during the day; and in this way it is sheltered in its green covering from the sun, and kept from fading.

Some flowers hang down their heads at night, as if nodding in their sleep; but in the morning they lift them up again, to welcome the light. Other flowers have a particular time to open. The evening primrose, for example, is so called because it does not open till evening.

Through spring, summer, and autumn, we have a constant(4) succession(5) of flowers, each having its own season, and opening at its appointed(6) time, every year.

QUESTIONS

Where do plants naturally turn? How may a plant be made to flower all round? What was once found inside a tulip? How had it got there? What is the meaning of the word daisy? Why is it so called? Where does the dandelion shut itself up during the day? why?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Admiring, looking at with wonder.

(2) Dronish, idle.

(3) Spangled, covered with bright spots.

(4) Constant, unbroken.

(5) Succession, following in order; series.

(6) Appointed, fixed.

LESSON 57

COMPLAINTS OF THE POOR

"AND wherefore do the Poor complain(1)?"

The Rich man asked of me;—

"Come, walk abroad with me," I said,

"And I will answer thee."

'Twas evening, and the frozen streets

Were cheerless to behold;

And we were wrapped and coated well,

And yet we were a-cold.

We met an old bareheaded man,

His locks were few and white;

I asked him what he did abroad

In that cold winter's night.

The cold was keen indeed, he said,

But at home no fire had he,

And therefore he had come abroad

To ask for charity.(2)

We met a young barefooted child,

And she begged loud and bold;

I asked her what she did abroad

When the wind it blew so cold.

She said her father was at home,

And he lay sick a-bed,(3)

And therefore was it she was sent

Abroad to beg for bread.

We saw a woman sitting down

Upon a stone to rest;

She had a baby at her back,

And another at her breast.

I asked her why she loitered(4) there,

When the night-wind was so chill;(5)

She turned her head, and bade the child

That screamed behind, be still;—

Then told us that her husband served,

A soldier, far away,

And therefore to her parish(6) she

Was begging back her way.(7)

I turned me to the Rich man, then,

For silently(8) stood he—

"You asked me why the Poor complain,

And these have answered thee!"

— SOUTHEY

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Complain, find fault; grumble.

(2) Charity, alms—To ask for charity, to beg.

(3) A-bed, in bed.

(4) Loitered, hung about; delayed.

(5) Chill, cold.

(6) Her parish, the district to which she belonged.

(7) Begging her way, supporting herself and her children by begging during her journey.

(8) Silently, without saying a word.

LESSON 58

THE CANVAS BOAT

I.

MORE than two hundred years ago, seven English sailors were captured(1) by pirates, and carried off to Algiers, on the coast of Africa. Here they spent five miserable years, during which they were treated not only as prisoners, but as slaves.

At length, they could bear their hard fate no longer. They had no hope either of being set free by their masters, or of being rescued(2) by their friends. They therefore resolved to make their escape.

They were watched so closely, and kept so hard at work, that this was very difficult indeed. But any fate would be better than bondage; and the difficulties they met with only made them more determined(3) to succeed.

Their plan was, to make a boat in separate parts; and to carry these to the coast, and join them together there. By good luck it happened that one of them had got the use of a cellar, in which to store the goods that he sold for his master's benefit. Here the captives met, as often as they could, to talk over their plans; and here, in their stolen half hours, they made their preparations.

First, they made a keel, in two parts; then they made the ribs. They were afraid that if they covered these with boards, the noise of their hammering would let out their secret. So they got as much stout canvas as would make a double covering for their little skiff; and, in order to make it watertight, they first soaked it in tallow, and then covered it with pitch.

As they could work very little at their boat each day, and often whole days passed without their being able to touch it, it was a very long time before it was finished. At last everything was ready, and they were in high spirits. When they had found a piece of cloth that would make a sail, they thought themselves the luckiest fellows in the world.

Secretly, and in the dark, they carried their boat, piece by piece, to a quiet valley about half a mile from the sea Here they put the pieces together, and bore their boat in triumph to the shore. On launching(4) it, what was their dismay(5)to find that their tiny craft would carry at most only five of their number!

They cast lots to settle who were to be left behind; and, after a sad leave-taking, the little crew set sail, promising, if they ever reached home, to make the case of their comrades known. The only provisions they were able to take with them were two leather bottles of fresh water, and a little bread.

QUESTIONS

By whom were the English sailors captured? Where were they sent? How many years were they kept there? How were they treated? What did they at last resolve to do? What was their plan? Where did they make their preparations? Why did they use a canvas covering? What did they find on launching their boat? How did they settle who were to be left?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

II.

THEY soon found that their boat leaked very much, and that it needed constant labour to bale(6) it. Before they had been three days afloat, their stock of bread was spoiled by the salt water; and the fresh water had become stale, and hardly fit for drinking.

There was scarcely any wind to help them; and the labour of rowing with rude oars, under a broiling sun, soon began to tell upon the strongest arms and the stoutest hearts amongst them.

The island of Minorca(7) was the place to which they had tried to steer their course, by the help of a pocket-compass during the day, and of the stars by night.

Five days had gone, nor were there any signs of land. On every side the glittering waters stretched away as far as they could see. Famine(8) stared them in the face.

It is no wonder that hope died out in their hearts. They threw down their oars in despair.(9) They crouched down in the bottom of the boat, their ghastly(10) faces showing that the end was not far off.

Will Adams, their leader, was the last to give in. His hand still nervously grasped the tiller,(11) and his eye was bent eagerly towards the horizon.

Suddenly he called out, "Cheer up, lads! we have one chance more. Do you see that dark speck in the shining waters ahead? I am much mistaken if it is not a turtle."

Silently every man seized his oar, and settled to his work. They rowed very quietly towards the creature, and seized it before it was aware of their approach. At once they cut off its head, fed upon its flesh, and drank its blood.

Hope revived(12) in their hearts, as they found their strength returning. They plied their oars with all their might; and ere many hours had passed, the eagle eye of Adams descried(13) a thin gray line stretching along between sea and sky.

Before night, they felt sure that it was land; and morning showed them the rugged mountains of Minorca distinctly against the sky. By ten o'clock that night they had landed; and "gave thanks unto Him who had brought them unto the haven where they would be."

The Spaniards supplied them with food, and treated them with the greatest kindness. In due time they were sent to England in one of the King's ships. The canvas boat was placed as a memorial in the great church in Minorca, where its ribs and skeleton were seen by a traveller more than one hundred years afterwards.

QUESTIONS

What needed constant labour after they had sailed? How did they steer? Where did they try to go? After how many days' rowing did they lose all hope? What revived them? What did they see the same night? What did they do on landing? What was done with the canvas boat?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Captured, taken prisoners.

(2) Rescued, brought out of danger; delivered.

(3) Determined, fixed: resolved.

(4) Launching, setting afloat.

(5) Dismay, disappointment.

(6) Bale, throw out the water.

(7) Minorca, one of the Balearic islands, off the east coast of Spain.

(8) Famine, utter want of food.

(9) Despair, utter want of hope.

(10) Ghastly, pale; death-like.

(11) Tiller, the handle for turning the helm.

(12) Revived, arose again.

(13) Descried, saw.

LESSON 59

THE RAIN LESSON

"MOTHER, it rains!" and tears like rain fell down,

"O little daughter! see, the plants rejoice;

The rose-buds blush, and in your garden-bed

The drooping violets look so gladly up,

Blessing our God for rain. He knows what's best."

"Yes, mother, He knows everything; and so

He surely knows there's but one afternoon

In all the week that I can have from school;

And 'tis the third that I've had leave to go

And play with Mary, if it did not rain,

And gather wild-flowers in her father's grove,(1)

And now it rains again."

The mother took

The mourner on her knee, and kissed away

The blinding grief. And then she told her tales

Of the great Eastern deserts parched and dry,

And how the traveller 'mid the burning sands

Watches for rain-clouds with a fainting gaze;

And showed her pictures of the caravan,(2)

And the poor camel with his out-stretched neck

Longing for water.

And she told her, too,

Of the sad mother in the wilderness,

And the spent(3) water-bottle:—how she laid

Her darling son among the shrubs to die,

Bowing her head down that she might not see

The agony of the long death from thirst;

And how the blessed Angel, when she prayed,

Showed her a crystal well to save her child.

And other stories from the Book of God

Breathed that kind teacher to the listening one.

Seated so meek beside her:—how there fell

No rain in Israel, till the grass decayed,

And the brooks wasted, and the cattle died;

And good Elijah with his earnest prayer

Besought the Lord, till the consenting cloud

Gave rain, and thankful earth her fruits restored

And then they sang a hymn; and, full of joy,

The baby, crowing from his nurse's arms,

Came in and joined them, creeping merrily

After his little sister; till, her pain

Of disappointment all absorbed(4) in love,

She thanked her mother for the pleasant time

And for her tender lessons.

So that night,

Amid her simple prayer, they heard her say

Words of sweet praise to Him whose mercy gives

The blessed rain:—"For now I know, O God,

What pleases thee is best."

— MRS. SIGOURNEY

QUESTIONS

Why did the little girl weep? What did her mother tell her? Why was the girl angry that it rained? What did her mother tell her about the deserts? What about the sad mother in the wilderness? What about the drought in Israel? Who had prayed to God for rain then? What did they then do? Who joined them? How was the girl's disappointment removed? What words did she put in her prayer that night?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Grove, a small wood; a group of trees.

(2) Caravan, a company of travellers.

(3) Spent, empty.

(4) Absorbed, swallowed up.

LESSON 60

THE ELEPHANT

THE home of the elephant is in the deep shady forest.

It is the largest of all land animals, and is found both in Asia and in Africa.

One of the chief places in Asia where the elephant is found is the island of Ceylon. In this beautiful island, which is nearly as large as Ireland, the vast forests form the home of thousands of elephants. In these forests the trees grow thick and tall, so as to make many parts almost dark, while bright sunlight is above and around them.

The elephant likes the deep shady part of the forest, and seeks the coolest places that can be found. There he will stand flapping his ears, to drive away the flies; or he will pull down a bough from a tree to fan himself.

He is fond, too, of bathing, and likes to be near a lake or running water, where he will stand for hours together sucking up the water with his trunk, and spouting it all over his body.

He is fond of the fruits which grow in the forest, but he also eats the leaves and the young tender boughs of the trees. There is plenty of food for him in his native forests, though he is not always content(1) with what he finds there.

When the crops of rice and Indian corn are getting ripe, he often does a great deal of mischief.(2) At night he comes out of the forest and breaks into a garden or field. He soon tears down the fence, and marches over the field, eating as much as he can, and trampling down more than he eats. Next morning the owner of the field awakes to find that the elephant has been there, and has gone back to the forest, leaving his crops all destroyed.

When a herd of elephants moves about in the forest, the oldest of the herd goes first. The young elephants and their mothers are put in the middle of the troop, where they are safest. Then all march along with a great trampling noise, the boughs of the trees bending and breaking before them. Though the elephant is commonly quiet and harmless, no one dares to attack a herd of elephants marching through the forest.

In Asia the elephant is tamed and made to work. At one time the African elephant also was tamed. Soldiers in ancient times often went to battle mounted on the backs of African elephants. But now the elephant that lives in Africa is hunted chiefly for its valuable ivory tusks.

QUESTIONS

Where is the home of the elephant? How does it rank amongst land animals? In what continents is it found? Where is it chiefly found in Asia? What part of the forest does the elephant prefer? Why does he like to be near a water? What food does he eat? At what time does he often do great mischief? Which elephant marches at the head of a herd? Which are put in the middle? Where is the elephant tamed, and made to work? For what is the African elephant now chiefly hunted?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Content, satisfied.

(2) Mischief, harm.

LESSON 61

CATCHING WILD ELEPHANTS IN CEYLON

IN catching wild elephants in Ceylon, the natives choose a place near to the forest, and make a fence round it, each post in the fence being the trunk of a tree. Sometimes the space enclosed is so great that the fence extends(1) for several miles! The space inside the fence is called a corral.(2) There are openings like great door-ways left in it, by which the elephants are to get in when they come rushing towards it.

ELEPHANTS IN A CORRAL

When the corral has been made ready, the elephants begin to see blazing lights all around them. These are the fires that the natives have made to frighten the elephants.

The fires seem at first a long way off. But they come nearer and nearer, until the poor elephants are hemmed in by fires on all sides but one. Behind the flames are crowds of men, with white shining sticks and spears in their hands. The men knock these sticks about, and brandish(3) their spears, all the time making a great shouting noise, to frighten the elephants as much as they can.

The elephants look about, to see how they can escape. Only one way is left open, and the whole herd sets off down it with a furious rush. That one way leads them to the corral! As soon as they are in the corral, the natives bar up the door-ways, and the poor elephants are penned(4) in, as securely as if they were in a prison.

One by one they must be got out, and this is done with the help of tame elephants which were once caught in the corral themselves; but since then they have been well taught, and are now quite willing to help to catch their old friends of the forest.

When one of the elephants has been got out, the natives bar the door-way behind him. He rushes about in a great fury; but the tame elephants then come, one on each side of him, and stroke him with their trunks, and seem to talk to him.

He becomes a little quieter while they are with him. By-and-by they entice(5) him to follow them away from the corral. When they come to a good strong tree they stop. The natives keep close behind, and contrive to slip a strong rope round one of his legs, and then to coil it round and round the tree. As soon as he is tied fast, his false friends leave him. He tries to follow them; and when he finds that he cannot, he roars, and struggles as if he would pull the tree down!

The natives soon come back, and bring him cocoa-nuts and plenty of green leaves to eat. At first he is too angry to eat, and he tosses the cocoa-nuts about, and tramples them under his feet; but in spite of his rage he cannot help getting hungry. By-and-by he is glad to take all the nuts and good things the natives bring him. In a few days he begins to be tame and gentle; and in a little time he can be made to do anything his master likes. One by one the other elephants in the corral are let out and tamed in the same way.

QUESTIONS

What is a corral? Why are openings left in it? Why do the natives make fires round the troop of elephants? Where does the only way left open to them lead to? What is done when they are in the corral? With what help are they taken out? What does an elephant do when taken out of the corral? How do the tame ones treat him? When do they leave him? What does he then do? What do the natives then give him?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Extends, stretches away.

(2) Corral, a huge enclosure, to entrap elephants.

(3) Brandish, wave, flourish about.

(4) Penned, shut in; cooped up.

(5) Entice; tempt; allure.

LESSON 62

THE PARROT

PARROTS abound in the forests of South America. They live where there is summer all the year round, where the leaves are always green, and the flowers are always blooming. There the bright little humming-bird may be seen darting about in the sunshine. And at night the firefly flits(1) to and fro, shining like a tiny star.

The parrot makes his home in the forest, because he can find shade there in the heat of the day. If you were going through the forest, you would hear such a noise and chattering in the boughs over your head, that you would wonder what was the matter. If you looked up, you would see a great many parrots sitting on the boughs.

Parrots feed chiefly on fruit and seeds; and plenty of fruit grows in the forest for them to eat. They are very fond of the wild cherry, especially(2) of the stone. They drive their hard, strong bill into it, and get the kernel(3) out in a minute.

The bill of the parrot seems made on purpose to enable him to crack these stones. It is very sharp, and is hooked at the end. In fact, his bill is his knife, and his foot is his fork. He can hold anything he likes in his foot. It is as useful to him as your hand is to you.

The toes of the parrot are as distinct(4) from each other as your fingers are; and the joints are so supple that he can bend them about in any way he pleases. If it were not for his foot, he could never climb the trees as he does. He hooks himself on to a branch overhead by his bill. Then he lays hold of a bough with his foot, and pulls himself up. He goes on climbing in this way till he gets to the top of the tree.

Parrots are very fond of bathing. They fly about till they find some clear pool or stream. Then they enjoy themselves very much indeed. They dip into the water, and splash it all over their feathers. When they are tired of bathing, they sit in the sun and dress their feathers till they are dry.

In the middle of the day, the heat becomes very great. Then the parrots fly into the deepest shade they can find. They perch on the trees and go to sleep. The chattering ceases, and the forest is still. But in the evening, when the sun is down, they wake up, and are as noisy and as lively as ever.

They sup, as they breakfasted, upon the kernels of the fruits; and then they go to the water to bathe once more. Again follows the business of pluming(5) their feathers; and after this they go to rest for the night. But they do not roost(6) in the branches where they took their mid-day nap. Their sleeping-room is a hollow in a tree, scooped out by the woodpecker.

As many parrots go in as the hollow will contain. The rest hook themselves to the bark by their claws and bills, and hang there during the night.

The parrot lays her eggs in these hollow trees. She does not make a nest, but is content with the soft rotten wood; and the whole flock lay their eggs together in the same tree.

QUESTIONS

Where do parrots abound? How long does summer last there? Where does the parrot make his home? Why? What is his chief food? For what purpose does his bill seem to have been made? What has he for a fork? How does he use his bill in climbing? What do the parrots do in the heat of the day? What is the last thing they do before going to rest at night? What is their sleeping-room? Where do they lay their eggs?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Flits, darts, or flies quickly.

(2) Especially, in a high degree; most of all.

(3) Kernel, the soft part; inside of the shell of a nut.

(4) Distinct, separate.

(5) Pluming, picking and dressing.

(6) Roost, sleep, or rest on a branch.

LESSON 63

THE PARROT IN EXILE

A PARROT from the Spanish Main,(1)

Full young and early caged, came o'er

With bright wings to the bleak domain(2)

Of Mulla's shore.(3)

To spicy groves where he had won

His plumage of resplendent(4) hue,

His native fruits, and skies, and sun,

He bade adieu.(5)

For these he changed He smoke of turf,

A heathery land and misty sky,

And turned on rocks and raging surf(6)

His golden eye.

But petted(7) in our climate cold,

He lived and chattered many a day;

Until, with age, from green and gold

His wings grew gray.

At last, when blind, and seeming(8) dumb,

He scolded, laughed, and spoke no more,

A Spanish stranger chanced to come

To Mulla's shore.

He hailed the bird in Spanish speech;

The bird in Spanish speech replied,

Flapped round the cage with joyous screech,

Dropt down, and died!

— CAMPBELL

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Spanish Main, the coast of South America belonging to Spain.

(2) Domain, land; district.

(3) Mulla's shore, the Island of Mull, on the west coast of Scotland.

(4) Resplendent, shining brightly.

(5) Adieu, farewell (literally, to God).

(6) Surf, the swell of the sea breaking upon rocks.

(7) Petted, made a pet of; taken great care of.

(8) Seeming, apparently.

LESSON 64

STORIES OF THE ELEPHANT

II.

IN the city of Delhi, in India, a tailor was in the habit of giving some fruit to an elephant, that daily passed the place where he sat at work. So accustomed(1) had the animal become to this, that it regularly(2) put its trunk in at the window, to receive the expected(3) gift.

One day, however, the tailor, being out of humour(4), thrust his needle into the elephant's trunk, telling it to be gone, as he had nothing to give it.

The elephant passed quietly on; but on coming to a pool of dirty water near by, it filled its trunk and returned. Thrusting its huge head in at the window, it half drowned the poor tailor by pouring a flood of water over him, to the great amusement(5) of those who witnessed(6) the scene!

An army in India was marching up a hill. The large guns, which were very heavy, were drawn by elephants. There was a long train of those animals in regular file,(7) one close behind the other, each drawing its piece of artillery(8).

On the carriage of one of the guns a soldier was sitting, a little in front of a wheel. The man, being very tired, dropped asleep, and fell from his seat.

The wheel of the carriage, loaded with its heavy gun, was just on the point of rolling over his body. There was no time to get him out of the way.

The elephant in the rear,(9) seeing the danger, but unable to reach the man with its trunk, seized the wheel, and lifting it up, passed it carefully over hin, and set it down a little beyond!

QUESTIONS

Who is that in the picture sitting by the window? What is the elephant throwing over him? Where did he get it? How did he carry it? What had the man done to the elephant? Was this how he generally treated him? Where did this happen?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

An elephant was in the habit of passing over a small bridge leading from his master's house into a town in India. He one day refused to go over it, and it was only by cruelly goring(10) him with a spear, that he could be forced to venture on the bridge, the strength of which he first tried with his trunk, showing that he suspected something. At last he went on, but before he could get over, the bridge gave way, and both the elephant and his driver were cast into the ditch. The fall killed the driver, and very much injured the elephant.

An Englishman who travelled a great deal in India, says: "I performed many long journeys upon an elephant, and whenever I wished to make a sketch, the docile(11) creature would stand perfectly still till my drawing was finished. If at any time I wished ripe mango-fruit which was growing out of my reach, he would select the most fruitful branch, break it off, and offer it to me with his trunk.

"Sometimes I gave him some of the fruit for himself, and he would thank me by raising his trunk three times over his head, making a gentle murmuring noise as he did so. When branches of trees came in my way, he broke them off at once, twisting his trunk round them; but he often broke off a leafy bough for himself, and used it as a fan to keep off the flies, waving it to and fro with his trunk. When I was at breakfast in the morning, he always came to the tent door to be cheered by my praise and caresses, and to receive fruit and sugar-candy."

QUESTIONS

How was the elephant forced to venture on the bridge? How had he shown that he suspected something? What happened when he went on it? What befell the driver? and the elephant?—What did another elephant do when his master wished to make a sketch? or to get mango-fruit? What did he do when he got some of the fruit? What use did he sometimes make of a leafy bough?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Accustomed, used.

(2) Regularly, duly; every time it passed.

(3) Expected, looked for.

(4) Out of humour, ill tempered.

(5) Amusement, sport; fun.

(6) Witnessed, saw; beheld.

(7) File, line, or row, one behind another.

(8) Piece of artillery, a great gun.

(9) In the rear, behind him.

(10) Goring, pricking.

(11) Docile, easily managed.

LESSON 65

RALEIGH'S TWO PLANTS

IN the reign(1) of Queen Elizabeth, two plants were brought to England, for the first time, by Sir Walter Raleigh, both of which are now very much used—the tobacco-plant and the potato. Sir Walter had sailed across the seas to America, in search of new lands; and he brought back both these plants with him.

When he was in America, he had seen the Indians smoke, and before long he acquired the habit himself. He became extremely fond of smoking, and frequently indulged in the practice.

When he returned to England, he was sitting by the fire one day, and began to smoke. In the middle of his smoking, the door opened, and in came his man-servant. Now, this man had never in his life seen any one smoke, and did not know that there was such a plant as tobacco. So, when he saw the smoke coming from his master's mouth, he thought that he was on fire! He cried out in alarm, and ran to fetch a bucket of water to put the fire out; and Sir Walter was deluged(2) before he had time to explain(3) what he was really doing.

But very soon the old servant got used to seeing people with smoke coming out of their mouths; and all the young nobles of the court began to smoke because Sir Walter did so.

At first, people did not like the potato at all: nobody would eat it. Yet Sir Walter told them how useful it would be. The potato, he said, could be made to grow in England. He told them that, when the corn-harvest failed—which it often used to do—people need not starve if they had plenty of potatoes.

THE TOBACCO PLANT

Queen Elizabeth, who was a very clever woman, listened to what Sir Walter said, and had potatoes served up at her own table. There the grand people who dined with her majesty were obliged to eat them. But they spread a report that the potato was poisonous,(4) because it belongs to the same order as the deadly nightshade(5) and many other poisonous plants. So, in spite of all that the Queen could do, no one would eat potatoes, and they were left for the pigs.

The people did not find out their mistake till many years afterwards. The poor potato was despised and forgotten till the reign of the French king Louis XVI., when there lived a Frenchman who had made a study of growing plants for food. He felt sure that he could make the potato a great blessing to the country; and he began at once to try.

THE POTATO PLANT

After a great deal of trouble he succeeded. People laughed at him at first, and would not take any notice of what he said. But he went on growing the potato till he brought it to perfection.(6) Even then no one would have eaten it, if its part had not been taken by the king. He had large pieces of ground planted with potatoes, and went about with the flower of the potato in his button-hole.

No one dared to laugh at the king; and when he said that potatoes were to be eaten, people began to find out how good and wholesome they were. By degrees(7) the potato was more and more liked; and now there is hardly any vegetable that is more highly esteemed.

QUESTIONS

What were the two plants which Raleigh brought to England? Where did he bring them from? What did his servant think when he saw him smoking? What did he do? When did Raleigh say the potato would be most useful? Where were the grand people obliged to eat potatoes? What report did they spread about them? For what were they then left? Who showed people their mistake? What French king took the part of the potato?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

————————————————————

(1) Reign, the time a king or queen is on the throne.

(2) Deluged, covered completely.

(3) Explain, make him understand.

(4) Poisonous, causing death.

(5) Deadly nightshade, a poisonous plant.

(6) Perfection, as good as it could be made.

(7) By degrees, bit by bit.

LESSON 66

THE ARK AND THE DOVE

"TELL me a story, please," my little girl

Lisped from her cradle. So I bent me down,

And told her how it rained, and rained, and rained,

Till all the flowers were covered, and the trees

Hid their tall heads, and where the houses stood

And people dwelt, a fearful deluge rolled;

Because the world was wicked, and refused

To heed the words of God.

But one good man,

Who long had warned the wicked to repent,

Obey, and live, taught by the voice of Heaven,

Had built an ark; and thither, with his wife

And children, turned for safety.

Two and two,

Of beasts and birds and creeping things, he took,

With food for all And, when the tempest roared

And the great fountains of the sky poured out

A ceaseless flood, till all beside were drowned,

They in their quiet vessel dwelt secure.

And so the mighty waters bore them up,

And o'er the bosom of the deep they sailed

For many days. But then a gentle dove

'Scaped from the casement of the ark, and spread

Her lovely pinion o'er that boundless wave.

All was desolation. Chirping nest,

Nor face of man, nor living thing she saw;

For all the people of the earth were drowned,

Because of disobedience.

Naught she spied,

Save wide, dark waters, and a frowning sky,

Nor found her weary foot a place of rest:

So, with a leaf of olive in her mouth,

Sole fruit of her drear voyage, which perchance

Upon some wrecking billow floated by,

With drooping wing the peaceful ark she sought.

The righteous man that wandering dove received,

And to her mate restored, who, with sad moans,

Had wondered at her absence.

Then I looked

Upon the child, to see if her young thoughts

Wearied with following mine. But her blue eye

Was a glad listener, and the eager breath

Of pleased attention curled her parted lip.

And so I told her how the waters dried,

And the green branches waved, and the sweet buds

Came up in loveliness, and that meek dove

Went forth to build her nest, while thousand birds

Awoke their songs of praise, and the tired ark

Upon the breezy breast of Ararat

Reposed, and Noah with glad spirit reared

An altar to his God.

Since, many a time,

When to her rest, ere evening's earliest star,

That little one is laid, with earnest tone,

And pure cheek pressed to mine, she fondly says,

"Tell me the story of the Dove."

—MRS. SIGOURNEY

QUESTIONS

Why was the rain sent to cover the earth? What had one good man done? How did he know to do that? Who went into the ark with him? What did he take with him? What bird was allowed to escape from the ark? Why did she return to it? What did she bring in her mouth? Where had she probably found it? What did the dove do when the waters dried? Where did the ark rest? What did Noah do?

PRONUNCIATION

WRITE

LESSON 67

NO PAY, NO WORK

"LITTLE boy, will you help an old man up the hill with his load?" These words were spoken by an old gray-headed man, who was drawing a hand-cart with a bag of corn in it.

"I can't; I am in a hurry," said Hanson, the boy addressed,(1) who was hurrying to get to the schoolyard, that he might play with the boys before school began.

The old man sat down on a stone at the foot of the hill, to rest himself and gather strength for the ascent.(2) He gazed after Hanson, and sighed as he thought of the days of his youth, now far back in the past. A tear was beginning to gather in his eye, when another little boy, John Wilson, came up to him and said, "Shall I help you up the hill with your load?"

The old man brushed his eyes with the cuff of his coat, and replied, "I shall be very glad to have your help." He then arose, and taking the tongue(3) of his cart, pulled with all his strength, while John pushed behind.

When they reached the top of the hill, John discovered(4) a rent in the bag on the under side, from which the corn was dropping out; and, putting forth all his strength, he turned the bag, so that there might be no further loss of corn.

"I am much obliged to you," said the old man, as John set out upon a run for the school-house; "and may the Lord reward you." But John was out of hearing before the last words were spoken.

When John reached the school-house, he was about ten minutes too late; for which he received a mark. This was a very unusual thing for him, as he was remarkable(5) for being punctual.(6) If he had told the master what had detained(7) him, he would have been excused; but he thought it would look a little like boasting to do so. So he took the mark without saying a word.

When the school was out, Hanson said to John, "For what did you get a mark?"

"Because I was too late," said John.

"I know that; but why were you not in time? I saw you at the foot of the hill, only a little way behind me. I suppose you stopped to help old Stevenson up the hill with his grist?(8) He tried to stop me; but I don't work fornothing."

"Nor I either."

"Oh! you got a mark from the school-master. Do you call that pay for your work?"

"You don't know what else I got."

"Did you get anything else?"

"I did not do it expecting to get anything for it."

"Why did you do it, then?"

"Because I thought I ought to help the poor old man."

"If you have a mind to be such a fool as to work for nothing, you may. No pay, no work, is my rule."

To be kind and useful is my rule, John might have said with truth; but he did not say so. Nor did John really work for nothing when he performed acts of kindness. In the first place, he had the approval of his conscience;(9) which was worth something. In the second place, he had the pleasure of doing good; which was also worth something. In the third place, he had the gratitude(10) and love of many; also worth something. And lastly, and best of all, he had the approval of God, who has promised that even a cup of cold water given to a disciple shall not lose its reward.

—ALDEN

QUESTIONS

What did Hanson say when the old man asked his help? Who offered to help the man? What did John discover when they got to the top of the hill? What did he do? What did the old man say as John ran off? Why did John receive a mark from the master? How might he have been excused? Why did he not do so? What reason did Hanson give for not having helped the old man? What reason did John give for having done it? What was Hanson's rule? What was John's? What were the four things which John gained by doing acts of kindness?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Hanson's rule was, No pay, no work. John's rule was, To be kind and useful. He had for his reward the approval of his conscience, and the pleasure of doing good.

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(1) Addressed, spoken to.

(2) Ascent, road up hill.

(3) Tongue. shaft or pole.

(4) Discovered, found; saw for the first time.

(5) Remarkable, well known; noted.

(6) Punctual, exact in time.

(7) Detained, kept back; delayed.

(8) Grist, corn ready to be ground.

(9) Conscience, sense of duty.

(10) Gratitude, good-will, in return for a good act.

LESSON 68

THE ORPHAN BOY'S TALE

STAY, lady! stay, for mercy's sake,

And hear a helpless orphan's tale;

Ah! sure my looks must pity wake(1)—

'Tis want that makes my cheek so pale.

Yet I was once a mother's pride,(2)

And my brave father's hope and joy;

But in the Nile's proud(3) fight he died,

And I am now an orphan boy.

Poor foolish child! how pleased was I,

When news of Nelson's victory came,

Along the crowded streets to fly,

And see the lighted windows flame!

To force me home my mother sought—

She could not bear to see my joy;

For with my father's life 'twas bought,

And made me a poor orphan boy.

The people's shouts were long and loud—

My mother, shuddering,(4) closed her ears;

"Rejoice! rejoice!" still cried the crowd—

My mother answered with her tears.

"Oh, why do tears steal down your cheek,"

Cried I, "while others shout for joy?"—

She kissed me, and, in accents(5) weak,

She called me her poor orphan boy.

"What is an orphan boy?" I said,—

When suddenly she gasped(6) for breath,

And her eyes closed;—I shrieked for aid,—

But, ah! her eyes were closed in death!

My hardships since I will not tell;

But now, no more a parent's joy,

Ah, lady! I have learned too well

What 'tis to be an orphan boy!

Oh, were I(7) by your bounty(8) fed!—

Nay, gentle lady, do not chide;(9)

Trust me, I mean to earn my bread,—

The sailor's orphan boy has pride.

Lady, you weep:—what is't you say?

You'll give me clothing, food, employ?(10)—

Look down, dear parents! look and see

Your happy, happy orphan boy.

—MRS. OPIE

QUESTIONS

What made the boy's cheek so pale? Where had his father died? Why could his mother not bear to see his joy for Nelson's victory? What did she call him? What happened when he asked her what that meant? Did he beg bread from the lady? How did he mean to obtain it? What did the lady promise him?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

"What is an orphan boy?" I said,—

When suddenly she gasped for breath,

And her eyes closed;—I shrieked for aid,—

But, ah! her eyes were closed in death!

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(1) Wake, rouse; excite.

(2) Pride, that of which one is proud; favourite.

(3) Proud, splendid; glorious.

(4) Shuddering, trembling with fear.

(5) Accents, words, or voice.

(6) Gasped, panted.

(7) Were I, if I were.

(8) Bounty, goodness.

(9) Chide, blame; or look angrily.

(10) Employ, work to be paid for.

LESSON 69

LITTLE DICK AND THE GIANT

LITTLE DICK,—what a gay fellow he was! He used to go about singing and whistling the whole day long. He was always merry, and scarcely anything could make him sad.

One day, little Dick thought that he would have a ramble(1) in the forest, at some distance from his home. So off he set in high spirits, singing and whistling till he made the woods ring again.

At last he reached a clear brook that ran through the wood; and being thirsty, he stooped to drink. But just at that moment, he was suddenly seized from behind; and he found himself in the hands of a great, tall giant, a hundred times as big as himself! The giant looked at him with great delight, and then put him into a large bag, and carried him off.

Poor Dicky tried all he could to get out of the bag, but to no purpose(2). He screamed, he struggled, he tried to tear the bag; but the giant only laughed at him for his pains, and went on, holding him fast.

At last the giant came to his house,—a gloomy-looking place, with a high wall all round it, and no trees or flowers. When he got in, he shut the door, and took Dicky out of the bag.

The poor captive(3) now thought that his time was come; for when he looked round he saw a large fire, and before it two victims(4) larger than himself roasting for the giant's dinner. The giant, however, did not kill Dick, but only put him into a prison which he had prepared for him.

The prison was quite dark, with bars all round it; and the only food in it was a piece of dry bread and a cup of water. Dick beat his head against the iron bars, and dashed backwards and forwards, and felt very wretched.

Next day, the giant came and looked at Dick; and finding that he had eaten none of the bread, he took him by the head, and crammed some of it down his throat! Poor Dick was too much frighted to think of eating or drinking.

He was left all alone in the dark another day, and a sad day it was. The poor creature thought of his own home, his companions, the sunlight, the trees, the flowers, and the many nice things he used to eat; and then he screamed, and tried to get be tween the iron bars, and beat and tore himself.

The giant came again, and wanted Dick to sing as he used to do, and be happy and merry. "Sing, sing, sing!" said he. But Dick was much too sad to sing. A prison is no place in which to sing songs. At last the giant grew angry, and took Dick out to force him to sing. Dick gave a loud scream, plunged and struggled, and then sank dead in the giant's hand!

This is a true story.—Poor Dicky was a little bird, and the giant was a cruel boy.

The Youth's Friend.

QUESTIONS

What kind of fellow was little Dick? What used he to do the whole day long? What did he one day set off to do? What happened to him as he stooped to drink? What did the giant do with him? What did Dick see at the fire, when he was taken out of the bag? What did the giant do with Dick? What food was set there for him? What did Dick do when put in prison? What did the giant do on finding that Dick had eaten nothing? What did he think of when left alone in the dark? Why did Dick not sing as he used to do, What happened when the giant took him out of prison? Is this a true story? What was Dicky? Who was the giant?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Don't kill the birds—the pretty birds

That play among the trees;

'Twould make the Earth a cheerless place

To see no more of these.

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(1) Ramble, wander; roam.

(2) To no purpose, in vain.

(3) Captive, prisoner.

(4) Victims, things sacrificed.

LESSON 70

THE TRUNK OF THE ELEPHANT

THE long trunk of the elephant is a wonderful example of design(1) and skill. The neck of four-footed animals is usually long, to enable them to reach their food without difficulty; but the elephant has a short neck, to enable him more easily to support the weight of his huge head and heavy tusks. The difficulty of getting food is admirably(2) overcome by his long trunk.

The trunk of the elephant is to him what the neck is to other animals. It is also a nose to him, for at the end of it there is a hollow place like a cup, and in the bottom of the cup are two holes or nostrils, through which the animal smells and breathes. It is an arm and a hand too; so that it has been said that the elephant carries his nose in his hand; and it might also have been said that he breathes by his hand. How strange it would seem to us if we were to breathe through our hand!

At the end of the trunk, there is a curious part, about five inches long, which forms a finger. With this finger the animal can pick up a pin or the smallest piece of money from the ground; he can select herbs and flowers, and take them one by one; he can untie knots; he can open and shut gates, by turning the keys or pushing back the bolts: and with this finger an elephant has been taught to make regular marks like letters, with an instrument as small as a pen!

The trunk of a full-grown elephant is about eight feet long. It can be made shorter or longer as the animal chooses, and can be moved with great ease in every possible direction. It has such prodigious(3) strength that he can knock down a man with it, and pull up trees of moderate(4) size by the roots.

QUESTIONS

Why has the elephant a short neck? What enables him to get his food? What does the trunk thus supply the place of? How does the elephant breathe? How can it be said that he carries his nose in his hand? What is there at the end of the trunk? What can he do with this? How long is the trunk of a full-grown elephant? Give an example of its great strength.

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The trunk of the elephant serves the purpose of a neck, by enabling him to reach his food; it is the nose, by which he smells and breathes; it is the arm, hand, and finger, by which he feels and works.

————————————————————

(1) Design, contrivance; plan.

(2) Admirably, wonderfully.

(3) Prodigious, very great.

(4) Moderate, not very great.

LESSON 1

SCENES IN THE TROPICS

I．THE FOREST

IN hot countries the woods are not like our woods. They are great dark forests. where the trees grow so closely together, and are so tall, that if you looked up you could hardly see the sky.

Then there are a great many climbing plants, that twist themselves round and round the trunks and branches of the trees. They are called vegetable cables, because they are so much like ropes. They reach from one tree to another, and almost fill up the spaces between. The white man has to carve out his way with his hatchet, or else burn a passage for himself through the dense mass.

Dangers of every kind lurk in the forest. The quick subtle Indian dare not venture there without his poisoned arrows, nor the white man without the thunder and lightning of his gun. The venomous(1) snake may lie coiled among the bushes, or traces of the savage jaguar(2) may be seen upon the path.

Birds, beasts, and insects live there, for the most part, undisturbed. It is their home; and on every side they are at work, hunting their prey, or escaping from danger. For though man seldom wages war upon them, these wild creatures of the forest are engaged in constant warfare with each other; and the weak are always using some contrivance(3) to protect themselves from the strong.

There are a great many curious things to be seen in these South American forests.

In the deepest gloom, where the trees shut out the sun, myriads(4) of lights flit about, and twinkle like little stars. As they flash here and there, you might fancy that troops of fairies were floating about with torches in their hands; but there are no fairies in the case, —the lights are only the torches of the fireflies that live in the recesses(5) of the woods, and every night make a kind of illumination amongst the trees.

There are troops of monkeys, that run along the vegetable cables from one tree to another, or swing from the branches by their tails, making a noise all the time as if they were talking to each other. When night comes they roll themselves into a ball, huddled together as close as may be, to keep themselves warm.

Sometimes it happens that a few little monkeys have not been alert(6) enough to get into the ball, and are left shivering outside. They keep up a pitiful howling the whole night through, as if they were telling the rest how cold and miserable they are, and begging to be let in. But the others pay no attention, and go quietly off to sleep.

Then there are all sorts of wonderful birds, such as we never see in our country, except in cages.

Flocks of parrots glisten in the sun, clad in glowing scarlet, and green, and gold. Humming-birds, like gems of beauty, come to seek honey and insects from the forest flowers. Fly-catchers gleam and sparkle everywhere. Water-fowl of snowy plumage sport on the streams, their white dresses contrasting with those of the red flamingo, or the scarlet ibis, that stand patiently fishing on the shore.

QUESTIONS

Why are the forests in hot countries so dark? What are the climbing-plants called? Why? How does the white man make a way for himself through the forest? What dangers lurk there? Of what is the forest specially the home? What are the lights that flit about in the gloom? How do the monkeys swing themselves from one tree to another? How do they keep themselves warm at night? What birds are found in these forests?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

In the dense forests of South America, birds, beasts, and insects live, for the most part, undisturbed by man.

But though man does not wage war upon them, they are engaged in constant warfare with each other.

II．THE BIRD OF PARADISE

IF you turn now to the map of Asia, you will find a number of islands lying to the south of Malacca, and forming a link between Asia and Australia.

These islands are in the very midst of the Tropics. The warm tropical(7) seas bathe their coasts; and dark, dense forests, cover many of them from the sea-shore to the top of the highest mountain.

One of the largest of these islands, called New Guinea, and a few small islands near it, are the home of the splendid Bird of Paradise. These birds live nowhere else. The natives call them God's Birds, because they think them more splendid than any other that he has made.

The head and neck of the Bird of Paradise are as soft as velvet, and of a golden tint, that changes, while you are looking at it, into all the colours of the rainbow. Its tail is a magnificent plume(8) of fairy-like feathers, partly white and partly yellow, so that you might think they were made of silver and gold. This plume is very much longer than the body, and makes the bird appear larger than it is; for in reality it is only about the size of a pigeon.

We can hardly fancy a flock of these beautiful birds upon the wing, floating at their ease, or pursuing the insects of various kinds that serve them for food. But this is no uncommon sight in that land of flowers and spices—a land that seems exactly fitted to be the home of the Bird of Paradise.

But there, as in all tropical countries, there is a season of rain and storm. Then the birds disappear, as the swallows do with us, and seek some sheltered place. But when the rain is over, and the spices in the woods breathe out fresh fragrance, they return to their old haunts,(9) and the gay plumes of the male birds may be seen glittering amongst the trees as before.

When the Birds of Paradise are about to take one of their long flights, they choose a leader to be king over them. Where he goes they go, and where he settles they settle, perching on the same tree.

He generally flies high up in the air, far above the heads of his subjects; and he takes care to lead them against the wind, so that their loose floating plumes may not be blown over their heads. If a storm comes, they then rise higher and higher, and keep mounting until they reach a calmer and serener region.

The natives always know the king, by the spots which he has upon his tail, like the eyes upon the feathers of the peacock. When they go into the woods to shoot these birds, they try to kill him first. In order to get a good shot, they make a little bower of leaves and branches of trees, within which they can hide themselves and yet see all that is going on.

The birds are perched around them, suspecting no danger; but arrow after arrow comes out of this leafy bower, and strikes down first one, and then another, till the natives think that they have enough. They cut off the legs, and stuff the bodies with spices, and make a famous trade of selling them to Europeans.

The natives used to pretend that this bird had neither legs nor stomach! Thus it was believed for a long time that it fed on the dew, and never alighted on the ground. This is why it has been called the "Bird of Paradise."

QUESTIONS

Where does the Bird of Paradise live? What do the natives call it? Why? What is remarkable in the colour of its head and neck? and in the colour and size of its tail? When do these birds disappear? Who leads these birds in their long flights? How do the natives know the king? Where do they conceal themselves when shooting these birds? How do they prepare them for the European market? What did the natives use to pretend about them? Why was it called the Bird of Paradise?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The chiefs of the islands where the Birds of Paradise are found, use them in their turbans.

In many parts of the East, as well as in this country, parts of these birds are used by ladies as ornaments in their head-dress.

————————————————————

(1) Venomous, poisonous.

(2) Jaguar, the American tiger.

(3) Contrivance, plan, scheme.

(4) Myriads, immense numbers.

(5) Recesses, deepest parts.

(6) Alert, active; quick.

(7) Tropical, between the Tropics; in the Torrid (Hottest) Zone.

(8) Plume, a bunch of feathers.

(9) Haunts, favourite places.

LESSON 2

CASABIANCA

THE boy stood on the burning deck,

Whence all but he had fled;

The flame, that lit the battle's wreck,

Shone round him—o'er the dead.

Yet beautiful and bright he stood,

As born(1) to rule the storm;

A creature of heroic blood,

A proud though child-like form!

The flames rolled on—he would not go,

Without his father's word; —

That father, faint in death below,

His voice no longer heard.

He called aloud: "Say, father! say

If yet my task is done?" —

He knew not that the chieftain lay

Unconscious of his son.

"Speak, father!" once again he cried,

"If I may yet be gone!

And" —but the booming shots replied,

And fast the flames rolled on.

Upon his brow he felt their breath,

And in his waving hair,

And looked from that lone post of death,

In still, yet brave despair;

And shouted but once more aloud,

"My father! must I stay?"

While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud,(2)

The wreathing(3) fires made way:

They wrapped the ship in splendour wild,

They caught the flag on high,

And streamed above the gallant child,

Like banners in the sky.

There came a burst of thunder sound, —

The boy! —oh, where was he?

Ask of the winds, that far around

With fragments strewed the sea, —

With mast, and helm, and pennon(4) fair,

That well had borne their part!

But the noblest thing that perished there,

Was that young faithful heart!

—MRS. HEMANS

PRONUNCIATION

————————————————————

(1) As born, as if he were born.

(2) Shroud, ropes supporting the masts.

(3) Wreathing, encircling; rolling.

(4) Pennon, a flag, or streamer.

LESSON 3

LITTLE ROBERT, THE TRAPPER

ONE morning while the pitmen were at work in a coal mine, they heard a noise louder than thunder. In a moment every lamp was out, and men and boys threw down their tools and ran.

It is Tuesday morning. The men reach the bottom of the shaft,(1) and count their number. Five are missing, four men and one little trapper, Robert Lester. People above hear the noise, and rush to the pit's mouth. The workmen are taken up. O the agony of the wives and mothers of those who are left behind!

EXPLOSION IN A COAL MINE

Brave men go back to their rescue. They light their lamps and reach the crush.(2) There is nothing but a heap of ruins. They shout, but there is no answer. Up go pickaxes and shovels, to clear the way. It is great labour, and it involves great risk. Men flock from all quarters to offer their services. How they work!

Towards night they hear something. It is not a voice, but a tapping. It can just be heard. Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink! five times, and then it stopped. Clink, clink, five times again, and then it stopped. Five more, and then a stop.

What does it mean? One man guessed. There were five missing, and the five clinks showed that all the five were alive, waiting for deliverance. A shout of joy went up in and above the pit.

How does it fare with the poor prisoners? They were frightened like the rest by that sudden and awful noise. Little Robert left his door and ran to the men, who well knew what it meant. Waiting till everything was quiet, they went forward to examine the passage-way Robert had left. It was blocked up. They tried another; that also was blocked up. Oh, fearful thought—they were buried alive!

The men went back to the boy. "I want to go home; please, do let me go home," said little Robert. "Yes, yes, as soon as we find a way out, my little man," said Truman, in a kind yet husky voice. The air grew close and suffocating, and they took their oil-cans and food-bags to one of the galleries(3) where it was better.

Truman and Logan, two of the buried hewers, were religious men. "Well, James, what shall we do next?" asked Truman. "There is but one thing we can do," said Logan. "God says, 'Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee.'"

They all knelt down. Poor little Robert cried bitterly. But as the pitmen prayed, —first the one and then the other, —their hearts grew lighter, and even the little trapper dried his tears.

They then got their pick-axes; but what a hopeless task it seemed, to cut through that terrible mass of earth and stones to daylight! Their hearts beat with hope and joy when they first heard the sound of their friends working on the other side. It was then that they made the clink, clink with their pickaxes, which was heard by their deliverers, and so much encouraged them in their work.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday passed, and no rescue. What dark and dreadful days! Worse than all, the sounds beyond did not appear to draw nearer. At last Saturday came. Five days had passed; and the men outside knew that there was not an instant to lose. They were too anxious even to speak. It was only work, work, work, for dear life. For hours they had heard no signals. Were their poor comrades dead?

Suddenly the wall was pierced; a hole was made through it; feeble voices were heard.

"Truman, are you there?" "Yes, all here."

"All living?" "Yes, thank God, all living."

"All living! all living!" shouted the men; and the shout went up to the mouth of the pit. When Robert's father heard that his son was alive, the good news was too much for him, and he fell down senseless.

One hour more and the rescuers reached their comrades. Who can describe the meeting; or the joy and gratitude of wives, mothers, and friends, as one and another were brought up to the light? Here comes Mr. Lester with Robert in his arms! What a huzza rent the air as they came in sight. "Safe! safe! God be praised!"

QUESTIONS

What noise was heard in the coal mine? What did every one in the pit do when it was heard? How many were ascertained to be missing? What did the men who had escaped do? What noise did they hear towards night? What did it mean? What did the prisoners do when they found that the passages were all blocked up? What did Truman and Logan do? When were they rescued? How long had they been shut in? How was Robert's appearance greeted?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

An explosion in a coal mine blocked up the passages with earth and stones. Four men and a boy were shut in.

Their comrades began at once to clear a way for them. On the fifth day, they were all taken out alive.

————————————————————

(1) Shaft, opening leading to the mine.

(2) Crush, the mass of coal which blocked up the mine.

(3) Galleries, passages in the coal mine.

LESSON 4

HOME, SWEET HOME

'MID pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it(1) ever so humble, there's no place like home!

A charm from the skies seems to hallow(2) all there,

Which, seek(3) through the world, is ne'er met, with elsewhere.

Home! home! sweet home!

There's no place like home!

An exile from home, splendour dazzles(4) in vain:

Oh, give me my lowly thatched cottage again;

The birds singing gaily that came at my call;

Give me these, and the peace of mind dearer than all.

Home! sweet, sweet home!

There's no place like home!

—PAYNE

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

————————————————————

(1) Be it, though it be.

(2) Hallow, to make holy.

(3) Seek, though we seek.

(4) Dazzles, fascinates, catches by glamour.

LESSON 5

THE WRECK OF THE "HESPERUS"

IT was the schooner "Hesperus"

That sailed the wintry sea,

And the skipper(1) had taken his little daughter

To bear him company.

Blue were her eyes as the fairy flax,(2)

Her cheeks like the dawn of day,

And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds

That ope(3) in the month of May.

Down came the storm, and smote amain(4)

The vessel in its strength;

She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed,

Then leaped her cable's length.

"Come hither! come hither! my little daughter,

And do not tremble so;

For I can weather(5) the roughest gale

That ever wind did blow.

"He wrapped her warm(6) in his seaman's coat

Against the stinging blast;

He cut a rope from a broken spar,

And bound her to the mast.

"O father! I hear the church bells ring;

O say, what may it be?" —

"'Tis a fog-bell on a rock-bound coast!"

And he steered for the open sea.

"O father! I hear the sound of guns;

O say, what may it be?" —

"Some ship in distress, that cannot live

In such an angry sea!"

"O father! I see a gleaming light;

O say, what may it be?"

But the father answered never a word, —

A frozen corpse was he!

And fast, through the midnight dark and drear,

Through the whistling sleet and snow,

Like a sheeted ghost, the vessel swept

Towards the reef of Norman's Woe.

The breakers were right beneath her bows;

She drifted, a dreary wreck,

And a whooping(7) billow swept the crew

Like icicles from her deck.

She struck where the white and fleecy waves

Looked soft as carded wool;

But the cruel rocks, they gored her side

Like the horns of an angry bull.

At day-break on the bleak sea-beach

A fisherman stood aghast,

To see the form of a maiden fair

Lashed(8) close to a drifting mast.

The salt sea was frozen on her breast,

The salt tears in her eyes;

And he saw her hair, like the brown sea-weed,

On the billows fall and rise.

—LONGFELLOW

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

At day-break on the bleak sea-beach

A fisherman stood aghast,

To see the form of a maiden fair

Lashed close to a drifting mast.

————————————————————

(1) Skipper, the master of a small vessel.

(2) Flax, the blue flower of the flax-plant.

(3) Ope, open; bloom.

(4) Amain, with all its force.

(5) Weather, resist; endure.

(6) Warm, warmly; so as to make warm.

(7) Whooping, roaring.

(8) Lashed, tied by a rope, or lash.

LESSON 6

TRY AGAIN

I．

"HAVE you finished your lesson, George?" said Mr. Prentice to his son, who had laid aside his book and was busily engaged in making a large paper kite.

"No, father," replied George, hanging down his head.

"Why not, my son?"

"Because it is so difficult, father. I am sure that I shall never learn it. Besides, I could not remember it after I had learned it, my memory is so bad."

"If I were to promise you a holiday on the thirtieth of the month after next, do you think you would forget the date?"

"No, I am pretty sure that I should not."

"You are first-rate at skating, and flying your kite, and playing at ball and marbles, are you not?"

"Yes, father."

"And yet you cannot learn your lesson! My dear boy, you are deceiving(1) yourself. You can learn as well as any one, if you will only try."

"But have I not tried, father?" again urged(2) George.

"Well, try again. Come, for this afternoon lay aside that kite you are making, and give another effort to get your lesson ready. Be in earnest, and you will soon learn it. To show you that it only requires perseverance, I will tell you a story: —

"One of the dullest boys at a village school, more than thirty years ago, went up to repeat his lesson one morning; and, as usual, did not know it. 'Go to your seat!' said the teacher angrily. 'If you don't pay more attention to your lessons you will never be fit for anything.'

"The poor boy stole(3) off to his seat, and bent his eyes again upon his lesson.

"'It is of no use; I cannot learn,' he said in a whisper to a companion who sat near him.

"'You must try hard,' replied the kind-hearted boy.

"'I have tried, but it is of no use; I may just as well give up at once.'

"'Try again, Henry!' whispered his companion, in an earnest and encouraging(4) tone.

QUESTIONS

What reasons did George give for not being able to learn his lesson? What did his father ask him if he was likely to forget? What did he say? To show him that learning only required perseverance, what did his father do? What kind of boy was it about? What had the teacher told him when he failed? What had his companion whispered to him?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

A boy who could beat all his companions at their games was unable to learn his lesson, or to remember it after it was learned.

To show him that he was deceiving himself, and that it only required perseverance, his father told him a story.

II．

"THESE two little words gave him a fresh impulse,(5) and he bent(6) his mind again to his task. Gradually he began to find the sentences lingering in his memory; and soon, to his surprise and pleasure, the whole lesson was mastered! He then rose from his seat and proceeded to the teacher's desk.

"'What do you want now?' asked the teacher.

"'To say my lesson, sir.'

"'Did you not try half an hour ago?'

"'Yes; but I can say it now, sir,' said the boy.

"'Go on, then.'

"Henry commenced, and repeated the whole lesson without missing a word! The master gave him a look of pleasure as he handed back his book.

"From that day," continued Mr. Prentice, "there was no boy in the school who learned more rapidly than Henry. From that day till the present hour he has been a student; and he now urges his son George to 'try again,' as he tried."

"And was it indeed you, father?" asked his son, eagerly looking up into the face of his kind parent.

"Yes, my child. That dull boy was your own father in his early years."

"Then I will try again," said George, in a decided tone; and, flinging aside his half-made kite, he turned and re-entered the house, and was soon bending in earnest attention over his lesson.

"Well, what success, George?" asked Mr. Prentice, as the family gathered around the tea-table.

"I learned the lesson, father!" replied the boy. "I can say every word of it."

"Did you find it hard work?"

"Not so very hard, after I had once made up my mind that I would learn it. Indeed I never stopped to think, as I usually do, but went right on until I had mastered every sentence."

"May you never forget this lesson, my son!" said Mr. Prentice. "You now possess the secret of success. It lies in never stopping to think about a task being difficult or tiresome, but in going steadily on, with a fixed determination to succeed."

QUESTIONS

What effect had the words "Try again" on the boy What had he begun to find? What had the teacher said to him when he returned to his desk? How had he succeeded? What had the teacher done as he handed him back his book? What resolution had Henry formed? Had he kept it? Who did Henry turn out to be? What did George do when he heard that? With what result? Wherein lies the secret of success.

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The story his father told George was about his own youth. When a boy, he had been idle and dull. Once a companion had urged him to "try again."

He had done so, and had succeeded not only then, but ever afterwards. George took the hint, and succeeded as his father had done.

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(1) Deceiving, imposing upon; cheating.

(2) Urged, pleaded; reasoned.

(3) Stole, slipped off in disgrace.

(4) Encouraging, cheering; giving hope.

(5) Impulse, force; motive: tendency.

(6) Bent, applied closely.

LESSON 7

THE SEA-GULL

OTHE white sea-gull, the wild sea-gull,

A joyful bird is he,

As he lies like a cradled thing at rest

In the arms of a sunny sea!

The little waves rock to and fro,

And the white gull lies asleep,

As the fisher's bark, with breeze and tide,

Goes merrily over the deep.

The ship, with her fair sails set, goes by,

And her people stand to note

How the sea-gull sits on the rocking waves,

As if in an anchored boat.

The sea is fresh, the sea is fair,

And the sky calm over head,

And the sea-gull lies on the deep deep sea,

Like a king in his royal bed!

O the white sea-gull, the bold sea-gull,

A joyful bird is he,

Throned, like a king, in calm repose,

On the breast of the heaving sea!

The waves leap up, the wild wind blows,

And the gulls together crowd,

And wheel about, and madly scream

To the deep sea roaring loud:

And let the sea roar ever so loud,

And the wind pipe ever so high,

With a wilder joy the bold sea-gull

Sendeth forth a wilder cry; —

For the sea-gull he is a daring bird,

And he loves with the storm to sail;

To ride in the strength of the billowy(1) sea,

And to breast the driving gale!

The little boat she is tossed about

Like a sea-weed, to and fro;

The tall ship reels like a drunken man,

As the gusty(2) tempests blow;

But the sea-gull laughs at the fear of man,

And sails, in a wild delight,

On the torn-up breast of the night-black sea,

Like a foam-cloud,(3) calm and white.

The waves may rage, and the winds may roar,

But he fears not wreck, nor need;

For he rides the sea, in its stormy strength,

As a strong man rides his steed.

O the white sea-gull, the bold sea-gull,

He makes on the shore his nest,

And he tries what the inland fields may be;

But he loveth the sea the best!

And away from land, a thousand leagues,(4)

He goes 'mid surging(5) foam; —

What matter to him is land or shore,

For the sea is his truest home!

And away to the North among ice-rocks stern,

And amid the frozen snow,

To a sea that is lone and desolate,

Will the wanton(6) sea-gull go.

For he careth not for the winter wild,

Nor those desert regions chill;

In the midst of the cold, as on calm blue seas,

The sea-gull hath his will!

And the dead whale lies on the northern shores,

And the seal, and the sea-horse grim;

And the death of the great sea-creatures makes

A full merry feast for him.

O the wild sea-gull, the bold sea-gull,

As he screams in his wheeling flight,

As he sits on the waves in storm or calm,

All cometh to him aright!

All cometh to him as he liketh best,

Nor any his will gainsay!

And he rides on the waves like a bold young king

That was crowned but yesterday!

—MARY HOWITT

QUESTIONS

What do the people in the ship stand to note? What is the seagull like, when the sea and sky are calm? What do the gulls do when the wild wind blows? Where do they make their nests? What food do they find in the cold North?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

These web-footed marine birds are dispersed over every quarter of the world, and in some parts are met with at certain seasons in vast multitudes.

The species which frequents the Arctic regions is the ivory gull; so called from its white plumage, which rivals in pureness of colour new-fallen snow.

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(1) Billowy, rolling in great waves.

(2) Gusty, accompanied with sudden bursts of wind.

(3) Foam-cloud, a ball of froth.

(4) League, a measure of distance at sea about 3½ English miles.

(5) Surging, swelling.

(6) Wanton, roving; frolicsome.

LESSON 8

MONKEYS ON BOARD SHIP

THE following account of a Senegal(1) monkey was written by a lady who was a passenger on board the ship in which it was brought to England: —

"We had several monkeys on board. but Jack, the cook's monkey, was the prince of them all. At first Jack had been kept to one part of the deck by means of a cord; but as he grew tame he got more liberty, till at last he was allowed the whole range of the ship, excepting the captain's and the passengers' cabins.

"I was often awakened at an early hour by the quick trampling of feet on deck, and knew that it arose from a pursuit of Jack for some mischief he had been doing. He would snatch the caps off the sailors' heads, and steal their knives and other tools; which, if not very actively pursued, he would sometimes throw overboard.

"When breakfast was preparing, Jack used to take a seat in a corner, near the grate, and, when the cook's back was turned, snatch up something from the fire, and conceal it He sometimes burned his fingers by these tricks, and this kept him quiet for a few days. But no sooner was the pain gone, than the same thing was done again.

"Two days in each week, the pigs, which formed part of our live stock, were allowed to run about the deck for exercise; and then Jack was as happy as the day was long.

"Hiding himself behind a cask, he would suddenly spring upon the back of one of them, which then scampered(2) round the deck in a fright. Sometimes Jack got upset, and if saluted(3) with a laugh from the sailors, he put on a look of wonder, as much as to say, 'What can you have got to laugh at?'

"Besides Jack, we had on board three little monkeys with red skins and blue faces, and Jack would often get them all on his back at once, and carry them about the vessel. When, however, I began to pet these little creatures, he became jealous, and got rid of two of them by throwing them into the sea!

"One of his drollest tricks was performed on the poor little monkey that was left. One day, the men who had been painting left their paint and brushes on the upper deck. Jack enticed(4) the little monkey to him; then, seizing him with one hand, with the other he took the brush and covered him with white paint from head to foot!

"The laugh of the man at the helm called my attention to this; and as soon as Jack saw that he was discovered,(5) he dropped his dripping brother, and scampered up to the main-top, where he stood with his nose between the bars, looking at what was going on below.

"Jack was afraid to come down, and only after three days passed in his lofty place of refuge(6) did hunger force him to descend. He chose the moment when I was sitting on deck, and swinging himself by a rope, he dropped suddenly into my lap, looking so piteously at me for pardon, that I not only forgave him myself, but saved him from further punishment.

"Soon after this I took another vessel, and Jack and I parted, never to meet again."

Among the rules of the port of London is one which forbids, under a heavy penalty,(7) the firing of a gun from any vessel lying there. An armed ship had just come in from a long voyage, during which she had touched at several places, and at each of them had fired a salute(8) on anchoring.

A monkey that was on board, naturally wondering why this was omitted when he saw the anchor dropped at London, resolved, rather than that it should not take place, that he would fire the salute himself!

Accordingly, while the attention of all on board was engaged with the arrival of the ship, he went to the cooking-place, and with the tongs took out a live coal, which he applied to the touch-hole of one of the guns; and forthwith the whole neighbourhood was startled by the roar of the cannon.

The captain of the vessel was prosecuted(9) for braking the law; and he could only clear himself by proving that the cannon had been fired by the monkey.

QUESTIONS

Where did Jack come from? To whom did he belong? What was he allowed when he grew tame? What tricks did he play on the sailors? How did he amuse himself with the pigs? How many other monkeys were on board? How did Jack play with them? What made him jealous of them? How did he get rid of two of them? What droll trick did he play on the remaining one? —What law was the captain of an armed vessel once tried for breaking? Who had fired the cannon? Why? How did the captain clear himself?

PRONUNCIATION

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(1) Senegal, a river and district of Western Africa.

(2) Scampered, ran hastily.

(3) Saluted, greeted; met

(4) Enticed, tempted.

(5) Discovered, found out.

(6) Refuge, shelter.

(7) Penalty, fine.

(8) Salute, a discharge of cannot in honour of some person or event.

(9) Prosecuted, charged with the offence; tried.

LESSON 9

THE VOICE OF SPRING

I COME, I come! ye have called me long;

I come o'er the mountains with light and song:

Ye may trace my step o'er the wakening earth,

By the winds which tell of the violet's birth,

By the primrose stars in the shadowy grass,

By the green leaves opening as I pass.

I have breathed on the South, and the chestnut flowers.

By thousands, have burst from the forest bowers;

And the ancient graves, and the fallen fanes,(1)

Are veiled with wreaths on Italian plains. —

But it is not for me, in my hour of bloom,

To speak of the ruin or of the tomb!

I have looked on the hills of the stormy North,

And the larch has hung all his tassels forth;

The fisher is out on the sunny sea,

And the rein-deer bounds o'er the pastures free;

And the pine has a fringe of softer green,

And the moss looks bright where my foot hath been.

I have sent through the wood-paths a gentle sigh,

And called out each voice of the deep blue sky,

From the night-bird's lay through the starry-time

In the groves of the soft Hesperian(2) clime,

To the swan's wild note by the Iceland lakes

When the dark fir-bough into verdure breaks.

From the streams and founts I have loosed the chain; —

They are sweeping on to the silvery main;

They are flashing down from the mountain-brows,

They are flinging spray on the forest boughs;

They are bursting fresh from their sparry caves,

And the earth resounds with the joy of waves.

Come forth, O ye children of gladness, come.

Where the violets lie may be now your home.

Ye of the rose-lip and dew-bright eye,

And the bounding footstep, to meet me fly;

With the lyre, and the wreath, and the joyous lay,

Come forth to the sunshine, I may not stay.

—MRS. HEMANS

PRONUNCIATION

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(1) Fanes, temples.

(2) Hesperian, western.

LESSON 10

THE STINGING NETTLE

ALFRED saw a beautiful flower growing on the farther side of a deep ditch, and he ran forward to get it for his sister Mary. Mary begged him not to do so, lest he should tumble into the ditch. But Alfred would have his own way.

As he was going down the bank, his foot slipped; and he would have fallen into the ditch, had he not caught hold of some nettles that were growing near. He was not long in scrambling up the bank again, for the sharp sting of the nettles made him forget the beautiful flower.

"There now!" said he; "talk of everything being useful! I am quite sure a stinging nettle is of no use in the world. See how it has stung my fingers! They are covered with white blisters, and tingle(1) terribly. I am quite sure grandpapa was wrong when he said that everything was useful."

"Perhaps not," said the old gentleman, who at that moment peeped over the hedge. "But I shall go round by the gate, and come to you."

In a few minutes the old gentleman was with them, examining(2) the smarting fingers of his grandson.

"Well now, grandpapa, please to tell me of what use nettles are, for I cannot think that they are of the least use whatever."

"The nettle," replied the old gentleman, "has no doubt many uses of which I am ignorant; but I shall point out a few, which may show you that God has not formed it in vain. And I shall begin with the use of which the nettle has been to you, Alfred."

"To me, grandpapa! I am quite sure that it has been of no use to me."

THE NETTLE

"No use!" said the old gentleman, smiling. "Why, did it not save you from tumbling into the ditch?" Here Alfred looked rather foolish, while his grandfather went on: "It is not a very long time, Alfred, since you were praising your nettle-soup. The soup was made of the tender tops of young nettles, and I daresay you remember it very well."

"Oh, yes!" said Mary. "It was old Martha Smith who told my mother to give it to us; she said it would do us 'a power of good.'"

"I am glad you remember it. But let us look at the nettle a little nearer." Just then a bee alighted on one of the nettle flowers. "Do you think that bee, if he could speak, would say that the nettle was of no use? See! he is gathering honey from it, and perhaps finds it as useful as the looming rose."

The old gentleman then sat down on the bank; and having his gloves on, he turned over some of the nettle leaves.

"Look here!" said he. "Here is the insect called the ladybird, with its red back spotted with black. I daresay this ladybird finds the nettle of some use, or it would not take shelter under its leaves.

THE LADYBIRD

"Then, again, here is a spider that has woven his web from one leaf to another: no doubt the spider finds the nettle of some use too. So that the bee, the ladybird, and the spider are all against you."

Here Alfred and Mary looked at each other, as if now quite satisfied(3) that the nettle had not been made in vain. But their grandfather still went on:

"Nettles are often useful in keeping young people in the right path. When your sister begged you, Alfred, not to go near the ditch, you heeded her not; but when the nettle pointed out your error, you were convinced(4) of it in a moment."

"The nettle, moreover, teaches a useful lesson. Look at Alfred's fingers: they are not stung where he grasped the nettle firmly, but only in the parts that touched it lightly. Many little trials of the world are of the same character: give way to them, they annoy you; meet, them bravely, they injure you not, for you overcome them.

"Another excellent lesson to be got from the nettle is, to mind your own business, and not to meddle with that of other people. Let the nettle alone—it never stings you; trespass(5) upon it—you must take the consequences.(6)

"I might say a good deal more; but if the nettle assists in forming a wholesome(7) food—if it affords honey to the bee, shade and shelter to the ladybird and the spider—if it keeps young people in the proper path, and supplies us with useful lessons—you must allow that the stinging nettle has not been made in vain."

—OLD HUMPHREY

QUESTIONS

Why did Alfred go down the bank of the ditch? What saved him from falling? What made him forget the flower? In what did he say his grandpapa was wrong? Who answered him? Of what use did he say the nettle had been to Alfred? What had Alfred been praising some time before? What insects seemed to find the nettle of some use? How are nettles often useful to young people? What parts of Alfred's fingers were not stung? What does this teach about the trials of life? How does the nettle tell you that you should mind your own business?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Tender-handed stroke a nettle,

And it stings you for your pains;

Grasp it like a man of mettle,

And it soft as silk remains.

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(1) Tingle, thrill with pain; smart.

(2) Examining, looking carefully at; inspecting.

(3) Satisfied, freed from doubt; convinced.

(4) Convinced, satisfied by proof.

(5) Trespass, commit an offence.

(6) Consequences, what follow; effects.

(7) Wholesome, health-giving.

LESSON 11

FABLES

I．THE MONKEY AND THE CATS

TWO hungry cats, having stolen some cheese, could not agree bet ween themselves how to divide their booty.(1) They therefore went to law, and a cunning monkey was to decide their cause.

"Let us see," said the judge (with as arch a look as could be): "ay, ay, this slice truly outweighs(2) the other;" and so saying he bit off a large piece, in order, as he told them, to make the shares equal.

The other scale had now become too heavy, which gave this upright judge a pretence to help himself to a mouthful from the second slice.

"Hold! hold!" cried the two cats; "give each of us our share of what is left, and we shall be content."

"If you are content," said the monkey, "justice is not: the law, my friends, must take its course."

Upon this, he nibbled first one piece and then the other, till the poor cats saw that their cheese was in a fair way to be all eaten up. They therefore most humbly begged him not to put himself to any further trouble, but to give them what was still left.

"Ha! ha! ha! not so fast, good ladies," said the monkey; "we owe justice to ourselves as well as to you; and what remains is due to me as the lawyer."

So he crammed the whole into his mouth at once, and very gravely broke up the court!

This fable teaches us that it is better to put up with a trifling loss, than to run the risk of losing all we have by going to law.

II．THE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL

A FOX being caught in a trap, was glad to save his neck by leaving his tail behind him; but, upon going abroad into the world, he began to be so ashamed of his defect(3), that he almost wished he had died in the trap. However, resolving to make the best of a bad case, he called a meeting of the rest of the foxes, and proposed that they should all follow his example.

"You have no notion," said he, "of the ease and comfort with which I now move about. I could never have believed it if I had not tried it myself. But really, when one comes to think of it, a tail is such an ugly, useless thing, that one wonders how foxes have put up with it so long. I propose, therefore, my worthy brethren, that you should profit by my example, and that all foxes from this day forward should cut off their tails."

Thereupon, one of the oldest stepped forward, and said, "I rather think, my friend, that you would not have advised us to part with our tails, if there had been any chance of recovering your own."

III．MERCURY AND THE WOODMAN

A WOODMAN was felling a tree on the bank of a river, and by chance let slip his axe into the water, when it immediately sank to the bottom. In great distress for his loss, he sat down by the side of the stream, and lamented bitterly. But Mercury, whose river it was, taking pity on him, appeared before him. Hearing the cause of his sorrow, he dived to the bottom of the river, and bringing up a golden axe, asked the woodman if that was his.

Upon the man denying it, Mercury dived a second time, and brought up one of silver. Again the man denied that it was his. So diving a third time, he produced the very axe which the man had lost.

"That is mine!" said the woodman, glad to have recovered his own; and so pleased was Mercury with the fellow's truthfulness and honesty, that he at once made him a present of the other two.

When the man's companions heard this story, one of them determined to try whether he might not have the like good fortune. So going to the same place, as if for the purpose of cutting wood, he let his axe slip intentionally into the river, and then sat down on the bank, and made a great show of weeping.

Mercury appeared as before; and hearing from him that his tears were caused by the loss of his axe, he dived into the stream, and bringing up a golden axe, asked him if that was the axe he had lost.

"Ay, surely!" said the man, eagerly; and he was about to grasp the treasure, when Mercury, to punish his impudence and lying, not only refused to give him that one, but would not so much as restore(4) him his own axe again.

Honesty is the best policy.

QUESTIONS

Why did the two cats go to law? Who was the judge? How did he make the heavier slice lighter? What excuse had he for doing the same to the other piece? What did the cats then say? What did the monkey reply? And what became of all the cheese? What does this fable teach? —What led the fox to advise his neighbours to cut off their tails? What reason did he give for it? What did an old fox say? —Why did Mercury give the woodman the golden and the silver axe? What did one of his companions do? What did he say when he saw the golden axe? How was he punished?

PRONUNCIATION

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(1) Booty, plunder.

(2) Outweighs, is heavier than.

(3) Defect, want; imperfection.

(4) Restore, give back.

LESSON 12

THE CUCKOO

HAIL, beauteous stranger of the grove!

Thou messenger of spring!

Now Heaven repairs thy rural(1) seat,

And woods thy welcome sing.

What time the daisy decks the green,

Thy certain voice we hear; —

Hast thou a star to guide thy path,

Or mark the rolling year?

Delightful visitant! with thee

I hail the time of flowers,

And hear the sound of music sweet

From birds among the bowers.

The school-boy, wandering through the wood

To pluck the primrose gay,

Starts, thy curious voice to hear,

And imitates thy lay.

What time the pea puts on the bloom,

Thou fliest the vocal(2) vale,

An annual guest, in other lands

Another spring to hail.

Sweet bird! thy bower is ever green,

Thy sky is ever clear;

Thou hast no sorrow in thy song,

No winter in thy year.

Oh! could I fly, I'd fly with thee;

We'd make, with joyful wing,

Our annual visit o'er the globe,

Companions of the spring.

—MICHAEL BRUCE

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The European cuckoo, like the swallow, is a bird of passage. It visits the British islands in April, and leaves about the beginning of July. It builds no nest, but lays its eggs in the nests of other birds preferring that of the hedge sparrow.

The American cuckoo is a different bird. It builds a nest, and rears its own young.

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(1) Rural, country.

(2) Vocal, full of song.

LESSON 13

A FAITHFUL DOG

A FRENCH merchant, having some money due to him, set out on horseback to receive it, accompanied by his dog. Having settled the business, he tied the bag of money before him, and began to return home.

The merchant, after riding some miles, alighted(1) to rest himself under a tree; and taking the bag of money in his hand, laid it down by his side. But on remounting he forgot it. The dog observing this, ran to fetch the bag; but it was too heavy for it to drag along.

It then ran after its master, and, by barking and howling, tried to tell him of his mistake. The merchant did not understand these signs; but the dog went on with its efforts, and after trying in vain to stop the horse, it at last began to bite its heels.

The thought now struck the merchant that the dog had gone mad; and so, in crossing a brook, he looked back to see whether it would drink. The animal was too intent on its object to think of stopping for this purpose; and it continued to bark and bite with greater violence than before.

The merchant, feeling now certain that the dog was mad, drew a pistol from his pocket, and took aim. In a moment the poor dog lay weltering(2) in its blood; and its master, unable to bear the sight, spurred on his horse.

"I am most unfortunate," said he to himself; "I had almost rather have lost my money than my dog." Thereupon he stretched out his hand for his treasure; but no bag was to be found! In a moment, he discovered his mistake, and upbraided(3) himself for disregarding the signs which his dog had made to him.

He turned his horse, and rode back to the place where he had stopped. He saw the marks of blood as he proceeded; but nowhere was his dog to be seen on the road.

At last he reached the spot where he had rested, and there lay the forgotten bag, with the poor dog, in the agonies of death, watching beside it!

When he saw his master, he showed his joy by feebly wagging his tail. He tried to rise, but his strength was gone; and after stretching out his tongue to lick the hand that was now fondling him in deep sorrow, he closed his eyes in death.

QUESTIONS

What was the object of the Frenchman's journey? Why did he alight on his way home? What did he forget when he remounted? Who perceived this? What did it try to do? Why did it fail? How did it try to remind its master of his mistake? What thought now struck the merchant? How did he put it to the test? With what effect? What did he then do? What made him feel for his money? What did he now see? What did he do? What did he notice on the ground as he proceeded? What did he find at the place where he had rested? What did the dog do before it died?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

A merchant left his treasure under a tree. His dog tried to remind him of his mistake. He thought the animal had gone mad, drew his pistol, and shot it.

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(1) Alighted, got off his horse; dismounted.

(2) Weltering, rolling about.

(3) Upbraided, blamed.

LESSON 14

THE LOSS OF THE "ROYAL GEORGE"

TOLL for the brave,

The brave that are no more!

All sunk beneath the wave,

Fast(1) by their native shore.

Eight hundred of the brave,

Whose courage well was tried,

Had made the vessel heel,(2)

And laid her on her side.

A land-breeze shook the shrouds,(3)

And she was overset;

Down went the "Royal George"

With all her crew complete.

Toll for the brave!

Brave Kempenfelt is gone;

His last sea-fight is fought,

His work of glory done.

It was not in the battle;

No tempest gave the shock;

She sprang no fatal leak,

She ran upon no rock.

His sword was in its sheath,

His fingers held the pen,

When Kempenfelt went down

With twice four hundred men.

Weigh the vessel up,

Once dreaded by our foes!

And mingle with our cup

The tear that England owes.

Her timbers yet are sound,

And she may float again,

Full charged with England's thunder,

And plough the distant main.

But Kempenfelt is gone,

His victories are o'er;

And he and his eight hundred

Shall plough the wave no more.

—COWER

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The "Royal George," a first-rate man-of-war, of one hundred guns, upset and sank while at anchor in the Spithead, by the guns rolling to one side of the vessel, June 28, 1782. In this dreadful catastrophe nearly a thousand persons perished, among whom was Admiral Kempenfelt, who was writing in his cabin at the time.

By the use of the diving-bell this ship was surveyed in May 1817, as she lay embedded in the deep; and since that time several successive gunpowder explosions have brought up numerous portions of the wreck.

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(1) Fast, close.

(2) Heel, lean over on one side.

(3) Shrouds, the ropes which support a ship's masts.

LESSON 15

THE TAILOR-BIRD

THE birds in a tropical(1) forest are exposed to many dangers; and if they were not gifted with instinct,(2) they would soon fall victims to their enemies. The monkeys are lying in wait for their eggs; and so is the snake, that glides stealthily amongst the bushes.

The mother bird knows very well what she has to expect, if either of these cunning foes should find entrance into her nest; and she generally contrives to conceal it so skilfully, that neither snake nor monkey can find it.

The tailor-bird of India is no bigger than the hummingbird, and has a long slender bill, which she uses as a needle. She is very timid and cautious, and will not hang her nest, as many birds do, to the end of a bough. She fancies that it would not be safe even there. She therefore fastens it to the leaf itself; and so carefully that no one can see it.

First of all she picks up a dead leaf from the ground, and then, with her needle and thread (her needle being her bill, and her thread the fibres(3) of a plant) she sews the dead leaf to the side of a living one, and in the space between she makes her nest.

Small as the space is, it is quite large enough for the tiny eggs she lays; and she lines it with gossamer,(4) that the little tailor-birds may feel themselves quite snug and comfortable. The leaf, with the nest sewed into it, swings about in the wind as it did before, for the weight of the bird does not draw it down.

It is hidden from the prying eyes of the forest robbers; and here the young brood are hatched in safety. You may see them put out their heads when they are expecting their mother back with an insect or a worm for their food. But at the slightest sound of danger, in they draw them, and then there seems to be nothing but the leaf hanging with the other leaves upon the bough.

Another little bird, called the Indian sparrow, is equally ingenious. She builds her nest on the highest tree she can find, and if it overhangs a river so much the better. She makes it of grass, which she weaves like cloth, and fashions it into the shape of a bottle. It contains several apartments, and the entrance is at the bottom.

The oddest thing about this nest is, that the bird is said to light up her rooms with fire-flies, which she sticks to the walls by pieces of clay!

One naturalist(5) thinks she must bring them home for food; and another supposes that she places them there to dazzle the eyes of the bats, that would gladly prey upon her young ones if they could.

QUESTIONS

What are the enemies of birds in a tropical forest? What enables the birds to protect themselves? What bird is very ingenious in concealing her nest? Where does she fasten it? How does she join the two leaves together? What has she for needle and thread? With what is the nest lined? What other bird is equally clever? Where does she prefer to build her nest? Of what is it made? Of what shape is it? Where is the entrance? What reasons have been given for her putting the fire-flies in it?

DICTATION

The Indian Tailor-bird makes her nest in the space between a living leaf on the tree and a dead one which she sews to it, using her bill as needle, and the fibres of a plant as thread.

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(1) Tropical, in the torrid zone.

(2) Instinct, natural impulse.

(3) Fibres, fine threads.

(4) Gossamer, a fine web; cobweb.

(5) Naturalist, one who studies and writes about animals.

LESSON 16

NAPOLEON AND THE YOUNG ENGLISH SAILOR

I LOVE contemplating—apart

From all his homicidal(1) glory—

The traits that soften to our heart

Napoleon's story.

'Twas when his banners at Boulogne(2)

Armed in our island every freeman,

His navy chanced to capture one

Poor British seaman.

They suffered him, I know not how,

Unprisoned on the shore to roam;

And aye was bent his youthful brow

On England's home.

His eye, methinks, pursued the flight

Of birds to Britain, half way over,

With envy—they could reach the white

Dear cliffs of Dover.

A stormy midnight watch, he thought,

Than this sojourn would have been dearer,

If but the storm his vessel brought

To England nearer.

At last, when care had banished sleep,

He saw one morning, dreaming, doting,(3)

An empty hogshead(4) from the deep

Come shoreward floating.

He hid it in a cave, and wrought

The live-long day, laborious, lurking,

Until he launched a tiny boat,

By mighty working.

Ah me! it was a thing beyond

Description! —such a wretched wherry(5)

Perhaps ne'er ventured on a pond,

Or crossed a ferry.

For ploughing in the salt sea field,

It would have made the boldest shudder;

Untarred, uncompassed, and unkeeled, —

No sail— no rudder!

From neighbouring woods he interlaced

His sorry skiff with wattled(6) willows;

And thus equipped he would have passed

The foaming billows.

A French guard caught him on the beach,

His little Argo(7) sorely jeering,

Till tidings of him chanced to reach

Napoleon's hearing.

With folded arms Napoleon stood,

Serene alike in peace and danger,

And, in his wonted attitude,

Addressed the stranger.

"Rash youth, that wouldst yon Channel pass

On twigs and staves so rudely fashioned,

Thy heart with some sweet English lass

Must be impassioned."

"I have no sweetheart," said the lad;

"But absent years from one another,

Great was the longing that I had

To see my mother."

"And so thou shalt," Napoleon said;

"You've both my favour justly won;

A noble mother must have bred

So brave a son."

He gave the tar a piece of gold,

And, with a flag of truce, commanded

He should be shipped to England Old,

And safely landed.

Our sailor oft could scantly(8) shift(9)

To find a dinner, plain and hearty,

But never changed the coin and gift

Of Buonaparte.

—CAMPBELL

QUESTIONS

Whom did Napoleon's navy capture? What liberty was allowed him? What longing seized him? What did he find one morning? Where did he hide it? What did he make of it? Who caught him? What did Napoleon say to the lad? What did he reply? What did Napoleon then say? What did he order? What did he give the sailor? What did the sailor do with it?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

In 1803, Napoleon resolved upon the invasion of England, and assembled a vast army for the purpose at Boulogne.

The menace was met by a most patriotic response, and 300,000 Volunteers were enrolled. It was thus that Napoleon's "banners at Boulogne armed in our island every freeman."

Doubtful of the success of an attack on England, and eager to punish Austria, Napoleon suddenly abandoned the projected invasion in 1805, and marched the "Army of England" to the banks of the Danube.

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(1) Homicidal, murderous; man-slaying.

(2) Boulogne, a seaport on the French coast.

(3) Doting, dwelling fondly on the subject.

(4) Hogshead, a large barrel.

(5) Wherry, a light ferry-boat.

(6) Wattled, plaited.

(7) Argo, the fabled ship in which Jason sailed to search for the golden fleece.

(8) Scantly, with difficulty.

(9) Shift, contrive.

LESSON 17

PEARL-FISHING

IN the New World, the sunlit waters on either side of the Isthmus of Panama were once rich in the precious shells in which pearls are found. In such abundance did they yield their treasures to the Spanish conquerors, that in one year Seville imported six hundred and ninety-seven pounds weight of pearls, some of them of great beauty!

But the hands of the gold-seekers, red with the blood of their fellow-men, whose lovely lands, rich in the palm-tree, the plantain,(1) and the maize,(2) they cruelly laid waste, were equally unsparing beneath the waters, and equally ruthless(3) to the miserable race of pearl-fishers. The poor Indians, insufficiently fed, and forced into the sea by their cruel masters, oftentimes never reappeared, having fallen a helpless prey to the hungry sharks. The pearl-banks themselves, unceasingly stripped of their shells, soon became exhausted. Land and water, cursed by the Spaniards' greed of gain, alike lay desolate.

But it is not so in the East. There, pearl-fisheries still flourish. At Babre in, in the Persian Gulf, renowned in times past, is the largest pearl-fishery in the world. The annual amount of wealth which it produces is estimated at a quarter of a million sterling.

Another celebrated pearl-fishery in the East is at the island of Ceylon; an island of which Pliny, the learned naturalist of ancient Rome, extolled the "pure gold and peerless pearls;" an island crowned with the never-dying palm, sitting as a queen upon the sunlit waves, while from her cinnamon groves the spicy odours float afar.

With pearls, as with corals, there are appointed fishing-grounds for successive years. Certain divisions are made of the great pearl-banks stretching between the island and the continent of India. The principal of these divisions lies about twenty miles from the shore of Ceylon.

This spot, a desert all the year round except in February and March, is then alive with treasure-seekers. Ever-shifting, miscellaneous crowds of people are there, from all countries, of many tongues and many colours, of every gradation of rank and infinite varieties of occupation, yet all engrossed with the search for pearls.

Some are drawn by business, and some by curiosity. The merchant is there, and the traveller, as well as crowds of busy native workmen.

But, hark! a gun fires. 'Tis sunset, and the boats are launched, each with its twenty men, —ten to row and ten to dive, five of whom at a time go down into the deep. Night passes, but when morn comes the diving begins.

In the bottom of each boat are five huge red stones. Through a hole in each a rope has been passed. Each diver plants his right foot firmly on one of these stones, while with his right hand he grasps a rope; and weighted by the huge red stone, he speedily sinks to the bottom. To hold the shells, he bears with him a basket, or he hangs a net-work bag around his neck. As soon as he reaches the bottom—and not daring to glance around, lest the monster he dreads may be near—he quickly gathers all the shells within his reach. Generally speaking, in about two minutes he pulls the rope, which his right hand has never let go, and is swiftly drawn up again into the boat.

Each diver makes from forty to fifty plunges in a day, bringing up perhaps a hundred shells at a time. But remaining under water for one minute—two, four, five minutes—has a terrible effect on the human frame. When the divers come up, not only water, but sometimes blood, pours from their nostrils, mouths, and ears! But of this they take no heed. In the blue waters themselves as the only enemy they dread—the fierce and cruel ground-shark.

When noontide arrives, again the gun fires, and, with colours flying, the boats return, bearing their treasures to the shore.

But the shells are closed fast. The oyster is yet alive, and to force the shell open with violence might injure the pearl that lies hidden within.

The pearl shells are put into pits dug in the earth, where mats are spread to receive them. They are left there till the creatures within them die, when the shells, opening of themselves, allow of the pearls being safely removed.

The chemist and the microscope have shown the secret of the composition of the pearl. It is formed of alternate layers of membrane(4) (animal substance), and carbonate of lime (mineral substance), in the same way as the lustrous internal coating of the shell. These layers are slowly and successively produced by the animal itself. Some injury, probably, has happened to the outside of the shell, and the hole must be filled up; or a grain of sand or other irritating substance has entered inside the shell (sometimes by the cunning design of man), and this must be covered over, that it may no longer wound. —and lo, the result! By a creature ranking amongst the lowest in the scale of creation is produced a marvel of beauty—an incomparable gem, to glisten in a monarch's diadem,(5) and to be the poet's symbol for all that is most precious and most pure!

QUESTIONS

In what part of the New World did pearls once abound? What quantity was imported into Seville in one year? How did the Spaniards treat the pearl-divers? Why did the pearl-banks soon become exhausted? Where do pearl-fisheries still flourish? Where is the largest in the world? At what is its annual produce estimated? What is the season of pearl-fishing at Ceylon? At what time do the boats set out? When does the diving begin? How do the divers sink to the bottom? With what do they fill their baskets or bags? How long do the divers generally remain down? What painful effect has diving on them? What is the chief object of theird read? When do the boats leave the fishing-ground? How are the shells opened? Of what is the pearl composed?

PRONUNCIATION

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(1) Plantain, a valuable food-plant in tropical countries.

(2) Maize, Indian corn.

(3) Ruthless, pitiless.

(4) Membrane, tissue or film.

(5) Diadem, crown.

LESSON 18

BE KIND

BE kind to thy father: for when thou wast young,

Who loved thee as fondly as he?

He caught the first accents(1) that fell from thy tongue,

And joined in thine innocent(2) glee.

Be kind to thy father: for now he is old,

His locks intermingled(3) with gray;

His footsteps are feeble, once fearless and bold—

Thy father is passing away.

Be kind to thy mother: for, lo! on her brow

May traces of sorrow be seen; —

Oh, well may'st thou cherish(4) and comfort her now,

For loving and kind hath she been.

Remember thy mother: for thee will she pray,

As long as God giveth her breath;

With accents of kindness, then, cheer her lone way,

E'en to the dark valley of death.

Be kind to thy brother: his heart will have dearth,(5)

If the smile of thy love be withdrawn;

The flowers of feeling will fade at their birth,

If the dew of affection be gone.

Be kind to thy brother: wherever you are,

The love of a brother shall be

An ornament, purer and richer by far

Than pearls from the depths of the sea.

Be kind to thy sister: not many may know

The depth of true sisterly love;

The wealth of the ocean lies fathoms below

The surface that sparkles above.

Thy kindness shall bring to thee many sweet hours,

And blessings thy path way to crown;

Affection shall weave thee a garland of flowers,

More precious than wealth or renown.(6)

QUESTIONS

Why should you be kind to your father when he is old, What will a mother do as long as she has breath? With what should her child cheer her lone way? What is the love of a brother purer and richer than? What is compared to the wealth of the ocean lying fathoms below the surface? What will affection weave for you?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Thy Kindness shall bring to thee many sweet hours,

And blessings thy pathway to crown;

Affection shall weave thee a garland of flowers,

More precious than wealth or renown.

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(1) Accents, sounds of the voice; words.

(2) Innocent, harmless.

(3) Intermingled, mixed.

(4) Cherish, foster; tend.

(5) Dearth, want; absence of joy.

(6) Renown, glory; fame.

LESSON 19

OBSERVATION

A DERVISE(1) was journeying alone in a desert, when two merchants suddenly met him.

"You have lost a camel," said he to the merchants.

"Indeed we have," they replied.

"Was he not blind in his right eye, and lame in his left leg?" said the dervise.

"He was," replied the merchants.

"And was he not loaded with honey on one side, and with wheat on the other?"

"Most certainly he was," they replied; "and, as you have seen him so lately, and marked him so particularly, you can in all probability conducts to him."

"My friends," said the dervise, "I have never seen your camel, nor ever heard of him, but from you!"

"A pretty story, truly," said the merchants; "but where are the jewels which formed a part of his burthen?"

"I have seen neither your camel nor your jewels," repeated the dervise.

On this, they seized his person, and forthwith hurried him before the cadi;(2) but, on the strictest search, nothing could be found upon him, nor could any evidence whatever be adduced, to convict him either of falsehood or of theft.

They were about to proceed against him as a sorcerer,(3) when the dervise with great calmness thus addressed the court: —"I have been much amused with your surprise, and own that there has been some ground for your suspicions; but I have lived long and alone, and I can find ample scope(4) for observation even in a desert. I knew that I had crossed the track of a camel that had strayed from its owner, because I saw no mark of any human footstep on the same route. I knew that the animal was blind of an eye, because it had cropped the herbage only on one side of its path; and that it was lame in one leg, from the faint impression which that particular foot had produced upon the sand. I concluded that the animal had lost one tooth, because, wherever it had grazed, a small tuft of herbage had been left uninjured in the centre of its bite. As to that which formed the burthen of the beast, the busy ants informed me that it was corn on the one side; and the clustering flies, that it was honey on the other."

—COLTON

QUESTIONS

Whom did the dervise meet? About what did he ask them? What did they suppose from his questions? What did they then inquire about? Before whom did they take him? What was the result? As what were they next going to try him? How had he known that the camel had strayed from its owner? How, that it was blind of an eye? How, that it was lame in one leg? How, that it had lost a tooth? How, that its burthen was corn on one side? and honey on the other?

PRONUNCIATION

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(1) Dervise, a Turkish monk.

(2) Cadi, a Turkish village-judge.

(3) Sorcerer, magician; wizard.

(4) Scope, room.

LESSON 20

THE CHAMOIS

THE graceful chamois is found in all the mountains of Europe which bound the valley of the Danube, both on the north and on the south. As, however, it prefers the cold air of the highest mountains, it makes Switzerland its chief home.

In general appearance, its head and body are not unlike those of the goat; but it has a more slender neck, and no beard; and its horns are black and stand erect, being curved into hocks only at the tips.

The chamois is not only very swift of foot, but very sure-footed. Its cup-shaped and sharp-edged hoofs have been specially made for the mountains on which it loves to dwell. It makes its way up and down the face of very steep rocks. It bounds swiftly from crag to crag, springing fearlessly on to the top of the sharpest rocks, if only it can find room to place its four feet close together.

The flesh of the chamois is considered a great dainty(1) by the Swiss; and its skin, when tanned, is the fine soft leather which is called after it, chamois-leather.

Chamois-hunting is a favourite pursuit in Switzerland. The sport is attended with very great peril. The hunter has often to spend days and nights alone upon the mountains. He has to pass over the most dangerous rocks and precipices, and often his rashness costs him his life.

The chamois has the greatest affection for her young; and when the yare in danger, she shows wonderful sagacity in planning means for their escape.

A Swiss hunter, while pursuing his dangerous sport observed a mother chamois and her two kids on a rock above him. They were sporting by her side, leaping here and there around her.

The hunter, climbing the rock, drew near, intending, if possible, to capture one of the kids alive. No sooner did the mother chamois observe him, than, dashing at him furiously with her horns, she endeavoured to hurl him down the cliff. The hunter drove her off, fearing to fire, lest the young ones should take to flight.

He was aware that there was a deep chasm(2) beyond, by which he believed the escape of the animals to be cut off. What was his surprise, therefore, when he saw the old chamois form with her body a bridge across the chasm, which she could just span by stretching out her fore and hind legs! As soon as she had done this, she called on her young ones; and they sprang one at a time on her back, and reached the other side in safety! She sprang across after them, and was soon beyond reach of the hunter's bullets.

QUESTIONS

Where is the home of the chamois? In what is it like the goat? In what do they differ? What is the most remarkable thing about the chamois' running? Where is the chamois hunted? What makes the sport very dangerous? In what does the chamois show wonderful sagacity? Describe the instance of this illustrated by the picture.

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The hind legs of the chamois, like those of the hare, are longer than the fore ones.

This not only gives it additional swiftness, but greater security in ascending and descending steep rocks.

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(1) Dainty, something very nice; a delicacy.

(2) Chasm, a deep opening, or cleft, between two rocks.

LESSON 21

FIDELITY

A BARKING sound the shepherd heers,

A cry as of a dog or fox;

He halts, and searches with his eye

Among the scattered rocks:

And now at distance can discern(1)

A stirring in a brake(2) of fern;

And instantly a dog is seen,

Glancing through that covert(3) green.

The dog is not of mountain breed;

Its motions, too, are wild and shy;

With something, as the shepherd thinks,

Unusual in its cry;

Nor is there any one in sight

All round, in hollow or on height;

Nor shout nor whistle strikes his ear—

What is the creature doing here?

It was a cove, a huge recess,

That keeps, till June, December's snow;

A lofty precipice in front,

A silent tarn(4) below;

Far in the bosom of Helvellyn,

Remote from public road or dwelling,

Pathway or cultivated land,

From trace of human foot or hand.

Not free from boding thoughts, a while

The shepherd stood; then made his way

O'er rocks and stones, following the dog

As quickly as he may;

Nor far had gone before he found

A human skeleton on the ground!

The appalled discoverer with a sigh

Looks round to learn the history.

From those abrupt and perilous rocks

The man had fallen—that place of fear!

At length upon the shepherd's mind

It breaks, and all is clear:

He instantly recalled the name,

And who he was, and whence he came:

Remembered, too, the very day

On which the traveller passed that way.

But hear a wonder, for whose sake

This lamentable tale I tell;—

A lasting monument of words

This wonder merits well:

The dog, which still was hovering nigh,

Repeating the same timid cry,

This dog had been, through three months' space,

A dweller in that savage place!

Yes, proof was plain that since the day

When this ill-fated traveller died,

The dog had watched about the spot,

Or by his master's side:

How nourished here through such long time,

He knows who gave that love sublime;

And gave that strength of feeling great,

Above all human estimate.

—WORDSWORTH

QUESTIONS

What attracted the shepherd's notice? What did he discover among the ferns? What question did he then ask? What kind of place was it? What was there in front of it? What below? On what mountain was it? What did the shepherd find on following the dog? What did he then remember? For whose sake does the poet tell the tale? How long had he watched beside his master's corpse?

PRONUNCIATION

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(1) Discern, see; discover.

(2) Brake, thicket; clump.

(3) Covert, hiding-place; ambush.

(4) Tarn, a mountain lake.

LESSON 22

THE ARAB AND HIS HORSE

A CARAVAN(1)on its way to Damascus was once attacked and captured by a party of Arabs. While the robbers were dividing their spoils, they were assailed by a troop of Turkish horsemen, that had gone out from Acre to escort(2) the caravan.

The scales of fortune were at once turned. The robbers were overpowered;(3) many of them were killed, and the rest were taken prisoners.

Among the wounded Arabs was a man named Hassan, who had a very fine horse, which also fell into the hands of his captors.

As Hassan lay at night by the side of one of the tents, his feet bound together by a leathern thong, he heard the neighing of his horse. As is the custom in the East, it passed the night in the open air near the tents; but its legs were fastened together, so that it could not move. Hassan knew its voice; and wishing to see his favourite once more, he crawled along upon his hands and knees till he reached the spot where the horse stood.

"My poor friend," said he, "what will become of you in the hands of the Turks? They will shut you up in close and unwholesome stables with the horses of a pacha.(4)Go back to the tent of your master. Tell my wife that shewill never see her husband more; and lick the hands of mychildren with your tongue, in token of a father's love."

While thus speaking, Hassan had gnawed away the thong of goat-skin with which the legs of his horse had been fastened together, and the noble animal stood free. But when the horse saw his wounded master at his feet, he stooped his head, and grasping with his teeth the leathern girdle round his waist, he ran off with him in his mouth at full gallop. He thus bore him over many a weary mile of mountain and plain, until his desert home was reached; then, having gently laid him by the side of his wondering wife and children, he fell down dead from exhaustion!(5)

All the tribe to which Hassan belonged wept over the body of the faithful steed; and more than one poet has commemorated(6) in song his sagacity and devotion.

QUESTIONS

By whom was the caravan overpowered? Who assailed the Arabs? What were they doing at the time? Who were successful this time? What was Hassan the possessor of? What did he hear one night? What did he do? What did he say to the horse? How did he set the horse free? What did the horse do? Where did he carry him? What did he do when he laid him down?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

An Arab and his horse were both captured by Turkish horsemen. One night the Arab set his horse free.

But when he saw his wounded master at his feet, he grasped with his teeth the girdle round his waist, carried him home in his mouth, and fell down dead from exhaustion.

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(1) Caravan, a company of travellers.

(2) Escort, guard; convoy.

(3) Overpowered, subdued; defeated.

(4) Pacha, a Turkish governor viceroy.

(5) Exhaustion, great weakness.

(6) Commemorated, celebrated; praised.

LESSON 23

ANECDOTES OF WASHINGTON

DURING the American War, the captain of a little band of soldiers was giving orders to those under him, about a heavy beam that they were endeavouring(1) to raise to the top of some military works which they were repairing. The weight was almost beyond their power to raise, and the voice of the superintendent was often heard shouting, "Heave away! There it goes! Heave, ho!"

An officer, not in military costume,(2) was passing, and asked the superintendent why he did not render a little aid. The latter, astonished, turning round with all the pomp of an emperor, said, "Sir, I am a corporal!(3)"

"You are, are you?" replied the officer; "I was not aware of that;" and taking off his hat, he bowed, saying, "I ask your pardon, Mr. Corporal."

Upon this he dismounted, and pulled till the sweat stood in drops on his forehead. And when the beam was raised, turning to the little great man, he said, —

"Mr. Corporal, when you have another such job, and have not men enough, send for your Commander-in-chief, and I shall gladly come to help you a second time!"

The corporal was thunder-struck. It was Washington!

When Washington had closed his career(4) in the French and Indian War, he became a member of the House of Burgesses.(5) The Speaker(6) was directed, by a vote of the House, to return their thanks to that officer for the distinguished military services which he had rendered to his country.

As soon as Washington entered the House, the Speaker, in obedience to this order, and following the impulse(7) of his own grateful heart, discharged the duty with great dignity.(8) But he spoke with such warmth of colouring, and strength of expression, that the young hero was entirely confounded.

He rose to express his thanks for the honour which had been done to him; but such were his emotion(9) and confusion, that he could not give distinct utterance to a single syllable.

He blushed, stammered, and trembled for a second, when the Speaker relieved(10) him by a happy stroke of address.

"Sit down, Mr. Washington," said he, with a reassuring(11) smile; "we perceive that your modesty is equal to your valour, and that surpasses(12) the power of any language that I possess."

QUESTIONS

What work were the soldiers doing? What was voice of their superintendent often heard saying? What did the officer ask him? What did he reply? What did the officer then do? What did he say to the corporal when the beam was raised? Who was he?—What House did Washington become a member of? What was the Speaker directed to do? How did he speak? What effect had this upon Washington? How did the Speaker relieve him?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

As soon as Washington entered the House, the Speaker discharged the duty of returning thanks to him, with great dignity.

When Washington rose to reply, his emotion and confusion were such, that he could not give distinct utterance to a single syllable.

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(1) Endeavouring, trying.

(2) Costume, official dress

(3) Corporal, an officer of the lowest rank.

(4) Career, time of service.

(5) Burgesses, citizens, or freemen of a borough.

(6) Speaker, the chairman.

(7) Impulse, natural inclination.

(8) Dignity, elevation of manner.

(9) Emotion, strong feeling.

(10) Relieved, came to his rescue; freed him from his difficulty.

(11) Reassuring, comforting; encouraging.

(12) Surpasses, goes beyond; exceeds.

LESSON 24

THE "WHITE SHIP"

(A. D. 1120.)

KING HENRY I. went over to Normandy with his son Prince William and a great retinue,(1)to have the prince acknowledged as his successor by the Norman nobles, and to contract(2) the promised marriage between him and the daughter of the Count of Anjou. When both these things had been done with great show and rejoicing, the whole retinue prepared to embark for the voyage home.

When all was ready, there came to the king, Fitz-Stephen, a sea-captain, and said: "My liege, my father served your father all his life, upon the sea. He steered the ship with the golden boy upon the prow, in which your father sailed to conquer England. I beseech you to grant me the same office. I have a fair vessel in the harbour here, called the White Ship, manned by fifty sailors of renown. I pray you, sire, to let your servant have the honour of steering you in the White Ship to England."

"I am sorry, friend," replied the king, "that my vessel is already chosen, and that I cannot therefore sail with the son of the man who served my father. But the prince, with all his company, shall go along with you, in the fair White Ship, manned by the fifty sailors of renown."

An hour or two afterward, the king set sail in the vessel he had chosen, accompanied by other vessels, and, sailing all night with a fair and gentle wind, arrived upon the coast of England in the morning. While it was yet night, the people in some of the ships heard a faint wild cry come over the sea, and wondered what it was.

The prince went aboard the White Ship with one hundred and forty youthful nobles like himself, among whom were eighteen noble ladies of the highest rank. All this gay company, with their servants and the fifty sailors, made three hundred souls aboard the fair White Ship.

"Give three casks of wine, Fitz-Stephen," said the prince, "to the fifty sailors of renown. My father the king has sailed out of the harbour. What time is there to make merry here, and yet reach England with the rest?"

"Prince," said Fitz-Stephen, "before morning my fifty and the White Ship shall overtake the swiftest vessel in attendance on your father the king, if we sail at midnight."

Then the prince commanded to make merry; and the sailors drank out the three casks of wine; and the prince and all the noble company danced in the moonlight on the deck of the White Ship.

When at last she shot out of the harbour of Barfleur, there was not a sober seaman on board. But the sails were all set and the oars all going merrily, Fitz-Stephen at the helm.

The gay young nobles, and the beautiful ladies wrapped up in mantles of various bright colours, to protect them from the cold, talked, laughed, and sang. The prince encouraged the fifty sailors to row harder yet, for the honour of the White Ship.

Crash! —a terrific cry broke from three hundred hearts. It was the cry the people in the distant vessels of the king heard faintly on the water. The White Ship had struck upon a rock, and was going down!

Fitz-Stephen hurried the prince into a boat with some few nobles. "Push off," he whispered, "and row to the land. It is not far, and the sea is smooth. The rest of us must die."

But, as they rowed away fast from the sinking ship, the prince heard the voice of his sister Marie calling for help. He never in his life had been so good as he was then. He cried, in an agony, "Row back at any risk! I cannot bear to leave her!"

They rowed back. As the prince held out his arms to catch his sister, such numbers leaped in that the boat was overset. And in the same instant the White Ship went down.

Only two men floated; —a nobleman, Godfrey by name; and a poor butcher of Rouen. By-and-by another man came swimming toward them, whom they knew, when he had pushed aside his long wet hair, to be Fitz-Stephen.

When he heard that the prince and all his retinue had gone down, Fitz-Stephen, with a ghastly face, cried, "Woe, woe to me!" and sank to the bottom.

The other two clung to the yard for some hours. At length the young noble said faintly, "I am exhausted, and benumbed(3) with the cold, and can hold no longer. Farewell, good friend. God preserve you."

So he dropped and sank, and of all the brilliant crowd, the poor butcher of Rouen alone was saved. In the morning, some fishermen saw him floating in his sheepskin coat, and got him into their boat, —the sole relater of the dismal tale.

For three days no one dared to carry the intelligence to the king; at length they sent into his presence a little boy, who, weeping bitterly, and kneeling at his feet, told him that the White Ship was lost, with all on board.

The king fell to the ground like a dead man, and never afterwards was seen to smile.

—CHARLES DICKENS

QUESTIONS

Why did King Henry go over to Normandy? Who accompanied him? Who came to the king when he was about to embark for England? What did he ask the king to let him do? On what ground? What did the king reply? What did some of the king's people hear in the middle of the night? How many went on board the White Ship? What did the prince tell the captain to give the sailors? What delayed their departure? What caused the terrific cry which the king's people had heard? What was done with the prince? Why did he return to the wreck? What happened then? How many were afloat after this? What became of the captain? Who alone survived to tell the tale? How was the intelligence conveyed to the king? What effect had it on him?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

As Prince William was returning from Normandy, his vessel, called the "White Ship," struck on a rock, and went down.

A poor butcher of Rouen alone survived to tell the dismal tale. When King Henry heard it, "he never smiled again."

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(1) Retinue, body of followers and at tendants.

(2) Contract, settle the terms of.

(3) Benumbed, made powerless.

LESSON 25

HE NEVER SMILED AGAIN

THE bark that held a prince went down,

The sweeping waves rolled on;

And what was England's glorious crown

To him that wept a son?

He lived—for life may long be borne

Ere sorrow break its chain;

Why comes not death to those who mourn? —

He never smiled again!

There stood proud forms around his throne,

The stately and the brave;

But which could fill the place of one, —

That one beneath the wave?

Before him passed the young and fair,

In pleasure's reckless(1) train;

But seas dashed o'er his son's bright hair: —

He never smiled again!

He sat where festal(2) bowls went round,

He heard the minstrel sing;

He saw the tourney's(3) victor crowned

Amidst the knightly ring:

A murmur of the restless deep

Was blent(4) with every strain,

A voice of winds that would not sleep: —

He never smiled again!

Hearts, in that time, closed o'er the trace

Of vows once fondly poured;

And strangers took the kinsman's place

At many a joyous board;

Graves, which true love had bathed with tears,

Were left to heaven's bright rain;

Fresh hopes were born for other years: —

He never smiled again!

—MRS. HEMANS

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(1) Reckless, heedless; wild.

(2) Festal, holiday; mirthful.

(3) Tourney, tournament; a mock fight.

(4) Blent, blended; mingled.

LESSON 26

ANDROCLES AND THE LION

ONCE at Carthage there was a slave named Androcles, who was so badly treated by his master that he resolved to run away from him. He therefore secretly left his master's house, and hid himself in a forest, some miles distant from the city.

After wandering about for some time, he came to a large cavern, and, overcome by hunger and fatigue, he lay down in it, and soon fell fast asleep.

He was suddenly awakened by the roar of a wild beast; and running to the mouth of the cavern, he was met by a great lion, which stood right in his way, and made it impossible for him to escape!

Androcles expected nothing else than to be at once torn to pieces; but, to his great surprise, the lion came gently towards him, without showing any signs of rage. It gave forth at the same time a low and mournful sound, as if it were begging his assistance. As the lion approached him, he noticed that it limped with one of its legs, and that the foot was swollen, as if it had been wounded.

He then went up to the lion, and taking hold of the wounded paw, examined it as a surgeon would examine a patient.(1) He was not long in finding out the cause of the swelling; for he saw in the ball of the foot a very large thorn. The slave extracted the thorn, and pressed out of the wound a quantity of matter; which gave the lion immediate relief.

Thereupon the lion began to show his gratitude by every means in his power. He jumped about like a playful spaniel, wagged his great tail, and licked the hands and feet of his physician. From that moment Androcles became his guest; and the lion never sallied forth in quest of prey without sharing the produce of his chase with his friend.

The slave continued to live in this savage state for several months. At length, wandering carelessly through the woods, he was seized by a company of soldiers who had been sent out to search for him, and was by them led back to his master.

He was tried as a runaway slave, and was sentenced to be torn by a lion in the public arena.

When the time for his destruction came, Androcles stood in the middle of the arena calmly awaiting his fate. Presently a dreadful yell was heard, which made the spectators start and tremble. A huge lion then sprang out of a den, and darted forward upon its victim with flaming eyes and gaping jaws.

What was the surprise of the multitude when the lion, instead of springing upon the man, and tearing him to pieces, couched submissively(2) at his feet, and fawned upon him like a dog!

The governor of the city then ordered Androcles to explain how it was that the savage beast had, in a moment, become as harmless as a lamb.

In reply, Androcles told the story of his adventures in the woods, and concluded by saying that that was the very lion, which stood by his side.

The spectators were so delighted with the story, that they begged the governor to pardon Androcles. This he did, and he also presented him with the lion which had in this way twice spared his life.

QUESTIONS

Why did Androcles go into the forest? Where did he lie down? What startled him? Whence did it proceed? What surprised him greatly? What did the lion seem to be begging? Why did it require it? How did Androcles cure it of its lameness? How did the lion show his gratitude? How long did Androcles remain with him? How was he fed? By whom was Androcles captured? What sentence was passed upon him? What happened when the lion was let loose? Who asked to have it explained? What was the fate of Androcles? and of the lion?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Androcles cured the lion, and the lion spared Androcles. The people begged the governor to pardon the slave.

He did so, and also presented him with the lion which had twice saved his life.

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(1) Patient, one suffering, and attended by a physician.

(2) Submissively, humbly; in token of obedience.

LESSON 27

THE WIND IN A FROLIC

THE Wind one morning sprang up from sleep,

Saying, "Now for a frolic! now for a leap!

Now for a mad-cap galloping chase!

I'll make a commotion(1) in every place!"

So it swept with a bustle right through a great town,

Cracking the signs and scattering down

Shutters; and whisking, with merciless squalls,

Old women's bonnets and gingerbread stalls.

There never was heard a much lustier shout,

As the apples and oranges trundled(2) about;

And the urchins(3) that stand with their thievish eyes

For ever on watch, ran off each with a prize.

Then away to the fields it went, blustering(4) and humming,

And the cattle all wondered what monster was coming.

It plucked by the tails the grave matronly cows,

And tossed the colts' manes all over their brows;

Till, offended at such an unusual salute,

They all turned their backs, and stood sulky and mute.

So on it went, capering and playing its pranks, —

Whistling with reeds on the broad river's banks,

Puffing the birds as they sat on the spray,

Or the traveller grave on the king's highway.

It was not too nice to hustle(5) the bags

Of the beggar, and flutter his dirty rags;

'Twas so bold, that it feared not to play its joke

With the doctor's wig or the gentleman's cloak.

Through the forest it roared, and cried, gaily, "Now,

You sturdy old oaks, I'll make you bow!"

And it made them bow without more ado,

Or it cracked their great branches through and through.

Then it rushed like a monster on cottage and farm,

Striking their dwellers with sudden alarm;

And they ran out like bees in a midsummer swarm:

There were dames with their kerchiefs(6) tied over their caps.

To see if their poultry were free from mishaps;

The turkeys they gobbled, the geese screamed aloud,

And the hens crept to roost in a terrified crowd;

There was rearing of ladders, and logs were laid ou,

Where the thatch from the roof threatened soon to be gone.

But the Wind had swept on, and had met in a lane

With a school-boy, who panted and struggled in vain;

For it tossed him and twirled him, then passed, —and he stood

With his hat in a pool and his shoes in the mud!

Then away went the Wind in its holiday glee,

And now it was far on the billowy sea;

And the lordly ships felt its staggering blow,

And the little boats darted to and fro.

But, lo! it was night, and it sank to rest

On the sea-birds' rock in the gleaming(7) west,

Laughing to think, in its frolicsome fun,

How little of mischief it really had done.

—WILLIAM HOWITT

QUESTIONS

What did the Wind first sweep through? What did it overturn there? Where did it go next? What did it do to the cows? What did all the cattle do? Where did it next play its pranks? What did it say to the oaks? What did it next rush upon? What did the dames go out to see? Whom did it meet in a lane? How did it leave him standing? Where did it go next? What did the great ships feel? When did it sink to rest? and where? What did it laugh to think?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The Wind one morning sprang up from sleep,

Saying, "Now for a frolic! now for a leap!

Now for a mad-cap galloping chase!

I'll make a commotion in every place!"

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(1) Commotion, stir.

(2) Trundled, rolled.

(3) Urchins, mischievous boys.

(4) Blustering, blowing noisily.

(5) Hustle, shake roughly.

(6) Kerchiefs, napkins for covering the head.

(7) Gleaming, shining.

LESSON 28

LLEWELYN AND HIS DOG

THE spearman heard the bugle sound,

And cheerily smiled the morn,

And many a brach(1) and many a hound

Attend Llewelyn's horn;

And still he blew a louder blast,

And gave a louder cheer, —

"Come, Gelert! why art thou the last

Llewelyn's horn to hear?

"Oh, where does faithful Gelert roam?

The flower of all his race!

So true, so brave! —a lamb at home,

A lion in the chase!"

That day Llewelyn little loved

The chase of hart or hare,

And scant and small the booty proved, —

For Gelert was not there.

Unpleased, Llewelyn homeward hied;

When, near the portal(2) seat,

His truant Gelert he espied,

Bounding his lord to greet.

But when he gained the castle door,

Aghast the chieftain stood:

The hound was smeared with drops of gore, —

His lips and fangs ran blood!

Llewelyn gazed with wild surprise; —

Unused such looks to meet,

His favourite checked his joyful guise,(3)

And crouched and licked his feet.

Onward in haste Llewelyn passed,

(And on went Gelert too,)

And still, where'er his eyes were cast,

Fresh blood-drops shocked his view!

O'erturned his infant's bed he found!

The blood-stained cover rent,

And all around the walls and ground

With recent blood besprent!(4)

He called his child—no voice replied!

He searched, with terror wild;

Blood! blood he found on every side!

But nowhere found the child!

"Monster! by thee my child's devoured!

The frantic father cried;

And to the hilt his vengeful sword

He plunged in Gelert's side!

His suppliant, as to earth he fell,

No pity could impart;

But still his Gelert's dying yell

Passed heavy o'er his heart.

Aroused by Gelert's dying yell,

Some slumberer wakened nigh; —

What words the parent's joy can tell

To hear his infant cry!

Concealed beneath a mangled heap

His hurried search had missed,

All glowing from his rosy sleep,

His cherub boy he kissed!

Nor scratch had he, nor harm, nor dread,

But the same couch beneath

Lay a great wolf, all torn and dead, —

Tremendous still in death!

Ah, what was then Llewelyn's pain!

For now the truth was clear:

The gallant hound the wolf had slain,

To save Llewelyn's heir.

Vain, vain was all Llewelyn's woe: —

"Best of thy kind, adieu!

The frantic deed which laid thee low

This heart shall ever rue."(5)

And now a gallant tomb they raise,

With costly sculpture decked;

And marbles, storied(6) with his praise,

Poor Gelert's bones protect.

Here never could the spearman pass,

Or forester, unmoved;

Here oft the tear-besprinkled grass

Llewelyn's sorrow proved.

And here he hung his horn and spear;

And oft, as evening fell,

In fancy's piercing sounds would hear

Poor Gelert's dying yell.

—SPENCER

QUESTIONS

Which of Llewelyn's dogs did not answer his call? What effect had this on the booty? What did Llewelyn see on his return? What made him stand aghast? Where did he hasten to? What could he not find? What did he think had happened to it? What did he therefore do? What did Gelert's dying yell do? In what state was the child? What else lay beneath the couch? What had Gelert really done? Where did Llewelyn hang his horn and spear?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Llewelyn, believing that his favourite hound had killed his child, plunged his sword in its side.

Beneath the couch he found his child unharmed, and beside him the mangled remains of a huge wolf

The gallant hound the wolf had slain,

To save Llewelyn's heir.

OUTLINES OF BRITISH HISTORY I

I．THE ROMAN PERIOD

(55 B. C. to 410 A. D.)

LEADING FEATURES: —Britain a Roman province for three centuries and a half — The Britons unable to defend themselves when the Romans withdrew.

1．THE Celts who inhabited Britain were disturbed in the year 55 B. C. by the arrival of Roman soldiers under Julius Caesar. The Roman Period of British history then began. It lasted four hundred and sixty-five years.

2．It was not until the reign of Claudius, 43 A. D., that the Romans gained any decided success in Britain. Shortly after that time, 51 A. D., a brave British chief named Caractacus was defeated and taken prisoner; and the Druids, as the priests of the Britons were called, were expelled from Mona (Anglesey).

3．Agricola was the chief Roman governor of Britain. During seven years (78-85 A. D.) he held power; and, having invaded Caledonia (Scotland), he defeated a chief named Galgacus in the Battle of the Grampians, 84 A. D.

4．The Romans built several walls across Britain, to secure their conquests from the attacks of the Picts or Caledonians. The principal of these were the Wall of Hadrian, from the Tyne to the Solway Firth (121 A. D.); and the Wall of Antonine, from the Forth to the Clyde (140 A. D.). The Roman Emperor Severus marched through Caledonia, as far as the Moray Firth.

5．The Sack of London by the Picts. in 367 A. D., is a clear sign that the Roman power was decaying in the island. Finally, in 410 A. D., the Emperor Honorius wrote a letter withdrawing his legions from Britain, and leaving it without any native army to repel the attacks of the northern foes.

QUESTIONS

1．When did the Romans first visit Britain? Under what general? To what race did the natives belong? How long did the Roman Period last? What are its leading features?

2．In whose reign did the Romans first gain any decided success in Britain? What native chief was taken prisoner by the Romans? What were the British priests called? From what place were they driven?

3．Who was the chief Roman governor of Britain? How long did he hold power? What great victory did he gain?

4．Name the principal Roman walls. For what purpose were they built? When was Hadrian's Wall built? And where? When was Antonine's Wall built? And where?

5．What indicates the decay of the Roman power in Britain? When were the Roman legions withdrawn?

MEMORABLE DATES OF THE ROMAN PERIOD

II．THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD

(449 A. D. to 1066 A. D)

LEADING FEATURES: — Britain becomes England — The English become Christian — The Danes struggle with the English — French influence prepares England for the Norman Conquest.

FROM THE ENGLISH SETTLEMENT TO EGBERT

1．NOT long after the departure of the Romans, the Picts again invaded South Britain. The Britons, being unable to resist them, called in the aid of certain Germanic tribes who had been in the habit of visiting their coasts. The Germans gladly came; and they liked the country so much that they were loath to go away again (449).

So they wrested from the Britons (or Welsh, as they called them), whom they had come to help, land on which they and their families might settle. These Germanic settlers were the founders of the English nation.

By-and-by there came other tribes of the same race, who settled on different parts of the coast. In the end (582), they founded as many as eight distinct states in Britain — or England, as it came to be called — and drove the Welsh into the highlands in the north and west of the country.

2．The names of some of these states (as Essex, Sussex, Wessex) show that they were founded by Saxons. Others (as East Anglia and Northumbria) were founded by people called Angles. As the earliest settlers were Saxons, the Welsh naturally gave that name to all the invaders.

But the Angles got most of the land, and became the most powerful. So, when the two peoples (who spoke the same language, and were as closely related as brothers) grew into one, they werecalled Anglo-Saxons (that is, Angles and Saxons), or more commonly Angles, or English alone. The Anglian priests were the first to use the language for literary purposes; hence it was called English. Saxons as well as Angles called their speech English — never Saxon, or Anglo-Saxon, as is often done now; and the general name which they gave to the country was ENGLAND.

3．When these Germans came to Britain they were heathens in religion, and little better than savages in life and manners. But Augustine began to preach Christianity in Kent in 597, and then a great change began. The Christian faith was embraced by the King of Northumbria in 627, and it rapidly spread to the other states, carrying civilization and refinement in its train.

4．These early kingdoms were generally at war with one another; and the weaker states thus became gradually absorbed in the stronger ones. In this way the land came to be divided among three states — Wessex, Mercia, and Northumbria. These three then contended; and in the end, Wessex (under King Egbert) remained as sole conqueror, having swallowed up the territory of all the other seven (827).

QUESTIONS

1．What are the leading features of the Old English Period? Why did the Germans come to Britain? Why did they not go away again? Of what were these Germans the founders? How many different states did they found in all?

2．Why did the Welsh call all these settlers Saxons? Which was the most powerful tribe? What name did the combined peoples receive? What was their speech called? Why? What general name did they give to Britain?

3．What were these settlers in religion? When and by whom was Christianity introduced into Kent? When into Northumbria?

4．What was the effect of the wars among the Germanic states? Among what three states was the land first divided? Which state conquered in the end?

EGBERT TO HAROLD

1．For the next two hundred years, the English were engaged in constant wars with the Norsemen, or Danes, who had begun to ravage their coasts as early as 787. The Danes were nearly related to the English in origin and language. If we represent the Angles and the Saxons as brothers, we may call the Danes their cousins.

The kings who were most successful in resisting the Danes were Alfred the Great (871-901) and Athelstane (925-941). Alfred's greatest victory was gained over them at Ethandune (878) in the county of Somerset.

In Athelstane's reign, a Danish prince of Northumbria tried to assert his independence. He formed a league with the King of Scots and some Welsh princes who were alarmed at Athelstane's growing power. Athelstane met them at Brunanburgh (937) in Lincolnshire, and gained a decisive victory.

Thereafter Athelstane reigned in peace. He is regarded as one of the ablest and wisest of the early English princes, and as the first who had any real claim to the title of King of all England. He also encouraged commerce by granting the title of Thane to every merchant who made three voyages in his own ships.

2．But their defeats did not prevent the Danes from returning again and again to attack the English, especially when a weak monarch held the throne. Ethelred the Unready (978-1017) tried to get rid of them first by bribing them with money to go away; but this only made them return in larger numbers and demand a larger bribe. Then he ordered a Massacre or all the Danes in England (1002); which brought over thousands of their friends burning with revenge.

After a fierce struggle, the Danes at last succeeded in wresting the crown of England from the English (1017); and they held it for twenty-four years. Three Danish kings in succession filled the English throne. The greatest of them was Canute, or Knut, who was at the same time King of England, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

3．On the death of the last Danish king — who left no son to succeed him — Edward (the son of Ethelred) was called to the throne (1041); and thus the true English line was restored. This Edward had spent the greater part of his life in Normandy, the duke of which state was his second cousin.

It was quite natural, therefore, that when he came to England he should surround himself with the Norman friends of his youth. French fashions and influence were thus introduced into England long before the Norman Conquest; and by-and-by the French language was that commonly used, not only in the king's circle, but in the churches and the courts of law. Edward, whose pious life gained for him, after his death, the title of The Confessor, died childless in 1066.

4．The nearest heir to the throne was a boy named Edgar Atheling; but as he was too young to wield the sceptre in time so stormy, the Witan, or Great Council, chose as king, Harold, Earl of Kent, then the most powerful noble in all England. But Duke William of Normandy declared that Edward had bequeathed the crown to him; and, moreover, that Harold himself had sworn a solemn oath not to oppose his claims.

He therefore came over with a powerful army, and claimed the throne. The King of Norway invaded England at the same time, and took the city of York. Harold marched to the north and defeated him; and then turning south, he hastened to meet William, who had landed on the coast of Sussex.

The two armies met at Senlac Hill, near Hastings, and a terrible battle was fought, which lasted a whole day (October 14, 1066). Fearful was the slaughter: thousands of brave men and true fell on both sides. But in the evening, as Harold was again leading on his men to the charge, he was shot in the eye by an arrow, which pierced his brain. His two brothers fell slain by his side, and his army fled to the woods. Thus the Duke of Normandy gained the victory, and was called William the Conqueror.

QUESTIONS

1．How long did the struggle with the Danes last? How were they related to the English? What kings were most successful in resisting them? What was Alfred's great victory? What was Athelstane's? What is the character of the latter? How did he encourage Commerce?

2．How did Ethelred try to get rid of the Danes first? With what effect? What other means did he try? What did that lead to? How many Danish kings occupied the throne? Who was the greatest of them?

3．When was the English line restored? Where had Edward spent the greater part of his life? With whom did he surround himself when he came to the English throne? What were the consequences of this? What was Edward's surname? When did he die?

4．Who was the nearest heir to the throne? Why was he not made king? Whom did the Witan choose as king? Who claimed the crown? On what grounds? What means did he adopt to obtain it? Who invaded England at the same time? With what result? Where did William land? Where did the two armies meet? What was the issue?

MEMORABLE DATES OF THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD

CHIEF AUTHORS OF THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD

GILDAS THE WISE — first British historian—a monk—native of Wales — died A. D. 570.

VENERABLE BEDE — wrote History, and translated SCRIPTURES into English — died A. D. 735.

KINO ALFRED — translated the Psalms, Bede's History, &c., into English — died A. D. 901.

ASSER — a learned monk — King Alfred's tutor — wrote the Life of Alfred —died A. D. 909.

III．—THE NORMAN LINE

(1066 A. D. to 1154 A. D. — 88 years — 4 Kings)

LEADING FEATURES: — The Feudal System introduced —

Growing power of the Barons.

WILLIAM I. —THE CONQUEROR

(1066 A. D. to 1087 A. D. — 21 years)

1．WILLIAM, after the Battle of Hastings, marched to London; and was crowned on Christmas-day, 1066. He promised to rule according to the English laws, and was at first just and merciful; but his subjects gave him much trouble by forming plots against his life; and once, when he was in Normandy, they fixed on a day to destroy all the Normans in the country, as Ethelred had destroyed the Danes.

But William soon returned; and, when he heard of it, began to act like a savage tyrant, carrying fire and sword through the country, and laying waste whole counties. Taking away the rich estates of the English, he gave them to his Norman followers, who promised in return to serve him in time of war. Thus began in England the Feudal System, or the custom of serving in war instead of paying rent (1085).

2．Three chief acts of his reign were these: — The Domesday Book was written, the Curfew Bell ordered, and the New Forest laid out.

The Domesday Book contained an account of every estate in England, with the name of its owner, and an account of the cultivated land, as well as of the rivers, forests, and lakes (1086).

The Curfew was a bell which he ordered to be rung in every parish at eight o'clock at night, as a signal for the people to put out their lights and fires.

The New Forest embraced all Hampshire, from Winchester to the sea. Here he destroyed sixty villages, and drove out all the inhabitants, in order to make it a fit place for hunting wild beasts.

3．The Conqueror had three sons, Robert, William, and Henry. Robert raised a rebellion in France against his father; and, being besieged in a castle, met him in single combat: for both being covered with armour, they did not know each other. Robert knocked his father off his horse, and would have killed him; but the old king's helmet fell off, and Robert saw his face. He was so shocked that he fell down before his father, and implored his pardon for what he had done.

4．Some years after this, King William was besieging a town in France, when his horse, slipping on some hot ashes, began to plunge. The king, who had become very heavy, got bruised upon the saddle, which caused his death. He left the crown of England to his second son William, and that of Normandy to Robert.

QUESTIONS

Give the first and last dates of the Norman line. Name the kings. When did each begin to reign?

1．How long did William I. reign? What was William's first act after the Battle of Hastings? When was he crowned? What did he promise? What was his conduct at first? Why did he alter his conduct towards his subjects? How did he then act? To whom did he give the estates which he took from the English? On what condition? To what system did this lead? What is the Feudal System?

2．What were three chief acts of his reign? What was the Domesday Book? The Curfew Bell? The New Forest? How did he make the New Forest? For what purpose?

3．How many sons had William? What were their names? Which rebelled? What occurred when Robert was besieged?

4．How did William come by his death? In what was he engaged at the time? To whom did he leave the crown of England? What did he leave to Robert?

WILLIAM II. —RUFUS

(1087 A. D. to 1100 A. D. — 13 years)

1．William II. was called Rufus because he had a ruddy complexion. He was not beloved by the people, as he was false and cruel, and a plot was formed to set Robert upon the throne; for he,though wild and careless, was brave and generous, and the people were fond of him. But William was on his guard, and defeated their plans.

2．After this, William, not content with the crown of England, wished for that of Normandy also. He therefore made war upon Robert, and took away part of his dukedom (1091). Soon afterwards he obtained the whole; for Robert, wishing to go to the Crusades, borrowed a large sum of money from him, promising that if he could not pay it back, William should have his lands (1096).

3．In those days it was a custom with many Christians to take a journey to Jerusalem, to see the tomb where Christ was supposed to have been buried. But Jerusalem was then in the hands of the Turks, who were not Christians, and who were very cruel to the pilgrims, and wished to prevent them from visiting Jerusalem. So Peter the Hermit, who had been a pilgrim, went through all Europe preaching the Crusades (or Wars of the Cross), and persuading the princes and nobles to sell their lands, leave their homes, and take all the men they could to Jerusalem to drive out the Turks. It was thought that whoever died in this holy war was sure to go to heaven. Many thousands soon went; and Robert of Normandy was one of their leaders.

4．Several princes besides Robert sold their lands to William, who was now priding himself on becoming a very powerful king, when death put an end to his greatness; for one day, as he was hunting in the New Forest, Sir Walter Tyrrel, shooting at a deer, missed his mark, and his arrow, glancing from a tree, pierced the king to the heart. Tyrrel escaped to France.

Some historians say that this was a murder, planned by the followers of Rufus; but the truth is not known. He was so little cared for, that his body was carried in a common cart to Winchester, and buried with out ceremony.

QUESTIONS

1．From what year to what year did William Rufus reign? Why was he called Rufus? Was he beloved? Why? What attempt was made by the people?

2．Upon whom did William make war? Why? Did he obtain Normandy? How?

3．What famous wars were begun in William's reign? Where? Against what people? Why? Who was it that preached the Crusades? How did Robert of Normandy and many others obtain money for this purpose?

4．What caused William's death? Who is said to have shot the arrow? What became of Tyrrel? What do some historians say of the matter? What was done with the body? What does this show?

HENRY I. — BEAUCLERC

(1100 A. D. to 1135 A. D. —35 years)

1．Henry I. was the youngest son of the Conqueror, and brother of the last king. He was called Beauclerc, which means "fine scholar," because he was very learned for a king in those days. As soon as Henry heard of his brother's death, he hastened to Winchester to seize the royal treasures; and then to London, where he was crowned king.

2．Robert, on his return from the Holy Land, came over to England with an army, to take possession of the crown, which was his by right. He, however, consented to give up his claim for 3000 marks a-year; which Henry agreed to pay him.

3．Soon after this, Henry invaded and took possession of Normandy. took Robert prisoner, and brought him over to England. He was closely confined in Cardiff Castle, in Wales, for the rest of his life—a period of twenty-eight years. Some say that his eyes were burned out with a red-hot needle by Henry's order.

4．Henry had married Matilda, daughter of Malcolm III. Of Scotland, and niece of Edgar Atheling (1100). By this marriage the Norman and the English royal lines were united. The issue of this marriage was a son and a daughter, William and Maud. Prince William was drowned on a voyage from Normandy in 1120. But Henry, in his will, left the crown to his daughter Mand, and made his nobles and his nephew Stephen swear to obey her. He died of an illness brought on by eating too heartily of lampreys.

5．During this reign, the woollen manufacture was brought into England by some people who came from Flanders, and settled at Worsted in Norfolk.

QUESTIONS

1．Who succeeded Rufus? Give the first and last dates of Henry's reign. Whose son was he? What was he surnamed? Why? What did Henry do when he heard of his brother's death? Where was he crowned?

2．Where was Robert then? What did he do when he returned home? What agreement was made?

3．What did Henry do soon after this? Where was Robert confined? How long? What is he said to have suffered?

4．Whom did Henry marry? What did this marriage effect? How many children had Henry? What was the fate of his son? To whom did he leave the crown? Who swore to obey Maud? What caused Henry's death?

5．What manufacture was brought into England in this reign? By whom? Where did they settle?

STEPHEN

(1135 A. D. to 1154 A. D. — 19 years)

1．Stephen, Earl of Blois, although he had sworn to support Maud, claimed the crown; and many of the nobles and clergy were in his favour, as they did not like to be governed by a woman. He also promised that they should no longer pay Dane-geld, and should be allowed to build castles on their estates, and hunt in their own forests. By these and other promises he gained over a great party, and was crowned.

2．But David, King of Scotland, being the uncle of Maud, invaded England, ravaged the county of Northumberland, and entered Yorkshire. Here he was met by Stephen's barons, and a great battle was fought, in which the Scots were defeated. This was called the Battle of the Standard, because the English carried into the field a large cross hung with flags and banners (1138).

3．Soon after this, Maud landed in England with one hundred and forty knights. For some time the country was a scene of bloodshed. At last Stephen was defeated at Lincoln, taken prisoner, and cast into a dungeon in Bristol Castle (1141).

4．Maud now became Queen; but her haughty spirit displeased the nation, and so great was the power raised against her that she was compelled to flee. Her half-brother and chief supporter, Robert Earl of Gloucester, was taken prisoner at Winchester. He was exchanged for Stephen, who once more sat upon the throne.

The following winter, Maud was besieged at Oxford; and, the ground being covered with snow, she dressed herself in white that she might not be seen, crossed the Thames on the ice, and soon after escaped to Normandy.

5．Maud had a son named Henry, now almost grown up. In the year 1152 he invaded England to claim the throne. But Stephen agreed that at his death Henry should have the crown; and so the dispute ended. Henry had not to wait long, for Stephen died in 1154 after a reign of nineteen years.

6．During this reign one hundred and twenty-six castles were built by permission of Stephen, and the barons became very powerful.

QUESTIONS

1．Who succeeded Henry I.? How long did he reign? Give the dates. Who were in his favour? Why? What promises did he make?

2．Who invaded England to support Maud? What harm did he do? How far did he go? By whom was he met? What was the consequence? What was this battle called? Why?

3．Who came to England soon afterwards? What was the state of the country for some time? Where was Stephen at last defeated? How was he treated?

4．Did Maud long wear the crown? Why not? How did Stephen recover his liberty? Where was Maud afterwards besieged? Did she escape? How?

5．Who invaded England in 1152? Why? What agreement was made When did Stephen die?

6．How many castles were built in Stephen's reign? What was the consequence of this?

SCOTLAND

(1058 A. D. to 1154 A. D)

LEADING FEATURE: — The Scottish Alliance with the Old English Royal Family.

1．Authentic Scottish history does not begin until the reign of Malcolm Canmore, the contemporary of Edward the Confessor and William the Conqueror. Earlier events are wrapped in fable.

Macheth slew Duncan in 1041, and reigned for seventeen years. Then Malcolm Canmore, with the aid of an English army, defeated and slew Macbeth in 1056. In the following year, Malcolm III. Was crowned King of Scotland.

2．In 1068 Malcolm married an English princess — Margaret, the sister of Edgar Atheling, who, with her brother and other Englishmen, sought a refuge in Scotland after the Norman Conquest.

Their daughter, Matilda, became the wife of Henry I. of England, whose descendants were thus representatives both of the English and of the Norman royal line.

3．Three of Malcolm's sons filled the Scottish throne in succession. Thus, while Frenchmen filled the English throne, the crown of Scotland was worn by the sons of an Englishwoman. All three were remarkable for the favour they showed to the clergy. The youngest of them, David I.,—who fought for Maud, his niece, against Stephen,—founded and endowed six of the chief abbeys in Scotland.

So lavish was he in his gifts to the Church, that one of his successors called him "a sore saint for the Crown." He died in 1153, a year before Stephen.

QUESTIONS

1．When does authentic Scottish history begin? What is its leading feature during the Norman Period? When was Malcolm crowned king? Whom had he defeated and slain?

2．Whom did Malcolm marry? Whose wife did his daughter become? What union did this effect?

3．How many of Malcolm's sons filled the throne? To what nation did the contemporary kings in England belong? For what were Malcolm's sons remarkable? Who was the youngest of them? How many abbeys did he found? What did one of his successors call him? When did he die?

IRELAND

(800 A. D. to 1154 A. D)

LEADING FEATURES: — Danish Invasions, and Civil Wars.

1．The Danes began to ravage the coasts of Ireland at the beginning of the ninth century; and they continued to make frequent descents upon it, sometimes overrunning the whole island, during a period of two hundred years.

2．At last a deliverer arose in Brian Boru, King of Munster, who expelled the Danes from his own realm, and then received the crown of the whole island in 994.

The Danes returned, however, and in 1014 Brian defeated them decisively at Clontarf; but he was treacherously murdered in his tent, after the battle.

3．Brian's death was followed by dissensions and civil war, which continued till Turlogh, a contemporary of William the Conqueror, secured the throne. In 1152, a synod of the Irish clergy acknowledged the supremacy of the See of Rome.

QUESTIONS

1．With whose ravages is the early history of Ireland associated? When did they begin their descents? How long did they continue?

2．What deliverer arose? What did be receive after expelling the Danes? When and where did he finally defeat them? What was his fate?

3．By what was his death followed? When did the civil war come to an end? What took place in 1152? What are the leading features of this period?

MEMORABLE DATES OF THE NORMAN PERIOD

CHIEF AUTHORS OF THE NORMAN PERIOD

NGULF—Abbot of Croyland—historian—died A. D. 1109

WILLIAM OF MALMESRURY—historian—died A. D. 1148

WILLIAM THE CONOUEROR

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(1) Brach, a female hound.

(2) Portal seat, a seat in a gateway.

(3) Guise, behaviour; manner.

(4) Besprent, sprinkled; bespattered.

(5) Rue, lament; regret.

(6) Storied, bearing stories.

LESSON 29

THE MAY QUEEN

I．

IF you're waking, call me early, call me early, mother dear,

For I would see the sun rise upon the glad New Year:

It is the last New Year that I shall ever see;

Then you may lay me low i' the mould,(1) and think no more of me.

To-night I saw the sun set; he set, and left behind

The good old year, the dear old time, and all my peace of mind:

And the New Year's coming up, mother; but I shall never see

The blossom on the black thorn, the leaf upon the tree.

Last May we made a crown of flowers;—we had a merry day!

Beneath the hawthorn on the green they made me Queen of May;

And we danced about the May-pole, and in the hazel copse,(2)

Till Charles's Wain(3) came out above the tall white chimney tops.

There's not a flower on all the hills; the frost is on the pane;

I only wish to live till the snow-drops come again:

I wish the snow would melt, and the sun come out on high;

I long to see a flower so, before the day I die.

The building rook will caw from the windy, tall elm tree;

And the tufted plover pipe along the fallow lea;(4)

And the swallow 'ill come back again with summer o'er the wave;

But I shall lie alone, mother, within the mouldering grave.

Upon the chancel(5) casement,(6) and upon that grave of mine,

In the early, early morning, the summer sun 'ill shine,

Before the red cock crows from the farm upon the hill,

When you are warm asleep, mother, and all the world is still.

When the flowers come again, mother, beneath the waning light,

You'll never see me more, in the long gray fields at night;

You'll bury me, my mother, just beneath the hawthorn shade,

And you'll come sometimes and see me where I am lowly laid.

I have been wild and wayward, but you'll forgive me now;

You'll kiss me, my own mother, and forgive me ere I go:

Nay, nay, you must not weep, nor let your grief be wild;

You should not fret for me, mother,—you have another child.

Good night, good night: when I have said good night for ever-more,

And you see me carried out from the threshold of the door,

Don't let Effie come to see me till my grave be growing green;—

She'll be a better child to you then ever I have been.

She'll find my garden tools upon the granary(7) floor;

Let her take 'em; they are hers—I shall never garden more.

But tell her, when I'm gone, to train the rose-bush that I set

About the parlour window, and the box of mignonette.(8)

Good night, sweet mother! call me before the day is born;

All night I lie awake, but I fall asleep at morn;

But I would see the sun rise upon the glad New Year;

So, if you're waking, call me, call me early, mother dear.

—TENNYSON

DICTATION

Good night, sweet mother! call me before the day is born;

All night I lie awake, but I fall asleep at morn;

But I would see the sun rise upon the glad New Year;

So, if you're waking, call me, call me early, mother dear.

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(1) I' the mould, in the grave.

(2) Copse, underwood, for cutting.

(3) Charles's Wain, the churl's or farmer's waggon; a cluster of stars, commonly called the Plough.

(4) Fallow lea, untilled meadow.

(5) Chancel, that part of a church where the altar stands.

(6) Casement, window-frame.

(7) Granary, a storehouse for grain.

(8) Mignonette, a sweet-scented flower.

LESSON 30

THE SKY-LARK

I．

WHERE does the song come from? We are sitting on the green, open down.(1) There are no trees near us to shelter any birds; not a living creature is to be seen anywhere, except the shepherd boy, who lies on the grass, gazing up into the sky. Yet a song we do hear, certainly,—a happy, joyous song: the air seems quite full of it; where can the singer be?

Look up, look up; it is the skylark's song, and there is the sky-lark itself, so high in the air that we can see it only as a dark speck against the white clouds over our heads. Now it has gone as high as it cares to go, and it is coming down again, down, down, singing all the while, till it drops like a stone a little way from us, and we get a good look at our friend at last. A brown, sober-feathered bird, a spotted breast, with just a tinge of yellow upon it, and a little crest upon its head—that is all. It has no particular beauty. God meant the lark for singing, and sing it does, with all its might.

Most birds sing their song through, and then stop a minute, as if to take breath; but the sky-lark all the time it is in the air never pauses, and never seems to tire. Most birds sing upon a bough, but the sky-lark sings in the air. It never perches on a tree. Its claws are straight, so that it could not clasp the spray; they are made for running swiftly through the thick grass or clover where it lives and makes its nest.

It has a relation, the wood-lark, which lives partly on trees and partly on the ground; but the sky-lark itself is never seen upon a tree. If it is not singing in the air, it is down in some lowly spot upon the ground. That is where it always springs from; as if to teach you and me that the humblest place is, after all, the nearest to heaven.

The sky-lark sings nearly all the year round. As soon as the first daisy opens its yellow eye, the lark thinks it is fulltime for it to begin its work too. By-and-by the primrose peeps out from its crisp crinkled(2) leaves, and then it sings more cheerily still. Then comes the honey-suckle, then the wild-rose of summer; the corn-fields turn yellow, the apples grow red, the leaves fade and presently fall. All the while the sky-lark sings on, and its song blends with every season; it seems to say out for us what we feel in our hearts, and to thank God for us for the summer flowers and the autumn fruits.

The sky-lark is an early riser; it makes a point of springing up to greet the morning sun. It sings at intervals all the day long; and, as the sun sinks in the west it sinks down too, into its grassy home, to begin the day again just the same to-morrow.

For a nest, it simply lines a hole in the ground with dry stalks and bits of grass; and there it lays five or s ix dark mottled(3) brown eggs. It chooses its situation in the meadow or clover-field, or even on the open down. Yet the nest is not so often found as you may suppose; and even if once found. it is difficult to hit upon the same spot again.

QUESTIONS

Where does the sky-lark go when it sings? When does it stop its song? What is its colour? What has it on its head? Why does it not perch on trees? What are its claws made for? What kind of lark lives partly on trees? What does it teach us by springing from the ground? During what seasons does it sing? When does it rise? When does it go to rest? What has it for a nest? How many eggs does it lay? Where does it prefer to build?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Larks are distinguished from other birds by the extreme length of their hinder claws, which extend in an almost straight line behind. From this formation, they have scarcely any power of seizing branches of trees.

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(1) Down, a barren plain, or slope.

(2) Crinkled, marked with wrinkles or folds.

(3) Mottled, spotted; speckled.

LESSON 31

THE SKY-LARK

II．

SKY-LARKS are plentiful everywhere in Europe, and in winter they fly about in large flocks. Their summer food is mostly earth-worms, but in winter they are driven to vegetable diet.(1) We call the wild plants weeds, and the garden ones flowers; but each alike bears its little seeds after its own kind, and each of these little seeds has its own work to do. We gather the pods of our sweet-peas and our lupines, and store them carefully away till we plant them the following summer. And the wild-flower seeds—does nobody gather them? Yes; God lays them in his storehouse, and not one is wasted. Some fall to the ground, ready to take root and grow up in the spring-time, but the greater part are for the spreading of the little birds' table. The larks especially feed on these seeds in the winter, and all the cold weather through they come and eat, and are satisfied.

Everybody loves the sky-lark's song; and sometimes, when people have gone away to other lands, they have taken a sky-lark with them, to remind them of their own old home. There was once a poor old widow, who, finding it hard work to get her living at home, thought that she would like to go to the gold-diggings in Australia. So she crossed the sea to that far-off country. The only treasures she possessed she took with her. One of these was a pet sky-lark, which had been used to live in a small wicker cage, outside her cottage window.

When she got to Australia, she hired a hut, and got her living by washing the gold-diggers' clothes and cooking their dinners. Day after day, the lark sang his happy song beside her door. She listened, and it cheered her at her work. Some of the gold-diggers listened too: it was years since they had heard that familiar song, and many offered to buy the lark, if the widow would only sell it. She shook her head. "No, no, I'll never do that; but you may come on Sundays and hear him sing. Mayhap(2) it'll do you good." Alas! they had no church there; nothing to make Sundays different from other days. But, Sunday after Sunday, they did come; and the lark's song told them of the green valleys of England; it brought back memories of their childhood—of the prayers learned at their mothers' knees—of the thoughts they once had about God and about heaven; alas! how sadly forgotten now! The rough men's hearts were softened; I think—nay, I am quite sure—they were better men for it. The sky-lark preached a little sermon to them. He did not know it, he did not mean it, but God meant it, and God sent it; and I think, as the poor woman said, "it did them good."

The lark is up—I hear him sing—

See how he mounts upon the wing!

And with a voice so loud and strong,

Pours forth to Heaven his thrilling song.

I listened to his early hymn.

While yet the dawning light was dim;

And bent my head for very shame,

That from my heart no music came.

Oh, shame! to let a little bird

Thus get the start and first be heard!

Come, then, and let us tune our throats,

And join its song with grateful notes.

QUESTIONS

Where are sky-larks plentiful? How do they fly about in winter? What is their food in summer? and in winter? What did the old widow take to Australia? Who heard its song? What did they wish to do? What did she answer? When did the men come to near it sing? Of what did its song remind them? What did it preach to them?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The sky-lark is famed for singing during flight; and there is something very delightful in listening to its melodious strains, as it soars aloft beyond the reach of human eye.

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(1) Diet, habitual food.

(2) Mayhap, perhaps.

LESSON 32

THE MAY QUEEN

II．

I THOUGHT to pass away before, and yet alive I am;

And in the fields all round I hear the bleating of the lamb.

How sadly, I remember, rose the morning of the year!

To die before the snowdrop came—and now the violet's here.

It seemed so hard at first, mother, to leave the blessed sun;

And now it seems as hard to stay; and yet,—His will be done!

But still I think it can't be long before I find release;

And that good man, the clergyman, has told me words of peace.

O blessings on his kindly voice, and on his silver hair!

And blessings on his whole life long, until he meet me there!

O blessings on his kindly heart, and on his silver head!

A thousand times I blessed him as he knelt beside my bed.

He taught me all the mercy, for he showed me all the sin:

Now, though my lamp was lighted late, there's One will let me in:

Nor would I now be well, mother, again, if that could be;

For my desire is but to pass to Him that died for me.

O look! the sun begins to rise, the heavens are in a glow;

He shines upon a hundred fields, and all of them I know:

And there I move no longer now, and there his light may shine—

Wild flowers in the valley for other hands than mine.

O sweet and strange it seems to me, that, ere this day is done,

The voice that now is speaking may be beyond the sun! —

For ever and for ever with those just souls and true! —

And what is life that we should moan? why make we such ado?

For ever and for ever all in a blessed home! —

And there to wait a little while till you and Effie come!

To lie within the light of God, as I lie upon your breast—

And the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.

—TENNYSON

PRONUNCIATION

LESSON 33

THE BISON, OR AMERICAN BUFFALO

THE bison, or buffalo as it is popularly called in America, is now almost extinct as a wild animal, but as late as a hundred years ago it inhabited the great plains of North America and thee astern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. There, vast flocks of the wild-looking animals, numbering often as many as ten thousand in a single herd, roamed over the prairies.

Let us look at the bison as he may still be seen in some Canadian park, his red eyes glowing like coals of fire amid the mass of dark-brown or black hair which hangs over his head and neck and the whole fore part of his body, mingling with a beard that descends from the lower jaw to the knee.

From his very awkward and heavy appearance, when seen at a distance, it would not be supposed that he is extremely active, capable of moving at a rapid rate, and of continuing his headlong career for an immense distance. So sure of foot is he, also, that he can pass over ground where no horse could follow; his limbs being in reality slender, and his body far more finely proportioned than would be supposed from its thick coating of hair.

While his thick coat protects him from the cold, he is also provided with a broad, strong, and tough nose, with which he can shovel away the snow, and lay bare the grass on which he feeds.

Many tribes of Indians were indebted to the bison for their means of living. It afforded them not only food, but materials for their tents, clothing, and domestic utensils. Indeed, so entirely were the tribes of the far West dependent on the bison, that if it had been exterminated,(1) the Indians would have perished.

Its flesh was their chief food. It was prepared in a variety of ways. When cut up into long strips, and dried in the sun, it kept for a long time. It was also pounded with the fat of the animal and converted into pemmican(2)—a very nourishing food.

The prairie Indians made use of the hide for many purposes. They scraped off the hair and tanned it, when it served them for coverings for their tents, and for the bales into which the buffalo meat was packed.

When carefully dressed, it was soft and waterproof, and was used for clothing by day and for bedding by night. Of the coarser parts they made saddles and halters, as well as shields which would resist an arrow, and even turn aside a bullet.

Indirectly, the hide was still more valuable to the Indians as the chief article of their trade with the whites.It was therefore the means by which they supplied themselves with knives, guns, blankets, and other useful articles.

Of the horns they made drinking-cups, powder-flasks, and other utensils. They made the sinews into bow-strings and thread; the finer bones into needles, the broader into chisels; and of the ribs they made an ingenious and powerful kind of bow.

QUESTIONS

What is the bison usually called in America? What region did it chiefly inhabit? How many often went in a herd? What gives the bison his fierce aspect? What use does he make of his broad nose? What is pemmican? What uses were made of its skin? Why was this indirectly of so great value to the Indian? What was made of its horns? of its sinews? of its bones?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Bisons were gradually killed out and are now found only in captivity.

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(1) Exterminated, entirely destroyed; made to disappear.

(2) Pemmican, preserved meat, used in exploring voyages.

LESSON 34

BISON-HUNTING

THE bison was hunted on horseback both by whites and by Indians, though the sport was one in which a considerable amount of danger must be braved. Let us picture to ourselves a bison hunt in the far west of North America.

Mounting our horses by break of day, after an early breakfast, we ride on with the wind in our faces, and at length discover across the plain a number of dark objects moving slowly. They are buffaloes, feeding as they go.

It is proposed that some of our party should ride round, so as to stampede(1) the herd back towards us; and by dividing them, enable us to reach the centre. We wait for some time, when we see a vast mass of hairy monsters come tearing over a hill towards us.

As the herd approaches us, it swings round its front, at right angles, and makes off westward. We dash forward and divide it into two parties. We also separate, some ofour hunters following one part of the herd; the others, the remainder.

We get closer and closer to the buffaloes, when a loud thundering of trampling hoofs sounds behind us. Looking over our shoulders, there, in plain sight, appears another herd, tearing down on our rear.

For nearly a mile in width there stretches a line of angry faces, a rolling surf of wind-blown hair, a row of quivering lights, burning with a reddish-brown hue—the eyes of the infuriated animals. Should our horses stumble, our fate will be sealed. It is certain death to be caught in the herd.

So it is, to turn back. In an instant we should be trampled and gored to death. Our only hope is to ride steadily in the line of the stampede, till we can break out through the side of the herd. Yet the hope of doing so is but small.

On we rush, rapidly as before, when suddenly, to our great satisfaction, the herd before us divides into two columns, to pass round a low hill in front. On we go, pushing our horses up the height. We reach the summit, the horses panting fearfully, the moisture trickling in streams from their sides.

But now the rear column comes on. They see us not fifty rods(2) off, but happily pay no attention to us. We dismount and face the furious creatures. Should they not divide, but come over the hill, in a few instants we must be trampled to death.

The herd approaches to within a hundred yards of the hill. At that point they divide, and the next moment we are standing on a desert island, a sea of billowing backs flowing round on either side in a half-mile current of crazy buffaloes.

The herd is fully five minutes in passing us. We watch them as they come; and as the last laggers pant by the mound, we look westward and see the stampeders halting.

We soon understand the cause. They have come up with the main herd. Yes, there, in full sight of us, is the buffalo army, fully ten thousand strong, extending its deep line as far as the western horizon!

Having selected the most, useful and portable parts of the animals our party have killed, we return to the farm with our spoils.

QUESTIONS

What plan was adopted for reaching the centre of the herd? When the herd approached the hunters, what did it do? Why did they at that moment dash forward? What did they hear as they got closer to the buffaloes? What was in their rear? How wide was the line? To what dangers were the hunters now exposed? How did they escape from their perilous situation? How long did the herd in the rear take to pass them? When did they halt? How many must there have been in the great buffalo army?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The hunters found themselves between two vast herds of buffaloes. Suddenly the herd in front divided, to pass a small hill.

The hunters galloped on to the top of that hill, and then faced the herd in their rear. They also divided to pass the hill and the hunters escaped.

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(1) Stampede, drive, in a panic.

(2) Rods, measures of 16½ feet each.

LESSON 35

THE SHELTERING ROCK

I．

FROM the mountain-pass the widow's dwelling was ten miles off, and no human habitation was nearer than her own. She had undertaken a long journey, carrying with her only child, a boy two years old.

The morning when the widow left her home gave promise of a lovely day. But before noon a sudden change took place in the weather. Northward, the sky became black and lowering. Masses of clouds rested upon the hills. Sudden gusts of wind began to whistle among the rocks, and to ruffle, with black squalls,(1) the surface of the lake.

The wind was followed by rain, and the rain by sleet, and the sleet by a heavy fall of snow. It was the month of May—for that storm is yet remembered as "the great May storm." The wildest day of winter never beheld flakes of snow falling heavier or faster, or whirling with more fury through the mountain-pass, filling every hollow and whitening every rock!

Weary, and wet, and cold, the widow reached that pass with her child. She knew that, a mile beyond it, there was a mountain hut which could give shelter; but the moment she attempted to face the storm of snow which was rushing through the gorge, all hope of proceeding in that direction failed. To turn home was equally impossible. She must find shelter. The wild cat's or the fox's den would be welcome.

After wandering for some time among the huge fragments of granite which skirted the base of the overhanging precipices, she at last found a sheltered nook(2) She crouched beneath a projecting rock, and pressed her child to her trembling bosom.

The storm continued to rage. The snow was accumulating overhead. Hour after hour passed. It became bitterly cold. The evening approached. The widow's heart was sick with fear and anxiety. Her child—her only child—was all she thought of. She wrapped him in her shawl. But the poor thing had been scantily clad, and the shawl was thin and worn.

The widow was poor, and her clothing could hardly defend her from the piercing cold of such a night as that. But, whatever might become of herself, her child must be preserved. The snow, in whirling eddies,(3) entered the recess, which afforded them at best but miserable shelter.

The night came on. The wretched mother then stripped off almost all her own clothing and wrapped it round her child, whom at last, in despair, she put into a deep crevice of the rock, among some heather and fern.

And now she resolves at all hazards, to brave the storm, and return home in order to get assistance for her babe, or perish in the attempt. Clasping her infant to her heart and covering his face with tears and kisses, she laid him softly down in sleep, and rushed into the snowy drift.

That night of storm was succeeded by a peaceful morning. The sun shone from a clear blue sky, and wreaths of mist hung along the tops of the mountains, while a thousand waterfalls poured down their sides.

Dark figures, made visible at a distance by the white ground, may now be seen with long poles, examining every hollow near the mountain-pass. They are people from the village, who are searching for the widow and her son.

They have reached the pass. A cry is uttered by one of the shepherds, as he sees a bit of a tartan cloak among the snow. They have found the widow—dead! her arms stretched forth, as if imploring assistance! Before noon, they discovered her child by his cries. He was safe in the crevice of the rock. The story of that woman's affection for her child was soon read in language which all understood.

Many a tear was shed, many a sigh of affection was uttered from sorrowing hearts, when, on that evening, the aged pastor gathered the villagers into the deserted house of mourning, and, by prayer and fatherly exhortation, sought to improve for their souls, good an event so sorrowful.

QUESTIONS

Who were out in the storm? What part did she succeed in reaching? How far off was her cottage? Where did she at last find shelter? What did she do with her child? What did she resolve to do when night came on? What did the villagers find next morning? How did they discover her child? What did the pastor do that evening?

DICTATION

Unlike all other earthly things,

Which ever shift and ever change,

The love which a fond mother brings

Naught earthly can estrange.

With pure, self-sacrificing light,

A holy flame it glows;

A current ever clear and bright,

Deep, deep, and strong it flows;—

All that by mortal can be done,

A mother ventures for her son.

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(1) Squalls, violent gusts of wind.

(2) Nook, corner; recess.

(3) Eddies, side currents, with circular motion.

LESSON 36

THE SHELTERING ROCK

II．

MORE than half a century passed away. That aged and faithful man of God had long ago been gathered to his fathers. though his memory still lingered in many a retied glen, among the children's children of parents whom he had baptized. His son, whose locks were white with age, was preaching to a congregation of Highlanders in one of our great cities.

The subject of his discourse was the love of Christ. In illustrating the self-sacrificing nature of that "love which seeketh not her own," he narrated the above story of the Highland widow, whom he had himself known in his boyhood, and he asked, "If that child is now alive, what would you think of his heart, if he did not cherish an affection for his mother's memory; and if the sight of her poor tattered shawl, which she had wrapped around him, in order to save his life at the cost of her own, did not fill him with gratitude and love too deep for words? Yet what hearts have you, my hearers, if, in memory of your Saviour's sacrifice of himself, you do not feel them glow with deeper love and with adoring gratitude?"

A few days later, a message was sent to this clergyman by a dying man, who requested to see him. The request was speedily complied with.

The sick man seized the minister by the hand, and, gazing intently in his face, said, "You do not, you cannot recognize me. But I know you, and knew your father before you. I have been a wanderer in many lands. I have visited every quarter of the globe, and fought and bled for my king and country.

"I came to this town a few weeks ago in bad health. Last Lord's day I entered your church—the church of my countrymen—where I could once more hear, in the language of my youth and of my heart, the gospel preached. I heard you tell the story of the widow and her son." Here the voice of the old soldier faltered, his emotion almost choked his utterance; but recovering himself for a moment, he cried, "I am that son!" and burst into a flood of tears.

"Yes," he continued, "I am that son! Never, never did I forget my mother's love. Well might you ask what a heart should mine have been if she had been forgotten by me. Dear, very dear to me is her memory; and my only desire now is, to lay my bones beside hers in the old church-yard among the hills.

"But sir, what breaks my heart and covers me with shame is this—until now I never truly saw the love of my Saviour in giving himself for me. I confess it! I confess it!" he cried, looking up to heaven, his eyes streaming with tears; and, pressing the minister's hand close to his breast, he added, "It was God who made you tell that story.

"Praise be to his holy name that my dear mother did not die in vain; and that the prayers which, I was told, she used to offer for me have been at last answered: for the love of my mother has been blessed in making me see, as I never saw before, the love of my Saviour. I see it; I believe it. I have found deliverance in old age where I found it in my childhood—in the clift of the Rock; but it is the ROCK OF AGES!"

And clasping his hands, he repeated, with intense fervour, "Can a mother forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? They may forget, yet will I not forget thee!"

QUESTIONS

Who referred to the incident more than half a century afterwards? Where? For what purpose? Who sent for the preacher a few days later? Whom did he declare himself to be? What were his feelings towards his mother's memory? What covered him with shame? What effect had the story had upon him?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

More than half a century later, the child, grown to be a battered old soldier, heard from the pulpit the story of his mother's death; and was thereby led to see the self-sacrificing love of his Saviour,

Yea, fainter than the star's pale ray

Before the noontide blaze of day,

Is all of love that man can know,

All that in angel hearts can glow,

Compared, O Lord, with thine!

LESSON 37

LORD ULLIN'S DAUGHTER

A CHIEFTAIN to the Highlands bound

Cries, "Boatman, do not tarry,

And I'll give thee a silver pound

To row us o'er the ferry!"—

"Now who be ye would cross Lochgyle,

This dark and stormy water?"—

"Oh! I'm the chief of Ulva's isle;

And this, Lord Ullin's daughter:

"And fast before her father's men

Three days we've fled together;

For should he find us in the glen,

My blood would stain the heather.

"His horsemen hard behind us ride;—

Should they our steps discover,

Then who will cheer my bonny(1) bride,

When they have slain her lover?"

Out spoke the hardy Highland wight,(2)

"I'll go, my chief—I'm ready! —

It is not for your silver bright,

But for your winsome(3) lady!

"And, by my word, the bonny bird

In danger shall not tarry;

So, though the waves are raging white,

I'll row you o'er the ferry!"

By this the storm grew loud apace,

The water-wraith(4) was shrieking,

And in the scowl of heaven each face

Grew dark as they were speaking.

But still as wilder blew the wind,

And as the night grew drearer,

Adown the glen rode armed men! —

Their trampling sounded nearer!

"Oh, haste thee, haste!" the lady cries;

"Though tempests round us gather,

I'll meet the raging of the skies,

But not an angry father."—

The boat has left a stormy land,

A stormy sea before her,

When—oh! too strong for human hand! —

The tempest gathered o'er her!

And still they rowed amidst the roar

Of waters fast prevailing:

Lord Ullin reached that fatal shore—

His wrath was changed to wailing:

For sore dismayed, through storm and shade.

His child he did discover! —

One lovely hand was stretched for aid,

And one was round her lover.

"Come hack! come back!" he cried in grief,

"Across this stormy water;

And I'll forgive your Highland chief,

My daughter! —oh, my daughter!"

'Twas vain! —the loud waves lashed the shore,

Return or aid preventing: —

The waters wild went o'er his child,

And he was left lamenting.

—CAMPBELL

DICTATION

Thomas Campbell, the author of this poem, and of "Ye Mariners of England," "The Battle of the Baltic," &c., was born at Glasgow in 1777, and died in 1844.

His most elaborate poem is "The Pleasures of Hope."

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(1) Bonny, pretty.

(2) Wight, man.

(3) Winsome, lovely.

(4) Water-wraith, water-spirit.

LESSON 38

THE RORQUAL

IN the wide ocean which extends between Greenland and Nova Zembla, the huge rorqual rules, the undisputed monarch of the watery wilds. Though much greater in length than the Greenland whale (varying from 100 to 121 feet), its body is more slender, and its muzzle considerably more pointed.

Being active and fearless, it is avoided by the whalers; especially as, in consequence of the small amount of oil it produces, and the short length and inferior quality of the whale-bone in its mouth, it is of much less value than the true whale.

Having a large gullet, it is able to swallow fish of considerable size; and it is stated that in the stomach of one captured there were found no fewer than six hundred large cod fish, with no small number of pilchards(1) besides! This will give some idea of the havoc it makes among shoals of fish. To satisfy its voracious(2) appetite, it follows them in all directions, frequently leaving the Arctic seas in search of its prey; and it has been found hovering round the fishing grounds off the coast of Great Britain.

From its savage disposition, it is a very dangerous animal to attack; for not only does it swim off at rapid speed when a harpoon is struck into it, carrying out line after line, but it often turns on its assailants with open mouth, or dashes their boats to pieces by the strokes of its powerful tail!

Captain Scoresby, the well-known naturalist and commander of Arctic whale-ships, made several attempts to capture one of these monsters. His plan was to assail it by harpoons attached to short lines of only four hundred yards in length, secured to buoys, so as to tire out the monster.

The first whale struck, immediately dived, and tore off the buoys as it dragged them against the surface of the water. Again the attempt was made; but in this case the line was almost immediately severed,—probably by friction against the dorsal(3) fin.

A fearful accident occurred to the boat's crew of another whaler when attacking a rorqual. A whale was seen between the ship and the ice-field. The boats were lowered, in hope of easily capturing the prize. The leading boat dashes on. The harpooner stands up with his weapon in hand. The whale awaits their approach, floating on the surface. In a minute more he will be down.

The boats are up to him. The weapon flies, plunging deep into his side. As the line runs rapidly out, the harpooner secures it to the bollard.(4) The monster, instead of sounding,(5) darts impetuously forward. The boat holds fast by the line. The water hisses, and dense clouds of spray fly over her bows.

The whale continues his onward course. The crew, accustomed only to the less powerful true whale of Baffin Bay, believe that he must soon be tired out. Now they see before them a long, unbroken ice-field. Unwilling to lose their prize, no one gives the order to cut the line.

On, on they dash. Almost before they are aware of it, they are on the edge of the ice.

With the speed of lightning the whale plunges beneath the wide-extending sheet of ice, and in another instant the boat's bow strikes it. Before a hand can be raised to cut the rope, and almost before the crew can utter a despairing cry, downward the boat is drawn; and those who are watching her at a distance, with horror see her and all on board disappear! They row up to the spot, but not a trace of the boat nor of their companions is to be found.

QUESTIONS

Where is the rorqual found? What is its length? Wherein does it differ from the Greenland whale? Why is it usually avoided by whalers? What enables the rorqual to eat larger fish than the true whale? What quantity of fish has been found in the stomach of one? What may this convey some idea of? What does it sometimes do when it is attacked? What plan did Captain Scoresby adopt to capture it? Did this plan succeed? Why not? What fearful accident occurred to a boat attacking a rorqual near an ice-field? How might the crew have saved themselves? Why was this not done?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The rorqual, which is probably the longest of the whole animal creation, is also called the razor-backed whale, from its having a prominent ridge or spine on its back.

Its usual length is above one hundred feet, and it is from thirty to thirty-five feet in circumference.

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(1) Pilchard, a kind of herring.

(2) Voracious, greedy.

(3) Dorsal, on the back.

(4) Bollard, a post in the bow of a boat, to which ropes are fastened.

(5) Sounding, diving.

LESSON 39

THE INCHCAPE ROCK

NO stir in the air, no stir in the sea,

The ship was still as she could be:

Her sails from heaven received no motion,

Her keel was steady in the ocean.

Without either sign or sound of their shock,

The waves flowed over the Inchcape Rock;(1)

So little they rose, so little they fell,

They did not move the Inchcape Bell.

The worthy Abbot of Aberbrothock(2)

Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock;

On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,

And over the waves its warning rung.

When the rock was hid by the surge's swell,

The mariners heard the warning bell;

And then they knew the perilous rock,

And blessed the Abbot of Aberbrothock.

The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen,

A darker speck on the ocean green;

Sir Ralph the Rover(3) walked his deck,

And he fixed his eye on the darker speck.

His eye was on the Inchcape float:(4)

Quoth(5) he, "My men, put out the boat,

And row me to the Inchcape Rock,

And I'll plague(6) the Abbot of Aberbrothock."

The boat is lowered, the boatmen row,

And to the Inchcape Rock they go:

Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,

And he cut the bell from the Inchcape float.

Down sank the bell with a gurgling sound,

The bubbles arose and burst around;

Quoth Sir Ralph, "The next who comes to this rock

Will not bless the Abbot of Aberbrothock."

Sir Ralph the Rover sailed away,

He scoured(7) the seas for many a day;

And now, grown rich with plundered store,

He steers his course to Scotland's shore.

So thick a haze o'erspreads the sky,

They cannot see the sun on high:

The wind hath blown a gale all day,

At evening it hath died away.

"Canst hear," said one, "the breakers(8) roar?

For methinks(9) we should be near the shore;

Now where we are I cannot tell,

But I wish I could hear the Inchcape Bell!"

They hear no sound, the swell is strong;

Though the wind hath fallen, they drift along,

Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock—

O heavens! it is the Inchcape Rock!

Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair;

He cursed himself in his despair:

The waves rush in on every side,

The ship is sinking beneath the tide!

—SOUTHEY

QUESTIONS

Who had floated a bell on the Inchcape Rock? For what purpose? What did Sir Ralph the Rover do to it? Why? And what was his fate?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

A pirate, who had in jest cut the warning-bell from the float on the Inchcape Rock, was himself afterwards wrecked upon that rock, and drowned with all his crew.

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(1) Inchcape Rock, a dangerous rock twenty miles from the coast of For-farshire. The Bell Rock light-house now stands upon it.

(2) Aberbrothock, Arbroath, in Forfarshire, Scotland.

(3) Rover, pirate.

(4) Float, raft to which the bell was attached.

(5) Quoth, said.

(6) Plague, annoy.

(7) Scoured, swept over in quest of plunder.

(8) Breakers, waves breaking upon the coast or rocks.

(9) Methinks, it seems to me.

LESSON 40

THE SWALLOW

I．

THE winter was long and dreary; but it is all over now. Indeed you have almost forgotten it, as you sally forth on this sweet spring morning, to gather primroses from the bank, and to see if the cowslips are out in the fields.

Everything is full of life and joy; and just as you stoop over the green springing meadow-grass, to look for those golden honeycups, something black skims along in front of you, and is away in an instant. "Ah, there is the first swallow!" you say. And the old man coming along the footpath at the same moment looks after it just as eagerly as you do, though he bas seen it come and go for seventy years, and you only for a few summers. Yes! and if you grow to be seventy, you will find, I hope, that you have still a welcome to give to the returning swallow.

It has been spending the winter in the sunny lands of the South; and now it has come back to its old home, to rear its young and live its life anew. Why it should depart, and how it finds its way over land and sea back to the very spot which it left last year, are questions which we cannot answer; and the uncertainty and the mystery give a kind of romantic interest to all birds of passage, as they are called, but especially to the swallows.

The swallows gay

In sunshine play,

And frolic all the summer day.

On nimble wing,

Alert, they spring,

Then wheel about in airy ring.

New troops advance,

In mazy dance,

Then onward shoot with lightning glance.

Far off we spy

Their play-place high,

In the blue vault of summer sky;

And fain would know

Which way they go

Ere winter brings its frost and snow.

As they live entirely upon insects, and as the insect tribes either die or remain torpid(1) in the winter, something warns them that they must leave the place which can no longer supply them with food. But when the warmth of spring hatches the insect eggs, and brings out myriads(2) of tiny creatures into the sunshine, the same something teaches them to return again to the place whence they came. We call it instinct; but that is only another name for the guiding hand of that great Creator who, as the Bible tells us, bids the swallow observe the time of her coming.

There are four different species of swallow which visit us—the swift, the chimney swallow, the house martin, and the sand martin. They are all much alike as we see them on the wing, except that the first two are of swifter flight. The martins are smaller, and have more white about their under parts, so that on a summer evening the rays of the setting sun are thrown back from their snowy breasts like flashes of light.

The house martin makes his nest against the sides of houses, as you must often have seen. It is formed of mud taken from the ruts in the lanes and the edges of ponds. The eggs are of a beautiful clear white. He is a cunning as well as a clever little workman; so he only builds a small bit of his house-wall every day, and that early in the morning, that the heat of the sun may dry it well before he goes on.

Last summer, I watched a pair of martins at their work, and it took them five days, from the time that they stuck the first dab of mud against the house, till the outside was finished. After that, they had to put the inside to rights, and make it snug and comfortable, which took several days more.

They almost always avoid a south aspect, as they know that the heat of the mid-day sun would crack their mud-built house. Next year, the same pair will come back again; and, if possible, they will put the old nest in repair, instead of making a new one.

The swallows are the first to return to us; the martins follow: and they always keep the same order. They all go away together; but when they come back we only see them as stragglers—first one, then another, and at last numbers.

QUESTIONS

When do the swallows return? Where do they spend the winter? What leads them to depart and return? What is instinct only another name for? Name the four different species of swallow? What is the chief difference between martins and other swallows? Why does the house martin build only in the early morning? How long does he take to build his nest? What aspect do they avoid? Why? Which return to us first?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The swallow is the glad prophet of the year, the harbinger of the best season. Winter is unknown to him. He flies from land to land, and lives in constant summer.

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(1) Torpid, inactive; asleep.

(2) Myriads, immense numbers.

LESSON 41

THE SWALLOW

II．

THOSE who have watched swallows closely, think them weak of flight and less vigorous when they first appear. They could hardly be tired with the journey! What is a thousand miles to those light and graceful wings, which can with ease fly sixty miles an hour? Probably when they first return, insects are not plentiful enough to give them their full supply of food: at any rate, it is two or three weeks before they think of beginning house-keeping.

When they do begin, there is no more play, but real and earnest business. You must not think they are only amusing themselves as they dash over your heads, and you fancy what an easy life they must have of it, and how fresh the air must feel to them, and how pleasant it must be to have nothing to do but to play. No! life is work to them; as it is, or ought to be, to every other living creature. Their feet are so formed that they can only with difficulty rise from the ground, so that they rarely settle. But there is no need: the sky is their home; and their eating, drinking, washing, and nearly all the occupations of their lives, are done upon the wing.

The chimney-swallow builds her nest in chimneys, five or six feet down! The nest is made of clay or mud, or like the house-martin's, and lined with grass and feathers. There she lays five or six eggs thickly spotted with pink.

When the young are hatched, there is indeed no play-work; for they have tremendous appetites, and from early dawn till dark the old birds are on the wing to supply their wants.

It is pleasant to wake up in the early summer mornings and hear the low, pleasing twitter of the swallow-brood in the chimney, as they wonder in their narrow nursery what the great world is like. Other nestlings can peep out and see something of it; but the young swallows know nothing till at last, some happy morning, their father and mother contrive to get them up into the air and place them in a row upon the house-top.

You may often see them there, in the middle of summer, and the parents feeding them. By degrees they learn to fly, but they still require to be fed. At a given signal, the young one flies to meet the old one, uttering a little complacent(1) squeak, which I suppose means "Thank you." They meet for a moment, and part again; but in that moment the young bird has eaten his dinner—consisting of several courses, too, for the parent supplies him with a whole mouthful of collected insects at once.

At last they are able to shift for themselves: and now will the old birds be able to take breath after their labours, and enjoy themselves a little? No such thing. They begin at once to think about a second family; for they rear two broods every season, and the summer is not long enough to allow of a rest between them. But, you know, if our work is our happiness, we do not care to take much time for play. So the old nest is used again, and the same course gone through.

When the second brood are on the wing, it is high time to think about the journey. The nights grow long and chilly, and the chestnut-leaves are turned quite yellow, and insects are not nearly so plentiful as they were a month before.

The swallows know that they must depart. For a while we see them in large companies perched upon the housetops, or wheeling round in a state of great excitement, as in chattering swallow language they discuss their plans and settle their route.

At last all is adjusted. We get up some fresh October morning, and find that they are gone. The dew lies thick upon the grass, as it did yesterday, and the gossamer(2) is covering the hedges with its fairy net-work; but the summer birds have left us, —we shall see them no more till spring.

Others lead you now, and you have only to follow. But when, in after years, you find that you have to walk alone, and you know not the path which you ought to tread, remember that the God who, over land and sea, guides the swallow, will most assuredly guide you.

QUESTIONS

What has been remarked about swallows when they first appear? What is the probable cause of this? How many miles can a swallow fly in an hour? What is peculiar about their feet? Where does the chimney-swallow build? Where are the young birds placed when they are to be taught to fly? How many broods do swallows rear in one season? What may they be seen doing before they take flight?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Swallows fly with ease at the rate of a mile a minute, or sixty miles an hour. They are usually on the wing ten hours a-day; so their average daily flight is six hundred miles!

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(1) Complacent, indicating happiness.

(2) Gossamer, cob-web.

LESSON 42

BRUCE AND THE SPIDER

KING BRUCE of Scotland flung himself down,

In a lonely mood to think;

True, he was a monarch, and wore a crown,

But his heart was beginning to sink.

For he had been trying to do a great deed,

To make his people glad;

He had tried and tried, but could not succeed,

And so he became quite sad.

He flung himself down in low despair,

As grieved as man could be;

And after a while he pondered(1) there, —

"I'll give it up," said he

Now just at the moment a spider dropped,

With its silken filmy clew;(2)

And the king in the midst of his thinking stopped

To see what the spider would do.

'Twas a long way up to the ceiling dome,

And it hung by a rope so fine,

That how it would get to its cobweb home

King Bruce could not divine.(3)

It soon began to cling and crawl

Straight up with strong endeavour;

But down it came with a slipping sprawl,

As near to the ground as ever.

Up, up it ran, nor a second did stay,

To utter the least complaint,

Till it fell still lower; and there it lay

A little dizzy and faint.

Its head grew steady—again it went,

And travelled a half yard higher;

'Twas a delicate thread it had to tread,

And a road where its feet would tire.

Again it fell, and swung below;

But up it quickly mounted,

Till up and down, now fast, now slow,

Nine brave attempts were counted.

"Sure," said the king, "that foolish thing

Will strive no more to climb,

When it toils so hard to reach and cling,

And tumbles every time."

But up the insect went once more;

Ah me! 'tis an anxious minute:

He's only a foot from his cobweb door;

Oh, say, will he lose or win it?

Steadily, steadily, inch by inch,

Higher and higher he got.

And a bold little run at the very last pinch

Put him into the wished-for spot.

"Bravo! bravo!" the king cried out;

"All honour to those who try:

The spider up there defied despair; —

He conquered, and why should not I?"

And Bruce of Scotland braced(4) his mind,

And gossips(5) tell the tale,

That he tried once more as he tried before,

And that time he did not fail.

Pay goodly heed, all ye who read,

And beware of saying, "I can't;"

'Tis a cowardly word, and apt to lead

To idleness, folly, and want.

—ELIZA COOK

QUESTIONS

In what state of mind did Bruce fling himself down? Why was he in despair? What did he cry? What happened at that moment? What did the spider try to do? How often did it try before it succeeded? What did the king cry out then? Did he try again? With what result? What is "I can't" apt to lead to?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

King Robert the Bruce, in the days of his adversity, flung himself down in despair in a lonely cave.

He had made up his mind to give up the struggle, when he noticed a spider fail nine times to climb up its slender thread.

But it made another attempt, and succeeded. Bruce resolved also to make another effort; and he delivered his country and recovered his throne.

————————————————————

(1) Pondered, considered; weighed the matter in his mind.

(2) Clew, thread.

(3) Divine, guess; understand.

(4) Braced, nerved; strengthened.

(5) Gossips, story-tellers.

LESSON 43

THE MOCKING-BIRD

THE sweetest musician in the American forests is the mocking-bird. His voice is strong, and clear, and musical, and seems to fill the woods with a flood of delicious melody. He not only imitates the notes of the other birds, but the song from his throat is richer and more harmonious than when it is uttered by the original songster.

Full of animation,(1) he seems inspired by his own music. He expands his wings and tail, and sweeps round and round in ecstasy.(2) He mounts or falls, as his song rises or dies away; and pours forth such streams of song, that any one, not seeing him, might fancy a chorus of birds were singing, instead of only one.

Perhaps the best time to hear him is in the stillness of a moonlight night, when all is silent in the forest and every bird has gone to roost. Then the mocking-bird begins, and, like the nightingale, sings the whole night through.

He is an admirable mimic, and very mischievous; for he loves to play tricks upon his feathered neighbours. He will scream like a hawk, and then they will hide themselves, fancying that their enemy is upon them; or he will imitate the call of the birds to their mates, and draw them off their nests!

Even the sportsman is often led astray by him; and goes in search of birds that are hundreds of miles away, fancying they are close at hand. In fact, there is no end to the mimicking powers of the mocking-bird; and the ancient Mexicans very properly called him by a hard name, that means "four hundred languages."

Besides being a musician and a mimic, the mocking-bird is, in his way, a hero. He fights obstinate(3) battles with the black snake, the inveterate(4) enemy of the forest birds; for the black snake loves to suck their eggs, and devour their young ones.

Often, when the mocking-bird is watching by the nest in which his mate is sitting, a rustling is heard among the leaves at the foot of the tree. Then two bright eyes glisten through the foliage; and presently a shining body begins to wreathe itself round and round the trunk, and slowly to ascend. It is the black snake, who has scented the eggs of the mockingbird, and is determined to make a feast of them.

The mocking-bird gets into a furious passion at the sight of his enemy. He darts upon him with the rapidity of an arrow; and keeping out of the reach of his fangs, strikes him violently on the head, —the part where he is most easily hurt. The snake, finding he has met his match, draws back a little; and the mocking-bird redoubles his blows.

The snake seems to think that he had better get out of the scrape as quickly as he can; and, descending to the ground, he tries to glide away, and hide himself among the bushes. But the intrepid(5) bird follows him, and continues the battle with great spirit.

The snake gets decidedly the worst of it. His powers of fascination(6) avail him nothing. The mocking-bird, seizing him, lifts him from the ground, and then lets him drop, beating him all the time with his wings. Indeed, he never rests until he has pecked him to death.

Then he flies back to the tree, and settling himself on the highest branch, pours forth a torrent of song, as if in praise of his victory.

QUESTIONS

What kind of voice has the mocking-bird? How does he improve upon nature? What could any one not seeing him fancy, while he sings? What is the best time to hear him? How does he play tricks upon other birds? Whom besides the birds does he often deceive? What is the meaning of the name given to him by the Mexicans? With what does he fight battles? What does the snake try to do? How does the bird attack him? Which generally is victorious? How does he celebrate his victory?

PRONUNCIATION

————————————————————

(1) Animation, liveliness; spirit.

(2) Ecstasy, very great joy.

(3) Obstinate, stubborn.

(4) Inveterate, never-failing; constant.

(5) Intrepid, fearless; bold.

(6) Fascination, holding spell-bound.

LESSON 44

THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH

UNDER a spreading chestnut tree

The village smithy stands;

The smith, a mighty man is he,

With large and sinewy(1) hands;

And the muscles of his brawny(2) arms

Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long;

His face is like the tan;(3)

His brow is wet with honest sweat;

He earns whate'er he can;

And looks the whole world in the face,

For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night

You can hear his bellows blow;

You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,(4)

With measured beat and slow,

Like a sexton ringing the village bell,

When the evening sun is low.

And children, coming home from school,

Look in at the open door;

They love to see the flaming forge,(5)

And hear the bellows roar,

And catch the burning sparks that fly

Like chaff from a thrashing-floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,

And sits among his boys;

He hears the parson pray and preach;

He hears his daughter's voice

Singing in the village choir,

And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother's voice

Singing in Paradise!

He needs must think of her once more,

How in the grave she lies;

And with his hard rough hand he wipes

A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing,

Onward through life he goes;

Each morning sees some task begin,

Each evening sees it close;

Something attempted, something done,

Has earned a night's repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,

For the lesson thou hast taught!

Thus at the flaming forge of life

Our fortunes must be wrought;

Thus on its sounding anvil shaped(6)

Each burning deed and thought.

—LONGFELLOW

————————————————————

(1) Sinewy, full of sinews; strong.

(2) Brawny, muscular; powerful.

(3) Like the tan, sunburnt; of a brown colour like tan for tanning hides.

(4) Sledge, a large, heavy hammer: sledge-hammer.

(5) Forge, furnace, or smithy fire.

(6) Shaped, must be shaped.

LESSON 45

THE GOLDEN EAGLE'S NEST

I．

ALMOST all the people in the parish were leading in their meadow-hay on the same day of midsummer, so drying was the sunshine and the wind; and huge heaped-up wains,(1) that almost hid from view the horses that drew them along the sward beginning to get green with second growth, were moving in all directions toward the snug farm-yards. Never before had the parish seemed so populous. Jocund(2) was the balmy air with laughter, whistle, and song.

But the trees threw the shadow of "one o'clock" on the green dial-face of the earth; the horses were unyoked, and took instantly to grazing; groups of men, women, and children collected under grove, and bush, and hedge-row; and the great Being, who gave them that day their daily bread, looked down from his eternal home on many a thankful heart.

The great golden eagle, the pride and the pest of the parish, stooped down, and flew away with something in its talons. One single, sudden, female shriek arose; and then shouts and outcries, as if a church spire had tumbled down on a congregation at service. "Hannah Lamond's bairn!(3) Hannah Lamond's bairn!" was the loud, fast-spreading cry; —"the eagle has ta'en(4) off Hannah Lamond's bairn!"

And many hundred feet were in another instant hurrying toward the mountain. Two miles of hill and dale, and copse(5) and shingle,(6) and many brooks, lay between; but in an incredibly short time the foot of the mountain was alive with people.

The aerie(7) was well known, and both the old birds were visible on the rocky ledge. But who shall scale that dizzy cliff, which Mark Steuart, the sailor, who had been at the storming of many a fort, attempted in vain? All kept gazing, weeping, wringing their hands, rooted to the ground, or running backward and forward, like so many ants essaying their new wings. "What's the use—what's the use o' ony(8) puir(9) human means? We have no power but in prayer!" and many knelt down—fathers and mothers thinking of their own babies.

Hannah Lamond had all this while been sitting on a rock, with a face perfectly white, and eyes like those of a mad person, fixed on the aerie. Nobody had noticed her; for strong as all sympathies with her had been at the swoop of the eagle, they were now swallowed up in the agony of eye-sight.

"Only last week was my sweet wee wean(10) baptized!" and on uttering these words, she flew off through the brakes(11) and over the huge stones, up—up—up—faster than ever huntsman ran in to the death, fearless as a goat playing among the precipices.

No one doubted—no one could doubt—that she would soon be dashed to pieces.

No stop, no stay. She knew not that she drew her breath. Beneath her feet Providence fastened every loose stone, and to her hands strengthened every root. How was she ever to descend? That fear but once crossed her heart, as she went up—up—up—to the little image of her own flesh and blood. "The God who holds me now from perishing, —will not the same God save me when my child is on my bosom?" Down came the fierce rushing of the eagle' wings, each savage bird dashing close to her head, so that she saw the yellow of their wrathful eyes!

All at once they quailed and were cowed. Yelling, they flew off to the stump of an ash jutting out of a cliff, a thousand feet above the cataract; and the frantic mother, falling across the aerie, in the midst of bones and blood, clasped her child—not dead, as she had expected, but unmangled and untorn, and swaddled just as it was when she laid it down asleep among the fresh hay, in a nook of the harvest field!

Oh, what a pang of perfect blessedness transfixed her heart from that faint, feeble cry, "It lives—it lives—it lives!" and baring her bosom, with loud laughter, and eyes dry as stones, she felt the lips of the unconscious innocent once more murmuring at the fount of life and love!

Below were cliffs, chasms, blocks of stone, and the skeletons of old trees, far, far down, and dwindled into specks; and a thousand creatures of her own kind, stationary, or running to and fro!

Was that the sound of the waterfall, or the faint roar of voices? Is that her native strath(12)? and that tuft of trees, does it contain the hut in which stands the cradle of her child? Never more shall it be rocked by her foot! Here must she die; and, when her breast is exhausted, her baby too! And these horrid beaks, and eyes, and talons, will return, and her child will be devoured at last even within the dead bosom that can protect it no more!

—PROFESSOR WILSON

QUESTIONS

What were the people doing in the fields? What did they do at one o'clock? What alarm was raised? Where did the people hasten? Who attempted to scale the cliff in vain? Who then darted up the mountain side? What did the eagles do all at once as she went near the nest? What did she find in the nest? In what state was it? What was the first thing she then did?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The golden eagle is the largest and noblest of the European eagles. Its usual length is three feet, three inches; the extent of its wings, seven feet, six inches; and its weight, from twelve to sixteen pounds.

————————————————————

(1) Wains, waggons.

(2) Jocund, lively; merry.

(3) Bairn(Sc.), child.

(4) Ta'en (Sc.), taken.

(5) Copse, brush-wood.

(6) Shingle, loose gravel.

(7) Aerie, the nest of an eagle or a bird of prey.

(8) Ony (Sc.), any.

(9) Puir(Sc.), poor.

(10) Wee wean (Sc.), little child.

(11) Brakes, tall, coarse ferns, forming a thicket.

(12) Strath, valley.

LESSON 46

THE GOLDEN EAGLE'S NEST

II．

WHERE, all this time, was Mark Steuart, the sailor? Half way up the cliffs. But his eye had got dim, and his heart sick; and he, who had so often reefed(1) the top-gallant-sail, when at midnight the coming of the gale was heard afar, covered his face with his hands, and dared not look on the swimming heights.

"And who will take care of my poor bed-ridden mother?" thought Hannah, whose soul, through the exhaustion of so many passions, could no more retain in its grasp that hope which it had clutched in despair. A voice whispered, "God." She looked around, expecting to see an angel; but nothing moved except a rotten branch, that, under its own weight, broke off from the crumbling rock. Her eye watched its fall; and it seemed to stop, not far off, on a small platform.

Her child was bound within her bosom—she remembered not how or when, but it was safe; and, scarcely daring to open her eyes, she slid down the rocks, and found herself on a small piece of firm, rootbound soil, with bushes appearing below.

With fingers suddenly strengthened into the power of iron, she swung herself down by brier, and broom, and heather, and dwarf-birch. There, a loosened stone leaped over a ledge, and no sound was heard, so far down was its fall. There, the shingle rattled down the rocks, and she hesitated not to follow. Her feet bounded against the huge stone that stopped them, but she felt no pain. Her body was callous(2) as the cliff.

Steep as the upright wall of a house was now the face of the precipice. But it was matted with ivy, centuries old, long ago dead, and without a single green leaf, but with thousands of arm-thick stems, petrified into the rock, and covering it as with a trellis. She bound her baby to her neck, and, with hands and feet, clung to that fearful ladder.

Turning round her head and looking down, lo! the whole population of the parish—so great was the multitude—on their knees! And hush! the voice of psalms! a hymn, breathing the spirit of one united prayer! Sad and solemn was the strain, but nothing dirge-like—breathing not of death, but of deliverance. An unseen hand seemed fastening her fingers to the ribs of ivy; and, in sudden inspiration, believing that her life was to be saved, she became almost as fearless as if she had been changed into a winged creature.

Again her feet touched stones and earth. The psalm was hushed; but a tremulous, sobbing voice was close beside her, and, lo! a she-goat, with two little kids, at her feet! "Wild heights," thought she, "do these creatures climb, but the dam will lead down her kids by the easiest paths; for oh, even in the brute creatures, what is the power of a mother's love!" and, turning her head, she kissed her sleeping baby, and, for the first time, she wept.

Overhead frowned the front of the precipice, never before touched by human hand or foot. No one had ever dreamed of scaling it; and the golden eagles knew that well in their instinct, as, before they built their aerie, they had brushed it with their wings. But all the rest of this part of the mountain side, though scarred, and seamed, and chasmed, was yet accessible; and more than one person in the parish had reached the bottom of the Glead's Cliff.

Many were now attempting it; and, ere the cautious mother had followed her dumb guides a hundred yards, through dangers that, although enough to terrify the stoutest heart, were traversed by her without a shudder, the head of one man appeared, and then the head of another; and she knew that God had delivered her and her child in safety into the care of their fellow-creatures.

Not a word was spoken—eyes said enough. She hushed her friends with her hands, and, with uplifted eyes, pointed to the guides lent to her by Heaven. Small green plats, where those creatures nibble the wild-flowers, became now more frequent; trodden lines, almost as easy as sheep-paths, showed that the dam had not led her young into danger; and now the brushwood dwindled into straggling shrubs, and the party stood on a little eminence forming part of the strath.

There had been trouble and agitation, much sobbing and many tears, among the multitude, while the mother was scaling the cliffs; sublime was the shout that echoed afar, the moment she reached the aerie; then had succeeded a silence, deep as death; in a little while arose that hymning prayer, succeeded by mute supplication; the wildness of thankful and congratulatory joy had next its sway; and now that her preservation was sure, the great crowd rustled like a wind-swept wood.

And for whose sake was all this alternation of agony? A poor, humble creature, unknown to many even by name; one who had but few friends, nor wished for more; contented to work all day, here, there, anywhere, that she might be able to support her aged mother and her little child; and who on the Lord's day took her seat in an obscure pew, set apart for paupers, in the church!

"Fall back, and give her fresh air," said the old minister of the parish; and the close circle of faces widened around her, lying as in death. "Give me the bonnie bit(3) bairn into my arms," cried first one mother, and then another; and it was tenderly handed around the circle of kisses, many of the snooded(4) maidens bathing its face in tears. "There's no a scratch about the puir innocent; for the eagle, you see, maun hae(5) stuck its talons into the lang claes(6) and the shawl. Blin', blin' maun they be who see not the finger o' God in this thing!"

Hannah started up from her swoon, and, looking wildly around, cried, "Oh! the bird! the bird! the eagle! the eagle! the eagle has carried off my bonnie wee Walter! Is there none to pursue?" A neighbour put her baby to her breast, and, shutting her eyes and smiting her forehead, the sorely bewildered creature said, in a low voice, "Am I wauken(7)? oh! tell me if I'm wauken, or if a' this be the wark(8) o' a fever, and the delirium o' a dream?"

—PROFESSOR WILSON

QUESTIONS

Where did Hannah carry her child in the descent? How did she get down the steep cliff? What did she hear? In what attitude were the people? What animals did she come upon in her way down? As what did she use them? Who now came to her help? What happened when she reached the strath? What did she say when she awoke? What, when her child was given to her?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The golden eagle builds its nest on the top of a rock or lofty cliff. The nest is very large and strong, being composed of twigs or branches, interlaced and covered by layers of rushes and heath.

————————————————————

(1) Reefed, taken in, and fastened to the yard.

(2) Callous, insensible: hardened.

(3) Bit(Sc.), little.

(4) Snooded, wearing a snood or fillet round the hair. The snood is worn only by maidens.

(5) Maun hae (Sc.), must have.

(6) Lang claes (Sc.), long clothes.

(7) Wauken (Sc.), awake.

(8) Wark (Sc.), work.

LESSON 47

THE GRAVES OF A HOUSEHOLD

THEY grew in beauty, side by side,

They filled one home with glee—

Their graves are severed far and wide,

By mount, and stream, and sea!

The same fond mother bent at night

O'er each fair sleeping brow,

She had each folded flower in sight—

Where are those dreamers now?

One, 'midst the forests of the West,

By a dark stream is laid, —

The Indian knows his place of rest,

Far in the cedar shade.

The sea, the blue lone sea, hath one, —

He lies where pearls lie deep:

He was the loved of all, yet none

O'er his low bed may weep.

One sleeps where southern vines are dressed

Above the noble slain:

He wrapped his colours round his breast,

On a blood-red field of Spain.

And one—o'er her the myrtle showers

Its leaves, by soft winds fanned;

She faded 'midst Italian flowers, —

The last of that bright band.

And, parted thus, they rest who played

Beneath the same green tree;

Whose voices mingled as they prayed

Around one parent knee!

They that with smiles lit up the hall,

And cheered with song the hearth—

Alas for love if thou wert all,

And naught beyond, O earth!

—MRS. HEMANS

LESSON 48

THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN

(A. D. 1314.)

I．

KING ROBERT THE BRUCE, well aware of the mighty force advancing against him, mustered his army. It did not exceed 30,000 fighting men, while the English host numbered altogether more than 100,000. His plan was to await the enemy on ground where their vast cavalry should not have room to act with effect. He chose his position in what was then called the New Park, near Stirling—a space of ground studded and encumbered with trees.

The Scottish army, fronting to the expected advance of the English, looked towards the southeast. The enemy could not get in upon their right, for it was protected by the Bannock Burn, whose banks were steep and wooded.

On the left, again, where the ground was open, Bruce caused a vast number of pits to be dug, and covered carefully with turf; so that the field, which looked level and firm to the eye, was in reality like a honeycomb, and perfectly impassable to cavalry. The front of the position was so far protected by a marsh, that only one way of approach was left open to the English.

On Sabbath the 23d of June they came in sight. Countless banners, standards, and pennons floated gaily above their broad and dense battalions. The sun shone brightly, and the land seemed in a blaze with their burnished helmets, and the brilliant colours of the surcoats(1) which the knights wore above their mail. They came so near, that it seemed as if they were going to attack at once.

Bruce was in front of his own line, arraying his men. He had his full armour on, and a battle-axe in his hand, but he rode only a little palfrey. He could easily be known by a light crown of gold which he wore upon his helmet. He was laughing and talking gaily as he rode along the line.

An English knight, Sir Henry de Bohun, riding out a bow-shot from the front, knew the king by the crown on his helmet. Seeing him so poorly horsed, he thought that he could easily have him at his will. Levelling his spear and spurring his charger, he came on at speed.

The king, measuring him with steady eye, awaits his approach. He comes rushing at full career; the Bruce, by a touch on his palfrey's rein, avoids the shock, and rising in his stirrups as the English knight sweeps past, smites him fiercely on the helmet with his battle-axe. The axe crashes through helmet and skull deep into the brain, and the riderless steed gallops wildly away! This was the first stroke of the fight.

It was not the purpose of the English, however, to attack that night. They drew off and encamped. All night long, sounds of revelry were heard from their lines. The Scots lay in arms upon the field.

Early in the morning the English host advanced, pressed by the narrowness of the ground into one immense, unwieldy column. When King Edward came near enough to have a full view of the Scots, he was astonished to see so small a force awaiting on foot, on a level field, the attack of his mighty army. He could scarce believe it possible.

"Will you Scotsmen fight?" he asked of Sir Ingram de Umfraville, a veteran(2) leader in his father's wars, who chanced to be at his side. "Yea, siccarly,(3) sire," said the knight.

At this moment the Scots, as their custom was on the edge of battle, all knelt down, and made a short prayer to God. When the English king saw them kneeling, he cried, "Yon folk kneel to ask mercy." Umfraville answered, "You say truth; they ask mercy, but not of you. Believe me, yon men will win or die." "Be it so," said the king, and immediately ordered the trumpets to sound the charge.

The English horse, spurred to full speed, rushed to the shock. The Scots, with their long spears levelled, stood like a wall. The crash of their meeting and the breaking of spears could be heard far off. Many a good horse fell, and threw its rider to the earth. Many a bold rider, unable to recover himself, was slain on the ground.

The ranks behind came dashing on. Their horses either fell dead from deep spear wounds, or, stabbed and maddened, they reared and recoiled,(4) and rushed masterless, with blood-streaming breasts, spreading disorder among the advancing squadrons.

Randolph now came up with his division and attacked the English. So small, in comparison, was his force, that they seemed to be lost in the crowd, as if they had plunged into a sea of steel. The third division of the Scots also closed, and the battle was presently general along the whole front.

QUESTIONS

What was the strength of the English army? and of the Scottish? Where did Bruce choose his position? How was he protected on the right? and on the left? What happened on the evening before the battle? What astonished King Edward next morning? What did he ask Umfraville? What was his answer? What did Edward say when he saw the Scots kneeling? What did Umfraville reply? How did the battle begin? How was the English force thrown into disorder?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Bannockburn means Bannock-stream. It is a village on the Bannock, near Stirling. The battle was fought in 1314, to prevent the English army from relieving the garrison of Stirling Castle, then besieged by the Scots.

————————————————————

(1) Surcoats, overcoats.

(2) Veteran, aged; experienced.

(3) Siccarly, surely; assuredly.

(4) Recoiled, fell back.

LESSON 49

THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN

II．

THE English archers, 10,000 strong, had taken up their position on a piece of elevated ground, whence they shot their arrows thick and fast upon the Scots. If that sharp and deadly shower were to last, it would go hard with them.

But King Robert has an eye to everything. At his signal, a body of five hundred horsemen, kept ready for the purpose, are let go. They dash in among the archers, spearing and scattering them. The archers, having neither spear nor axe to defend themselves at close quarters, are so utterly broken and dispersed that they never rally again. Their bow-strings are effectually cut, for this time at least.

ENGLISH ARCHERS

Meanwhile a battle grim and great was raging. The shouts and cries, the groans of the wounded and the dying, the clang of blows struck in the fierceness of deadly hate, made a noise which it was hideous to hear. The field was red with blood. Whoever lost his footing in that fierce tumult never rose again.

Many a valiant knight lay upon the ground, the sheen(1) of his armour dimmed in blood, and his gay surcoat all foul by the trampling of feet dyed in the gory grass. The vast and dense mass of the English rocked to and fro like waves of the sea, and their banners rose and fell as the battle swayed this way or that.

At length they visibly wavered. The cry rose from the Scottish ranks, "On them, on them! they fail!" With that they charged in so compact and solid a mass, so swiftly and so fierce withal, that the English were borne back a good space beyond the point where the battle began.

At this moment a singular event occurred, which had an effect in deciding the battle. The king had left his baggage and camp-followers behind a small hill immediately to the rear of his position. These camp-followers and servants numbered about fifteen thousand.

They made banners of sheets and blankets fixed on sticks and tent-poles, and forming themselves into a column, appeared marching down the hill, and looked like a new army coming to the assistance of the Scots. King Robert, depend upon it, knew all about the stratagem.

His marking eye now detected symptoms(2) of wavering among the English. Shouting his war-cry, he charged in person at the head of his own division upon their reeling squadrons. The other divisions of the Scottish army advanced. The English masses were rent in pieces and scattered in complete rout.

Many of them were drowned in the river Forth. Many were overthrown and slain among the pits which Bruce had dug on his left wing. Others, attempting to cross the rugged valley of the Bannock stream, were overtaken and slain in such numbers, that the bodies of men and horses filled up the hollow, and formed a bridge over which the pursuers passed from bank to bank. Thirty thousand English dead remained to rot on Scottish earth.

Edward, sufficiently convinced by this time that the Scots meant fighting, fled to Dunbar, without drawing bridle, accompanied by no more than five hundred horsemen. All the way of his sixty miles' gallop he was followed by the good Lord James, with a handful of riders.

Dunbar Castle was in the hands of a friend of Edward's, and lowered its drawbridge to take him in. Thence he escaped to his own dominions in a fishing-boat.

Such was the Battle of Bannockburn, by which the independence of Scotland was completely secured. Fourteen years later, this was formally acknowledged by an English parliament which met at York.

QUESTIONS

Where were the English archers posted? How were they dislodged? What cry arose from the Scots when the English wavered? What singular incident then occurred? What did the English mistake it for? When did King Robert charge in person? What was the result? How many did the English leave dead upon the field? What became of King Edward?

DICTATION

By this battle the independence of Scotiand was completely secured. This was formally acknowledged by England in 1328. In 1329 Robert the Bruce died.

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(1) Sheen, brightness; glitter.

(2) Symptoms, signs; indications.

LESSON 50

THE SHIP ON FIRE

THERE was joy in the ship, as she furrowed the foam;

For fond hearts within her were dreaming of home.

The young mother pressed fondly her babe to her breast,

And sang a sweet song as she rocked it to rest;

And the husband sat cheerily down by her side,

And looked with delight in the face of his bride.

"Oh, happy!" said he, "when our roaming is o'er,

We'll dwell in a cottage that stands by the shore!

Already in fancy its roof I descry,(1)

And the smoke of its hearth curling up to the sky;

Its garden so green, and its vine-covered wall,

And the kind friends awaiting to welcome us all."

Hark! hark! —what was that? Hark! hark to the shout! —

"Fire! fire!"—then a tramp and a rush and a rout,(2)

And an uproar of voices arose in the air:

And the mother knelt down; and the half-spoken prayer

That she offered to God in her agony wild,

Was, "Father, have mercy! look down on my child!"

She flew to her husband, she clung to his side; —

Oh! there was her refuge whatever betide!(3)

Fire! fire! it is raging above and below;

And the smoke and hot cinders all blindingly blow.

The cheek of the sailor grew pale at the sight,

And his eyes glistened wild in the glare of the light.

The smoke in thick wreaths(4) mounted higher and higher! —

O God! it is fearful to perish by fire!

Alone with destruction! —alone on the sea!

Great Father of Mercy, our hope is in thee!

They prayed for the light, and at noontide about

The sun o'er the waters shone joyously out.

"A sail, ho! a sail!" cried the man on the lee;

"A sail!" and they turned their glad eyes o'er the sea.

"They see us! they see us! the signal is waved!

They bear down upon us! —thank God! we are saved!"

—CHARLES MACKAY

QUESTIONS

Who were returning home in the ship referred to? What did the husband see in fancy? By what cry were they alarmed? What was the mother's prayer? What did the man on the lee cry? What was the result?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

There was joy in the ship, as she furrowed the foam; For fond hearts within her were dreaming of home.

The young mother pressed fondly her babe to her breast, And sang a sweet song as she rocked it to rest.

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(1) Descry, see; discover.

(2) Rout, uproar and confusion.

(3) Betide, happen.

(4) Wreaths, volumes; curls.

LESSON 51

CROSSING THE ALPS

WHEN Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Italy the second time (A. D. 1800), he led his army across the cold and stormy Alps, where the snow lies deep all the year round, and the roads are often blocked up by masses of ice.

He himself crossed by the St. Bernard Pass in May; and a few months later he ordered one of his generals, Marshal Macdonald, to cross by the Splugen, with 15,000 soldiers, and join him on the plains below. It was then the end of November, and the winter storms were raging among the mountain passes.

It was a perilous undertaking, yet he must obey; and the men began their terrible march, through narrow defiles, past overhanging precipices, six thousand feet up, up, up among the gloomy solitudes of the Alps!

The cannon were placed on rough sleds,(1) each drawn by a long team of soldiers, or, when the roads permitted, by oxen; and the ammunition was packed on mules. First came the guides, driving their long black poles into the snow in order to find the path; then came workmen to clear away the drifts; then the dragoons, mounted on their most powerful horses, to beat down the track; after whom followed the main body of the army.

They encountered severe storms and piercing cold. When half way up the mountains, a rumbling noise was heard among the cliffs. The guides looked at each other in alarm, for they knew well what it meant. It grew louder and louder. "An avalanche(2)! an avalanche!" they shrieked; and the next moment a field of ice and snow came leaping down the mountains, striking the line of march and sweeping away thirty dragoons in its wild plunge. The black forms of the horses and their riders were seen for an instant struggling for life, and then they disappeared for ever.

The sight struck the soldiers with horror; they crouched and shivered in the blast. Their enemy was not now flesh and blood, but wild winter storms; swords and bayonets could not defend them from the desolating avalanche. Flight or retreat was hopeless; for all around lay the drifted snow, like a vast winding-sheet. On they must go, or death was certain; and the brave men struggled forward.

"Soldiers!" exclaimed their commander, "you are called to Italy; your general needs you. Advance and conquer—first the mountain and the snow, then the plains and the enemy."

Blinded by the winds, benumbed with the cold, and far beyond the reach of aid, Macdonald pressed on. Sometimes a whole company of soldiers was suddenly swept away. On one occasion, a poor drummer, crawling out from the mass of snow which had torn him from his comrades, began to beat his drum for relief. The muffled sound came up from his gloomy resting-place, and was heard by his brother soldiers, but none could go to his rescue. For an hour he beat rapidly; then the strokes grew fainter and fainter, until they were heard no more, and the poor drummer laid himself down to die!

Two weeks were occupied in this perilous march, and two hundred men perished in the undertaking.

This passage of the Splugen is one of the bravest exploits in the history of Napoleon's generals, and illustrates the truth of the well-known saying, "Where there is a will, there is a way." No one can read of heroic deeds like this, of brave men grappling with danger and death, without a feeling of respect and admiration. But heroic deeds are always the fruit of toil and self-sacrifice. No one can accomplish great things, unless he aims at great things, and pursues that aim with determined courage and perseverance.

QUESTIONS

How did Napoleon lead his army into Italy the second time? By what pass did Macdonald cross? In what season? How were the cannon transported? What noise was heard, when they were half way up the mountains? What was the cause of it? What damage did it do? Relate the incident of the drummer. How long did the march occupy? How many men perished in the undertaking? What proverb does the exploit illustrate?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The chief passes of the Alps are the Great St. Bernard, the St. Gothard, the Simplon, the Splugen, and the Stelvio pass in the Tyrol, which is the highest of all.

Napoleon crossed the Alps by the St. Bernard pass, the same by which Hannibal had invaded Italy two thousand years before.

NOTE

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE was born at Ajaccio, in the island of Corsica, in 1769. He became Emperor of the French in 1804. After the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, he was sent by the English Government to St. Helena, where he died in 1821.

His remains were removed to France in 1840, by consent of England and reinterred at Paris.

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(1) Sled, a vehicle, on runners, for carrying loads over snow.

(2) Avalanche, a mass of snow and ice, rolling down a mountain.

LESSON 52

THE WHITE-HEADED EAGLE

THE white-headed or bald eagle takes the foremost place among the feathered tribes of America, both because he stands first in natural order, and because he has been selected by the people of the United States as a type of their nation. Their choice was, by-the-by, objected to by Benjamin Franklin, on the plea "that he is a bird of bad moral character, and does not get his living honestly." There was justice in the remark; for the bald eagle is a determined robber, and a perfect tyrant.

He is, however, a magnificent bird. His wings, when expanded, measure nearly eight feet from tip to tip. His body is three and a half feet in length. His snow-white head, from which he takes his name, shines in the sun. He has a large hooked yellow beak, with which he tears his prey.

The bald eagle preys chiefly on fish, but sometimes also on sea-fowl and other animals. He may often be seen darting down upon fish as they swim near the surface of the water.

He does not always take the trouble to fish for himself, but freely avails himself of the labours of others. He keeps a careful look-out for the appearance of the fish-hawk; and when he sees him settling over his victim, he earnestly watches him.

His eye, says Wilson, kindles at the sight, and balancing himself with half-opened wings on the rock or branch on which he sits, he eagerly waits for the result. Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, descends the fish-hawk, the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears in the deep, making the surges(1) foam around.

At this moment the look of the eagle is all ardour;(2) and, levelling his neck for flight, he sees the fish-hawk once more emerging,(3) struggling with his prey, and mounting in the air with screams of triumph.

This is the signal for the eagle to give chase. He gains on the fish-hawk. Each exerts his utmost power to outsoar(4) the other. At last the fish-hawk, heavily laden with his prey, is overtaken by the savage freebooter,(5) and, with a cry of despair, he drops his fish.

The eagle poises(6) himself for a moment, as if to take more certain aim, then descending like a whirlwind, he snatches the fish ere it reaches the water, and bears it away to the woods.

These birds build their nest in some lofty tree amid a swamp; and as they repair and add to it every season, it becomes of great size. Its position is generally known by the offensive odour arising from the refuse of fish scattered around.

Robbers as they are, the white-headed eagles exhibit great parental affection, tending their young as long as they are helpless and unfledged; nor will they forsake them even should the tree in which their nest is built be surrounded by flames!

Wilson mentions seeing a tree cut down in order to obtain an eagle's nest. The parent birds continued flying clamorously(7) around, and could only with great difficulty be driven away from the bodies of their fledgelings,(8) which were killed by the fall of the lofty pine.

QUESTIONS

Why does the white-headed eagle take precedence amongst the birds of America? Who objected to it as a national emblem? On what ground? What is the span of his wings? On what does he feed? Of what bird's labours does he sometimes take advantage? How does he do this? Where do these birds build their nest? Why does it become of great size? What instance of their parental affection does Wilson mention?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The nest of the white-headed eagle is formed of large sticks, sods, moss, hay, &c. It is usually found in a lofty tree, in a swamp or morass, and as it is increased and repaired every season, it becomes of great size.

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(1) Surges, waves.

(2) Ardour, eagerness.

(3) Emerging, coming out of the water.

(4) Outsoar, fly higher than.

(5) Freebooter, robber.

(6) Poises, balances.

(7) Clamorously, with loud cries.

(8) Fledgelings, newly fledged birds.

LESSON 53

THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE

NOT a drum was heard, not a funeral note,

As his corse(1) to the rampart(2) we hurried;

Not a soldier discharged(3) his farewell shot

O'er the grave where our hero we buried.

We buried him darkly at dead of night,

The sods(4) with our bayonets turning,

By the struggling moonbeams' misty light,

And the lantern dimly burning.

No useless coffin enclosed his breast,

Nor in sheet nor in shroud(5) we wound him;

But he lay like a warrior taking his rest,

With his martial(6) cloak around him.

Few and short were the prayers we said,

And we spoke not a word of sorrow;

But we steadfastly gazed on the face of the dead,

And we bitterly thought of the morrow.

We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed,

And smoothed down his lonely pillow,

That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head,

And we far away on the billow.

Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone,

And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him;

But little he'll reck,(7) if they let him sleep on

In the grave where a Briton has laid him.

But half of our heavy task was done,

When the clock struck the hour for retiring;

And we heard the distant and random(8) gun

That the foe was sullenly(9) firing.

Slowly and sadly we laid him down,

From the field of his fame fresh and gory;(10)

We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone,

But we left him alone with his glory.

—WOLFE

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Sir John Moore defeated the French at Corunna, 16th January 1809. He received a mortal wound in the battle, and died soon after the victory was won.

Before daybreak next morning, when his troops had to embark, his body, wrapped in his martial cloak, was buried on the ramparts of the town.

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(1) Corse, dead body; corpse.

(2) Rampart, a mound of earth in fortifications.

(3) Discharged, fired.

(4) Sods, turfs.

(5) Shroud, winding-sheet.

(6) Martial, military.

(7) Reck, care.

(8) Random, not aimed at a particular object.

(9) Sullenly, in gloomy anger.

(10) Gory, covered with blood.

LESSON 54

BRAVE WOMEN

UPON the banks of a river in the State of Kentucky, there was once a fort to which the settlers frequently resorted as a place of refuge from the savages. Its gallant defence by a handful of pioneers(1) against the allied Indians of Ohio, led by two renegade(2) white men, was one of the most desperate affairs in the Indian wars of the West.

The pioneers had not the slightest idea of their approach, when, in a moment, a thousand rifles gleamed in the corn-fields one summer night! That very evening the garrison had chanced to gather under arms, to march to the relief of another station that was similarly invested.(3) They were therefore unexpectedly prepared for the attack.

The Indians saw at a glance that the moment was not favourable to them; and having failed to surprise the garrison, they attempted to decoy(4) them from the fastness by presenting themselves in small parties before it. The whites were too wise to risk a battle till help should arrive, so they resolved to stand a siege.

But the fort, which was merely a collection of log cabins, arranged in a hollow square, was unhappily not supplied with water; and the besieged were aware that the enemy had placed his real force in ambush near a neighbouring spring. The females of the station determined to supply it with water from this very spring!

But how? Woman's wit never devised a bolder plan, and woman's courage never carried one more dangerous into successful execution.

These brave women, being in the habit of fetching the water every morning, saw that if armed men were now to take that duty upon them, the Indians would perceive that their ambuscade(5) had been discovered, and would instantly commence the assault.

Morning came, and the random shots of the decoy-party were returned with a quick fire from one side of the fort, while the women issued from the other, as if they expected no enemy in that quarter.

Could anything be more appalling than the task before them? But they shrink not from it; they move carelessly from the gate; they advance with composure in a body to the spring; they are within shot of five hundred warriors! The slightest alarm will betray them. If they show that they are aware of their thrilling situation, their doom is inevitable.(6) But their nerves do not shrink; they wait calmly for each other, till each fills her bucket in succession.

The Indians are completely deceived, and not a shot is fired. The band of heroines retrace their steps with steady feet; their movements soon become more agitated, and are at last hurried. But tradition says that the only water spilt was as their buckets crowded together in passing the gate.

A sheet of living fire from the garrison, and the shrieks of the wounded Indians around the spring, at once proclaimed the safety of the women and the triumph of the white men. Insane with wrath to be thus outwitted, the foe rushed from his covert,(7) and advanced with fury upon the rifles of the pioneers. But who could conquer the fathers and brothers of such women? The Indians renewed the attack again and again; but they were foiled every time, and at last withdrew their forces.

—HOFFMAN

QUESTIONS

Where was the fort here spoken of? Who attacked it? By whom led? Who defended it? Why was the garrison under arms at the time of the attack? What plan did the Indians adopt when they failed to surprise the garrison? Where did they place their real force?

What did the females of the fort resolve to do? What if armed men had done this? On which side of the fort was the attack returned? What did the women do at the same time? What did they wish the Indians to suppose? How did they therefore advance? How did they return? Where was the only water spilt? What proclaimed their safety? What did the Indians then begin? With what result?

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(1) Pioneers, first settlers, who prepare the way for others.

(2) Renegade, runaway; deserter.

(3) Invested, besieged; surrounded by an enemy.

(4) Decoy, tempt; entice.

(5) Ambuscade, place of concealment; ambush.

(6) Inevitable, unavoidable; certain.

(7) Covert, hiding-place.

LESSON 55

THE DEATH OF DE BOUNE

THE Monarch rode along the van,(1)

The foe's approaching force to scan,

His line to marshal and to range,

And ranks to square, and fronts to change.

Alone he rode—from head to heel

Sheathed in his ready arms of steel;

Nor mounted yet on war-horse wight,(2)

But, till more near the shock of fight,

Reining a palfrey low and light.

A diadem of gold was set

Above his bright steel basinet;(3)

And clasped within its glittering twine

Was seen the glove of Argentine;(4)

Truncheon(5) or leading staff he lacks,

Bearing, instead, a battle-axe.

He ranged his soldiers for the fight

Accoutred thus, in open sight

Of either host. —Three bow-shots far,

Paused the deep front of England's war,

And rested on their arms a while,

To close and rank their warlike file,

And hold high council, if that night

Should view the strife, or dawning light.

Oh, gay, yet fearful to behold,

Flashing with steel and rough with gold,

And bristled o'er with bills and spears,

With plumes and pennons waving fair,

Was that bright battle-front! for there

Rode England's King and Peers:

And who, that saw that Monarch ride,

His kingdom battled by his side,

Could then his direful doom foretell? —

Fair was his seat in knightly selle,(6)

And in his sprightly eye was set

Some spark of the Plantagenet.(7)

Though light and wandering was his glance,

It flashed at sight of shield and lance.

"Know'st thou," he said, "De Argentine,

You knight who marshals thus their line?" —

"The tokens on his helmet tell

The Bruce, my liege: I know him well." —

"And shall the audacious traitor brave

The presence where our banners wave?" —

"So please my liege," said Argentine,

"Were he but horsed on steed like mine,

To give him fair and knightly chance,

I would adventure forth my lance." —

"In battle day," the King replied,

"Nice tourney(8) rules are set aside. —

Still must the rebel dare our wrath?

Set on him! —sweep him from our path!"

And, at King Edward's signal, soon

Dashed from the ranks Sir Henry Boune.

Of Hereford's high blood he came,

A race renowned for knightly fame.

He burned before his Monarch's eye

To do some deed of chivalry.

He spurred his steed, he couched his lance,

And darted on the Bruce at once. —

As motionless as rocks that bide

The wrath of the advancing tide,

The Bruce stood fast. —Each breast beat high,

And dazzled was each gazing eye:

The heart had hardly time to think,

The eyelid scarce had time to wink,

While on the King, like flash of flame,

Spurred to full speed, the war-horse came!

The partridge may the falcon mock,

If that slight palfrey stand the shock;

But swerving from the knight's career,

Just as they met, Bruce shunned the spear.

Onward the baffled warrior bore

His course—but soon his course was o'er!

High in his stirrups stood the King,

And gave his battle-axe the swing.

Right on De Boune, the whiles(9) he passed,

Fell that stern dint—the first, the last!

Such strength upon the blow was put,

The helmet crashed like hazel-nut;

The axe-shaft, with its brazen clasp,

Was shivered to the gauntlet grasp!

Springs from the blow the startled horse,

Drops to the plain the lifeless corse. —

First of that fatal field, how soon,

How sudden, fell the fierce De Boune!

—SCOTT —Lord of the Isles

OUTLINES OF BRITISH HISTORY II

IV．THE PLANTAGENET LINE

PLANTAGENETS PROPER

(1154 A. D. to 1399 A. D. —245 years—8 Kings)

LEADING FEATURES:—Feudalism in its prime and its decay—Struggles between Kings and Barons—Rise of the Commons; and foundation of English freedom.

HENRY II. CURTMANTLE

(1154 A. D. to 1189 A. D. —35 years)

1．HENRY II. was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, and Maud, daughter of Henry I. He was the most powerful king of his time—ruling not only England, but also the greater part of France. He also subdued Wales and Ireland.

2．His first care was to lessen the power of the barons; and this he did by causing many of their castles to be destroyed. Then, wishing to rule the clergy, he took into his favour one Thomas à Becket, a man of Norman race, but born in England, gave him great wealth and power, and made him Archbishop of Canterbury.

But Becket, when he had got this great power, did not do as Henry wished. He gave up his rich and costly manner of living, and all his long train of attendants, began to eat coarse food, wore sackcloth next his skin, keeping it on until it was full of dirt and vermin, and daily washed the feet of thirteen beggars.

He then took the part of the clergy against Henry, and gave him so much trouble, that one day, when Henry was in France, and heard of Becket's determined opposition, he became very angry, and said, "Is there not one of my cowardly knights eating of my bread that will rid me of this turbulent priest?"

Four of his knights, hearing what was said, and being very jealous of Becket's power, went away secretly, crossed over to England, and proceeded to Canterbury to murder Becket. They found him in the cathedral, at the altar, where they fell upon him and dashed out his brains (1170).

When Henry heard of this horrid murder, he was not only very sorry, but also much afraid of the Pope's anger; so he had a splendid tomb built for Becket, and did penance by walking barefoot through Canterbury, falling down before the tomb, and allowing himself to be scourged with knotted cords (1174).

3．The chief event of Henry's reign was the invasion of Ireland. That country was at this time divided into six provinces, ruled by as many kings. Two of the most powerful of these quarrelled, and one of them applied to Henry for help. Henry allowed some of his nobles with their knights to go to his assistance, and soon after went himself, and received the homage of the chieftains (1172).

4．Henry had four sons, Henry, Geoffrey, Richard, and John, who were very rebellious, and caused their father much trouble in the latter part of his reign. They even persuaded the kings of France and Scotland to help them; but Henry put to flight all his enemies. He died, however, of a broken heart, because his favourite son John was amongst the rebels.

5．In this reign London became the capital of England—Winchester, the old capital, having been laid in ruins during the civil wars in Stephen's reign.

QUESTIONS

1．How many years does the period of the Plantagenets proper include? Give the first and last dates. What are the leading features of the period? Name the Plantagenets proper. Give the dates of their accession. What was the surname of Henry II.? How long did he reign? Whose son was he? What relation to Henry I.? What is said of his power?

2．What was his first care? What means did he use? Whom did he take into favour? Why? To what dignity was Becket raised? What was his conduct? Whose part did he take? What effect had this on Henry? How did he express his anger? What was the consequence? Where was Becket murdered? How did it affect the king? What did he do to atone for the murder?

3．What was the chief event in Henry's reign? What led to the invasion? Give the date.

4．Name Henry's sons. What was their conduct? Whom did they ask for help? Were they successful? What caused Henry's death?

5．What was the former capital of England? Why was the change made?

RICHARD I. COEUR DE LION, OR LION-HEARTED

(1189 A. D. to 1199 A. D. —10 years)

1．Richard I. succeeded to the throne, his elder brothers having died before their father. He cared very little for the welfare of his subjects; and though king for ten years, he only spent six months in England.

2．Wishing to join the Third Crusade, he began his reign by raising all the money he could; and for this purpose he used improper means,—selling the offices of State, and taking away by force much wealth from the Jews, who at that time were very rich. Many of them were basely murdered, and their dwellings were plundered and burned to the ground.

3．Richard was joined in the Crusade by the King of France. They raised an immense army, and at Acre, a town in Palestine, fought a great battle, in which thousands were slain. After taking this strong city, Richard marched to Jerusalem; but his army was not strong enough to take it, so he left for England (1192).

4．On his way home, he was shipwrecked on the north coast of the Gulf of Venice; and was making his way through Germany, in the dress of a pilgrim, when he was seized by the Duke of Austria, and sold for a great sum of money to the Emperor of Germany, who cast him into prison.

It is said that a French musician, who knew Richard, happened to arrive at the walls of the very castle where he was confined, and beneath the grated window of his cell played upon his harp a tune which Richard had composed. Richard, hearing it, remembered the harper, and sang the same tune in reply.

The harper immediately knew the voice of the king, and went and made known in England the place of his confinement. A great ransom was paid for Richard's freedom, and he returned home (1194).

5．During his absence the country was in a shocking state. It was infested by bands of robbers, and no man's life or property was safe. The famous Robin Hood lived about this time.

Shortly after Richard's return from the Holy Land he was besieging a castle in France, when he was shot by an archer from the walls. The wound mortified and caused his death.

QUESTIONS

1．Who succeeded Henry II.? How long did he reign? Did he care much for his people? Give proof.

2．In what war did he engage? How did he raise money? What is said of the sufferings of the Jews?

3．Who joined Richard in the Crusade? What city was taken? Whither did he next march?

4．What happened on his way home? How did he try to get home? What befell him in Germany? Who discovered the place of his confinement? How? What afterwards took place?

5．What was the state of the country during his absence? What famous out-law lived about this time? How did Richard come by his death?

JOHN—SANSTERRE, OR LACKLAND

(1199 A. D. to 1216 A. D. — 17 years)

1．John was the youngest son of Henry II., and brother of the late king. He was not the rightful heir, as Geoffrey, his elder brother, had left a son named Arthur, now twelve years old. John's first care, therefore, was to get rid of Arthur; and having shut him up in the Castle of Rouen, he there murdered him, it is said, with his own hands.

By this act he so enraged the King of France and other princes, that they took away from him all his French provinces (1205).

2．Soon after this, John quarrelled with the Pope about the choice of an Archbishop of Canterbury. John set the Pope at defiance. The Pope, in return, caused all the churches in the land to be shut up for six years, and forbade any service to be read at burials (1206).

He then told the King of France to invade England, and take possession of the throne. This so alarmed the cowardly John, that he submitted to the Pope, acknowledged him as his over-lord, and even agreed to pay him rent for the crown (1213).

3．John being now free from danger, began to use his subjects very cruelly—making the rich pay him very heavy fines, and giving the highest offices of State to his foreign favourites. By these acts he so roused the spirit of the barons, that they drew up an agreement, in which they made the king promise never more to oppress the people, nor take away their rights, but to govern according to the laws of the land.

This document was celled Magna Charta, or the Great Charter. In order to compel John to sign it, they collected a large force and took possession of London. John at last consented; and in the year 1215 at Runnymeade, near Windsor, this Great Charter of liberty was signed. It is still carefully preserved in the British Museum.

4．When John had signed the deed, and the barons were gone away, he raved like a madman, and as soon as possible raised an army of hired soldiers, and began to lay waste the country with fire and sword. The barons, in their fear, sent to the son of the King of France, asking him to come and take the crown. They were led to think of him because he had married John's niece (1216).

Louis was not slow to accept the offer, and landed with an army in Kent. John marched to meet him; but as he was crossing the Wash, the tide rose so fast that he and his army had scarcely time to escape from the waves; and, in their hurry and fear, the crown, jewels, and money were lost. This had such an effect on the king that it threw him into a fever. He was carried to Newark Castle, where he died, despised and hated by every one.

QUESTIONS

1．Who succeeded Richard? What relation to him? Whose son was John? Was he the rightful heir? Why not? What was his first care? What means did he use? What effect had this murder?

2．With whom did John quarrel? About what? How did the Pope act? Who threatened an invasion? What effect had this upon John?

3．How did John now treat his subjects? Whose anger did he thus rouse? How did they act? What was the deed called? Why did John sign it? When? Where? Where is it still kept?

4．What was John's conduct after he had signed Magna Charta? Whose protection did the barons seek? Why did they think of him? Did he come? Where did he land? What did John do? What occurred on his march? What effect had it upon him? Where did he die? With what feelings was he regarded?

HENRY III. WINCHESTER

(1216 A. D. to 1272 A. D. —56 years)

1．Henry III, eldest son of John, was only nine years old when he came to the throne; and the Earl of Pembroke, a wise and prudent man, was made Protector.

2．Louis of France, however, who had invaded the southern counties, was not willing to return home without making a struggle for the English crown; but the barons who had invited him had now changed their minds, and instead of favouring his plans, raised all their forces to oppose him.

He was completely defeated at Lincoln. His fleet was also destroyed off the coast of Kent, the sailors being blinded by quicklime which the English threw in their faces. Louis was therefore compelled to return to France.

Henry afterwards invaded France, to regain the provinces which John had lost; but through his cowardice and weakness he returned without success (1242).

3．The king at length lost the esteem of his subjects, by showing favour to foreigners; and a great rebellion was raised, headed by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. A battle was fought at Lewes in Sussex, the king's army was defeated, and he and his son Edward were taken prisoners(1264).

During their imprisonment, Montfort called together a Parliament. This consisted not of nobles only, as before, but also of members from towns and cities, chosen by the people. This is the first outline of Parliament as we now have it (1265).

4．Edward soon found means to escape from confinement. Being allowed to ride out with his guards, one day he set them to ride races with each other, until all their horses were tired; then putting spurs to his own, which he had kept fresh, he soon left them far behind!

He quickly collected a large army, marched to meet Montfort, and fought the Battle of Evesham. Montfort, knowing Edward's bravery, and fearing he should lose the battle, basely placed the king in front that he might be slain. Henry, however, saved himself by crying out, "I am Henry of Winchester, your king!" Edward knew his father's voice, and hastened to his assistance. In this battle Montfort was killed, and almost torn to pieces.

5．Young Edward afterwards went to the Crusades, taking with him his wife Eleanor, who saved his life by sucking the venom from a wound he received from a poisoned arrow. During his absence his father died after having reigned longer than any English monarch, except George III. and Queen Victoria.

6．In this reign the linen manufacture was introduced into England. About the same time, the mariner's compass was invented; also magic-lanterns and magnifying glasses by Roger Bacon, a learned English monk.

QUESTIONS

1．How long did Henry III. reign? Give dates. Whose son was he? How old was he? Who was made Protector?

2．How did the barons treat Louis of France? Where was he defeated? What became of his fleet? How was it defeated? What did Henry afterwards do? Was he successful?

3．How did he lose the esteem of his people? Who headed the rebellion? What battle was fought? With what result? What took place during the king's confinement? Relate the particulars?

4．How did the prince escape? What battle followed? What base act did Montfort commit? How was the king saved? What became of Montfort?

5．Whither did Edward afterwards go? Who went with him? How did Eleanor save his life? What happened in his absence? What is remarkable about the length of Henry's reign?

6．What manufacture was introduced in this reign? Name three Inventions of this time. Who was Roger Bacon?

EDWARD I. LONGSHANKS

(1272 A. D. to 1307 A. D. —35 years)

1．Edward I., eldest son of Henry III., was a wise and prudent king. He began his reign by restoring order in the kingdom, and making many wise laws. He then led an army into Wales, as the Welsh had been very troublesome. He gained a great battle over them, in which their prince, Llewellyn was slain (1282).

2．The Welsh, however, were not easily conquered. For a long time they held out amongst the mountains, and would not consent to acknowledge Edward as their king. But at last, Edward had a son born in Wales, at Caernarvon Castle which he had just built, and him they promised to obey as king. Ever since that time the eldest son of the English sovereign has been called Prince of Wales (1284).

3．Edward now turned his attention to Scotland, which he resolved to subdue. But Sir William Wallace gained a great victory over the English near Stirling, and for several years defied the armies of Edward. A few years afterwards, Robert Bruce drove the English forces out of his country, and was crowned king. This so enraged the warlike Edward that he set out for Scotland with a large army, swearing that he would never return until he had subdued it; but before he reached Scotland he was taken ill and died. His last request was, that his body should be carried before the army and not buried until Scotland were conquered.

4．During this reign it was enacted that no tax should be raised by the king without the consent of Parliament. The Jews, who had already suffered unnumbered cruelties, were banished from the kingdom.

QUESTIONS

1．How long did Edward I. reign? Give dates. Whose son was he? What was his character? How did he begin his reign? What country did he subdue? What prince was slain?

2．Where did the Welsh hold out against Edward? Whom did they agree to obey? Where was the first Prince of Wales born?

3．What was Edward's next undertaking? Who opposed him? What battle was fought? With what success? Who was the next Scottish hero? What did he do? How did Edward act? What took place on his march? What was his last request?

4．What saw was made in this reign? How were the Jews treated?

EDWARD II. CAERNARVON

(1307 A. D. to 1327 A. D. —20 years)

1．Edward of Caernarvon took little notice of his father's dying wish. He buried his body at Westminster, and gave up the war with Scotland. Like Henry III., he forfeited the esteem of his people by his partiality for worthless foreigners; and so roused the anger of the nobles that they seized his three chief favourites and put them to death.

2．In the seventh year of his reign he renewed the war with Scotland, and crossed the Border with an army of 100,000 men—the largest that had ever marched out of England. He was met at Bannockburn, near Stirling, by Bruce with 30,000 men, and completely defeated. Edward himself narrowly escaped with his life (1314).

3．Edward's queen, Isabella, was a very wicked woman, and caused the king many troubles, having allied herself with a worthless man named Mortimer. An open quarrel ensued. The queen fled to France, raised an army, and returned. The barons declared in her favour, and Edward was forced to flee. He went into Wales, but was taken prisoner; and his son was crowned king in his stead.

4．Edward was removed from prison to prison, and treated with the greatest cruelty. His brutal keepers one day shaved him for sport in the open fields, using dirty water from a ditch.

He was at last imprisoned in Berkeley Castle. The stillness of one dark night was broken by fearful shrieks which came from his dungeon; and next morning the body of the murdered king was openly shown to the people of Bristol.

QUESTIONS

1．Who succeeded Edward I.? How long did he reign? Did he fulfil his father's dying wish? What did he do instead? How did he offend the nobles? What was the result?

2．What war was renewed? How many English crossed the Border? By whom was he met? Where? Who won?

3．Who was Edward's wile? What was her character? With whom did she ally herself? What ensued? How did Isabella then act? What were the consequences?

4．How was the king treated? Where was he at last confined? And what took place there?

EDWARD III

(1327 A. D. to 1377 A. D. —50 years)

1．Edward III., eldest son of Edward II., was only fifteen years of age when he came to the throne, and all the power was in the hands of the queen and Mortimer. But when Edward came of age, he caused Mortimer to be seized at Nottingham Castle, in presence of Isabella, carried to Tyburn, and hanged on a gibbet. The guilty queen was imprisoned in Nottingham Castle during the rest of her life.

2．Edward next marched to Scotland, to support the claim of Edward Baliol to the throne; and fought the Battle of Halidon Hill, in which the Scots were signally defeated (1333).

3．But his greatest desire was to reign over France as well as England and as there was at that time a dispute about the crown of that country, he collected all the money he could and went over to try for it himself.

After fighting several battles, he marched towards Calais, and was met by the French army at Crecy, where a great victory was gained by the English, chiefly through the bravery of Edward, Prince of Wales, then a young lad of only fifteen years of age, surnamed the Black Prince from the colour of his armour (1346).

4．Whilst Edward was carrying on the war with France, David II., King of Scotland, invaded England; but Philippa, Edward's wife, bravely put herself at the head of some English troops, defeated the Scottish army at Nevil's Cross, and took the king prisoner.

5．Edward, after the Battle of Crecy, laid siege to Calais. This brave little city held out against him nearly a year; but when all the food was gone, the inhabitants were forced to submit. Edward was so enraged at their resistance, that he demanded that six of the chief citizens should be sent to him, barefoot, with ropes round their necks, ready to be put to death!

Six brave mem offered themselves, and went to the king, who ordered them immediately to be executed. But his queen, Philippa, who had just arrived at Calais, threw herself at his feet, and by her tears and entreaties obtained their pardon (1347).

6．In the year 1349 a stop was put to the war by a terrible plague, called the Black Death, which, after raging through Europe, visited England, and carried off 50,000 people.

7．Ten years after the Battle of Crecy, the French war was again commenced by the Black Prince, and the great Battle of Poictiers was fought, in which a very small English force put to flight the French army of seven times their number. The French king and his son were taken prisoners, and brought over to England. Thus there were two kings prisoners in England at the same time—David of Scotland and John of France (1356).

8．In the year 1376 the brave and generous Prince of Wales died of consumption; and the king, his father, was so grieved at his loss that he died the following year, after a reign of half a century. He was brave, wise, and merciful.

9．It must be remembered that from the sons of Edward III. sprang the Houses of York and Lancaster;—the House of York from Lionel, Duke of Clarence; and that of Lancaster from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, a younger brother. The descendants of these two sons, in their contests for the crown in after years, deluged England with blood.

10．In this reign the Lords and Commons began to sit in separate houses. The title of Duke again came into use, the Black Prince being made Duke of Cornwall—a title since borne by every Prince of Wales. Windsor Castle was no longer used as a fortress, but as a royal residence. The weaving of cloth and blankets was introduced. Gunpowder was invented by Schwartz, a German monk.

QUESTIONS

1．Who succeeded Edward II.? How long did he reign? Give dates. Whose son was he? Who had the power? What became of Mortimer afterwards? How was the queen treated?

2．What was Edward's next undertaking? What battle was fought? And with what result?

3．What was his greatest desire? What means did he use? What great battle was fought? Who gained the victory? Through whose bravery?

4．Who now invaded England? Who opposed him? With what effect?

5．What siege took place after the Battle of Crecy? How long did it last? How did Edward show his anger? Who just then arrived at Calais? What act of mercy did she do?

6．What stopped the war? When? How many died of the Black Death in England?

7．When was the war resumed? Under whose command? What battle was fought? What was the relative strength of the two armies? Who won? Who were taken prisoners?

8．What took place in 1376? And in the following year? What was Edward's character?

9．What Houses sprang from the sons of Edward III.? Who was the head of the House of York? Of the House of Lancaster?

10．What change in Parliament was made? What title again came into use? To whom was it given? What is said of Windsor Castle? What manufacture was introduced? Who invented gunpowder?

RICHARD II. BORDEAUX

(1377 A. D. to 1399 A. D. —22 years)

1．Richard II., the son of the Black Prince, and grandson of the late king, came to the throne when only eleven years of age; and the kingdom was ruled by a council of twelve nobles until he came of age.

2．The first great event of his reign was a rebellion of the common people, headed by a blacksmith named Wat Tyler. It was caused by a tax of one shilling a head on every person above fifteen years of age.

This tax was felt to be unjust, as the poor had to pay as much as the rich. A great mob of lawless men, therefore, with Tyler at their head, entered London, destroyed the houses of the nobility, and murdered every one they met that looked like a gentleman.

The king next day met them in Smithfield, when Wat Tyler spoke to him with such insolence that Sir William Walworth, the Lord Mayor, struck him from his horse with a blow of his mace, and one of the king's knights rode up and slew him. The rebels were preparing to take vengeance; but the young Richard bravely rode up to them, and told them not to be concerned at Tyler's death—he himself would now be their leader, and remove all their grievances (1381).

This bold and yet gracious address at once quieted the rebels, who soon returned peaceably to their homes. Richard, however, did not keep his promise; and many hundreds of the rebels were afterwards hanged on the gibbet.

3．When Richard came into power, he was found to be a vain, weak, and foolish king—quite unable to rule the fierce spirits of the time. He soon therefore lost the esteem and affection of his subjects; and at length an event happened which cost him his crown and life.

A quarrel having arisen between the Dukes of Hereford and Norfolk, Richard ordered them to decide it by single combat. When they entered the lists, Richard would not allow them to fight, but banished them both—Hereford for ten years, and Norfolk for life (1398).

Soon afterwards, Hereford's father, the Duke of Lancaster, died, and Richard seized his estates. When Hereford heard of this, he was so enraged that he resolved to attempt the king's destruction. He landed at Ravenspur in Yorkshire with a few followers; and finding the nobles very much in his favour, soon raised an army of 60,000 men, and entered London.

4．Richard was at this time in Ireland, and when he returned he found that his kingdom had changed hands; and he who left England as king was compelled to surrender himself a captive to Hereford, who had now become Duke of Lancaster. He was conveyed to London, where he gave up the crown; and was afterwards confined in Pontefract Castle, where he was murdered, in the thirty-fourth year of his age.

5．Richard II. was fond of show, and lived in grand style. There were in his household ten thousand persons—in his kitchen alone, three hundred. During his reign the celebrated John Wycliffe lived. He translated the Bible into English. His followers were called Lollards.

6．Under the Plantagenets proper, the English language, modified by its contact with Norman-French during two centuries, began to assume its present form. Learning was chiefly confined to the clergy, who were also the best gardeners and farmers. The nobles cared more for war and sports than for learning. Few of them could either read or write! The population of England was only about three millions,—a number now exceeded by London alone.

QUESTIONS

1．Who succeeded Edward III.? How long did he reign? Give dates. Whose son was he? How old? Who ruled during his minority?

2．What was the first great event of his reign? What was the cause? Who headed the rebels? What damage did they do? Where did the king meet them? What was Tyler's conduct? How was he punished? Describe the conduct of Richard. And its effect. How did Richard break his promise?

3．What was Richard's character when he came into power? What two nobles quarrelled? How did Richard act? For how long did he banish them? What took place in Hereford's absence? What effect had it on Hereford? Where did he land? To what number did his followers increase? Where did he then go?

4．Where was Richard at this time? What did he find on his return? To whom did he surrender? Whither was he taken? What did he do there? In what castle was he murdered? In what year of his age?

5．In what style did he live? What great reformer lived in his reign? What literary work did Wycliffe do? What were his followers called?

6．What change took place in the English language during the Plantagenet Period? What was the state of learning? What was the population?

SCOTLAND

(1154 A. D. to 1370 A. D)

LEADING FEATURE:—Struggles for Independence crowned with success.

1．After the Battle of the Standard, Northumberland and Cumberland, which had previously been claimed by the Scottish kings, were secured to Scotland by treaty. This was done by Stephen, who was willing to buy off in this way a dangerous enemy.

But Henry II., taking advantage of the youth and weakness of Malcolm the Maiden, induced him to give up to England all claim to the northern counties (1165).

2．An attempt was made by William the Lion, Malcolm's brother and successor, to recover these counties in 1174. He led an army into England, but he was surprised and taken prisoner.

The wily Henry now resolved to push his success a step further. As the condition of his release, William was required not only to resign his claim to the northern counties, but also to swear fealty to the English king as Over-lord of Scotland. It was on this concession that Edward I. afterwards founded his claim to the lordship of Scotland; but when Richard of the Lion-Heart was in need of money for the Crusades, he gave it up for 10,000 marks.

3．When Alexander III, a boy of ten, went to York to marry Margaret the daughter of Henry III. (1251), the latter tried to extract from the boy king a promise of fealty. But this trick failed, either because the young king was too sharp, or because he was well advised by shrewd counsellors. So there is an end for the present to the English claims.

4．At this time, all the Scottish isles, from Shetland to the Isle of Man, were in the possession of Norsemen, who were as troublesome to Scotland as they had ever been to England or Ireland. In some places, as at Caithness, they had settled on the mainland; and they were always ready to join the enemies of the Scottish king, whether they were the English, or the wild Scots of Galloway, or the Highland Celts.

Alexander III. determined to subdue them. He sent a fleet and an army to the Hebrides, and all the chiefs who refused to own themselves vassals of the King of Scotland were driven out. They carried their complaints to Haco, King of Norway, their overlord; and he, ere long, entered the Firth of Clyde with a fleet of one hundred and sixty ships.

A storm drove many of them ashore near Largs; and when the Norsemen landed to rescue them, Alexander fell upon them, and drove them to their ships with terrible slaughter.

Thus were the Western Isles united to the Scottish crown; and there was peace between the Scots and the Norse, confirmed by the marriage of Alexander's daughter, Margaret, to Eric, the young King of Norway.

5．Unhappily for Scotland, this Alexander, who was a wise as well as a brave king, was cut off in the prime of his days. While riding along the Fife shore on a dark night, he fell over a cliff near Kinghorn, and was taken up dead (1286).

All his children had died before him; but one grandchild survived him—Margaret, the daughter of Eric of Norway. So this tender Maid of Norway (as she was called) became Queen of Scotland in the fourth year of her age.

Edward I. of England, who had lately revived the claim of his ancestors to the lordship of Scotland, proposed a marriage between his son and Margaret, with a view to the union of the two crowns.

A treaty was entered into for this purpose. But on her way from Norway to Scotland, the Maid of Norway died at Orkney (1290); and then began that struggle for the crown which laid Scotland for many years under the English yoke.

6．Twelve competitors for the Scottish crown now appeared, the chief of whom were Robert Bruce (the elder) and John Baliol. Edward got himself appointed umpire, and placed Baliol on the throne as a vassal of England.

By insults and annoyances, the over-lord soon contrived to goad his vassal into revolt; and he made this an excuse for overrunning Scotland with an army and subduing it to himself. Baliol was dethroned, and Scotland was placed in the hands of English governors.

7．But the Scots did not tamely submit to the English yoke. First, William Wallace arose to be the champion of Scottish independence. He defeated the English governor at Stirling Bridge in 1297. Soon not an English soldier remained north of the Tweed, and Wallace was elected Governor of Scotland.

For eight years, in spite of the coldness and jealousy of the old nobility, and the treachery of the English, he nobly maintained Scotland's cause. At last he was betrayed by a false friend, and hanged in London (1305).

8．Then Robert Bruce (the younger) claimed the crown. He had a rival in the Red Comyn. But Comyn made a secret compact with Bruce, to help him to secure the crown on condition of receiving Bruce's lands.

Comyn betrayed this compact to Edward. Bruce stabbed Comyn in the Greyfriars' Church at Dumfries. This rash deed of bloodshed committed Bruce to making Scotland's cause his own.

He was crowned at Scone in 1306. Reverses compelled him for a time to retire to the north of Ireland; but he soon returned, and by an unbroken series of successes, he recovered nearly the whole of Scotland. His work was made much easier by the death of Edward I. in 1307; and in a few years he expelled the English garrisons from every fortress in Scotland, except Stirling Castle alone.

Edward II. made a great effort to relieve Stirling; but the great victory of Bannockburn (1314) not only led to the surrender of Stirling, but completely broke the fetters with which, for upwards of twenty years, the English had held Scotland in bondage (see page 168).

The independence of Scotland was formally acknowledged by an English Parliament at York in 1328. In 1329, Robert Bruce died.

9．While Edward III. was engaged in his French war, David II. of Scotland, the Bruce's son, led an army into England. But Queen Philippa, marching northward, met him at Nevil's Cross, where he was not only beaten, but also made prisoner. He obtained his freedom, after a captivity of eleven years, by promising a very large ransom.

He tried to sell the independence of his country by making the English king his heir, in return for the remission of his ransom. But the Scottish people were so indignant and furious when they heard of the base bargain, that it had to be given up.

QUESTIONS

1．When were Northumberland and Cumberland annexed by treaty to Scotland? By whom were they regained for England?

2．Who attempted to recover them for Scotland? With what result? What was William obliged to do, besides resigning his claim to these counties? When and how was the English claim given up?

3．How did Henry III. try to recover it? With what success?

4．Who had possession of the Scottish isles at this time? How did they harass the Scottish kings? Who determined to subdue them? What did he therefore do? To whom did the expelled Danes complain? What did Haco do? Where was he defeated? How was the peace between the Scots and the Norsemen confirmed?

5．How did Alexander III. die? Who succeeded him? What proposal did the King of England make? What prevented its accomplishment? What struggle then began?

6．Who were the chief competitors? Who was made umpire? Whom did he place on the throne? On what condition? Why did Edward insult and annoy Baliol? What did he make that an excuse for? What were the consequences?

7．Who was the first champion of Scottish independence? Where did he defeat the English governor? How long did he maintain the struggle? What had he to encounter? What was his end?

8．Who was the second Scottish champion? Who was his rival for the crown? Why did Bruce stab Comyn? Where was Bruce crowned? What had he to do for a time? What made his work easier? What was the last English garrison in Scotland? Who made a great effort to relieve it? What battle was fought? With what result? When was the independence of Scotland formally acknowledged?

9．What befell David II.? How did he obtain his freedom? How did he try to escape from paying his ransom? What prevented this bargain from being completed?

IRELAND

(1154 A. D. to 1400 A. D)

LEADING FEATURE:—Internal Strife leading to English Intervention.

1．When Dermot, King of Leinster, was driven from his throne by O'Connor, he asked Henry II. to allow him to seek the aid of his subjects in order to recover it. Henry readily gave his consent, hoping there by to gain the island for himself.

The chief of the Englishmen who agreed to join Dermot were Fitzstephen, Fitzgerald, and Richard le Clare, Earl of Pembroke, surnamed Strongbow.

2．Dermot recovered his throne, but his English allies were loath to depart. He had promised to make Strongbow his heir, if he regained his crown; so Strongbow now married Eva, Dermot's daughter; and as Dermot died soon after, the English adventurer became master of Leinster, and prepared to extend his authority over all Ireland.

Henry II., jealous of the success of his own subjects, then crossed the sea, and spent a few months at Dublin, where he received homage from every part of the island except the north (1171-1172). Thus did the English power obtain its first footing in the island.

3．But Ireland was not yet wholly subdued. Not more than one-third of the country—chiefly the coasts on the east and south—owned English authority. This part of Ireland, called the Pale, was subjected to English law in the reign of King John.

4．A desperate but unsuccessful effort to recover their lost independence was made by the Prince of Connaught and O'Neill of Tyrone in the reign of Henry III.

The English barons settled in Ireland showed a brutal tyranny towards the natives, and a savage jealousy of each other. The latter feeling broke out into open strife in the time of Edward I., and the land was reduced to a most wretched condition.

5．Robert Bruce sympathized with the down-trodden Irish, and wished to see them freed from the English yoke. He therefore encouraged his brother Edward Bruce (1315) to invade Ulster at the head of 6000 men.

The Irish flocked to his banner, and he inflicted several severe defeats on the English. But he was defeated and slain at Fagher, near Dundalk; and the hopes of Ireland for delivery by Scottish help were at an end.

6．As the descendants of the first English settlers had come to be on friendly terms with the natives, it was resolved, in the reign of Edward III., to exclude the former from office, and to import a fresh set of Englishmen to fill their places.

A bitter feud thus arose between these new comers and the old English settlers, who naturally allied themselves with the native Irish.

This, as well as an Act called the Statute of Kilkenny, forbidding the English and Irish to intermarry, weakened very much the hold of the English upon Ireland; and of the twelve counties which formed the Pale under John, only four submitted to the English law under Edward III.

Richard II. made two attempts to re-establish the English authority in Ireland by force of arms, but he was only partially successful; and he returned to England on the second occasion to find himself discrowned.

QUESTIONS

1．What led the English to interfere in Irish affairs? Why did Henry II. agree to Dermot's request? Who were the chief Englishmen who joined him?

2．What was the result of the enterprise? What promise had Dermot made to Strongbow? How was it confirmed? Who then crossed to Ireland? What part of the country withheld its homage?

3．What part of the country chiefly owned English authority? What was it called? When was it subjected to English law?

4．Who made a determined effort to recover their independence? How did the English barons treat the natives? What feeling did they show towards each other? When did this lead to open strife?

5．Who sympathized with the Irish? Whom did he encourage to invade Ulster? In what year? With how many men? How was he received by the Irish? What was the result of the expedition?

6．Why were more Englishmen sent over to Ireland in Edward the Third's reign? What feud did this cause? Whom did the old English settlers join? What did the Statute of Kilkenny for bid? Of how many counties did the Pale then consist? How many in the reign of John? Who attempted to re-establish English authority in Ireland? With what success?

MEMORABLE DATES UNDER THE PLANTAGENETS PROPER

CHIEF AUTHORS OF THE EARLY PLANTAGENET PERIOD

JOHN GOWER—moral poet—died A. D. 1408.

GEOFFREY CHAUOER—father of English poetry—wrote Canterbury Tales —died A. D. 1400.

JOHN WYCLIFFE—first English Reformer—translated the Bible—died A. D. 1384.

JOHN BARBOUR—wrote The Acts of Robert Bruce, about A. D. 1376.

KNIGHTS TEMPLARS—TIME OF THE CRUSADES

————————————————————

(1) Van, front of his army.

(2) Wight, powerful.

(3) Basinet, a light helmet.

(4) Glove of Argentine, in token of his having accepted a challenge to fight him.

(5) Truncheon, a baton of office.

(6) Selle, saddle, or seat on horseback.

(7) Plantagenet, King Edward's family name.

(8) Tourney, tournament.

(9) The whiles, whilst.

LESSON 56

STORY OF SIR RICHARD ARKWRIGHT

SOMEWHERE about the year 1752, any one passing along a certain obscure alley in Preston, then a mere village, might have observed projecting from the entrance to the under-ground flat of one of the houses a blue and white pole, with a battered tin plate dangling at the end of it.

The object of the sign was to intimate that if any one wanted his hair cut, or his chin shaved, he had only to step down-stairs, and the owner of the sign would be delighted to accommodate him.

But Richard Arkwright, the owner of the pole and plate, had few opportunities of displaying his talents. He spent most of his time in whetting his razors on a long piece of leather, and in keeping the hot water and the soap ready for customers who seldom or never came.

As he sat one night, before tumbling into his trundlebed,(1) meditating on the hardness of the times, a bright idea struck him. If he could not get customers to come to him to be shaved for two-pence—then the standard charge—it occurred to him that they might be induced to try his powers if he asked a lower fee. Accordingly, the next morning the attractions of the sign-pole were enhanced,(2) by a staring placard, bearing the urgent invitation: —

Come to the

SUBTERRANEOUS(3) BARBER!

He Shaves for a Penny!!

As soon as this innovation(4) became known, we can fancy how indignant the fraternity were at the unprincipled conduct of one of their number—how they denounced(5) him, and prophesied his speedy ruin.

A number of people, tickled with the originality of the placard, and not unmindful of the penny saved, began to patronize the "Subterraneous Barber;" and he soon drew so many customers away from the higher-priced shops that they were obliged to come down, after a while, to a penny as well. Not to be outdone, Arkwright lowered his charge to a half-penny, and so retained his rank as the cheapest barber in the place.

Arkwright's parents had been very poor people; and as he was the youngest of a family of thirteen, it may be readily supposed that all the schooling he got was of the most meagre kind,—if, indeed, he ever was at school at all. He was of a very ardent temperament, however, and when he once took a thing in hand, he stubbornly persevered in carrying it through to the end.

About the year 1760, being then nearly thirty years of age, Arkwright got tired of the shaving, which brought him but a very scanty livelihood, and resolved to try his fortune in a trade where there was more scope for his activity. He therefore began business as a dealer in hair, travelling up and down the country to collect it, dressing it himself, and then disposing of it in a prepared state to the wig-makers.

He throve so well, that in a short time he was able to lay by a little money and to marry. He was very fond of spending what leisure time he had in making experiments in mechanics; and for a while he was very much taken up with an attempt to solve the attractive problem of perpetual motion. Although he of course left the question unsolved, the bent thus given to his thoughts had most valuable consequences.

Living in the midst of a manufacturing population, Arkwright was accustomed to hear daily complaints of the difficulty of procuring sufficient yarn to keep the looms employed, and of the restriction thus placed on the manufacture of cotton goods. Being of a mechanical turn, he was led to think how the difficulty might be lessened, if not got rid of altogether.

Arkwright, assisted by a clock-maker of the name of Kay, soon became so engrossed in his new task, and so confident of success, that he began to neglect his regular business. All his thoughts, and nearly all his time, were given up to the great work he had taken in hand. His trade fell off; he spent all his savings in buying materials for models, and in getting them put together; and he got into very poor circumstances.

His wife reasoned with him on what she considered his foolishness, but in vain; and one day, in a rage at what she believed to be the cause of all their privations,(6) she broke some of his models. Such an outrage was more than Arkwright could bear, and they separated.

In 1768, Arkwright, having completed the model of a machine for spinning cotton thread, removed to Preston. At this time he had hardly a penny in the world, and was almost in rags. On the occasion of a contested election, the party with whom he voted had to supply him with a decent suit of clothes before he could present himself at the polling-booth! He got leave, however, to set up his machine in the dwelling-house attached to the Free Grammar School; but, afraid of the hostility of the spinners, he thought it best to leave Lancashire, and go to Nottingham.

Poor and friendless, it may easily be supposed that Arkwright found it a hard matter to get any one to back him in a speculation which people then regarded as hopeless. He at length succeeded in convincing Messrs. Need and Strutt, stocking-weavers in the place, of the value of his invention, and induced them to enter into partnership with him. In 1769 he took out a patent for the spinning-frame as its inventor, and a mill, worked by horse-power, was erected for spinning cotton by the new machine.

In a year or two, the success of Arkwright's invention was fairly established. The manufacturers were fully alive to its importance; and Arkwright now reaped the reward of all the toil and danger he had undergone, in the shape of a disgraceful attempt to rob him of his patent rights.

Besides trying to defraud him, the rival manufacturers did their best to discountenance the use of the yarns he made, although they were much superior to those made by them. Arkwright retaliated by working up his own yarn into stockings and calicoes; which became a very profitable business.

For the first five years, Arkwright's mills yielded little or no profit; but after that, the adverse tide against which he had struggled so bravely turned, and he followed a prosperous and honourable career till his death. He died in 1792, leaving a fortune of about half a million sterling!

QUESTIONS

What was Arkwright's first trade? Where was his shop? About what time was that? What placard did he hang out one morning? With what result? What did the other barbers do? What did he then do? What trade did he next try? With what success? How did he spend his leisure time? What complaint did he often hear? What did he think of trying? Who joined him? Why did his wife leave him? Where did he go when he had completed his model? Why did he leave Preston? Where did he go? Who entered into partnership with him? How did the manufacturers try to injure him? What was the result of the first five years of his mills? What after that? When did he die? What fortune did he leave?

PRONUNCIATION

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(1) Trundle-bed, a low bed, on wheels.

(2) Enhanced, increased.

(3) Subterraneous, under-ground.

(4) Innovation, change in usual custom.

(5) Denounced, threatened.

(6) Privations, need; destitution.

LESSON 57

THE LEGEND OF THE HEART OF BRUCE

A GALLEY seeks the port of Sluys,(1)

And o'er the azure wave

Rode never bark more fair than she,

More royal and more brave.

The white sails swelling to the breeze

Are mirrored in those summer seas,

As ocean birds with snowy wing

O'er the blue deep their shadows fling;

And round the prow the dancing spray

Blushes to catch the sunny ray,

And melts in ambient(2) air away.

High on the prow a warrior band

In trim array are seen to stand;

Banner and pennon, sword and spear,

And mace and battle-axe are there;

And crested helm, and armour bright

Buckler(3) and baldric(4) richly dight.(5)

They do not come with sword and lance

To devastate the fields of France;

Nor, led by policy, resort

A mission to King Philip's(6) court:

They come not with rich merchandise

To seek the crowded mart;

But pilgrims to Jerusalem,

They bear King Robert's heart.

And chief among the gallant throng

Was Douglas—he for whom so long

Woke the wild harp of Scottish song;

Whom still a fond tradition names

With benison,(7) "The good Sir James."—

He was both bold and blithe of mood,

Of faith unstained, and lineage good;

Loyal of heart and free of hand

As any knight in Christian land;

Fair largess he to minstrels gave,

And loved the faithful and the brave.

So many graces did commend

The knight who was King Robert's friend.

*　*　*　*

For as in Cardross' sea-washed tower

He stood beside the bed

Whereon, in life's departing hour,

Was good King Robert laid, —

Whose failing breath and nerveless form

Bespoke him brother of the worm,

While visions of the days gone by

Flitted before his glazing eye,

And the old monarch's failing breath

Spoke of the fast approach of death—

Brave Douglas kissed the feeble hand

That once had fought for fair Scotland,

And pledged his knightly word

That he the Bruce's heart would bear

Unto the Holy Sepulchre

Of our most blessed Lord.

[Alphonso, King of Castile, induced the Douglas to fight with him against the Moors of Granada.]

On rushed the Douglas—never knight

More valiant sought the field of fight.

Amidst the fray his snowy crest

Danced like the foam on ocean's breast:

Like lightning brand his broad-sword flashed,

And foemen bent and helmets crashed!

With stalwart arm and giant form

He charged like spirit of the storm!

And, as upon the mountain side,

So late the trackless forest's pride,

Uprooted by the wintry blast,

The prostrate sapling oaks are cast;

So where he spread his dread career

Bent Moslem(8) crest and Moslem spear;

While ever ‘midst the melee,(9) high

And clear pealed forth his battle cry.

It seemed, indeed, a spell of power

Nerved Douglas' arm that fatal hour;

For, lo! to his faithful bosom pressed,

In its jewelled casket of orient gold,

The heart that once throbbed in the Bruce's breast

Was borne into fight by that baron bold.

Marvel ye, then, that his arm was strong?

That he humbled the pride of the Moslem throng?

That where'er he turned, from his dreaded track

The Moors, in their wild dismay, drew back?

*　*　*　*

Pass on, brave heart, as thou wert wont

The embattled hosts before:

Douglas will die or follow thee

To conquest, as of yore!"

They met, they closed; dread was the strife—

More dear the gage(10) than fame or life:

There, foot to foot, and h and to hand,

They stood opposed, and brand crossed brand!

Steel rang on steel—the war-steeds' tread

Trampled the dying and the dead;

The lurid clouds of dust on high

Rose eddying to the darkened sky;

The vulture snuffed the scent of blood,

And, screaming, roused her loathsome brood.

But the pale Crescent(11) waned—the host

Of Osmyn(12) saw the battle lost;

And loath to fly, but forced to yield,

Abandoned sullenly the field.

Where was the Douglas? —On the plain

They found him, ‘midst the heap of slain,

Faithful in death, his good right hand

Held with firm grasp his broken brand:

While, o'er the sacred casket laid,

A bulwark of his corse he made.

And deem ye not, though fallen there,

The dying Douglas breathed a prayer

For that far land he loved the best, —

The land where Bruce's ashes rest; —

For Scotland's worth, and Scotland's weal;

For truth to guide, for peace to heal;

For freedom and for equal laws,

And men to strive for freedom's cause?

The fane(13) is fallen, the rite is o'er,

The choral anthem peals no more;

The moonbeam strays through nave and aisle,

And the verdant ivy clings round the pile.

It recks(14) not—like dew ‘neath the sunny ray,

The crumbling fabric may pass away;

It recks not—for deep in the patriot's breast

The names of his country's heroes rest;

And a thrill of pride it will aye impart,

That Scottish earth wraps the prince's heart.

—LADY FLORA HASTINGS

QUESTIONS

What was Bruce's dying request to Lord James Douglas? Where did Douglas fight on his way to Palestine? What befell him there? How did he address the royal heart, before he fell? Where was the casket found after the battle? Where was it at last deposited?

DICTATION

King Robert Bruce, on his death-bed, at Cardross on the Clyde, charged Lord Douglas to bury his heart in Jerusalem. Douglas, faithful to his promise, sailed for the Holy Land; but on the Spanish plains, near Gibraltar, he died in battle with the Moors.

When he saw that death was certain, he threw the king's heart among the enemy, crying, "Pass first in fight, as thou wert wont to do, and Douglas will follow thee or die."

————————————————————

(1) Sluys, a port in Holland.

(2) Ambient, surrounding.

(3) Buckler, shield.

(4) Baldric, belt.

(5) Dight, adorned.

(6) Philip of Valois, King of France.

(7) Benison, blessing.

(8) Moslem, Mussulman, or Mohammedan.

(9) Melee, a confused fight.

(10) Gage, pledge; namely, the royal heart.

(11) Crescent, the emblem of the Turkish power.

(12) Osmyn, the Moorish King or Sultan of Granada.

(13) Fane, temple: Melrose Abbey, in which the heart of Bruce was buried.

(14) Recks, matters.

LESSON 58

THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN

IT was the afternoon of a September day, and the forest leaves were already touched with the first tints of autumn, when Julius Caesar's fleet of eighty ships drew up off the shore of Kent. The natives lined the beach with horse, foot, and chariots, and stood prepared to defend their island home. The Roman soldiers, clad as they were in heavy plate-armour of brass, and afraid of being struck down before they could gain firm footing, hesitated to leap into the water.

Caesar opened on the Britons a heavy discharge of stones and darts from the engines(1) used in sieges, which his galleys(2) had on board. This made the enemy give back a little. Still the soldiers hesitated to leap from the ships. Then the standard-bearer of the tenth legion,(3) crying "Leap, comrades, unless you wish to see your standard taken by the enemy!" sprang overboard, and began to carry forward the standard.

Roused by his example, the whole twelve thousand soldiers dashed at once into the sea. The Britons met them in the water. A fierce and deadly struggle took place, and much brave blood reddened the waves. Gradually the Romans fought their way to land. They formed and charged, and the terrible rush of their disciplined battalions swept the Britons before them.

This was the beginning of the Roman invasion of Britain. Nearly a century and a half passed after this, however, before they invaded Scotland. Up to the year 80 after Christ, while nearly the whole of England had been reduced to the condition of a Roman province, the Romans possessed no land north of the Solway Firth.

In that year, Agricola, governor of the province, led an army across the border, and began to hew his way into the Caledonian forests. The wary general advanced slowly, and secured his ground as he advanced, by building forts in commanding situations. The native tribes struggled bravely against the formidable invader, but having little union or combination among themselves, they were taken singly, and overcome in detail.

ROMAN SOLDIER

The Romans carried on their operations with merciless vigour. Tacitus, Agricola's son-in-law, who writes an account of his life, tells us that it was his policy to overcome the Britons by the terror of his ravages. We understand what that means.

Yonder, for example, in a forest clearing,(4) is a native village, fenced with its ditch and stockade(5) of posts. It has children playing, cattle feeding, and patches of growing corn. The women sing the quern-song as they grind the meal for the evening repast in the quern(6) or hand-mill. Some of the men are doing a little smith-work, or bit of homely carpentry; others are away hunting.

Suddenly, at the edge of the forest, there is a gleam as of the sun's rays on polished metal. A body of armed men, sheathed in brass, issue from the wood, and sweep across the clearing, their burnished mail flashing as they go. The lightsome quern-song changes into shrieks of terror. The villagers close the gate of their stockade, and grasp their bows. The arrows shot through the openings of the posts rattle vainly against the strong plate-armour of the assailants. The gate goes down before the strokes of the axe; sword and torch do the rest. The cattle are driven away, and the crops destroyed.

The village hunters, alarmed by the smoke seen rising high over the forest, hasten back, and find a waste of blackened ruin, with the women and children wailing over the slain.

Yonder, again, is a British hill-fort. It is provided with ditch and rampart, and the natives have gathered their families and most valuable effects into it for security. The Romans have come to the foot of the hill, and prepare to carry the fort by storm. They form a "tortoise" as they called it; that is to say, they advance to the attack covered with their great shields, overlapping each other like the plates in the shell of the tortoise, or as slates do on a roof.

THE "TORTOISE."

They take their way up the hill with swift and firm tread. The shower of darts and arrows, from the rampart above, falls harmless on the roof of shields. The defenders loosen a block of stone on the hill-top, and roll it over. The mass comes thundering down, crashes through the "tortoise," and leaves behind it a ghastly and bloody lane. The stern assailants close up their cleft roof without delaying their rapid advance for a moment. They reach the ditch, push planks and ladders across it, storm over the rampart, and put the defenders to the sword to the last man.

Such, no doubt, was the style of the Roman doings. In three of these stern campaigns Agricola penetrated to the Firths of Forth and Clyde. These two arms of the sea run so far inland that the distance between them, from water to water, is less than forty miles. Across this neck of land Agricola built a chain of forts at regular intervals. This line of fortified posts was meant to defend the conquered territory against the warlike tribes of the north.

Dreading an attack from the northern tribes, Agricola resolved to strike them within their own bounds. Leaving his fortified line, and crossing the Forth at Queensferry, he advanced northward through Fife. The clans rose for the defence of their country against the fierce people whose lust of dominion had brought them so far; and they put a chief named Galgacus at their head.

What manner of man he was who has come down to us under this name, what life he lived, or what death he died, we have no means of knowing; but the man around whom these old clans gathered, to bleed and die for country and freedom, must have had in him some of the stuff of which heroes are made.

The Romans found the Caledonian army drawn up on the moor of Ardoch, in Perthshire, at the foot of the Grampian mountains (A. D. 84). Tacitus says that they were 30,000 strong—the Romans 26,000. The Caledonians fought with desperate courage, but the vastly superior discipline and arms of the Romans gave them every advantage.

They fought with a large, oblong shield, and a short, heavy sword, formed either to thrust or to cut. The Caledonians fought with small, round shields, and long, heavy swords without a point. The mighty downward stroke of the Caledonian sword was received on the upper edge of the Roman shield. Pushing it up, the Roman plunged his short keen sword into the body of his adversary.

The Caledonians were defeated with great slaughter. Night alone put a stop to the carnage. Next morning 10,000 dead lay on the face of the moor. Agricola led back his army to the south. Then, when the retiring host was out of sight, the natives would venture down to search for their dead on the field of slaughter. The raven beat his wings and croaked hoarsely when disturbed in his feast; and the wolf looked up and growled fiercely when the widow tried to scare him from the corpse of her husband.

—Mackenzie

QUESTIONS

At what part of the coast did Julius Caesar land? Why did the Roman soldiers hesitate to leave their ships? Who was the first to leap into the water? Where did a fierce struggle take place? What gave the Romans the advantage? How long was it after that before they invaded Scotland? Under what governor? What was his policy for overcoming the Britons? Describe an attack on a native village; and on a hill-fort. How far did Agricola penerate into Scotland? How did he defend the conquered territory? In what great battle did he afterwards defeat the North Britons? Where is Ardoch? Who was the British leader?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Julius Caesar, during an interval in his Gallic Wars, invaded Britain first in B. C. 55. He returned in the following year: but the Romans did not plant themselves firmly in the island till the time of Agricola, A. D. 78-87.

————————————————————

(1) Engines, military machines for throwing missiles.

(2) Galleys, low flat-built boats navigated with oars.

(3) Legion, a body of infantry, of from three to five thousand men.

(4) Clearing, a space cleared of trees.

(5) Stockade, fence made of stakes.

(6) Quern, a flour-mill turned by the hand.

LESSON 59

BOADICEA

When the British warrior Queen,

Bleeding from the Roman rods,

Sought, with an indignant mien,(1)

Counsel of her country's gods:

Sage beneath a spreading oak

Sat the Druid,(2) hoary chief;

Every burning word he spoke

Full of rage and full of grief: —

"Princess! if our aged eyes

Weep upon thy matchless wrongs,

‘Tis because resentment ties

All the terrors of our tongues.

"Rome shall perish! —write that word

In the blood that she has spilt!

Perish, hopeless and abhorred,

Deep in ruin as in guilt.

"Rome, for empire far renowned,

Tramples on a thousand states;

Soon her pride shall kiss the ground—

Hark! the Gaul is at her gates!

"Other Romans shall arise,

Heedless of a soldier's name;

Sounds, not arms, shall win the prize,

Harmony(3) the path to fame.

"Then the progeny(4) that springs

From the forests of our land,

Armed with thunder, clad with wings,

Shall a wider world command.

"Regions Caesar never knew,

Thy posterity shall sway;

Where his eagles never flew—

None invincible as they." —

Such the bard's prophetic words,

Pregnant with celestial fire,

Bending as he swept the chords

Of his sweet but awful lyre.

She, with all a monarch's pride,

Felt them in her bosom glow;

Rushed to battle, fought, and died, —

Dying, hurled them at the foe:

"Ruffians! pitiless as proud,

Heaven awards the vengeance due;

Empire is on us bestowed, —

Shame and ruin wait for you!"

—COWPER

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Boadicea, Queen of the lceni, was shamefully scourged by the Romans, though her husband, at his death, had left them half his wealth.

She raised an army, to avenge her wrongs and deliver the country. London was reduced to ashes, and seventy thousand Romans were massacred.

The Roman general avenged this cruelty in a great battle, in which eighty thousand Britons were killed.

Boadicea poisoned herself, rather than fall into the hands of her enemies.

————————————————————

(1) Mien, bearing; manner.

(2) Druid, one of the priests of the ancient Britons; so called because they worshipped under the oak.

(3) Harmony, the musical art.

(4) Progeny, race; descendants.

LESSON 60

ARCHERY IN THE OLDEN TIME

I．

"THE yeomen and commons," said De Bracy, "must not be dismissed discontented, for lack of their share in the sports."

"The day," said Waldemar, "is not yet very far spent—let the archers shoot a few rounds at the target, and the prize be adjudged. This will be an abundant fulfilment of the prince's promises, so far as this herd of Saxon serfs(1) is concerned."

"I thank thee, Waldemar," said the prince; "thou remindest me, too, that I have a debt to pay to that insolent peasant who yesterday insulted our person."

The sound of the trumpets soon recalled those spectators who had already begun to leave the field; and proclamation was made that Prince John, suddenly called by high and peremptory(2) public duties, held himself obliged to discontinue the entertainments of to-morrow's festival; nevertheless, that, unwilling so many good yeomen should depart without a trial of skill, he was pleased to appoint them, before leaving the ground, presently to execute the competition of archery intended for the morrow. To the best archer a prize was to be awarded, being a bugle-horn mounted with silver, and a silken baldric(3) richly ornamented with a medallion of Saint Hubert, the patron of silvan(4) sport.

More than thirty yeomen at first presented themselves as competitors, several of whom were rangers and under-keepers in the royal forests of Needwood and Charnwood. When, however, the archers understood with whom they were to be matched, upwards of twenty withdrew themselves from the contest, unwilling to encounter the dishonour of almost certain defeat. For in those days the skill of each celebrated marksman was as well known, for many miles around him, as the qualities of a horse trained at Newmarket are familiar to those who frequent that well-known meeting.

The diminished list of competitors for silvan fame still amounted to eight. Prince John stepped from his royal seat to view more closely the persons of these chosen yeomen, several of whom wore the royal livery. Having satisfied his curiosity by this investigation, he looked for the object of his resentment, whom he observed standing on the same spot, and with the same composed countenance which he had exhibited upon the preceding day.

"Fellow," said Prince John, "I guessed by thy insolent babble thou wert no true lover of the longbow, and I see thou darest not adventure thy skill among such merry-men as stand yonder."

"Under favour, sir," replied the yeoman, "I have another reason for refraining to shoot, besides fearing discomfiture(5) and disgrace."

"And what is thy other reason?" said Prince John, who, for some cause which perhaps he could not himself have explained, felt a painful curiosity respecting this individual.

"Because," replied the woodsman, "I know not if these yeomen and I are used to shoot at the same marks; and because, moreover, I know not how your Grace might relish the winning of a third prize by one who has unwittingly fallen under your displeasure."

Prince John coloured as he put the question, "What is thy name, yeoman?"

"Locksley," answered the yeoman.

"Then, Locksley," said Prince John, "thou shalt shoot in thy turn, when these yeomen have displayed their skill. If thou carriest the prize, I will add to it twenty nobles(6); but if thou losest it, thou shalt be stripped of thy Lincoln green, and scourged out of the lists with bow-strings, for a wordy and insolent braggart(7)."

"And how if I refuse to shoot on such a wager?" said the yeoman. —"Your Grace's power, supported as it is by so many men-at-arms, may indeed easily strip and scourge me, but cannot compel me to bend or to draw my bow."

"If thou refusest my fair proffer," said the prince, "the provost of the lists shall cut thy bow-string, break thy bow and arrows, and expel thee from the presence as a faint-hearted craven(8)."

"This is no fair chance you put on me, proud prince," said the yeoman, "to compel me to peril myself against the best arches of Leicester and Staffordshire, under the penalty of infamy if they should over-shoot(9) me. Nevertheless, I will obey your pleasure."

A target was placed at the upper end of the southern avenue which led to the lists. The contending archers took their station in turn at the bottom of the southern access; the distance between that station and the mark allowing full scope for what was called a shot at rovers. The archers, having previously determined by lot their order of precedence, were to shoot each three shafts in succession. The sports were regulated by an officer of inferior rank, termed the Provost of the Games; for the high rank of the marshals of the lists would have been held degraded had they condescended to superintend the sports of the yeomanry.

—SIR WALTER SCOTT

QUESTIONS

Why were the sports to be discontinued? What did Waldemar propose? What prize was to be given to the best archer? How many competitors were there at first? Why did a number withdraw? How many remained? Whom did Prince John then address? What reasons did he give for not competing? What was his name? On what terms was he ordered to compete? What mark was set for them to shoot at? Who superintended the sports?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The great pastime of the people in Norman England was archery. They were even bound by royal proclamation to practise it on Sundays and holy-days, after divine service.

————————————————————

(1) Serfs, vassals; slaves.

(2) Peremptory, positive; unavoidable.

(3) Baldric, belt or girdle.

(4) Silvan, belonging to the woods.

(5) Discomfiture, defeat.

(6) Noble, a gold coin, value 6s. 8d.

(7) Braggart, boaster.

(8) Craven, coward.

(9) Over-shoot, shoot better than; excel in shooting.

LESSON 61

ARCHERY IN THE OLDEN TIME

II．

ONE by one the archers, stepping forward, delivered their shafts yeoman-like and bravely. Of twenty-four arrows, shot in succession, ten were fixed in the target; and the others ranged so near it, that, considering the distance of the mark, it was accounted good archery. Of the ten shafts which hit the target, two, within the inner ring were shot by Hubert, a forester in the service of Malvoisin; who was accordingly pronounced victorious.

"Now, Locksley," said Prince John to the bold yeoman, with a bitter smile, "wilt thou try conclusions with Hubert, or wilt thou yield up bow, baldric, and quiver to the provost of the sports?"

"Sith(1) it be no better," said Locksley, "I am content to try my fortune, on condition that when I have shot two shafts at yonder mark of Hubert's, he shall be bound to shoot one at that which I shall propose."

"That is but fair," answered Prince John, "and it shall not be refused thee. —If thou dost beat this braggart, Hubert, I will fill the bugle with silver pennies for thee."

"A man can do but his best," answered Hubert; "but my grandsire drew a good long-bow at Hastings, and I trust not to dishonour his memory."

The former target was now removed, and a fresh one of the same size placed in its room. Hubert, who, as victor in the first trial of skill, had the right to shoot first, took his aim with great deliberation, long measuring the distance with his eye, while he held in his hand his bended bow, with the arrow placed on the string.

At length he made a step forward, and raising the bow at the full stretch of his left arm, till the centre or grasping-place was nigh level with his face, he drew his bow-string to his ear. The arrow whistled through the air, and lighted within the inner ring of the target, but not exactly in the centre.

"You have not allowed for the wind, Hubert," said his antagonist, bending his bow, "or that had been a better shot."

So saying, and without showing the least anxiety to pause upon his aim, Locksley stepped to the appointed station, and shot his arrow as carelessly, in appearance, as if he had not even looked at the mark. He was speaking almost at the instant that the shaft left the bow-string, yet it alighted in the target two inches nearer to the white spot which marked the centre than that of Hubert.

Hubert resumed his place, and, not neglecting the caution which he had received from his adversary, he made the necessary allowance for a very light air of wind which had just arisen, and shot so successfully that his arrow alighted in the very centre of the target.

"A Hubert! a Hubert!" shouted the populace, more interested in a known person than in a stranger. "In the clout!(2) in the clout! —a Hubert for ever!"

"Thou canst not mend that shot, Locksley," said the prince, with an insulting smile.

"I will notch his shaft for him, however," replied Locksley. And letting fly his arrow with a little more precaution than before, it lighted right upon that of his competitor, which it split to shivers! The people who stood around were so astonished at his wonderful dexterity, that they could not even give vent to their surprise in their usual clamour. "Who can this be?" whispered the yeomen to each other; "such archery was never seen since a bow was first bent in Britain."

"And now," said Locksley, "I will crave your Grace's permission to plant such a mark as is used in the North Country, and welcome every brave yeoman who shall try a shot at it."

He then turned to leave the lists. "Let your guards attend me," he said, "if you please—I go but to cut a rod from the next willow bush."

Prince John made a signal that some attendants should follow him in case of his escape; but the cry of "Shame! shame!" which burst from the multitude, induced him to alter his ungenerous purpose.

Locksley returned almost instantly with a willow wand about six feet in length, perfectly straight, and rather thicker than a man's thumb. He began to peel this with great composure, observing, at the same time, that to ask a good woodsman to shoot at a target so broad as had hitherto been used was to put shame upon his skill.

"For his own part," he said, "and in the land where he was bred, men would as soon take for their mark King Arthur's round-table, which held sixty knights around it. A child of seven years old," he said, "might hit yonder target with a headless shaft; but," added he, walking deliberately to the other end of the lists, and sticking the willow wand upright in the ground, "he that hits that rod at five-score yards, I call him an archer fit to bear both bow and quiver before a king, though it were the stout King Richard himself."

"My grandsire," said Hubert, "drew a good bow at the Battle of Hastings, and never shot at such a mark in his life—and neither will I. If this yeoman can cleave that rod, I give him the bucklers,(3) —or rather, I yield to the Evil One that is in him, and not to any human skill: a man can but do his best, and I will not shoot where I am sure to miss. I might as well shoot at the edge of our parson's whittle,(4) or at a wheat straw, or at a sunbeam, as at a twinkling white streak which I can hardly see."

"Cowardly dog!" said Prince John. —"Sirrah Locksley, do thou shoot; but if thou hittest such a mark, I will say thou art the first man that ever did so. Howe'er it be, thou shalt not crow over us with a mere show of superior skill."

"I will do my best, as Hubert says," answered Locksley; "no man can do more."

So saying, he again bent his bow, but on the present occasion looked with attention to his weapon, and changed the string, which he thought was no longer truly round, having been a little frayed by the two former shots. He then took his aim with some deliberation, and the multitude awaited the event in breathless silence. The archer vindicated their opinion of his skill; —his arrow split the willow rod against which it was aimed! A jubilee(5) of acclamations followed; and even Prince John, in admiration of Locksley's skill, lost for an instant his dislike to his person.

"These twenty nobles," he said, "which, with the bugle, thou hast fairly won, are thine own; we will make them fifty, if thou wilt take livery and service with us as a yeoman of our body-guard, and be near to our person. For never did so strong a hand bend a bow, or so true an eye direct a shaft."

"Pardon me, noble prince," said Locksley; "but I have vowed, that if I ever took service it should be with your royal brother, King Richard. These twenty nobles I leave to Hubert, who has this day drawn as brave a bow as his grandsire did at Hastings. Had his modesty not refused the trial, he would have hit the wand as well as I."

Hubert shook his head as he received with reluctance the bounty of the stranger; and Locksley, anxious to escape further observation, mixed with the crowd, and was seen no more.

—SIR WALTER SCOTT

QUESTIONS

Who was pronounced victorious? On what condition did Locksley agree to compete with him? Where did Hubert's first arrow light? Where did Locksley's? And Hubert's second? And Locksley's second? What mark did the latter then set up? What did Hubert say when asked to shoot at it? What success had Locksley? What offer did Prince John then make to him? What did he reply? What did he do with the twenty nobles?

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(1) Sith, since.

(2) Clout, the centre of the target.

(3) Bucklers, the baldric, &c., forming the prize.

(4) Whittle, a small knife.

(5) Jubilee, a general shout.

LESSON 62

JESSIE OF LUCKNOW

[The incident on which this spirited picce is founded is said to have occurred while the British were besieged in Lucknow, during the Indian Mutiny, and when despair was at its height. Jessie Brown, the wife of a corporal, had all through the siege been in a state of high excitement, and was labouring under a constant fever. "At last," says the lady correspondent of the Pays, "she lay down on the ground and fell into a profound slumber, her head resting in my lap. I myself could no longer resist the inclination to sleep, in spite of the continual roar of cannon. Suddenly I was aroused by a wild, unearthly scream, close to my ear. My companion stood upright beside me, her arms raised, and her head bent forward in the attitude of listening. A look of intense delight broke over her countenance. She grasped my hand, drew me towards her, and exclaimed, ‘Dinna ye hear it? dinna ye hear it? Ay, I'm no dreamin': it's the slogan o' the Highlanders! We're saved! we're saved!' " —It is to be regretted that subsequent information threw discredit on this romantic story; yet even with this drawback the editor cannot refrain from inserting the poem.]

IN her veins the red river is fast running high,

The bale-fire(1) of fever is lit in her eye;

And by Reason unmastered her truant(2) thoughts roam—

Roam o'er the ocean-wave, back to her home.

There, where the gowan-gem(3) spangles the lea;(4)

There, where the laughing burn(5) flits to the sea;

There is she waiting the set of the sun,

For the ploughman's return when the ploughing is done!

"Wake me," she said, "when the ploughing is done,

And my father returns at the set of the sun."

Wrapped in her Highland plaid, sunk on the sod,

She's asleep—she is still—Is her spirit with God?

Breathless and motionless, there doth she lie,

While the boom of the battle-field hurtles(6) on high;

And still as she lies, round the walls of the dwelling

All wildly a host of black demons is yelling.

Why springs she from earth as the hind from her lair!

What meaneth that scream as an eagle's in air?

"Dinna ye(7) hear it? What! dinna ye hear?

O God, we are saved! for the clansmen are near."

Was it only an echo borne down on the air?

Was it only the hope that is born of despair?

Was it only the dream that delirium(8) may bring,

When the wild brood of fancy is all on the wing?

Was it only— ‘Tis false! She's awake! She is sane! —

"What! dinna ye hear it? I hear it again!

‘Tis the pibroch(9) Diarmid played ages ago—

‘Tis the slogan(10) Clan Alpine still hurls on the foe!

The Campbells are coming! M‘Gregor is near! —

Oh! dinna ye hear it yet? dinna ye hear?"

They are come, the avengers! Their bayonets gleam!

It was not delirium, it was not a dream.

They are come! they are come! Of that Highland array

Is it maid, is it matron, that pointeth the way?

Shamed, outraged, maimed, murdered, their phantoms arise,

But shrink in their shame from their countrymen's eyes!

By each warrior's side a child-cherub hath stood,

And it pointeth—"its bright hair" all "dabbled with blood;"

And the bayonet gleams, and with yell of despair,

At each thrust a swart(11) demon flies back to his lair.

—PROFESSOR WEBB

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The Mutiny at Lucknow broke out on May 30, 1857. The British besieged in the Residency were joined by Havelock and Outram on Sept. 23. The garrison was finally rescued by Sir Colin Campbell on Nov. 17.

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(1) Bale-fire, signal-fire.

(2) Truant, wandering.

(3) Gowan-gem (Sc.), the daisy.

(4) Lea, meadow.

(5) Burn (Sc), streamlet.

(6) Hurtles, sounds loudly, clashes.

(7) Dinna ye (Sc.), do you not.

(8) Delirium, raving.

(9) Pibroch, the martial music of the Scottish bagpipe.

(10) Slogan (Sc.), war-cry, gathering-word.

(11) Swart, black.

LESSON 63

THE FALLS OF NIAGARA

THE most striking feature of North America is the vast chain of lakes which separates Canada from the United States.

Lake Superior, the greatest of these inland seas, is the largest body of fresh water in the world. The four other principal lakes are, Lakes Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario; from the last of which issues the noble river St. Lawrence, which runs an uninterrupted course of seven hundred miles before it reaches the Atlantic. There is thus a continuous current from the most remote tributary of Lake Superior to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a distance of more than two thousand miles.

Lakes Erie and Ontario are united by the river Niagara, the length of which is thirty-three and a half miles. On this river, about twenty miles from Lake Erie, the celebrated Falls are situated.

The Niagara, as it leaves Lake Erie, is three quarters of a mile in width. Before reaching the falls it is one mile broad, and twenty-five feet deep, and flows with great swiftness. An island, on the verge of the cataract, divides it into two sheets of water. One of these, called from its shape the Horse-shoe Fall, is six hundred yards wide and one hundred and fifty-eight feet in height. The other, called the American Fall, is two hundred yards wide and one hundred and sixty-four feet high.

About once in ten years—generally in January or in the beginning of February—the ice at the foot of the falls makes a complete bridge from the one shore to the other. A great frozen mass, of irregular shape, is formed on the edge next to the cataract, from blocks of ice being forced under the surface and raising it up, and from the accumulation(1) of frozen spray.

When this breaks up in the spring, the crashing of the several fragments, driven together by the force of the waters, rivals the noise of the falls themselves. In a mild winter, the ice of Lake Erie sometimes breaks up, and large pieces float over the falls. These are smashed to atoms, and rise to the surface in immense quantities of a substance like wetted snow. A severe night's frost binds this into a solid mass, and forms a large portion of the bridge.

The rise and fall of the great body of the water is very slight at any season; but, as you watch the plunging stream, it seems to tumble down sometimes in gushes, as if every now and then an additional influence came into play.

About the centre of the Horse-shoe, or Canadian Fall, there is a clear, unbroken spout of water, twenty feet in depth before its leap. For seventy feet below, it continues deep, and of a pure blue; presently it becomes shrouded in a soft spray, which waves like a plume in the wind, at times tinted with all the colours of the rainbow. When the weather is very calm, this beautiful mist rises to a great height into the air, becoming finer by degrees, till at last it is no longer perceptible.(2)

There is already a list of fearful accidents at this place, though frequented by civilized man for so short a time. The last few years have been fertile in them. Perhaps the most frightful of all was one which happened in May 1843.

A Canadian villager was engaged in dragging sand from the river three miles above the falls. Seated in his cart, he backed the horses into the water, ignorant of the depth. The cart sank; but a box on which he sat floated, and was soon driven by a high wind from the land into the strong but smooth current. He was unable to swim, but he clung to the box.

A boat was on the shore; but, by the mismanagement of the bystanders, it was let loose into the stream, and floated past the unhappy man, empty and useless. There was no other for two miles lower down. Beyond that point aid was impossible.

The people on the banks, instead of hastening to get a boat ready to meet him lower down, ran along the shore talking to him of help, which their stupidity rendered of no avail. He knew that he was doomed. "I'm lost! I'm lost!" sounded fainter and fainter as the distance widened.

This dreadful protraction(3) lasted nearly an hour, the current being very slow. At first he scarcely appears to move; but the strength of the current increases, the waters become more troubled, he spins about in the eddies, still clinging with the energy of despair to his support. He passes close to an island—so close, that the box touches and stops for one moment; but the next it twists slowly round, and is sucked into the current again.

The last hope is that a boat may be ready on the shore at his native village. It is vain; there are none there but frail canoes, and these are all high up on the bank. By the time that one of them is launched, the boldest boatman dares not embark.

Just above the falls, they see the devoted(4)victim whirled round and round in the foaming waves, appealing for aid with frantic(5)gestures. His frightful screams pierce through the dull roar of the torrent— "I'm lost! I'm lost!"

He is now in the smooth flood of blue unbroken water, twenty feet in depth, in the centre of the Canadian Fall. Yet another moment, and he has loosed his hold. His hands are clasped, as if in prayer; his voice is silent. Smoothly, but quickly, as an arrow's flight, he glides over, and is seen no more, nor any trace of him from that time.

—WARBURTON

QUESTIONS

Out of what lake does the river Niagara flow? What is its breadth as it leaves the lake? How broad does it become before reaching the falls? and how deep? What divides the cataract into two parts? What are they called? How wide is the Horse-shoe Fall? and how high? How wide is the American Fall? and how high? What sometimes forms a bridge at the foot of the falls? How often does this occur? At what point is the water resolved into a beautiful mist? To whom did the frightful accident in 1843 happen? How did it occur? On what was the man carried down the stream? What mistake did the people on shore make? What was his last act?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The cataract of Niagara is divided into two parts by an island on its verge.

One of these, called from its shape the Horse-shoe Fall, is six hundred yards wide and one hundred and fifty-eight feet in height.

The other, called the American Fall, is two hundred yards wide and one hundred and sixty-four feet high.

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(1) Accumulation, collection; heaping up.

(2) Perceptible, able to be seen.

(3) Protraction, drawing out; prolonging of misery.

(4) Devoted, doomed.

(5) Frantic, wild; mad-like.

LESSON 64

TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW

IF Fortune, with a smiling face,

Strew roses on our way,

When shall we stoop to pick them up? —

To-day, my friend, to-day.

But should she frown with face of care,

And talk of coming sorrow,

When shall we grieve, if grieve we must? —

To-morrow, friend, to-morrow.

If those who have wronged us own their fault

And kindly pity pray,

When shall we listen and forgive? —

To-day, my friend, to-day.

But if stern justice urge rebuke,

And warmth from memory borrow,

When shall we chide, if chide we dare? —

To-morrow, friend, to-morrow.

If those to whom we owe a debt

Are harmed unless we pay,

When shall we struggle to be just? —

To-day, my friend, to-day.

But if our debtor fail our hope,

And plead his ruin thorough.

When shall we weigh his breach of faith? —

To-morrow, friend, to-morrow.

For virtuous acts and harmless joys

The minutes will not stay; —

We have always time to welcome them

To-day, my friend, to-day.

But care, resentment,(1) angry words,

And unavailing(2) sorrow,

Come far too soon, if they appear

To-morrow, friend, to-morrow.

—CHARLES MACKAY

QUESTIONS

When should we gather Fortune's roses? When grieve over her cares? When should we forgive the penitent? When should we chide them? When strive to pay our debts? When blame our debtor? When welcome virtuous acts and harmless joys? Mention the different things we should do to-day, and to-morrow. What things come too soon to-morrow?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

For virtuous acts and harmless joys

The minutes will not stay; —

We have always time to welcome them

To-day, my friend, to-day.

But care, resentment, angry words,

And unavailing sorrow,

Come far too soon, if they appear

To-morrow, friend, to-morrow.

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(1) Resentment, anger; wrath.

(2) Unavailing, useless; vain.

LESSON 65

AN ICEBERG

AT twelve o'clock we went below, and had just got through dinner, when the cook put his head down the scuttle,(1) and told us to come on deck and see the finest sight that we had ever seen.

"Where away, cook?" asked the first man who went up. "On the larboard(2)bow." And there lay, floating in the ocean several miles off, an immense irregular mass, its top and points covered with snow, and its centre of a deep indigo colour. This was an iceberg, one of the largest size, as one of our men said who had been in the Northern Ocean.

As far as the eye could reach, the sea in every direction was of a deep blue colour, the waves running high and fresh, and sparkling in the light; and in the midst lay this immense mountain-island, its cavities and valleys thrown into deep shade, and its points and pinnacles glittering in the sun.

All hands were soon on deck looking at it, and admiring in various ways its beauty and grandeur; but no description can give any idea of the strangeness, splendour, and real sublimity of the sight.

Its great size—for it must have been from two to three miles in circumference, and several hundred feet in height; its slow motion, as its base rose and sank in the water, and its high points nodded against the clouds; the dashing of the waves upon it, which, breaking high with foam, covered its base with a white crust; and the thundering sound of the cracking of the mass, and the breaking and tumbling down of huge pieces, together with its nearness and approach, which added a slight element of fear, —all combined to give it the character of true sublimity.

The main body of the mass was, as I have said, of an indigo colour; its base was crusted with frozen foam; and as it grew thin and transparent towards the edges and top, its colour shaded off from a deep blue to the whiteness of snow. It seemed to be drifting slowly towards the north, so that we kept away and avoided it.

It was in sight all the afternoon; and as we got to leeward(3)of it the wind died away, so that we lay-to(4)quite near it for the greater part of the night. Unfortunately there was no moon; but it was a clear night, and we could plainly mark the long, regular heaving of the stupendous(5)mass, as its edges moved slowly against the stars.

Several times in our watch, loud cracks were heard, which sounded as though they must have run through the whole length of the iceberg; and several pieces fell down with a thundering crash, plunging heavily into the sea. Towards morning a strong breeze sprung up, so we filled away and left it astern, and at daylight it was out of sight.

—DANA

QUESTIONS

At what distance was the iceberg seen? With what was its top covered? What colour was its centre? What did its circumference measure? How high was it? How did it move? With what was its base covered? What caused the thundering sounds which came from it? In what direction was it drifting? What did the ship do during the night? When did it leave the iceberg?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The sun beholds no mirror, in his race,

That shows a brighter image of his face;

The stars, in their nocturnal vigils, rest

Like signal fires on its illumined crest.

—MONTGOMERY

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(1) Scuttle, hatchway; opening in the deck.

(2) Larboard, the left-hand side, looking forward.

(3) Leeward, the side of a ship opposite to the quarter from which the wind blows.

(4) Lay-to, slackened sail, and moved slowly.

(5) Stupendous, of wonderful size.

LESSON 66

LOVE OF COUNTRY

BREATHES there a man with soul so dead,

Who never to himself hath said,

"This is my own, my native land!"

Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned,

As home his footsteps he hath turned

From wandering on a foreign strand?

If such there be, go, mark him well:

For him no minstrel raptures swell,

High though his titles, proud his name,

Boundless his wealth as wish can claim:

Despite those titles, power, and pelf,(1)

The wretch, concentred all in self,

Living, shall forfeit fair renown;

And, doubly dying, shall go down

To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,

Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.

O Caledonia!(2) stern and wild,

Meet nurse for a poetic child!

Land of brown heath and shaggy wood,

Land of the mountain and the flood,

Land of my sires! what mortal hand

Can e'er untie the filial band

That knits me to thy rugged strand!

—SCOTT —Lay of the Last Minstrel

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Sir Walter Scott was born at Edinburgh in 1771. His chief poems are "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," "Marmion," and "The Lady of the Lake." "Waverley," the first of his novels, appeared in 1814. He died at Abbotsford in 1832.

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(1) Pelf, riches.

(2) Caledonia, Scotland.

LESSON 67

THE HAND

IN many respects the organ of touch, as embodied in the hand, is the most wonderful of the senses. The organs of the other senses are passive: the organ of touch alone is active. The eye, the ear, and the nostril stand simply open: light, sound, and fragrance enter, and we are compelled to see, to hear, and to smell; but the hand selects what it shall touch, and touches what it pleases.

It puts away from it the things which it hates, and beckons towards it the things which it desires; unlike the eye, which must often gaze transfixed(1) at horrible sights from which it cannot turn; and the ear, which cannot escape from the torture of discordant(2) sounds; and the nostril, which cannot protect itself from hateful odours.

Moreover, the hand cares not only for its own wants, but, when the other organs of the senses are rendered useless, takes their duties upon it. The hand of the blind man goes with him as an eye through the streets, and safely threads for him all the devious(3) way: it looks for him at the faces of his friends, and tells him whose kindly features are gazing on him; it peruses books for him, and quickens the long hours by its silent readings.

It ministers as willingly to the deaf; and when the tongue is dumb and the ear stopped, its fingers speak eloquently to the eye, and enable it to discharge the unwonted office of a listener.

The organs of all the other senses, also, even in their greatest perfection, are beholden(4) to the hand for the enhancement(5) and the exaltation of their powers. It constructs for the eye a copy of itself, and thus gives it a telescope with which to range among the stars; and by another copy on a slightly different plan, furnishes it with a microscope, and introduces it into a new world of wonders.

It constructs for the ear the instruments by which it is educated, and sounds them in its hearing till its powers are trained to the full. It plucks for the nostril the flower which it longs to smell, and distils for it the fragrance which it covets. As for the tongue, if it had not the hand to serve it, it might abdicate its throne as the Lord of Taste. In short, the organ of touch is the minister of its sister senses, and, without any play of words, is the handmaid of them all.

And if the hand thus munificently serves the body, not less amply does it give expression to the genius and the wit, the courage and the affection, the will and the power of man.

Put a sword into it, and it will fight for him; put a plough into it, and it will till for him; put a harp into it, and it will play for him; put a pencil into it, and it will paint for him; put a pen into it, and it will speak for him, plead for him, pray for him.

What will it not do? What has it not done? A steam-engine is but a larger hand, made to extend its powers by the little hand of man! An electric telegraph is but a long pen for that little hand to write with! All our huge cannons and other weapons of war, with which we so effectually slay our brethren, are only Cain's hand made bigger, and stronger, and bloodier!

What, moreover, is a ship, a railway, a light-house, or a palace; what, indeed, is a whole city, a whole continent of cities, all the cities of the globe, nay, the very globe itself, in so far as man has changed it, but the work of that giant hand, with which the human race, acting as one mighty man, has executed its will!

When I think of all that the human hand has wrought, from the day when Eve put forth her erring hand to pluck the fruit of the forbidden tree, to that dark hour when the pierced hands of the Saviour of the world were nailed to the predicted tree of shame, and of all that human hands have done of good and evil since, I lift up my hand and gaze upon it with wonder and awe. What an instrument for good it is! What an instrument for evil! and all the day long it never is idle.

There is no implement which it cannot wield, and it should never in working hours be without one. We unwisely restrict the term "handicraftsman," or hand-worker, to the more laborious callings; but it belongs to all honest, earnest men and women, and is a title which each should covet.

For the King's hand there is the sceptre, and for the soldier's hand the sword; for the carpenter's hand the saw, and for the smith's hand the hammer; for the farmer's hand the plough; for the miner's hand the spade; for the sailor's hand the oar; for the painter's hand the brush; for the sculptor's hand the chisel; for the poet's hand the pen; and for the woman's hand the needle.

If none of these or the like will fit us, the felon's chain should be round our wrist, and our hand on the prisoner's crank. But for each willing man and woman there is a tool which they may learn to handle; for all there is the command, "What-soever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."

—GEORGE WILSON

QUESTIONS

What great difference is there between the organ of touch and the organs of the other senses? Illustrate this. How does it take upon it the duties of the eye? and of the ear? How does it increase the powers of the eye? and of the ear? What does the hand give expression to in man? What may a steam-engine be considered? and an electric telegraph? and weapons of war? To whom does the term handicraftsman properly apply?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

Dr. George Wilson was born at Edinburgh in 1818. His life was devoted to the study of Natural Science.

He was appointed to the Chair of Technology in the University of Edinburgh in 1855, and died in November 1859.

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(1) Transfixed, immovable; spellbound.

(2) Discordant, inharmonious.

(3) Devious, crooked.

(4) Beholden, indebted.

(5) Enhancement, increase in value.

LESSON 68

THE BONFIRE OF CRAIG-GOWAN

A HORSEMAN sweeps at the dead of night

Through the forest braes of Mar;

And headlong is his star-lit flight—

The messenger of war!

Wildly panteth his foaming steed,

Yet for brae(1) nor bank stays he,

But flies, with a Highland eagle's speed,

By the rushing waves of Dee.

In the cot the herd-boy lifts his head

At the strange and startling sound;

And stares, with slumber's wondering dread,

As the hoof-sparks flash around.

The roe-buck springs from his lonely lair

Beneath the birch-tree's branches fair,

While down his sides the fear-drops stream;

And the white owl sails through the troubled air,

Like the creature of a dream!

But on flies the steed, with flowing mane,

On his dark and desolate track,

And proudly he champeth the useless rein,

For Vict'ry rides on his glossy back!

On to the gentle Lady's halls

Who wears old Scotland's crown,

And "Hurrah! hurrah!" the horseman calls,

"Sebastopol is down!"

Swift as light is the tidings' flight,

And with beating heart, but air serene,

'Neath the glorious stars of a Highland night

Forth steps the Queen!

"Fire the pile on Craig-gowan height!'

The fair Victoria cries,

While the triumph-glance of Britannia's might

Beams through her queenly eyes;—

"Light the pile on Craig-gowan high,

Light the mountain's head,

Till every peak' neath my Highland sky

With the victory fire is red

Let it tell with its mighty tongue of flame

To Scottish heath and town,

That my foot stands on the proudest gem

Of the Russian tyrant's crown!

Let it flush the glens with its glorious light,

Where my kilted lads were born,

Who led the fight up Alma's height

On the dreadful battle morn;

The men who nobly know to die,

But cannot learn to flinch(2) or fly;—

Who on Balaklava's plain,

When the death-shot poured like rain,

Bore the waving feathers high

In face of Russia's chivalry;

And bade them in their might come on,

Till the fiery horsemen's shock

Broke like spray on granite rock,

Where my Highland bayonets shone!

"Oh! that yonder flame could light

The hill-tops of the world,

Till sighing and down-trodden Right

Its sunny flag unfurled—

Till, with the bonds of serfdom riven

By his own triumphant sword,

Man proudly raised his eyes to heaven—

The freeman of the Lord!

"But fire the pile on Craig-gowan height,

Light mountain, glen, and sky—

Right tramples on the throat of Might—

Light, light the bonfire high!"

—W. S. DANIEL

DICTATION

On receipt of the intelligence of the capture of Sebastopol (8th September 1855), a bonfire was, by the Queen's orders, immediately kindled on Craig-gowan Hill, which overlooks the Castle.

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(1) Brae, hill; steep road.

(2) Flinch, shrink; yield.

LESSON 69

NOBLE REVENGE

A YOUNG officer (in what army no mater) had so far forgotten himself, in a moment of irritation, as to strike a private soldier, full of personal dignity (as sometimes happens in all ranks), and distinguished for his courage. The inexorable(1) laws of military discipline forbade to the injured soldier any redress,—he could look for no retaliation(2) by acts. Words only were at his command, and, in a tumult of indignation, as he turned away, the soldier said to his officer that he would "make him repent it!"

This, wearing the shape of a menace,(3) naturally rekindled the officer's anger, and intercepted any disposition which might be rising within him toward a sentiment of remorse; and thus the irritation between the two young men grew hotter than before.

Some weeks after this, a partial action took place with the enemy. Suppose yourself a spectator, and looking down into a valley occupied by the two armies. They are facing each other, you see, in martial array. But it is no more than a skirmish which is going on; in the course of which, however, an occasion suddenly arises for a desperate service. A redoubt,(4) which has fallen into the enemy's hands, must be recaptured at any price, and under circumstances of all but hopeless difficulty.

A strong party has volunteered for the service; there is a cry for somebody to head them: you see a soldier step out from the ranks to assume this dangerous leadership. The party moves rapidly forward; in a few minutes it is swallowed up from your eyes in clouds of smoke; for one half-hour, from behind these clouds you receive hieroglyphic(5) reports of bloody strife—fierce repeating signals, flashes from the guns, rolling musketry, and exulting hurrahs, advancing or receding, slackening or redoubling.

At length all is over; the redoubt has been recovered; that which was lost is found again; the jewel which had been made captive is ransomed with blood. Crimsoned with glorious gore, the wreck of the conquering party is relieved, and at liberty to return.

From the river you see it ascending. The plume-crested officer in command rushes forward, with his left hand raising his hat in homage to the blackened fragments of what once was a flag, whilst with his right hand he seizes that of the leader, though no more than a private from the ranks.

That perplexes you not; mystery you see none in that. For distinctions of order perish, ranks are confounded; "high and low" are words without a meaning; and to wreck goes every notion or feeling that divides the noble from the noble, or the brave man from the brave.

But wherefore is it that now, when suddenly they wheel into mutual recognition, suddenly they pause? This soldier, this officer—who are they? Oh, reader! once before they had stood face to face—the soldier that was struck, the officer who struck him! Once again they are meeting, and the gaze of armies is upon them. If for a moment a doubt divided them, in a moment the doubt has perished. One glance exchanged between them publishes the forgiveness that is sealed for ever.

As one who recovers a brother whom he has accounted dead, the officer sprang forward, threw his arms around the neck of the soldier, and kissed him, as if he were some martyr glorified by that shadow of death from which he was returning; whilst, on his part, the soldier, stepping back, and carrying his open hand through the beautiful motions of the military salute to a superior, makes this immortal answer—that answer which shut up for ever the memory of the indignity offered to him, even while for the last time alluding to it: "Sir," he said, "I told you before that I would make you repent it!"

—THOMAS DE QUINCEY

QUESTIONS

Whom did the young officer strike? For what was the private distinguished? Why could he have no redress? What did he say as he turned away? What effect had his words? What occasion arose for a desperate service? Who led the storming party? What was the result? Who rushed forward to meet the wreck of the conquering party? Whose hand did he seize? Why did they suddenly pause? Who were thus brought face to face? What did the officer then do? What did the private do? And what did he say?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

A private soldier, being struck by a young officer, said he would make him repent it; and he did so, not by any vengeful act, but by extorting from the officer admiration for his noble courage.

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(1) Inexorable, unyielding.

(2) Retaliation, revenge.

(3) Menace, threat.

(4) Redoubt, an out work.

(5) Hieroglyphic, symbolic; by signs or pictures.

LESSON 70

THE RELIEF OF LONDONDERRY

IT was the thirtieth of July. The sun had just set; the evening sermon in the cathedral was over; and the heart-broken congregation had separated, when the sentinels on the tower saw the sails of three vessels coming up the Foyle.(1) Soon there was a stir in the Irish camp. The besiegers were on the alert for miles along both shores.

The ships were in extreme peril; for the river was low, and the only navigable channel ran very near to the left bank, where the head-quarters of the enemy had been fixed, and where the batteries were most numerous. Leake(2) performed his duty with a skill and spirit worthy of his noble profession, exposed his frigate to cover the merchantmen, and used his guns with great effect.

At length the little squadron came to the place of peril. Then the Mountjoy took the lead, and went right at the boom.(3) The huge barricade cracked and gave way; but the shock was such that the Mountjoy rebounded and stuck in the mud! A yell of triumph rose from the banks; the Irish rushed to their boats, and were preparing to board; but the Dartmouth poured on them a well-directed broadside, which threw them into disorder.

Just then the Phoenix dashed at the breach which the Mountjoy had made, and was in a moment within the fence. Meantime the tide was rising fast. The Mountjoy began to move, and soon passed safe through the broken stakes and floating spars. But her brave master was no more. A shot from one of the batteries had struck him; and he died by the most enviable of all deaths,—in sight of the city which was his birth-place, which was his home, and which had just been saved by his courage and self-devotion from the most frightful form of destruction.

The night had closed in before the conflict at the boom began; but the flash of the guns was seen, and the noise heard, by the lean and ghastly multitude which covered the walls of the city. When the Mountjoy grounded, and when the shout of triumph rose from the Irish on both sides of the river, the hearts of the besieged died within them. One who endured the unutterable anguish of that moment has told us that they looked fearfully livid in each other's eyes.

Even after the barricade had been passed, there was a terrible half hour of suspense. It was ten o'clock before the ships arrived at the quay. The whole population was there to welcome them. A screen made of casks filled with earth was hastily thrown up to protect the landing-place from the batteries on the other side of the river; and then the work of unloading began.

First were rolled on shore barrels containing six thousand bushels of meal. Then came great cheeses, casks of beef, flitches(4) of bacon, kegs of butter, sacks of pease and biscuit, ankers(5) of brandy. Not many hours before, half a pound of tallow and three quarters of a pound of salted hide had been weighed out with niggardly care to every fighting man. The ration which each now received was three pounds of flour, two pounds of beef, and a pint of pease.

It is easy to imagine with what tears grace was said over the suppers of that evening. There was little sleep on either side of the wall. The bonfires shone bright along the whole circuit of the ram-parts. The Irish guns continued to roar all night; and all night the bells of the rescued city made answer to the Irish guns with a peal of joyous defiance.

Through the whole of the thirty-first of July the batteries of the enemy continued to play. But, soon after the sun had again gone down, flames were seen arising from the camp; and, when the first of August dawned, a line of smoking ruins marked the site lately occupied by the huts of the besiegers; and the citizens saw far off the long column of pikes and standards retreating up the left bank of the Foyle towards Strabane.

—MACAULAY

QUESTIONS

What did the evening sentinels see coming up the Foyle? Why were the ships in great danger? Which went at the boom? With what effect? What did the Irish prepare to do? What prevented them? What did the Phoenix do? How did the Mountjoy get afloat again? When did the ships reach the quay? What ration did each man then receive? What had they received not many hours before? How did the besieged celebrate their triumph? What did the besiegers do all night? How did the city make answer? When did the besiegers finally withdraw from the city?

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

The siege of Londonderry, in 1689, was conducted by the generals of the exiled King of England, James II., whom Louis XIV. of France sought to restore to the British throne.

The inhabitants of the town remained faithful to the interest of William III., Prince of Orange; and under the leadership of George Walker, a clergyman, bravely endured the worst miseries of famine for three months.

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(1) Foyle, the river on which Londonderry stands.

(2) Captain John Leake, afteruards Admiral Leake, Commanded the Dart moouth, a thirly-six gun frigate.

(3) Boom, a bar stretched across a river or harbour.

(4) Flitch, the side of a hog, pickled.

(5) Anker, a cask containing ten gallons.

LESSON 71

THE LOSS OF THE "BIRKENHEAD"

THE Birkenhead, a large troop-ship, with 632 souls on board, was sailing off the coast of Africa on a clear night in February 1852. As the captain was anxious to shorten the voyage, and the sea was calm, he kept as near as possible to the shore.

Off Cape Danger, the vessel was steaming at the rate of nine miles an hour. Suddenly she struck upon a sunken rock with such force that in a few minutes she was a wreck.

The roll of the drum called the soldiers to arms on the upper deck. The call was promptly obeyed, though every man knew that it was his death-summons. There they stood, as if on parade, no man showing restlessness or fear, though the ship was every moment going down, down.

Their commander, Colonel Seton of the 74th Highlanders, told them that there were only boats enough to carry the women and children to shore, and that these must be saved first.

No man muttered an objection. Orders were given coolly and obeyed promptly. The boats were got ready and lowered. Everything was done quickly, for there was no time to lose; but there was no haste, no panic, no wailings of despair.

The women and children were got into the boats. They pushed off, and made for the shore, landed their freight, and returned for another. Again and again this was done, till all, or nearly all, the women and children were saved—the soldiers all the while giving help or looking on without a murmur.

All was now done that could be done. There were no boats for the troops; and the ship was sinking so fast that it was vain to expect the boats to return in time to save any of them.

The soldiers stood on deck in their ranks, shoulder to shoulder, officers and men together, watching the sharks that were waiting for them in the waves, and patiently abiding the end.

And the end soon came. In half an hour from the time when she struck, the Birkenhead went to the bottom, and the waves closed over a band of the truest heroes the world has ever seen.

The following verses (by Sir F. H. Doyle) are put into the mouth of a soldier who is supposed to have survived: —

Right our our flank(1) the crimson sun went down,

The deep sea rolled around in dark repose,

When, like the wild shriek from some captured town,

A cry of women rose.

The stout ship Birkenhead lay hard and fast,

Caught, without hope, upon a hidden rock;

Her timbers thrilled(2) as nerves, when through them passed

The spirit of that shock.

And ever, like base cowards who leave their ranks

In danger's hour, before the rush of steel,

Drifted away, disorderly, the planks,

From underneath her keel.

Confusion spread; for, though the coast seemed near,

Sharks hovered thick along that white sea-brink

The boats could hold? —not all—and it was clear,

She was about to sink.

"Out with those boats, and let us haste away,"

Cried one, "ere yet yon sea the bark devours."

The man thus clamouring(3) was, I scarce need say,

No officer of ours.

We knew our duty better than to care

For such loose babblers,(4) and made no reply;

Till our good colonel gave the word, and there

Formed us in line—to die.

There rose no murmur from the ranks, no thought

By shameful strength unhonoured life to seek;

Our post to quit we were not trained, nor taught

To trample down the weak.

So we made women with their children go.

The oars ply back again, and yet again;

Whilst, inch by inch, the drowning ship sank low,

Still under steadfast men.

What followed why recall? The brave who died,

Died without flinching in the bloody surf.

They sleep as well beneath that purple tide,

As others under turf.

There stands in Greenwich Hospital a monument, erected by command of Queen Victoria, in memory of the "heroic constancy(5) and unbroken discipline(6)" which officers and men displayed.

QUESTIONS

Where was the Birkenhead lost? When? How many souls were on board? What was the cause of the wreck? Why was the drum sounded when she struck? What did their commander tell the soldiers? What did they do? Who were put in the boats? How did the troops stand while this was going on? What became of them? How is their memory preserved? How is their conduct described there?

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(1) Flank, side.

(2) Thrilled, trembled; vibrated.

(3) Clamouring, shouting.

(4) Babblers, foolish talkers.

(5) Constancy, firmness of purpose; devotion.

(6) Discipline, obedience to orders.

LESSON 72

A WILD NIGHT AT SEA

HERE, the winds, free from that cramped prison called the Earth, are out upon the waste of waters. Here, roaring, raging, shrieking, howling, all night long.

On, on, on, over the countless miles of angry space roll the long heaving billows. Mountains and caves are here, and yet are not: for what is now the one, is now the other; then all is but a boiling heap of rushing water.

Pursuit, and flight, and mad return of wave on wave, and savage struggling, ending in a spouting up of foam that whitens the black night; ceaseless change of place, and form, and hue; constancy(1) in nothing but eternal strife!

On, on, on they roll, and darker grows the night, and louder howl the winds, and more clamorous and fierce become the million voices in the sea, when the wild cry goes forth upon the storm, "A ship!"

Onward she comes, in gallant combat with the elements, her tall masts trembling, and her timbers starting on the strain, onward she comes—now high upon the curling billows—now low down in the hollows of the sea, as if hiding for the moment from its fury; and every storm-voice in the air and water cries more loudly yet, "A ship!"

Still she comes striving on: and at her boldness and the spreading cry, the angry waves rise up above each other's hoary heads to look; and round about the vessel, far as the mariners on her decks can pierce into the gloom, they press upon her, forcing each other down, and starting up, and rushing forward from afar, in dreadful curiosity. High over her they break, and round her surge(2) and roar; and, giving place to others, moaningly depart, and dash themselves to fragments in their baffled(3) anger: still she comes onward bravely.

And though the eager multitude crowd thick and fast upon her all the night, and dawn of day discovers the untiring train yet bearing down upon the ship in an eternity of troubled water, onward she comes, with dim lights burning in her hull, and people there, asleep; as if no deadly element were peering in at every seam and chink, and no drowned seaman's grave, with but a plank to cover it, were yawning in the unfathomable(4) depths below.

—CHARLES DICKENS

PRONUNCIATION

DICTATION

On, on, on they roll, and darker grows the night, and louder howl the winds, and more clamorous and fierce become the million voices in the sea, when the wild cry goes forth upon the storm, "A ship!"

OUTLINES OF BRITISH HISTORY III

HOUSE OF LANCASTER

(1399 A. D. to 1461 A. D. —62 years—3 kings.)

LEADING FEATURE:—Rise and Fall of the English Power in France.

HENRY IV. BOLINGBROKE

(1399 A. D. to 1413 A. D. —14 years)

1．Henry IV., having obtained the crown by unjust means, found it no easy task to manage the fiery spirits of the nobles. Many were the quarrels and disputes amongst them, and many were the plots laid to deprive him of the throne: but he was watchful and active, and well knew the temper of the people he had to govern.

2．The greatest rebellion of his reign was that raised by the Earl of Northumberland, who, with his son Harry Percy, surnamed Hotspur, raised an army, and, assisted by the Scots and Welsh, fought the bloody Battle of Shrewsbury (1403). The rebels were defeated, and Hotspur slain.

3．Henry's latter days were troubled by the vices and follies of his son Henry, called Madcap Harry. This youth, though brave and generous, was fond of low company, and with his riotous companions often got into mischief. On one occasion they even went so far as to commit a robbery on the highway.

Some of his companions having been captured and brought to justice, Harry went into court and requested their release; and being refused, struck the judge in the face! He was immediately sent to prison; but seeing he had done wrong, he quietly submitted to the punishment. When the king heard of it, he said that he was "happy in having a judge with courage to execute the laws, and happier still in having a son willing to obey them."

4．Henry died in a fit of epilepsy (1413). During his reign the Lollards, followers of Wycliffe, were much persecuted, and several of them burned to death in Smithfield. The first English Protestant martyr was a priest named William Sawtre (1401).

The power of the Commons continued to increase. In particular, they established their right to vote supplies of money and to inquire into the expenditure.

QUESTIONS

1．Name the Kings of the House of Lancaster. What is the leading feature of the period? Whose son was Henry IV.? How long did he reign? Give dates. What difficulties did he meet with? What was his character?

2．Between whom was the Battle of Shrewsbury fought? What gave rise to it? How did it end?

3．How were Henry's latter days troubled? What was his son called? Relate the circumstances that caused his son's imprisonment. What did the king say of it?

4．What caused Henry's death? Who suffered persecution in his reign? Where were some of them burned to death? Who was the first martyr? How was the power of the Commons increased?

HENRY V. MONMOUTH.

(1413 A. D. to 1422 A. D. — 9 years)

1．When young Henry became king, his first act was to send for his wild companions, tell them that he was determined to lead a new life, and beg them to follow his example. He took into his favour the judge who had sent him to prison, and called to his assistance the wisest and best men in the land. But in his religious zeal he persecuted the Lollards.

2 His great ambition was to obtain possession of France. He therefore invaded it with an army of 30,000 men, and took Harfleur. But his army was soon wasted by disease; and when, on his march to Calais, he was met at Agincourt by the French army of 100,000 men, under the Duke of Orleans, he could only raise about 12,000, and these were almost worn out by hunger and fatigue.

During a dark and rainy night Henry's little army lay encamped in sight of the French watch-fires. The French soldiers passed the night in idle jollity; but Henry, like a wise general, laid down his plans for battle.

Early in the morning the English archers led the way, and pouring in upon the French a deadly shower of arrows, threw them into disorder. Then the whole force rushed forward with sword and battleaxe, and gained a complete victory. The French lost 8,000 knights and nobles, besides common soldiers; the English only a few score in all.

After this great victory Henry returned to England. He was warmly welcomed home; many even rushed into the sea to meet the boat that was bringing him to land; and Parliament voted him large supplies of money (1415).

3．Two years later, Henry returned to France; and after gaining several successes, he was made Regent of France, and married the daughter of the French king (1420). He took the field again in 1422; but just when he seemed about to reach the height of his glory, he was seized by illness and died.

He was a brave warrior and a clever statesman. His widow, Catherine, married a Welsh gentleman named Owen Tudor; and from them sprang the royal house of Tudor, of which the first king was Henry VII.

4．During this reign it was enacted that no law should have force until agreed to by the Commons. It was also ordered that every citizen of London should hang a lantern at his door on winter nights: hence the custom of lighting the streets of towns. Richard Whittington. thrice Lord Mayor of London, made his fortune as a merchant by trading with a ship called the Cat: hence the tale of "Whittington and his Cat."

QUESTIONS

1．Who succeeded Henry IV.? How long did he reign? Give dates. What was young Henry's first act? Whom did he take into favour? Whom did he persecute?

2．What was Henry's great ambition? What means did he use? What place did he take? Whither did he then march? By whom was he met? Where? What was the condition of his army? Their number? And that of the French? How did they pass the night? Describe the battle. What was the loss on the side of the French? Of the English? What did Henry now do? How was he welcomed home?

3．When did he revisit France? What was he made? Whom did he marry? What was his character? Whom did Catherine afterwards marry? What royal house sprang from the union?

4．Name two Acts passed in this reign. What famous merchant was made thrice Lord Mayor of London?

HENRY VI. WINDSOR

(1422 A. D. to 1461 A. D. —39 years)

1．Henry VI., son of the late king, being an infant when his father died, a council of twenty, with the Duke of Gloucester at their head, managed the affairs of the nation. The Duke of Bedford went to France as English Regent. There several battles were fought, and fresh conquests made by the English forces.

Siege was then laid to Orleans; and it was thought that this too would fall into their hands. But suddenly a change came, by which almost all that had been gained was lost.

2．In a certain village of France there lived a country girl, named Joan of Arc, who imagined that Heaven had raised her up to save her country from the English armies. This was told to the French king, who, being much alarmed at the successes of the English, was willing to do anything to check their progress.

He therefore put Joan at the head of some troops; and the soldiers, quite believing in her mission, fought under her command with the greatest bravery (1429). She entered Orleans, drove the English from before the walls, defeated them in several battles, and restored to the French king the provinces he had lost. By these successes she gained the name of "The Maid of Orleans."

Thus all the blood shed in the last reign for the conquest of France had been shed in vain; and no part now remained in the hands of the English but Calais. Joan of Arc was afterwards taken prisoner by the English, and, it is said, was burned as a witch at Rouen (1431).

3．To Henry's foreign troubles were added greater troubles at home; for the Duke of Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufort, the two most powerful friends of the House of Lancaster, died; and there was growing up a great rival in the person of Richard, Duke of York, who was really the rightful heir to the throne.

And now commenced that long and bloody contest known as the Wars of the Roses, which lasted thirty years. Those who were on the side of the Duke of York wore a white rose, and those who favoured that of Lancaster a red one. Many and fierce were the battles fought between them, Henry being sometimes victorious, and at other times a prisoner.

At the Battle of Wakefield Green (1460), Margaret, Henry's wife, defeated the Yorkists: the Duke of York was slain, and his head stuck upon the walls of York; but his son Edward continued the contest, and at last obtained the crown as Edward IV.

Henry was deposed in 1461, after a reign of thirty-nine years, Edward was declared to be the lawful king.

4．In this reign a rebellion was raised in Kent by one Jack Cade, who, pretending that he was heir to the crown, defeated the royal army, and took possession of London. He was, however, defeated in turn, and killed by a gentleman in whose garden he had hidden himself (1450). About this time the art of printing was invented in Germany.

QUESTIONS

1．Who succeeded Henry V.? How long did he reign? Give dates. How old was Henry VI. when his father died? Who governed the kingdom? Who was regent in France? What then took place? What town was besieged by the English?

2．Who defeated the English forces? What was Joan of Arc? How did she get the command of troops? How did her soldiers fight? Why? What name did she gain? What successes followed? What became of Joan of Arc afterwards?

3．Where did fresh troubles now arise? What friends of Henry died? What great rival arose? What contest commenced? How long did it last? Why was it so called? In what great battle were the Yorkists defeated? By whom? Who was slain? Who then continued to oppose Henry? With what success? When was Henry deposed?

4．What rebellion took place in this reign? With what success? What became of Cade? What art was at this time invented in Germany?

HOUSE OF YORK

(1461 A. D. to 1485 A. D. —24 years—3 kings)

LEADING FEATURES:—Civil War—Destruction of the Nobility—Extinction of Feudalism.

EDWARD IV

(1461 A. D. to 1483 A. D. —22 years)

1．Though young Edward had obtained the crown, he was not allowed to enjoy it in peace. The northern parts of the country were still in favour of Henry, and raised for him considerable forces. Several battles were fought, in which Henry was worsted; and at last he was taken prisoner and thrown into the Tower.

2．But the Earl of Warwick, called The King-maker, the most powerful noble in the land, having lost some of his influence at Court by Edward's marriage, took offence, and resolved to try to deprive him of the throne. Assisted by the Duke of Clarence, Edward's brother, and Margaret, Henry's queen, he raised so great an army that Edward was obliged to flee; and Henry was once more released from prison, and set on the throne.

3．Edward, however, soon returned from Holland, where he had taken refuge; and was joined by vast numbers. The two armies met at Barnet (1471); and a terrible battle was fought, in which the Lancastrians were defeated, and Warwick slain.

Henry was again thrown into the Tower; but Margaret was resolved to strike another blow for her royal husband, and met Edward's forces at Tewkesbury (1471). She was defeated, and sheand her son Henry were taken prisoners. Edward had them brought before him; and, enraged at the dauntless bearing of the young prince, cruelly struck him in the face with his iron glove. Clarence and Gloucester then stabbed the noble youth to death with their daggers.

It is said that after this Gloucester went privately into the Tower, where the unfortunate King Henry was confined, and murdered him in cold blood.

4．Edward's life was almost made up of bloody deeds and wicked pleasures. Great numbers of gentlemen were put to death for favouring the House of Lancaster; and his brother Clarence was murdered in the Tower by being drowned in a butt of wine. Edward died in 1483.

5．In this reign the art of printing was brought into England from Germany by William Caxton, a silk-mercer, who set up a press at Westminster Abbey. The first book printed in England was called The Game and Playe of the Chesse. Letters were for the first time carried by post from London to Scotland, horsemen being placed at distances of twenty miles apart all along the road.

QUESTIONS

1．Name the kings of the House of York? What are the leading features of the period? How long did Edward IV. reign? Give dates. Did he reign in peace? Why not? Where was Henry imprisoned?

2．What powerful noble took offence at Edward? Why? What did he resolve to attempt? By whom was he assisted? What was the consequence?

3．Where had Edward taken refuge? How was he received on his return? Where did the armies meet? Who was victorious? Who was slain? What followed? Where was the next battle fought? How did it end? Give date. What cruel act of Edward and his brothers followed? What is said of the death of King Henry VI.?

4．What was the character of Edward IV.? How were the Lancastrians treated during his reign? What became of the Duke of Clarence?

5．What art was brought into England? Whence? By whom? Where was the first press set up? What was the first book called? Mention another improvement effected in this reign.

EDWARD V

(1483 A. D., April to June. —2 months)

1．This little prince was only twelve years of age at the death of the late king his father; and, though proclaimed king, was never crowned. His uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was Protector, and wanted to be king. He therefore had the young king and his little brother, the Duke of York, conveyed to the Tower, pretending that it was for their safety; though, in reality, it was that they might be completely in his power.

2．Richard's next step was to get rid of all those nobles who were faithful to the young king. Accordingly, Lords Rivers, Grey, and Hastings were falsely accused of treason, and beheaded without trial.

After this he spread a report that young Edward was not the rightful king. The crown was then offered to him by some nobles whose favour he had gained; and after a pretence of unwillingness, he accepted it, and was proclaimed king.

QUESTIONS

1．Who succeeded Edward IV.? How long did he reign? Give date. What was his age? Who was Protector? How did he act?

2．What was Gloucester's next step? Whom did he cause to be put to death? What report was then spread? What followed?

RICHARD III. CROOKBACK

(1483 A. D. to 1485 A. D. —2 years)

1．Richard then hired assassins to go and murder the little Princes in the Tower. These ruffians accordingly went in the dead of night to their bed-room, where they found the innocent children locked in each other's arms asleep;so they took up the pillows, and forcing them down upon their faces, smothered them, and buried their dead bodies at the foot of the stone stair that led to their room.

Two hundred years afterwards, as some alterations were being made in the Tower, the bones of the unfortunate princes were discovered, and removed to Westminster Abbey.

2．Richard, though he had waded through blood to the throne, did not long wear the crown he had so foully obtained; and his life was one of great misery, through the constant fear of being murdered, and the torments of a guilty conscience. It is said that his nights were sleepless, or else disturbed by horrid dreams which often made him start from his bed with a cry of terror.

There was also a strong party in the nation against him; and it was proposed that Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, who was of the House of Lancaster, should have the crown.

3．Richmond accordingly sailed from Normandy with about 2000 men, and landed at Milford Haven in Wales. His army soon increased to 6000. Richard met him at Bosworth Field, near Leicester, with a larger force, and a desperate battle ensued, in which Richmond was victorious (1485).

When Richard saw that his cause was lost, he ran furiously into the midst of his enemies, fighting with the rage of a wild beast, and fell covered with wounds. His crown, which he had worn in the battle, was found in a hawthorn bush close by. It was placed on the head of Richmond by Lord Stanley, who proclaimed him "King Henry the Seventh."

The body of Richard, the last of the Plantagenets, was found amongst heaps of slain. It was thrown across a horse, carried to Leicester, and there buried.

4．During the reigns of the Houses of Lancaster and York, very little progress was made in art, science, or civilization. Hundreds of towns and villages were destroyed, many castles laid in ruins, and the fields in many parts of the country left uncultivated.

The Feudal System, which had flourished under the early Plantagenets, now came to an end, together with villenage or slavery, which had been common in England for many centuries.

The government of the country became then what it is now—a limited monarchy. The king could make no law, nor lay any tax upon the people, without the consent of Parliament. The language became settled by the writings of the great poets Gower and Chaucer, though the spelling of words was very various.

QUESTIONS

1．How did Richard now proceed? Relate the account of the murder of the princes. Were the bodies ever found? When? Whither were their bones carried?

2．How long did Crookback Richard reign? Give dates. Was he happy? Why not? What was his state of mind? What was proposed by his enemies?

3．Whence did Richmond sail? With what force? Where did he land? To what number did his army increase? By whom was he met? Where? Who won? What did Richard do? Where was the crown found? Who placed it on Richmond's head? What became of Richard's body?

4．What was the state of the country during the last six reigns? In what was little progress made? What system came to an end? And what else was put an end to? What change took place in the constitution? What is said of the language?

SCOTLAND

(1370 A. D. to 1488 A. D.)

LEADING FEATURES:—Lawlessness—Frequent Regencies—Feuds of Rival Factions.

1．David II. having died childless, the crown passed to his nephew, Robert Stewart, the first king of the famous but unfortunate Stewart line. Robert II. was the son of Marjorie Bruce (daughter of the great Robert) and of Walter, the High Steward of Scotland. The family name was thus originally the name of an office.

One of the forays or inroads, which the Scots frequently made into England, led, in the reign of Robert II., to the famous Battle of Otterburn (1388), celebrated in old ballads, in which Earl Douglas was slain, and Hotspur, Earl Percy, was taken prisoner.

2．Robert's son John assumed the sceptre in 1390, under the name of Robert III.; for Baliol had made the name John ominous of evil. He was a weak and gentle prince, and the change of his name could not change his nature.

The government was really managed by his brother, the Duke of Albany, as Regent. David, the king's eldest son, having defied the power of his uncle, the regent imprisoned him in Falkland Castle, where he was starved to death.

To save his second son, James, a boy of eleven, from a similar fate, the king sent him off to France; but the ship in which he sailed was boarded by an English vessel, and the prince was carried a prisoner to the court of Henry IV. (1405). His father died soon afterwards, and the young prisoner was a king.

3．The captivity of James I. lasted for nineteen years, during thirteen of which Albany was regent.

The march of Donald. Lord of the Isles, into the heart of Scotland is an instance of the wild lawlessness that prevailed. He laid claim to Ross, and ravaged that district when opposed. The Earl of Mar and the men of Aberdeen then met him at Harlaw (1411), and, after great slaughter, drove the Islesmen out of the field.

When James returned to Scotland in 1424, he found his country in a state of almost hopeless tumult and disorder. But he set himself resolutely to the work of spreading enlightenment and enforcing respect for the laws.

The iron rigour of his rule was distasteful to some of his subjects, who formed a plot against his life, and murdered him in the Dominican Monastery at Perth in 1437.

4．His son, James II., was then only six years old; and Scotland had again the distressing prospect of a long regency. During the king's minority, the land was, as usual, convulsed by factions.

At length the house of Douglas gained the ascendency, and threatened even to overturn the throne of the Stewarts. James, when he became king, could only break their power by stooping to murder. In Stirling Castle he stabbed the Douglas with his own hand.

This crime led to a war with England, during which James was killed by the bursting of a cannon at the siege of Roxburgh Castle (1460).

5．The new king, James III., was only eight years of age; and Scotland was once more plunged into the horrors of a minority.

When James became a man, he submitted himself entirely to the influence of mean and unworthy favourites. This incensed the nobles, who resolved to get rid of the tailors and fencing-masters with whom the king associated.

But who was to take the bold step? who was to "bell the cat?" Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, undertook the task. Six of the king's favourites were hanged on the Bridge of Lauder; and Angus was known ever afterwards as "Bell-the-Cat."

The nobles then rose in open revolt, and placed Prince James, the king's eldest son, at the head of their movement. They defeated the king in the Battle of Sauchieburn, in Stirlingshire. While galloping from the field, his horse was startled, and threw him. And, as he lay in a cottage close by, in a half-conscious state, a straggler from the field, who pretended to be a priest, stabbed him to the heart (1488).

QUESTIONS

1．Who succeeded David II.? What dynasty did he found? What is the origin of the name of Stewart? What famous battle was fought in the reign of Robert II.?

2．What was Robert the Third's proper name? Why was it changed? What was his character? Who really managed the government? Who defied his power? What was his fate? How did the king try to save his second son? What befell him?

3．How long did the captivity of James I. last? Who was regent during the greater part of that time? Who ravaged Ross? In what battle was he overthrown? In what state was Scotland when James returned to it? What task did he set to himself? What led to a plot against his life? What was the result?

4．How old was James II. when his father died? In what state was the country during his minority? What house gained the ascendant? How did he break the power of the Douglases? Where and how did the king die?

5．What incensed the nobles against James III.? What name did the Earl of Angus acquire? Why? Where were six of the king's favourites hanged? Whom did the nobles place at their head? In what battle was the king defeated? How did he die?

IRELAND

(1400 A. D. to 1485 A. D)

LEADING FEATURES:—Three Opposing Parties—Sympathy with the Yorkists.

1．In the reign of Henry IV. of England, the Scots gained a footing in Ulster, from which they were never afterwards entirely dislodged. There were at that time three opposing parties in Ireland, all more or less hating one another: the native Celts; the descendants of the original English settlers, who inclined to sympathize with the Celts; and the recently imported English, who treated both the other factions with unbounded contempt.

2．A better day seemed to dawn for Ireland when Richard, Duke of York, who began the Wars of the Roses, held the vice-royalty of island. He contrived to reconcile the contending factions; and when he raised the standard of the White Rose in England, numbers of Irish soldiers were ranged under his banner.

Yet the Irish were by no means reconciled to the English yoke. During the reign of Henry VI., the English rule did not extend much beyond the county of Dublin. But Ireland continued to adhere faithfully to the White Rose, even after fortune finally forsook it on the field of Bosworth (1485).

QUESTIONS

1．Who gained a footing in Ulster in the time of Henry IV.? What were the three opposing factions in Ireland at that time?

2．When did a better day seem to dawn for Ireland? What was the secret of his success? What proves his popularity? To what area was the English rule chiefly confined? To which English faction did the Irish chiefly adhere?

MEMORABLE DATES OF THE LANCASTER

AND YORK PERIODS

CHIEF AUTHORS OF THE LANCASTER

AND YORK PERIODS

JAMES I. —King of Scotland—studied Chaucer when a prisoner in England—wrote The King's Quhair, or Book —died in 1437

THOMAS WALSINGHAM—monk and historian—flourished about 1440.

JOHN LYDGATE—monk and poet—wrote History of the Siege of Troy, and many other works—died 1461 A. D.

WILLIAM CAXTON—first English printer—died about 1491.

SCOTLAND

(1488 A. D. to 1603 A. D)

LEADING FEATURES:—The Reformation—The Union of the Crowns.

1．As a penance for the part he had been forced to take against his father, James IV. is said to have worn round his body an iron belt, which he caused to be made heavier each year of his life. Yet never had the Scottish court been so gay as in the time of this king, whose character was a strange mixture of devotion and wild gaiety.

In 1502 James married Margaret, the eldest daughter of Henry VII. of England—a marriage which led in 1603 to the union of the English and Scottish Crowns.

James IV. was the founder of the Scottish Navy. In this work he was greatly assisted by two famous merchant-seamen, Sir Andrew Wood of Largo and Sir Andrew Barton. Barton's ship, the Great Michael, was the largest ship then known in the world.

In 1513 James, by request, it is said, of the fair Queen of France, picked a quarrel with his brother-in-law, Henry VIII., and invaded England. The Earl of Surrey marched northwards with a powerful army, and met him on Flodden Field (1513).

James foolishly allowed the English force to cross the Till and march between him and Scotland without attacking them. This fatal blunder lost him the day. The bravest and noblest of the Scots formed a ring around the king, and ere evening fell he and they were hewn down as they stood.

2．As James V. was then only three years old, the troubles of a long minority were again inflicted on the country. James ultimately fell into the hands of the Douglases, who kept him in Falkland Palace for two years.

At sixteen he escaped to Stirling, and took the reins of government into his own hands. He vowed vengeance on the Earl of Douglas: and the latter found it necessary to leave Scotland, not to return so long as James lived.

The progress of the Reformation in Scotland caused James much trouble and anxiety. The persecution of the Protestants was commenced at St. Andrews; but this did not check the progress of their doctrines. James took as his second wife Mary of Guise, and thus allied himself with the Catholics of France. But all his efforts to check the rising power of the new faith were vain.

Henry VIII. asked James to assist him in hie quarrel with the Pope. James refused, and Henry made war upon him. James's nobles turned against him, and refused to fight. One of his favourites led an army into Cumberland, but it was scattered by a small body of English horsemen, and many Scots perished on Solway Moss (1542). This broke James's heart. A few days before his death a daughter was born to him—the celebrated Mary Queen of Scots.

3．Yet another minority; and this time the minor is a girl a few days old. The Earl of Arran was made regent; but the real power was in the hands of Cardinal Beatoun, who had the regent entirely under his control.

Henry VIII. proposed a marriage between the young queen and his son, afterwards Edward VI., and a treaty was signed at Holyrood completing the contract. But Cardinal Beatoun and the queen mother, Mary of Guise, naturally preferred an alliance with France; and the regent was easily induced to tear up the English treaty. To avenge this breach of faith, Henry sent a fleet to the Forth, which sacked Leith, and burned Edinburgh for three days (1544).

George Wishart provoked Beatoun by the boldness with which he preached the reformed doctrines. He was seized near Haddington, and burned opposite Beatoun's Castle of St. Andrews, the cardinal viewing the sight from his windows, March 1546. Three months later the castle was taken by a band of the reforming party. The cardinal was put to death, and his bleeding body was thrown upon the battlements in sight of the citizens.

On the accession of Edward VI., the marriage project was renewed by the Protector, who marched an army of 18,000 men into Scotland to compel the Scots to consent to it. He defeated Arran at Pinkie with terrible slaughter on Black Saturday in 1547. But he could not thus force the wooing; and the Scots, to put their young queen out of harm's way, sent her to France, where she married the Dauphin (1560). But her husband died before they had been a year married, and Mary returned to Scotland (1561).

Meantime the Reformation had taken firm root in Scotland, chiefly through the energy and fiery eloquence of John Knox. When Mary returned from France, where she had imbibed the most violent hatred of the reformers, she found the country divided into two powerful parties—the Catholics and the Protestants—and she very naturally sympathized with the former.

Her frivolous mode of life soon alienated from her the best and ablest men in Scotland. By marrying her cousin, Lord Darnley (1565), she disappointed Elizabeth of England, to whom she had promised to submit herself in the choice of a husband; and lost the favour of her half-brother, the Earl of Murray, now the head of the Protestant party.

Darnley joined Lord Ruthven and others in a conspiracy against an Italian musician named Rizzio, whom Mary had made her secretary and chief favourite. One night, at supper time, Rizzio was dragged from the queen's presence, in Holyrood, and murdered in an adjoining passage (1566). A few months afterwards, Darnley was himself murdered in the Kirk of Field, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, the house in which he lived being blown up at midnight.

Three months later, Mary married the Earl of Bothwell, though he had been strongly suspected of Darnley's murder. No wonder that this brought suspicion upon Mary herself, and lost her the affections of her people. The nobles then took up arms against her. Deserted by her followers, she surrendered at Carberry Hill (1567), and was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle. There she abdicated in favour of her son James, then one year old, and appointed the Earl of Murray regent.

After eleven months of captivity Mary escaped from Lochleven, and found an army of 6000 men prepared to fight under her banner. Murray, with 4000 men, defeated her army at Langside, and she escaped to England, where she threw herself on the mercy of Elizabeth. By her she was confined, in different prisons successively, for nineteen pears, and was beheaded in 1587.

4．For nearly three years after the flight of Mary, Murray, known as The Good Regent, held power in Scotland. After his death (by the hand of an assassin in the main street of Linlithgow) the Earls of Lennox, Mar, and Morton held the regency in succession. In 1578 the king, though only twelve years of age, began to reign in person.

Educated by the famous George Buchanan, James became a good scholar, but a wretched pedant, and a man of a mean and shuffling spirit. At the beginning of his reign, he gave himself up to the guidance of unworthy favourites. The nobles removed him from their influence for a time by an event known as the Raid of Ruthven (1582), by which the Earl of Gowrie and his friends kept him in their hands for nearly a year.

Eighteen years later, a mysterious affair, known aa the Gowrie Conspiracy, in which the Ruthvens also figure, made a great noise in the land. It was said that the king had been decoyed to Gowrie House, and attacked or threatened by Alexander Ruthven; that, having called for help, his attendants burst in, and slew first Ruthven, and then the Earl of Gowrie, his brother. It remains uncertain whether the conspiracy was formed by the Ruthvens against the king, or by the king against the Ruthvens, to avenge himself for the Raid of Ruthven and its consequences (1600).

The feuds of the Border clans came to an end in this reign, the last clan-battle, between the Maxwells and the Johnsons, having been fought near Lockerby in 1593.

The death of Elizabeth in 1603 made James VI. the unquestioned king of the whole island. All the descendants of Henry VIII. Were dead. It therefore became necessary to revert to the line of Henry VII., from whose daughter Margaret (the wife of James IV.) James VI. was directly descended. This event is called the Union of the Crowns.

QUESTIONS

1．Mention the leading features of this period of Scottish history. Why did James IV. wear an iron belt? Of what was his character a mixture? Whom did he marry? What did this lead to? Who assisted him in founding the Scottish Navy? Why did he invade England? Who marched against him? Where did they meet? Who won? What was James's fatal blunder? What was the fate of James? Give the date of this battle.

2．Who succeeded to the crown? How old was he then? Into whose hands did he fall? when did he begin to reign in person? What became of Earl Douglas? What caused James much trouble? How did he try to check it? Whom did he marry? Why did Henry VIII. make war upon him? Where were his troopsscattered? What effect had this upon him? When did he die?

3．Who succeeded? How old was she? Who was made regent? In whose hands was the real power? What proposal did Henry VIII. make? How was it ratified? At whose instigation was this treaty broken? Why? What did Henry do? What was the fate of Wishart? and of Beatoun? Give the date. Who renewed the marriage project? How did he try to enforce it? What battle was fought? With what result? Give the date. What did the Scots then do with their queen? Whom did she marry? When did she return to Scotland? Why? Who was the chief Scottish reformer? With which party did Mary sympathize? Why? How did she disappoint Elizabeth? Whose favour did this also lose her? Into what conspiracy did Darnley enter? What was the result? What was the fate of Darnley? Who was suspected of the crime? What brought suspicion on Mary herself? Where did she surrender to the nobles? Give the date. Where was she imprisoned? For how long? What change in the government then took place? Where was she finally defeated? On whose mercy did she then throw herself? How long was she a prisoner? When and how did she die?

4．How long did Murray continue regent of Scotland? What was he called? How did he die? Who were then regents in succession? When and at what age did James VI. begin to reign in person? Who educated him? What was the Raid of Ruthven? Why did the nobles seize the king? What was the Gowrie Conspiracy? What is uncertain about it? When did it take place? When and between whom was the last clan-battle fought? What did the death of Elizabeth make James? Why did he succeed her? What is the event called? Give the date.

————————————————————

(1) Constancy, fixedness; absence of change.

(2) Surge, swell; rise to a great height.

(3) Baffled, disappointed; beaten.

(4) Unfathomable, that cannot be fathomed, or measured.

LESSON 1

A PERILOUS ADVENTURE

THREE or four lads are standing in the channel below the great Natural Bridge of Virginia. They see hundreds of names carved in the limestone buttresses, and resolve to add theirs to the number. This done, one of them is seized with the mad ambition of carving his name higher than the highest there! His companions try to dissuade him from attempting so dangerous a feat, but in vain. He is a wild, reckless youth; and afraid now to yield, lest he should be thought a coward, he carves his way up and up the limestone rock, till he can hear the voices, but not the words of his terror-stricken playmates.

One of them runs off to the village, and tells the boy's father of his perilous situation. Others go for help in other directions; and ere long there are hundreds of people standing in the rocky channel below, and hundreds on the bridge above, all holding their breath, and awaiting the fearful catastrophe. The poor boy can just distinguish the tones of his father, who is shouting with all the energy of despair,—"William! William! don't look down! Your mother, and Henry, and Harriet are all here praying for you! Don't look down! Keep your eyes towards the top!"

The boy does not look down. His eye is fixed towards heaven, and his young heart on Him who reigns there. He grasps again his knife. He cuts another niche, and another foot is added to the hundreds that remove him from the reach of human help from below.

The sun is half way down in the west. Men are leaning over the outer edge of the bridge with ropes in their hands. But fifty more niches must be cut before the longest rope can reach the boy! Two minutes more, and all will be over. That blade is worn to the last half inch. The boy's head reels. His last hope is dying in his heart, his life must hang upon the next niche he cuts. That niche will be his last.

At the last cut he makes, his knife—his faithful knife—drops from his little nerveless hand, and ringing down the precipice, falls at his mother's feet! An involuntary groan of despair runs through the crowd below, and all is still as the grave. At the height of nearly three hundred feet, the devoted boy lifts his hopeless heart and closing eyes to commend his soul to God.

Hark!—a shout falls on his ears from above! A man who is lying with half his length over the bridge, has caught a glimpse of the boy's head and shoulders. Quick as thought the noosed rope is within reach of the sinking youth. No one breathes. With a faint, convulsive effort, the swooning boy drops his arm into the noose.

Not a lip moves while he is dangling over that fearful abyss; but when a sturdy arm reaches down and draws up the lad, and holds him up before the tearful, breathless multitude—such shouting and such leaping and weeping for joy never greeted a human being so recovered from the jaws of death.

WORDS

ambition, aspiration.

attempting, undertaking.

buttresses, supports.

catastrophe, event.

commend, commit.

convulsive, agitated.

dangerous, perilous.

despair, hopelessness.

dissuade, discourage.

dying, expiring.

energry, vehemence.

glimpse, glance.

greeted, welcomed.

involuntary, unintentional.

leaning, stretching.

multitude, crowd.

nerveless, feeble.

precipice, cliff.

reckless, rash.

resolve, determine.

seized, inspired.

swooning, fainting.

QUESTIONS

What did the boys see on the limestone rocks? What did they resolve to do? What did one of them propose? Who came to witness his dangerous position? In what did his chance of safety lie? How was he at last saved?

LESSON 2

THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB'S ARMY

THE Assyrian(1) came down like the wolf on the fold,

And his cohorts(2) were gleaming with purple and gold,

And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,

When the blue waves roll nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,

That host with their banners at sunset were seen;

Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,

That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,(3)

And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;

And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,

And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever were still.

And there lay the steed with his nostrils all wide,

But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride

And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,

And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail

And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,

The lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.

And the widows of Asshur(4) are loud in their wail;

And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;(5)

And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,(6)

Hath melted like snow in the glance of the LORD!

—LORD BYRON (1788-1824)

WORDS

banners, standards.

distorted, deformed.

gasping, panting.

gleaming, sparkling.

sheen, brightness.

silent, noiseless.

wail, lamentation.

waxed, became.

withered, faded.

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(1) The Assyrian.—Sennacherib, King of Assyria, who invaded Judah in the reign of Hezekiah, and was pacified by a tribute. But Sennacherib broke his pledge and suddenly sent a blasphemous letter to the king at Jerusalem, threatening him with destruction. Before this threat could be carried out, a "blast" from the LORD killed 185,000 of the Assyrian host in one night.

(2) Cohort. a division of the Roman army, a tenth part of a legion; here put for companies or troops generally.

(3) The blast.—Thought by some to have been the poisonous wind, the sirocco, which blows from the Libyan Desert towards Italy, Greece, and Syria.

(4) Asshur, Assyria.

(5) Baal, the chief idol of the Assyrians; generally called Bel or Belus. The word Baal means "lord," and was the general name for the "strange gods" of the nations adjoining Israel, especially of the Phoenicians.

(6) Unsmote by the sword.—Because their destruction was accomplished by natural means, without the aid of man.

LESSON 3

"ABOVE THE CLOUDS"

IN 1856 an attempt was made, under the auspices of the British Government, to commence a series of observations in some region "above the clouds," where the serene and quiet air would be specially favourable for viewing the heavenly bodies. The island of Teneriffe(1) was selected for this purpose, as combining more of the required advantages than any other mountain within easy reach of Europe.

The expedition was under the direction of Piazzi Smyth, the distinguished astronomer at Edinburgh; who, in a remarkable and interesting work, has since published a narrative of the expedition. In an article contributed to a popular magazine he thus graphically describes the ascent of Teneriffe to a point high "above the clouds:"—

It was only a few days after—on a morning also cloudy, and with north-east cloud too—that the little party set forth from the town of Orotava, on the northern coast of Teneriffe, to climb the great mountain, and put to the only true test of actual practice their hopes of getting "above the clouds." Through long, winding, stony pathways, between vineyards and cactus plantations,(2) between orange groves and fig-trees, they proceeded, always ascending; past gardens, and then past orchards, still ever ascending; past corn-fields and oat-fields, ascending yet higher, and then amongst natural vegetation only—ferns and heath and some few wild laurels; and now, at a height of 3,000 feet vertical, they are close under the cloud.

Before entering therein, let us pause for a moment and survey the beauties of creation in the region we are leaving behind. If, for that one purpose of severe astronomy, a position below the clouds is unsuitable, yet what an infinite amount of benefit for man to enjoy, and of beauty for him to contemplate, is connected therewith! Beneath the clouds are kindly rains and gentle dews; and these, assisted by a warm climate, encourage all those exquisite forms of vegetation which we have admired clothing the lower slopes of the mountain. Without these, where were the fruits to support human life; where the buds and blossoms and fading flowers which teach us many a lesson useful to life eternal?

But duty now calls us on our upward way. Before many more seconds are passed, first comes one cold hurrying blast, with mist upon its wings, and then another, and another. Then, in the midst of a constant dense wet fog, all creation is shut out of our view, except the few feet of sloping earth on which we are treading, and that appears of a dull gray; and the occasional spiders' webs seen across our path are loaded with heavy drops of moisture.

For half an hour we must toil on and on through this winding-sheet of gloom; perpetually on the same upward way, but strong in faith and hope of what must in the end be presented to our eyes; on still, and up higher, when suddenly a momentary break appears overhead, and a portion of sky is seen—oh, so blue!—but it is lost again.

In a few minutes, however, another opening, another blue patch is seen; and then another, and another. Before three minutes more are passed, all the hurrying clouds seem blown on one side. Fair sky is everywhere above and around, a brilliant sun is shining, and there, there below us, is the upper surface of the clouds, extending far and wide, like a level plain, shutting out lowland and city and sea all from view, and in their place substituting brilliant reflections of solar light, which make the surface of this new mist-country look whiter than snow! Yes, indeed, we are now "above the clouds;" and this view that we have attempted to describe is the first example of the heightened, the advanced, the glorified appearance of even Earth's sombre fog-banks to those who are privileged for a time to look on them from the heavenward side.

"Above the clouds!"—not only no rain, no mist, no dew, but a scorching sun, and an air, both by day and by night, dry to almost an alarming degree. The further we advance, and the higher we ascend, the drier becomes the air; while at the same time the strength of the north-east trade-wind(3) is continually decreasing, and at the height of about six or seven thousand feet has completely died away.

Not that it has ceased elsewhere as well, for the driving clouds below show that it is still in its accustomed violence there. The distant movements of those rollers of white cloud betray that it must yet be raging down there in all its strength, tearing the mist piecemeal, and bowing down the heads of suffering palm-trees, and lashing the sea into foam-crested waves. Heaven grant that no cry of shipwrecked mariners be borne on the breeze; and, more still, that no evil thoughts be engendering in the cities of men.

It was when our party on the mountain were in the fullest enjoyment of their daily and nightly views of the heavens, that their friends in the towns of Teneriffe near the sea-coast wrote to them most sympathizingly: "Oh! what dreadful weather you must have been suffering! Down here we have had for three weeks the most frightful continuance of storms—constant clouds, rain, and howling winds; and if that was the case with us, what must it not have been with you at the greater height!"

Yet at the greater height, at that very time, the air was tranquil and serene, the sky clear, and bad weather entirely confined to that lower depth in the atmosphere beneath "the grosser clouds."

WORDS

accustomed, usual.

actual, real.

alarming, disquieting.

ascending, mounting.

auspices, patronage.

brilliant, gorgeous.

commence, begin.

completely, entirely.

confined, limited.

contemplate, consider.

continuance, succession.

decreasing, diminishing

distinguished, eminent.

dreadful, terrible.

engendering, growing.

expedition, enterprise.

exquisite, delicate.

graphically, forcibly.

heightened, elevated.

hurrying, fleeting.

mariners, seamen.

momentary, transient.

narrative, account.

observations, investigations.

perpetually, constantly.

practice, experience.

privileged, permitted.

region, district.

serene, tranquil.

severe, accurate.

substituting, exchanging.

survey, examine.

sympathizingly, compassionately.

treading, walking.

unsuitable, inconvenient.

vegetation, plant life.

violence, vehemence.

QUESTIONS

What place was selected for the astronomical expedition of 1856? Who directed it? At what height was the party close under the cloud? What benefits arise to man from being beneath the clouds? How long was the party in piercing the cloud? What was the state of the sky above it? What was the appearance of the clouds from above? What was the state of the air as they ascended higher? What change did the trade-wind undergo? What showed that it had not ceased elsewhere? What was the state of the weather near the sea-coast? What above the clouds?

————————————————————

(1) Teneriffe, one of the Canary Islands (belonging to Spain), situated off the north-west coast of Africa. Its most remarkable feature is the Peak of Teneriffe, an extinct volcano, which is upwards of 12,000 feet high. The Canary Islands yield wine, oil, grain, sugar-cane, and fruits.

(2) Cactus plantations.—The cactus is cultivated partly for the Indian or prickly pear which grows upon some species, but chiefly for the sake of the cochineal insect, which feeds upon this plant, and from which a valuable dye is procured.

(3) Trade-winds, constant winds that blow in the tropical regions of the great oceans, especially in the Atlantic, where they are most regular. Currents of cold air are always flowing from the poles to the equator, to supply the place of the hot air which rises there from the surface of the earth. If the globe were at rest these would be due north and south winds; but as the globe turns from west to east more quickly than the surrounding air, these lagging currents become a north-east and a south-east wind respectively. They are called trade-winds because of their great advantage to navigators in sailing from east to west.

LESSON 4

THE CONDOR OF THE ANDES

IN those sterile heights(1) Nature withholds her fostering influence alike from vegetable and from animal life. The scantiest vegetation can scarcely draw nutriment from the ungenial soil, and animals shun the dreary and shelterless wilds. The condor, or South American vulture, alone finds itself in its native element amidst these mountain deserts. On the inaccessible summits of the Cordillera, and at an elevation of from 10,000 to 15,000 feet, this bird builds its nest, and hatches its young in the months of April and May.

Few animals have attained so wide a celebrity as the condor. This bird was known in Europe at a period when its native land was numbered among those fabulous regions which are regarded as the scenes of imaginary wonders. The most extravagant accounts of the condor were written and read; and general credence was granted to every story which travellers brought from the fairy-land of gold and silver. It was only at the commencement of the present century that Humboldt overthrew the extravagant notions that had previously prevailed respecting the size, strength, and habits of this extraordinary bird.

The full-grown condor measures, from the point of the beak to the end of the tail, from four feet ten inches to five feet; and from the tip of one wing to that of the other, from twelve to fourteen feet! This bird feeds chiefly upon carrion;(2) it is only when impelled by hunger that it seizes living animals, and even then only the small and defenceless, such as the young of sheep, vicunas,(3) and llamas.(4)

It cannot raise great weights with its feet; which, however, it uses to aid the power of its beak. The principal strength of the condor lies in its neck and in its feet; yet it cannot, when flying, carry a weight exceeding eight or ten pounds. All accounts of sheep and calves being carried off by condors are mere exaggerations.

The bird passes a great part of the day in sleep, and hovers in quest of prey chiefly in the morning and evening. Whilst soaring at a height beyond the reach of human eyes, the sharpsighted condor discerns its prey on the level heights beneath it, and darts down upon it with the swiftness of lightning. When a bait is laid, it is curious to observe the number of condors which assemble in a quarter of an hour in a spot near which not one had been previously visible. These birds possess the senses of sight and smell in a singularly powerful degree.

Some old travellers have affirmed that the plumage of the condor cannot be pierced by a musket ball. This absurdity is scarcely worthy of contradiction; but it is nevertheless true that the bird has a singular tenacity of life, and that it is seldom killed by fire-arms, unless when shot in some vital part.

Its plumage, particularly on the wings, is very strong and thick. The natives, therefore, seldom attempt to shoot the condor. They usually catch it by traps or by the lasso, or kill it by stones flung from slings, or by the bolas.(5)

A curious method of capturing the condor alive is practised in one province. A fresh cow-hide, with some fragments of flesh adhering to it, is spread out on one of the level heights, and an Indian provided with ropes creeps beneath it, whilst some others station themselves in ambush near the spot ready to assist him. Presently a condor, attracted by the smell of the flesh, darts down upon the cow-hide; and then the Indian, who is concealed under it, seizes the bird by the legs, and binds them fast in the skin, as if in a bag. The captured condor flaps its wings, and makes ineffectual attempts to fly, but is speedily secured, and carried in triumph to the nearest village. Live condors are frequently sold in the markets of Chili and Peru, where a very fine one may be purchased for a dollar and a half.(6)

—DR. J. VON TSCHUDI: Travels in Peru.

WORDS

absurdity, nonsense.

affirmed, asserted.

ambush, concealment.

assemble, collect.

capturing, seizing.

celebrity, distinction.

commencement, beginning.

frequently, often.

impelled, driven.

inaccessible, unapproachable.

ineffectual, fruitless.

particularly, especially.

purchased, bought.

sharp sighted, keen eyed.

defenceless, unprotected.

discerns, descries.

exceeding, surpassing.

extraordinary, wonderful.

extravagant, exaggerated.

fabulous, legendary.

fostering, nourishing.

singularly, peculiarly.

soaring, flying.

sterile, barren.

summits, peaks.

tenacity, retentiveness.

triumph, exultation.

ungenial, unfavourable.

QUESTIONS

What other name is given to the condor? Where does it build its nest? What accounts were current before the 'present' (i.e. 19th) century? Who overthrew these? What are the dimensions of a full-grown condor? On what does it chiefly feed? Where does its principal strength lie? When does it go in quest of prey? What shows the keenness of its sight and smell? Why do the natives seldom attempt to shoot the condor? How do they kill it? What curious method of capturing it is practised in one province? For what may a live condor sometimes be bought?

————————————————————

(1) Sterile heights.—The Andes, the lofty range of mountains traversing South America from north to south.

(2) Carrion, dead or putrid flesh. [Fr. charogne, from Lat. caro, flesh.]

(3) Vicuna (vicoonya), an animal of the camel kind, inhabiting South American; much prized for its fine silken wool. It somewhat resembles the alpaca or Peruvian sheep.

(4) Llama, another animal of the camel kind, found in large numbers on the mountains of Peru. It is used as a boast of burden, and is valued for its flesh, as well as for its light, woolly hair.

(5) Bolas, a ball of stone or iron attached to a thong, and thrown with great force and precision.

(6) A dollar and a half,—about six shillings and threepence in English money at that time.

LESSON 5

THE PRAIRIE ON FIRE (I)

[THE PRAIRIES.—Between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains there is a vast extent of grassy plains called Prairies. The soil is fertile and the vegetation luxuriant; and before their occupation by the white man the tall grass waved in the wind over the wide expense, resembling the rolling of an emerald ocean. These plains furnished food for countless herds of buffaloes, elks, antelopes, and other animals that feed on herbage. They moved continually to and fro in vast masses, as the seasons changed and the state of the pasture drove them to new fields.

Different regions of the prairies had different characters. The wide undulating plains, frequented by buffaloes and covered with grass, were called Rolling Prairies, from their general resemblance to the long, heavy swell of the ocean, when subsiding after a storm; and Dry Prairies, because they were generally destitute of water. These were the most common and extensive.

Other regions abounded in springs, and were covered with shrubs and bushes. These were called Bushy Prairies.

Lastly, there were the Alluvial or Wet Prairies, which were covered with rich verdure and gorgeous flowers, and which in the rainy season were frequently overflowed.

Sometimes a prairie was set on fire, either accidentally or by design. Such a prairie on fire was one of the most terrible things in nature. The ocean of flame rolled onward and onward before the wind, with irresistible might, devouring everything that lay in its path. Droves of wild horses, buffaloes, antelopes, rushed madly before the advancing flames, beasts of pray forgetting their enmities in the midst of the common danger. Crowds of vultures and other birds of prey followed the course of the fire, and seized upon the carcasses which the flames had not completely consumed.]

THE sleep of the fugitives lasted for several hours. The trapper(1) was the first to shake off its influence, as he had been the last to court its refreshment. Rising just as the gray light of day began to brighten that portion of the studded vault(2) which rested on the eastern margin of the plain, he summoned his companions from their warm lairs, and pointed out the necessity of their being once more on the alert.

"See, Middleton!" exclaimed Inez, in a sudden burst of youthful pleasure, that caused her for a moment to forget her situation, "how lovely is that sky; surely it contains a promise of happier times!"

"It is glorious!" returned her husband. "Glorious and heavenly is that streak of vivid red; and here is a still brighter crimson. Rarely have I seen a richer rising of the sun."

"Rising of the sun!" slowly repeated the old man, lifting his tall person from his seat with a deliberate and abstracted air, while he kept his eye riveted on the changing and certainly beautiful tints that were garnishing the vault of heaven. "Rising of the sun!—I like not such risings of the sun. Ah's me! the Indians have circumvented(3) us. The prairie is on fire!"

A PRAIRIE ON FIRE

"Oh, dreadful!" cried Middleton, catching Inez to his bosom, under the instant impression of the imminence of their danger. "There is no time to lose, old man; each instant is a day. Let us fly!"

"Whither?" demanded the trapper, motioning him, with calmness and dignity, to arrest his steps. "In this wilderness of grass and reeds, we are like a vessel in the broad lakes without a compass. A single step on the wrong course might prove the destruction of us all. It is seldom danger is so pressing that there is not time enough for reason to do its work, young officer; therefore let us await its biddings."

"For my part," said Paul Hover, looking about him with an unequivocal expression of concern, "I acknowledge that should this dry bed of weeds get fairly into flame, a bee would have to make a flight higher than common, to prevent his wings from being scorched. Therefore, old trapper, I agree with the captain, and say, Mount and run!"

"Ye are wrong—ye are wrong;—man is not a beast, to follow the gift of instinct, and to snuff up his knowledge by a taint in the air or a rumbling in the ground; but he must see, and reason, and then conclude. So, follow me a little to the left, where there is a rising in the ground whence we may make our reconnoitrings."

The old man waved his hand with authority, and led the way, without further parlance,(4) to the spot he had indicated, followed by the whole of his alarmed companions. An eye less practised than that of the trapper might have failed in discovering the gentle elevation to which he alluded, and which looked on the surface of the meadow like a growth a little taller than common.

When they reached the place, however, the stunted grass itself announced the absence of that moisture which had fed the rank weeds of most of the plain, and furnished a clew to the evidence by which he had judged of the formation of the ground hidden beneath. Here a few minutes were lost in breaking down the tops of the surrounding herbage—which, notwithstanding the advantage of their position, rose even above the heads of Middleton and Paul—and in obtaining a look-out that might command a view of the surrounding sea of fire.

The examination which his companions so instantly and so intently made, rather served to assure them of their desperate situation than to appease their fears. Huge columns of smoke were rolling up from the plain, and thickening in gloomy masses around the horizon. The red glow which gleamed upon their enormous folds, now lighted their volumes with the glare of the conflagration, now flashed to another point, as the flame beneath glided ahead, leaving all behind enveloped in awful darkness, and proclaiming louder than words the character of the imminent and rapidly approaching danger.

"This is terrible!" exclaimed Middleton, folding the trembling Inez to his heart. "At such a time as this, and in such a manner!"

"The gates of heaven are open to all who truly believe," murmured the gentle wife.

"This resignation is maddening! But we are men, and will make a struggle for our lives!—How now, my brave and spirited friend;—shall we yet mount and push across the flames; or shall we stand here, and see those we most love perish in this frightful manner without an effort?"

"I am for a swarming-time and a flight before the hive is too hot to hold us," said the bee hunter, to whom it will be at once seen that the half-distracted Middleton had addressed himself.—"Come, old trapper, you must acknowledge this is but a slow way of getting out of danger. If we tarry here much longer, it will be in the fashion that the bees lie round the straw after the hive has been smoked for its honey.(5) You may hear the fire begin to roar already; and I know by experience that when the flame once gets fairly into the prairie grass, he is no sloth that can outrun it."

"Think you," returned the old man pointing scornfully at the mazes of the dry and matted grass which environed them, "that mortal feet can outstrip the speed of fire on such a path?"

"What say you, friend doctor?" cried the bewildered Paul, turning to the naturalist with that sort of helplessness with which the strong are often apt to seek aid of the weak, when human power is baffled by the hand of a mightier Being;—"what say you? Have you no advice to give away in a case of life and death?"

The naturalist stood, tablets(6) in hand, looking at the awful spectacle with as much composure as though the conflagration had been lighted in order to solve the difficulties of some scientific problem. Aroused by the question of his companion, he turned to his equally calm though differently occupied associate, the trapper, demanding with the most provoking insensibility to the urgent nature of their situation—"Venerable hunter, you have often witnessed similar prismatic experiments(7)—"

He was rudely interrupted by Paul, who struck the tablets from his hand with a violence that betrayed the utter intellectual confusion which had overset his equanimity.(8)

WORDS

abstracted, absent.

acknowledge, admit.

advantage, superiority.

allūded, referred.

appease, allay.

brighten, illumine.

carcasses, dead bodies.

clew (or clue), guide.

conflagration, burning.

deliberate, calm.

demanded, asked.

desperate, forlorn.

destruction, ruin.

devouring, consuming.

elevation, rising.

emerald, green.

enormous prodigious.

environed, surrounded.

exclaimed, shouted.

experience, personal proof.

fashion, manner.

frightful, terrible.

furnished, afforded.

garnishing, adorning.

imminence, nearness.

influence, power.

insensibility, indifference.

intently, eagerly.

luxuriant, exuberant.

margin, border.

necessity, urgency.

prairies, meadows.

reconnoitrings, examinations.

refreshment, comfort.

resemblance, likeness.

resignation, calmness.

riveted, fixed.

scornfully, reproachfully.

spectacle. sight.

trembling, quivering.

undulating, waving.

unequivocal, unmistakable.

verdure, greenness.

QUESTIONS

For what did Inez and her husband mistake the red streak on the horizon? Who undeceived them? Whom did he suspect of firing the prairie? For what purpose? What did most of the travellers advise? Who opposed this? Where did he lead the party?

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(1) The trapper, one who sets traps to catch animals, especially for their fur.

(2) Studded vault, the sky glittering with stars.

(3) Circumvented, outwitted; lit. come round. [Lat. circum, around; venio, I come]

(4) Parlance, talk. [Fr. parler, to speak; whence Eng. parley and parlour.]

(5) Smoked for its honey; refers to the practice of burning straw under beehives to kill or drive out the bees, that the honey may be obtained.

(6) Tablets, note-book.

(7) Prismatic experiments, experiments on light and colour. The ray of natural light is resolved into its component colours by the prism.

(8) Equanimity, evenness of mind; composure. [Lat. oequus, equal; animus, the mind.]

LESSON 6

THE PRAIRIE ON FIRE (II)

BEFORE time had been allowed for remonstrance, the old man, who had continued during the whole scene like one much at a loss how to proceed, though, also, like one who was rather perplexed than alarmed, suddenly assumed a decided air, as if he no longer doubted as to the course it was most advisable to pursue.

"It is time to be doing," he said, interrupting the controversy that was about to ensue between the naturalist and the bee hunter; "it is time to leave off books and moanings, and to be doing."

"You have come to your recollection too late, miserable old man!" cried Middleton. "The flames are within a quarter of a mile of us, and the wind is bringing them down in this direction with dreadful rapidity."

"Anan! the flames! I care but little for the flames! If I only knew how to circumvent the cunning of the Tetons as I know how to cheat the fire of its prey, there would be nothing needed but thanks to the Lord for our deliverance. Do you call that a fire! If you had seen what I have witnessed in the eastern hills, when mighty mountains were like the furnace of a smith, you would have known what it was to fear the flames, and to be thankful that you were spared.—Come, lads, come; 'tis time to be doing now, and to cease talking, for yonder curling flame is truly coming on like a trotting moose.(1) Put hands upon this short and withered grass where we stand, and lay bare the earth."

"Would you think to deprive the fire of its victims in this childish manner?" exclaimed Middleton.

A faint but solemn smile passed over the features of the old man, as he answered, "Your grandfather would have said, that when the enemy was nigh, a soldier could do no better than obey."

The captain felt the reproof, and instantly began to imitate the industry of Paul, who was tearing the decayed herbage from the ground in a sort of desperate compliance with the trapper's direction. Even Ellen lent her hands to the labour; nor was it long before Inez was seen similarly employed, though none among them knew why. A very few moments sufficed to lay bare a spot of some twenty feet in diameter.

To one side of this little area the trapper brought the females, directing Middleton and Paul to cover their light and inflammable dresses with the blankets of the party. Then the old man, crossing to the other side, approached the grass, which still environed(2) them in a dangerous circle, and selecting a handful of the driest of the herbage, he placed it over the pan of his rifle. The light combustible kindled at the flash. Then he placed the little flame in a bed of the standing fog, and patiently awaited the result.

The subtle element seized with avidity upon its new fuel, and in a moment forked flames were gliding among the grass, as the tongues of ruminating(3) animals are seen rolling among their food, apparently in quest of its sweetest portions.

"Now," said the old man, holding up a finger, and laughing in his peculiarly silent manner, "you shall see fire fight fire. Ah's me! many is the time I have burned a path from wanton laziness to pick my way across a tangled bottom."

"But is this not fatal?" cried the amazed Middleton; "are you not bringing the enemy nigher to us, instead of avoiding it?"

"Do you scorch so easily? Your grandfather had a tougher skin. But we shall live to see,—we shall all live to see.

The experience of the trapper was in the right. As the fire gained strength, it began to spread on three sides, dying of itself on the fourth for want of aliment. As it increased, and the sullen roaring announced its power, it cleared everything before it, leaving the black and smoking soil far more naked than if the scythe had swept the place. The area in which the fugitives had taken refuge increased as the fire advanced; and by going to the spot where it had been first kindled by the trapper, they avoided the excessive heat. In a very few moments the flames began to recede in every direction, leaving the party enveloped in a cloud of smoke, but perfectly safe from the torrent of fire that was still furiously rolling onward.

The others regarded the simple expedient of the trapper with that species of wonder with which the courtiers of Ferdinand(4) are said to have viewed the manner in which Columbus made his egg to stand on its end,—though with feeling that were filled with gratitude instead of envy.

"Most wonderful!" said Middleton, when he saw the complete success of the device: "the thought was a gift from Heaven."

"Old trapper," cried Paul, thrusting his fingers through his shaggy locks, "I have lined many a loaded bee into his hole, and know something of the nature of the woods, but this is robbing a hornet of his sting without touching the insect!"

"It will do—it will do," returned the old man, who, after the first moment of his success, seemed to think no more of the exploit. "Let the flames do their work for a short half hour, and then we will mount. That time is needed to cool the meadow; for these unshod beasts are tender on the hoof as a barefooted girl."

The veteran, on whose experience they all so implicitly relied for protection, employed himself in reconnoitring objects in the distance, through the openings which the air occasionally made in the immense bodies of smoke, that by this time lay in enormous piles on every part of the plain.

—J. FENIMORE COOPER.(5)

WORDS

aliment, nourishment.

apparently, seemingly.

avidity, greediness.

avoiding, shunning.

compliance, obedience.

controversy, dispute.

deliverance, release.

deprive, cheat.

device, plan.

employed, occupied.

enveloped, enclosed.

expedient, contrivance.

exploit, achievement.

features, countenance.

fugitives, wanderers.

gratitude, thankfulness.

implicitly, confidently.

inflammable, combustible.

occasionally, sometimes.

perplexed, puzzled.

rapidity, celerity.

recollection, remembrance.

remonstrance, expostulation.

reproof, rebuke.

returned, answered.

subtle, wily.

sullen, dismal.

tangled, intricate.

veteran, old man.

witnessed, beheld.

QUESTIONS

What did the trapper presently instruct his companions to do? How large a space did they clear? Where did the trapper place the females? What did the trapper do at the other side? What was the result? With what feelings did the others regard the trapper's device?

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(1) Moose, or Elk, the largest species of deer; a native of the northern regions of Europe and America. The male is known by his palmated antlers.

(2) Environed, enclosed; surrounded.

(3) Ruminating, cud-chewing; like the cow, the sheep, and the goat.

(4) Ferdinand, the King of Aragon, whose wife, Isabella of Castile, offered to pawn her jewels to equip Columbus for his voyage of discovery. "The manner in which Columbus made his egg to stand on its end," was by chipping it on the table.

(5) J. Fenimore Cooper, American novelist and essayist; born in New Jersey in 1789; at sea for six years. Chief works: The Pioneers, The Last of the Mohicans, Sketches of Switzerland &c., Died in 1851.

LESSON 7

MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS(1)

I LOOKED far back into other years, and lo! in bright array

I saw, as in a dream, the forms of ages passed away.

It was a stately convent(2) with its old and lofty walls,

And gardens with their broad green walks, where soft the footstep falls;

And o'er the antique dial-stone the creeping shadow passed,

And, all around, the noon-day sun a drowsy radiance cast.

No sound of busy life was heard, save from the cloister dim

The tinkling of the silver bell, or the sister' holy hymn.

And there five noble maidens sat beneath the orchard trees,

In that first budding spring of youth when all its prospects please;

And little recked they, when they sang, or knelt at vesper prayers,

That Scotland knew no prouder names—held none more dear than theirs;—

And little even the loveliest thought, before the holy shrine,

Of royal blood and high descent from the ancient Stuart line:

Calmly her happy days flew on, uncounted in their flight;

And as they flew, they left behind a long-continuing light.

The scene was changed. It was the court, the gay court of Bourbon,(3)

And 'neath a thousand silver lamps a thousand courtiers throng

And proudly kindles Henry's(4) eye—well pleased, I ween, to see

The land assemble all its wealth of grace and chivalry:—

But fairer far than all the rest who bask on Fortune's tide,

Effulgent in the light of youth, is she, the new-made bride!(5)

The homage of a thousand hearts—the fond, deep love of one—

The hopes that dance around a life whose charms are but begun,—

They lighten up her chestnut eye, they mantle o'er her cheek,

They sparkle on her open brow, and high-souled joy bespeak:

Ah! who shall blame, if scarce that day, through all its brilliant hours,

She thought of that quiet convent's calm, its sunshine and its flowers?

The scene was changed. It was a bark(6) that slowly held its way,

And o'er its lee the coast of France in the light of evening lay;

And on its deck a Lady sat, who gazed with tearful eye

Upon the fast receding hills, that dim and distant rise.

No marvel that the Lady wept,—there was no land on earth

She loved like that dear land, although she owed it not her birth;

It was her mother's land,(7) the land of childhood and of friends,—

HOLYROOD PALACE, EDINBURGH

It was the land where she had found for all her griefs amends,—

The land where her dead husband slept—the land where she had known

The tranquil convent's hushed repose, and the splendours of a throne;

No marvel that the Lady wept—it was the land of France—

The chosen home of chivalry—the garden of romance!

The past was bright, like those dear hills so far behind her bark;

The future, like the gathering night, was ominous and dark!

One gaze again—one long, last gaze—"Adieu, fair France to thee!"

The breeze comes forth—she is alone on the unconscious sea!

The scene was changed. It was an eve of raw and surly mood,

And in a turret-chamber high of ancient Holyrood(8)

Sat Mary, listening to the rain, and sighing with the winds,

That seemed to suit the stormy state of men's uncertain minds.

The touch of care had blanched her cheek—her smile was sadder now:

The weight of royalty had pressed too heavy on her brow;

And traitors to her councils came, and rebels to the field;—

The Stuart sceptre well she swayed, but the sword she could not wield.

She thought of all her blighted hopes—the dreams of youth's brief day,

And summoned Rizzio with his lute, and bade the minstrel play

The songs she loved in early years—the songs of gay Navarre;

The songs perchance that erst were sung by gallant Chatelar:(9)

They half beguiled her of her cares, they soothed her into smiles,

They won her thoughts from bigot zeal and fierce domestic broils:

But hark! the tramp of armëd men! the Douglas'(10) battle-cry

They come!—they come!—and lo! the scowl of Ruthven's(11) hollow eye!

And swords are drawn, and daggers gleam, and tears and words are vain—

The ruffian steel is in his heart—the faithful Rizzio's slain!

Then Mary Stuart dashed aside the tears that trickling fell:

"Now for my father's arm!" she said;(12)—"my woman's heart farewell!"

The scene was changed. It was a lake, with one small lonely isle;(13)

And there, within the prison-walls of its baronial pile,

Stern men stood menacing their Queen, till she should stoop to sign

The traitorous scroll(14) that snatched the crown from her ancestral line.

"My lords!—my lords!" the captive said, "were I but once more free,

With ten good knights on yonder shore to aid my cause and me,

That parchment would I scatter wide to every breeze that blows,

And once more reign a Stuart Queen o'er my remorseless foes!"

A red spot burned upon her cheek—streamed her rich tresses down;

She wrote the words—she stood erect—a Queen without a crown!

The scene was changed. A royal host(15) a royal banner bore.

And the faithful of the land stood round their smiling Queen once more.

She stayed her steed upon a hill—she saw them marching by—

She heard their shouts—she read success in every flashing eye.

The tumult of the strife begins—it roars—it dies away;

And Mary's troops and banners now, and courtiers—where are they?

Scattered and strewn, and flying far, defenceless and undone;—

Alas! to think what she has lost, and all that guilt has won!—

Away! away! thy gallant steed must act no laggard's part;

Yet vain his speed—for thou dost bear the arrow in thy heart!

The scene was changed. Beside the block(16) a sullen headsman stood,

And gleamed the broad axe in his hand, that soon must drip with blood.

With slow and steady step there came a Lady through the hall,

And breathless silence chained the lips and touched the hearts of all.

I knew that queenly form again, though blighted was its bloom;

I saw that grief had decked it out—an offering for the tomb!

I knew the eye, though faint its light, that once so brightly shone;

I knew the voice, though feeble now, that thrilled with every tone;

I knew the ringlets, almost gray, once threads of living gold!

I knew that bounding grace of step—that symmetry of mould!

Even now I see her far away, in that calm convent isle,

I hear her chant her vesper-hymn, I mark her holy smile,—

Even now I see her bursting forth upon the bridal morn,

A new star in the firmament, to light and glory born!

Alas, the change!—she placed her foot upon a triple throne,(17)

And on the scaffold now she stands—beside the block—alone

The little dog that licks her hand, the last of all the crowd

Who sunned themselves beneath her glance and round her footsteps bowed!

Her neck is bared—the blow is struck—the soul is passed away!

The bright, the beautiful, is now—a bleeding piece of clay!

The dog is moaning piteously; and, as it gurgles o'er,

Laps the warm blood that trickling runs unheeded to the floor

The blood of beauty, wealth, and power—the heart-blood of a Queen,—

The noblest of the Stuart race—the fairest earth has seen,—

Lapped by a dog! Go think of it, in silence and alone;

Then weigh against a grain of sand the glories of a throne!

—HENRY GLASSFORD BELL

WORDS

antique, old-fashioned.

beguiled, cheated.

bespeak, betoken.

blanched, made pale.

blighted, withered.

cloister, convent.

courtiers, nobles.

defenceless, unprotected.

descent, lineage.

effulgent, splendid.

faithful, loyal.

firmament, heavens.

gleamed, flashed.

headsman, executioner.

homage, reverence.

laggard, loiterer.

lapped, licked.

marvel, wonder.

menacing, threatening.

minstrel, songster.

ominous, portentous.

parchment, scroll.

piteously, mournfully.

receding, retiring.

remorseless, pitiless.

ruffian, cruel.

stately, majestic.

symmetry, regularity.

traitorous, treacherous.

tranquil, peaceful.

tumult, uproar.

unconscious, insensible.

unheeded, disregarded.

————————————————————

(1) Mary, Queen of Scots. was born at Linlithgow in 1542, a few days before the death of her father, James V. The Scottish Parliament—having rejected the proposal to marry Mary to Edward VI., the young King of England—sent her to France in 1518, where she was betrothed to Francis, the dauphin. In 1558 they were married. In December 1559 Francis died. Queen Mary returned to Scotland in 1561, and opposed the progress of the Reformation with all her power. In 1565 she married Darnley. In 1567 Darnley was killed by the blowing up of the Kick of Field, and Mary married Bothwell shortly afterwards. She surrendered to the nobles, who had taken up arms against her, at Carberry Hill, and was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle. She escaped from thence in 1568; was defeated at Langside; and fled to England, where she was executed in 1587.

(2) A stately convent—the Augustinian priory on the island of Inchma-home ("isle of rest"), in the Lake of Menteith (Perthshire). Here, to be beyond the reach of English arms, the youthful Queen Mary was sent to live for some months previously to her departure for France. She had as her companions four other "noble maidens," each of whom was also named Mary, and who form the interesting historical group of "The Queen's Maries."

(3) The gay court of Bourbon,—Queen Mary was in her sixth year when she was sent to France, where she remained till her nineteenth year. She therefore received the whole of her education in France, and was more a Frenchwoman than a Scot when she left it.

(4) Henry—Mary's father- in-law, Henry II, of France, who in 1559 died of a wound accidentally received in a tournament, on the occasion of his sister's marriage.

(5) New made bride.—She was married to Francis, the Dauphin, son of Henry II. of France, in 1558.

(6) A bark.—This scene represents Mary on her voyage from France to Scotland, in 1561.

(7) Her mother's land—Her mother was a French princess, Mary of Lorraine, daughter of the Duke of Guise.

(8) Holyrood.—This scene relates to the murder of Rizzio, Mary's Italian secretary, which took place in Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, early in 1566. The plot originated in Darnley's jealousy of Rizzio's influence with the Queen; but it was joined by some of the leaders of the reforming party, who believed that Rizzio was intriguing with the Papal Court. Darnley led the conspirators up a secret stair to the Queen's private room, where she was sitting at supper with a few of her attendants and Rizzio. The latter, after being stabbed in her presence, was dragged into an adjoining room, and despatched with fifty-six wounds.

(9) Gallant Chatelar.—Pierre de Chastelard, a noble Frenchman, and something of a poet, followed Mary to Scotland. He became deeply in love with her, and indiscreetly put himself in a position which brought upon him the charge of treason. He was executed in 1563.

(10) The Douglas.—James Douglas, Earl of Moıton, and Lord Chancellor of Scotland, was one of the chief conspirators. He held the gates of Holyrood with a band of soldiers, while the murder was being perpetrated. In 1572 he became Regent. In 1581 he was found guilty of being accessory to the murder of Darnley, and was beheaded.

(11) Ruthven (Riven).—Lord Ruthven, another of the conspirators. He and Lord Lindsay conveyed Mary to Lochleven Castle in 1567.

(12) She said.—Another account represents her as drying her eyes and exclaiming, "Henceforth I study revenge."

(13) Lonely isle—the island in Lochleven (Kinross-shire)on which stood the castle in which Mary was imprisoned.

(14) Traitorous scroll.—Lindsay required her, on pain of death, to sign a deed, resigning the crown in favour of her son. This can hardly be called "snatching the crown from her ancestral line."

(15) A royal host.—By the assistance and ingenuity of a youth named Douglas, Mary escaped from Lochleven in 1568, and soon found herself at the head of 6000 men. At Langside, near Glasgow, she suffered a most disastrous defeat at the hands of the Regent Moray. She fled from the field with a few followers, and did not draw bridle till she reached Dundrennan, sixty miles off.

(16) Beside the block.—After eighteen years of captivity and exile, Mary was tried for being accessory to Babington's conspiracy (a plot to assassinate Elizabeth, to restore the Roman Catholic religion, and to make Mary Queen of England), was found guilty, and beheaded at Fotheringay Castle, Northamptonshire, 7th February 1587.

(17) A triple throne—Her father-in-law, Henry II., had caused her to be proclaimed as Queen of both Scotland and England; and when he died she became Queen of France as well.

LESSON 8

DEATH OF LITTLE NELL

SHE was dead. No sleep so beautiful and calm, so free from trace of pain, so fair to look upon. She seemed a creature fresh from the hand of God, and waiting for the breath of life; not one who had lived, and suffered death. Her couch was dressed with here and there some winter-berries and green leaves, gathered in a spot she had been used to favour. "When I die, put near me something that has loved the light, and had the sky above it always." These were her words.

She was dead. Dear, gentle, patient, noble Nell was dead. Her little bird—a poor, slight thing, the pressure of a finger would have crushed—was stirring nimbly in its cage; and the strong heart of its child-mistress was mute and motionless for ever! Where were the traces of her early cares, her sufferings and fatigues? All gone. Sorrow was dead, indeed, in her; but peace and perfect happiness were born—imaged in her tranquil beauty and profound repose.

And still her former self lay there, unaltered in this change. Yes, the old fireside had smiled upon that same sweet face; it had passed like a dream through haunts of misery and care—at the door of the poor schoolmaster on the summer evening,(1) before the furnace fire(2) upon the cold wet night, at the still bedside of the dying boy,(3) there had been the same mild and lovely look. So shall we know the angels in their majesty after death.

The old man(4) held one languid arm in his, and the small tight hand folded to his breast for warmth. It was the hand she had stretched out to him with her last smile—the hand that had led him on through all their wanderings. Ever and anon he pressed it to his lips, then hugged it to his breast again, murmuring that it was warmer now; and as he said it he looked in agony to those who stood around, as if imploring them to help her.

She was dead, and past all help or need of help. The ancient rooms she had seemed to fill with life even while her own was waning fast the garden she had tended, the eyes she had gladdened the noiseless haunts of many a thoughtful hour, the paths she had trodden as it were but yesterday, could know her no more. "It is not," said the schoolmaster,(5) as he bent down to kiss her on the cheek, and gave his tears free vent—"it is not in this world that Heaven's justice ends. Think what it is, compared with the world to which her young spirit has winged its early flight, and say, if one deliberate wish, expressed in solemn tones above this bed, could call her back to life, which of us would utter it?"

She had been dead two days. They were all about her at the time, knowing that the end was drawing on. She died soon after daybreak. They had read and talked to her in the earlier portion of the night; but as the hours crept on she sank to sleep. They could tell, by what she faintly uttered in her dreams, that they were of her wanderings with the old man. They were of no painful scenes, but of those who had helped them and used them kindly; for she often said, "God bless you!" with great fervour. Waking, she never wandered in her mind but once, and that was at beautiful music which, she said, was in the air. God knows. It may have been.

Opening her eyes at last from a very quiet sleep, she begged that they would kiss her once again. That done, she turned to the old man, with a lovely smile upon her face—such, they said, as they had never seen, and never could forget—and clung with both her arms about his neck. She had never murmured or complained, but with a quiet mind, and manner quite unaltered—save that she every day became more earnest, and more grateful to them—faded like the light upon the summer's evening.

The child(6) who had been her little friend came there almost as soon as it was day with an offering of dried flowers, which he begged them to lay upon her breast. He told them of his dream again, and that it was of her being restored to them, just as she used to be. He begged hard to see her, saying that he would be very quiet, and that they need not fear his being alarmed, for he had sat alone by his younger brother all day long when he was dead, and had felt glad to be so near him. They let him have his wish; and indeed he kept his word, and was in his childish way a lesson to them all.

Up to that time the old man had not spoken once—except to her—or stirred from the bedside. But when he saw her little favourite, he was moved as they had not seen him yet, and made as though he would have him come nearer. Then, pointing to the bed, he burst into tears for the first time; and they who stood by, knowing that the sight of this child had done him good, left them alone together.

Soothing him with his artless talk of her, the child persuaded him to take some rest, to walk abroad—to do almost as he desired him. And when the day came on which they must remove her in her earthly shape from earthly eyes for ever, he led him away, that he might not know when she was taken from him. They were to gather fresh leaves and berries for her bed.

And now the bell—the bell she had so often heard by night and day, and listened to with solemn pleasure, almost as to a living voice—rung its remorseless toll for her, so young, so beautiful, so good. Decrepit(7) age, and vigorous life, and blooming youth, and helpless infancy, poured forth—on crutches, in the pride of health and strength, in the full blush of promise, in the mere dawn of life—to gather round her tomb. Old men were there, whose eyes were dim and senses failing—grandmothers, who might have died ten years ago and still been old—the deaf, the blind, the, lame, the palsied—the living dead, in many shapes and forms, to see the closing of that early grave.

Along the crowded path they bore her now—pure as the newly fallen snow that covered it, whose day on earth had been as fleeting. Under that porch where she had sat when Heaven, in its mercy, brought her to that peaceful spot, she passed again; and the old church received her in its quiet shade. They carried her to one old nook, where she had many and many a time sat musing, and laid their burden softly on the pavement. The light streamed on it through the coloured window—a window where the boughs of trees were ever rustling in the summer, and where the birds sang sweetly all day long. With every breath of air that stirred among those branches in the sunshine, some trembling, changing light would fall upon her grave.

"Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Many a young hand dropped in its little wreath—many a stifled sob was heard. Some, and they were not a few, knelt down. All were sincere and truthful in their sorrow. The service done, the mourners stood apart, and the villagers closed round to look into the grave before the stone should be replaced.

One called to mind how he had seen her sitting on that very spot, and how her book had fallen on her lap, and she was gazing with a pensive face upon the sky. Another told how he had wondered much that one so delicate as she should be so bold; how she had never feared to enter the church alone at night, but had loved to linger there when all was quiet, and even to climb the tower-stair, with no more light than that of the moon rays stealing through the loop-holes in the thick old walls. A whisper went about among the oldest there that she had seen and talked with angels; and when they called to mind how she had looked and spoken, and her early death, some thought it might be so indeed.

Thus, coming to the grave in little knots, and glancing down, and giving place to others, and falling off in whispering groups of three or four, the church was cleared in time of all but the sexton and the mourning friends. Then, when the dusk of evening had come on, and not a sound disturbed the sacred stillness of the place—when the bright moon poured in her light on tomb and monument, on pillar, wall, and arch, and most of all, it seemed to them, upon her quiet grave—in that calm time, when all outward things and inward thoughts teem with assurances or immortality, and worldly hopes and fears are humbled in the dust before them, then with tranquil and submissive hearts they turned away, and left the child with God.

—CHARLES DICKENS(8)

WORDS

assurances, evidences.

complained, repined.

creature, being.

daybreak, dawn.

deliberate, premeditated.

delicate, weakly.

disturbed, broke.

favourite, darling.

fleeting, transient.

gladdened, rejoiced.

glancing, looking.

grateful, thankful.

immortality, deathlessness.

imploring, beseeching.

languid, exhausted.

misery, wretchedness.

monument, memorial.

nimbly, actively.

offering, present.

painful, trying.

palsied, paralyxed.

patient, enduring.

pavement, floor.

pensive, thoughtful.

persuaded, induced.

pleasure, satisfaction.

profound, deep.

repose, rest.

restored, returned.

sincere, honest.

sol emn, serious.

soothing, calming.

stifled, smothered.

trembling, flickering.

unaltered, unchanged.

vigorous, healthy.

wandered, raved.

wanderings, journeyings.

————————————————————

(1) At the door of the poor schoolmaster.—Little Nell and her old grandfather had wandered away from London, many miles into the country, to escape misfortune. At one village to which they came, they had been kindly received and lodged by the schoolmaster, who was taken with hergentle look and artless story.

(2) Before the furnace fire.—Once in their wanderings, when foot-sore and sick at heart, she had been carried by a kind but gruff man out of the pelting rain, and laid on the warm ashes beside a furnace fire, in an immense iron-work.

(3) At the still bedside of the dying boy.—The schoolmaster referred to in Note 1, had had a favourite little scholar, who had died the day after Nell arrived at the schoolhouse, and of whose tranquil death she had been a witness.

(4) The old man—Nell's grandfather.

(5) The schoolmaster—the same already referred to.

(6) The child.—This was Kit, who had been her grandfather's errand-boy when they lived in London.

(7) Decrepit, broken down; worn out; infirm.

(8) Charles Dickens, novelist: born 1812. Chief works: The Pickwick Papers, David Copperfield, The Old Curiosity Shop (from which the above scene is taken), Bleak House, &c. Died in 1870.

LESSON 9

GRACE DARLING

[GRACE DARLING was a daughter of the lighthouse keeper on Longstone, the largest of the Farne Islands, a group of bare and desolate rocks off the coast of Northumberland. On a dark and stormy night in September 1838, the steamer Forfarshire was wrecked between these islands and the coast; and the fore part, to which some dozen poor wretches clung, was impaled upon a rock. At dawn the next morning, Grace Darling, then a slight maid of twenty-two, descried the fragment of the wreck, and prevailed upon her father to go out with her in the open boat to rescue the survivors. Nine persons were got safely into the boat and landed on the island. Grace at once became one of the most famous of women. She died of consumption in 1841.]

A MAIDEN gentle, yet, at duty's call,

Firm and unflinching as the Lighthouse reared

On the Island-rock,(1) her lonely dwelling-place:

Or like the invincible Rock(2) itself that braves,

Age after age, the hostile elements,

As when it guarded holy Cuthbert's cell.

All night the storm had raged, nor ceased, nor paused,

When, as day broke, the Maid, through misty air,

Espies far off a Wreck, amid the surf,

Beating on one of those disastrous isles;—

Half of a Vessel,(3) half—no more; the rest

Had vanished, swallowed up with all that there

Had for the common safety striven in vain,

Or thither thronged for refuge. With quick glance

Daughter and Sire through optic-glass discern,

Clinging about the remnant of this Ship,

Creatures—how precious in the Maiden's sight!

For whom, belike, the old man grieves still more

Than for their fellow-sufferers engulfed

Where every parting agony is hushed,

And hope and fear mix not in further strife.

"But courage, Father! let us out to sea—

A few may yet be saved." The Daughter's words,

Her earnest tone, and look beaming with faith,

Dispel the Father's doubts: nor do they lack

The noble-minded Mother's helping hand

To launch the boat; and with her blessing cheered,

And inwardly sustained by silent prayer,

Together they put forth, Father and Child!

Each grasps an oar, and struggling on they go—

Rivals in effort; and, alike intent

Here to elude and there surmount, they watch

The billows lengthening, mutually crossed

And shattered, and re-gathering their might;

As if the tumult, by the Almighty's will,

Were, in the conscious sea, roused and prolonged,

That woman's fortitude(4)—so tried, so proved—

May brighten more and more!

True to the mark.

They stem the current of that perilous gorge,

Their arms still strengthening with the strengthening heart

Though danger, as the Wreck is neared, becomes

More imminent.—Not unseen do they approach;

And rapture, with varieties of fear

Incessantly conflicting, thrills the frames

Of those who, in that dauntless energy,

Foretaste deliverance. But the least perturbed

Can scarcely trust his eyes, when he perceives

That of the pair—tossed on the waves to bring

Hope to the hopeless, to the dying, life—

One is a Woman, a poor earthly sister;

Or, be the Visitant other(5) than she seems,

A guardian Spirit sent from pitying Heaven,

In woman's shape. But why prolong the tale,

Casting weak words amid a host of thoughts

Armed to repel them? Every hazard faced

And difficulty mastered, with resolve

That no one breathing should be left to perish,

This last remainder of the crew are all

Placed in the little boat, then o'er the deep

Are safely borne, landed upon the beach,

And, in fulfilment of God's mercy, lodged

Within the sheltering Lighthouse.

Shout, ye Waves!

Send forth a song of triumph. Waves and Winds,

Exult in this deliverance wrought through faith

In Him whose providence your rage hath served!

Ye screaming Sea-mews, in the concert join!

And would that some immortal Voice—a Voice

Fitly attuned to all that gratitude

Breathes out from floor or couch, through pallid lips

Of the survivors—to the clouds might bear—

Blended with praise of that parental love

Beneath whose watchful eye the Maiden grew

Pious and pure, modest and yet so brave,

Though young so wise, though meek so resolute—

Might carry to the clouds and to the stars

Yea, to celestial Choirs, GRACE DARLING'S name!

—WILLIAM WORDSWORTH(6)

WORDS

beaming, glowing.

belike, probably.

blended, mingled.

celestial, heavenly.

conflicting, struggling.

dauntless, fearless.

deliverance, safety.

descried, discovered.

disastrous, calamitous.

elude, evade.

engulfed, swallowed.

exult, glory.

fortitude, endurance.

fragment, remnant.

fulfilment, accomplishment.

immortal, deathless.

incessantly, constantly.

invincible, unconquerable.

pallid, death-like.

perturbed, disquieted.

rapture, delight.

resolute, steadfast.

sustained, upheld.

unflinching, stanch.

vanished, disappeared.

————————————————————

(1) Island-rock—Longstone, of which her father and mother and herself were the only inhabitants.

(2) The invincible Rock—Lindisfarne, or "Saint Cuthbert's Holy Isle," as Scott calls it, about three miles from the coast of Northumberland, and the site of an ancient monastery, in which St. Cuthbert, Bishop of Durham, was buried in 687.

(3) Half of a vessel.—The Forfarshire had broken off sharp amidships; the stern was swallowed up, and the fore part alone stuck upon the rock.

(4) That woman's fortitude.—That here means "in order that".

(5) Be the Visitant other.—If the visitant be other than she seems; that is, if she is not a woman, she must be an angel.

(6) William Wordsworth.—Poet; born at Cockermouth, Cumberland, in 1770; Poet Laureate from 1843 till 1850; lived near the Lakes of Cumberland (chiefly at Rydal Mount), where Coleridge and Southey also resided,—hence the three were called "Lake Poets." Chief works: The Excursion. The White Doe of Rylstone, The Prelude; wrote also many lyrical ballads, sonnets, andshort poems. Wordsworth died 1850.

LESSON 10

THE FRIGATE-BIRD

WHAT bird is this? It is the little ocean-eagle, first and chief of the winged race, the daring navigator who never furls his sails, the lord of the tempest, the scorner of all peril—the man-of-war or frigate-bird.(1)

Here we have a bird which is virtually nothing more than wings: scarcely any body—barely as large as that of the domestic cock—while his prodigious pinions are fifteen feet in span! The great problem of flight is solved and overpassed, for the power of flight seems useless. Such a bird, naturally sustained by such supports, needs but allow himself to be borne along. The storm bursts; he mounts to lofty heights, where he finds tranquillity. The poetic metaphor, untrue when applied to any other bird, is no exaggeration when applied to him: literally, he sleeps upon the storm.

When he chooses to oar his way seriously, all distance vanishes: he breakfasts at the Senegal;(2) he dines in America.

Or if he thinks fit to take more time, and amuse himself on route,(3) he can do so. He may continue his progress through the night uninterruptedly, certain of reposing himself. Upon what? On his huge motionless pinion, which takes upon itself all the weariness of the voyage; or on the wind, his slave, which eagerly hastens to cradle him.

Amid the glowing azure of the tropics, at incredible altitudes, almost imperceptible in the dim remoteness, we see him triumphantly sweeping past us—this black, solitary bird, alone in the waste of heaven; or, at the most, at a lower elevation, the snow-white sea-swallow crosses his flight in easy grace!

On looking at him closely, you perceive that he has no feet. At all events, his feet, being exceedingly short, can neither walk nor perch. With a formidable beak, he has not the talons of a true eagle of the sea.

Thence arises his life of uncertainty and hazard—the life of a corsair(4) and a pirate rather than of a mariner.

The immense and superb apparatus of his wings becomes on land a danger and an embarrassment. To raise himself, he needs a strong wind and a lofty station—a promontory, a rock. Surprised on a sandy level, on the banks, the low reefs where he sometimes halts, the frigate-bird is defenceless; in vain he threatens, in vain he strikes, for a blow from a stick will overcome him.

At sea, those vast wings, of such admirable utility in ascent, are ill fitted for skimming the surface of the water. When wetted, they may over-weight and sink him. And thereupon, woe to the bird!

And yet, what shall he do? His food lies in the waters. He is ever compelled to draw near them, to return to them, to skim incessantly the hateful and prolific sea which threatens to engulf him.

Thus, then, this being, so well armed and winged, superior to all others in power of flight and vision as in daring, leads but a trembling and precarious life. He would die of hunger had he not the ingenuity to create for himself a purveyor, whom he cheats of his food. His ignoble resource, alas! is to attack a dull and timorous bird, the noddy, famous as a fisher. The frigatebird, which is of no larger dimensions, pursues him, strikes him on the neck with his beak, and constrains him to yield up his prey. All this takes place in the air. The noddy drops the fish; but the frigate-bird catches it before it can reach the water.

—JULES MICHELET

WORDS

altitudes, heights.

apparatus, machinery.

constrains, compels.

dimensions, size.

embarrassment, hindrance.

formidable, dreadful.

ignoble, mean.

imperceptible, invisible.

metaphor, image.

precarious, uncertain.

prodigious, vast.

prolific, fruitful.

resource, expedient.

solitary, lonely.

sustained, supported.

tempest, storm.

timorous, cowardly.

uninterruptedly, continuously.

utility, usefulness.

QUESTIONS

Why does the frigate-bird fly so easily? Where does he go to escape the storm? On what does he repose himself in the night? Why is he helpless on land? Why is it dangerous for him to skim the surface of the water? On what does he feed? How does he procure it?

————————————————————

(1) The frigate-bird.—This interesting bird is allied to the cormorants, but differs from them in the possession of a forked tail, short feet, a curved beak, and extraordinary spread of wing. His plumage is coloured of a rich purple black, but the beak is varied with vermilion, and the throat with patches of white. He is an inhabitant of the tropics, where be lives a predatory life, forcing the gannet and the gull to disgorge their prey, and retiring to breed in lonely, uninhabited islands. The lightness of his body, his short tarsi, his enormous spread of wing, together with his long, slender, and forked tail, all combine to give this bird a superiority over his tribe, not only in length and swiftness of flight, but also in the capability of maintaining himself on extended pinions in his serial realm, where, at times, he soars so high that his figure can scarce be discerned by the spectator in this nether world.

(2) The Senegal.—A great river on the west of Africa.

(3) On route, on the way[Fr.]

(4) Corsair, a pirate; lit. one who scours the sea. [Fr. corsaire; from Lat. curro, I run.]

LESSON 11

A MOTHER'S LOVE

A MOTHER'S LOVE!—how sweet the name!

What is a Mother's Love?—

A noble, pure, and tender flame,

Enkindled from above,

To bless a heart of earthly mould—

The warmest love that can grow cold;—

This is a Mother's Love.

To bring a helpless babe to light,

Then, while it lies forlorn,

To gaze upon that dearest sight,

And feel herself new-born;

In its existence lose her own,

And live and breathe in it alone;—

This is a Mother's Love.

In weakness in her arms to bear,

To cherish on her breast,

Feed it from Love's own fountain there,

And lull it there to rest;

Then while it slumbers watch its breath,

As if to guard from instant death;—

This is a Mother's Love.

To mark its growth from day to day,

Its opening charms admire,

Catch from its eye the earliest ray

Of intellectual fire;(1)

To smile and listen while it talks,

And lend a finger when it walks;—

This is a Mother's Love.

And can a Mother's Love grow cold—

Can she forget her boy?

His pleading innocence behold,

Nor weep for grief—for joy?

A mother may forget her child,

While wolves devour it on the wild;—

Is this a Mother's Love?

Ten thousand voices answer, "No!"

Ye clasp your babes and kiss;

Your bosoms yearn, your eyes o'erflow;

Yet, ah! remember this;—

The infant reared alone for earth,

May live, may die—to curse his birth;—

Is this a Mother's Love?

Blest infant! whom his mother taught

Early to seek the Lord,

And poured upon his dawning thought

The day-spring of the Word:

This was the lesson to her son,—

Time is Eternity begun;—

Behold that Mother's Love!(2)

Blest mother! who in Wisdom's path,

By her own parent trod,

Thus taught her son to flee the wrath,

And know the fear of God:

Ah, youth! like him enjoy your prime.—

Begin Eternity in time,

Taught by that Mother's Love.

That Mother's Love!—how sweet the name!

What was that Mother's Love?—

The noblest, purest, tenderest flame,

That kindles from above

Within a heart of earthly mould,—

As much of heaven as heart can hold,—

Nor through eternity grows old;—

This was that Mother's Love.

—MONTGOMERY(3)

WORDS

admire, wonder at.

cherish, support.

dawning, opening.

devour, consume.

enjoy, delight in.

enkindled, inflamed.

eternity, futurity.

existence, life.

forlorn, helpless.

fountain, spring.

innocence, simplicity

instant, immediate.

intellectual, mental.

reared, trained.

remember, recollect.

slumbers, sleeps.

tenderest, most susceptible.

yearn, long.

————————————————————

(1) The earliest ray of intellectual fire—the earliest sign of awakening intelligence.

(2) That Mother—Eunice, the mother of Timothy, and daughter of Lois—"her own parent," referred to in next stanes.

(3) James Montgomery, poet; born in Ayrshire, 1771; spent much of his life as a journalist Chief poems: Greenland, The Pelican Island, and The West Indies. He also wrote a History of Missionary Enterprise in the South Seas. Died in 1854.

LESSON 12

NELSON AND HARDY

THE life of Nelson(1) abounds with illustrations of naval daring, but most of these are well known. One, however, narrated by Colonel Drinkwater Bethune, the historian of "The Siege of Gibraltar," and an eye-witness of what follows, is as well Worthy of general fame as some of Nelson's more splendid achievements. It is the more interesting as, on this occasion, that personal affection for his more immediate followers, which in every case secured their devoted attachment to himself, was the inciting cause of a display of unwonted gallantry.

Commodore(2) Nelson, whose broad pendant at that time was hoisted in the Minerve, Captain Cockburn, got under weigh from Gibraltar on the 11th of February 1797, in order to join Sir John Jervis's fleet. The frigate(3) had scarcely cast round from her anchorage, when two of the three Spanish line-of-battle ships in the upper part of Gibraltar Bay were observed also to be in motion. The headmost of the Spanish ships gaining on the frigate, the latter prepared for action, and the Minerve's situation every instant becoming more hazardous, Colonel Drinkwater asked Nelson his opinion as to the probability of an engagement. The hero said he thought it was very possible, as the headmost ship appeared to be a good sailer; "but," continued he, looking up at the broad pendant,(4) "before the Dons(5) get hold of that bit of bunting I will have a struggle with them; and sooner than give up the frigate, I will run her ashore."

Captain Cockburn, who had been taking a view of the chasing enemy, now joined the commodore, and observed that there was no doubt of the headmost ship gaining on the frigate. At this moment dinner was announced; but before Nelson and his guests left the deck, orders were given to set the studding-sails.(6) Seated at dinner, Colonel Drinkwater was congratulating Lieutenant Hardy,(7) who had lately been exchanged, on his being no longer a prisoner of war, when the sudden cry of "a man overboard" threw the dinner-party into disorder. There is, perhaps, no passage in naval history of deeper interest than the following account of what then occurred:—

"The officers of the ship ran on deck; I, with others, ran to the stern windows to see if anything could be observed of the unfortunate man. We had scarcely reached them before we noticed the lowering of the jolly-boat,(8) in which was my late neighbour, Hardy, with a party of sailors; and before many seconds had elapsed, the current of the Strait (which runs strongly to the eastward) had carried the jolly-boat far astern of the frigate, towards the Spanish ships. Of course the first object was to recover, if possible, the fallen man; but he was never seen again. Hardy soon made a signal to that effect, and the man was given up as lost.

"The attention of every person was now turned to the safety of Hardy and his boat's crew. Their situation was extremely perilous, and their danger was every instant increasing from the fast sailing of the headmost ship of the chase—the Terrible,—which by this time had approached nearly within gunshot of the Minerve. The jolly-boat's crew pulled 'might and main' to regain the frigate, but apparently made little progress against the current of the Strait. At this crisis, Nelson, casting an anxious look at the hazardous situation of Hardy and his companions, exclaimed, 'No, it shall not be; I shall not lose Hardy: back the mizzen-topsail!'(9)

"No sooner said than done. The Minerve's progress was retarded, having the current to carry her down towards Hardy and his party, who, seeing this spirited man.uvre to save them from returning to their old quarters on board the Terrible, naturally redoubled their exertions to rejoin the frigate. To the landsmen on board the Minerve an action now appeared to be inevitable; and so, it would seem, thought the enemy, who, surprised and confounded by this daring man.uvre of the Commodore's (being ignorant of the accident that led to it), must have construed it into a direct challenge.

"Not conceiving, however, a Spanish ship of the line to be an equal match for a British frigate with Nelson on board of her, the captain of the Terrible suddenly shortened sail in order to allow his consort to join him, and thus afforded time for the Minerve to drop down to the jolly-boat to pick up Hardy and the crew; and the moment they were on board the frigate, orders were given again to make sail. Being now under studding-sails, and the widening of the Strait allowing the wind to be brought more on the Minerve's quarter, the frigate soon regained the lost distance, and in a short time we had the satisfaction to observe that the dastardly Don was left far in our wake;(10) and at sunset, by steering to the southward, we lost sight of him and his consort altogether; and Commodore Nelson thus escaped, to share in the Battle of St. Vincent,(11) and win fresh laurels from the Spaniard."

—GIFFARD

WORDS

achievements, exploits.

attachment, affection.

challenge, defiance.

companions, mates.

conceiving, supposing.

confounded, baffled.

congratulating, complimenting.

consort, partner.

construed, interpreted.

das tardly, cowardly.

elapsed, passed.

engagement, combat.

exertions, efforts.

extremely, highly.

gallantry, bravery.

hazardous, perilous.

illustrations, examples.

inciting, instigating.

manoeuvre, stratagem.

observed, remarked.

occurred, happened.

pendant, banner.

recover, rescue.

retarded, impeded.

satisfaction, pleasure.

situation, position.

suddenly, unexpectedly.

unfortunate, unhappy.

unwonted, unusual.

QUESTIONS

When did this incident occur? How many Spanish ships followed the Minerve? What caused the latter to stop in its course? Who were placed in great peril? What order did Nelson give? Whom was he unwilling to lose? What did the Terrible immediately do? What did the Minerve do when the jolly-boat's crew was picked up? What was the result?

————————————————————

(1) Nelson, Horatio. Viscount Nelson, the greatest of British seamen. Born 1758; died 1805.

(2) Commodore, commander of a squadron detached from the fleet; the rank next below rear-admiral.

(3) Frigate, a ship of war, in size between a sloop and a ship of the line; mounting from fifty to sixty guns.

(4) Broad pendant—his flag as commodore.

(5) The Dons—the Spaniards; so called from their common title of courtesy, equivalent to English Mr.

(6) Studding-sails—sails set outside the principal sails to catch as much wind as possible.

(7) Hardy, afterwards Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy, the friend in whose arms Nelson died at Trafalgar. To him, as flag-captain on board the Victory, Nelson gave his famous signal. "England expects every man to do his duty." Born 1769; died 1839.

(8) Jolly-boat, a small boat belonging to a ship, rowed by four or six oars. [A corruption of yawl-boat.]

(9) Mizzen-topsail, the sail on the top-mast nearest the stern.

(10) Wake, rear; properly the streak of smooth water left in the track of a ship.

(11) Cape St. Vincent, the extreme south-western point of Portugal. There Admiral Sir John Jervis defeated the Spanish fleet. February 1797. Jervis was made Earl St Vincent; and Nelson, through whose vigilance the action was brought about, was made a rear-admiral, and received the order of the Bath.

LESSON 13

THE SPANISH CHAMPION

THE warrior bowed his crested head, and tamed his heart of fire,

And sued the haughty king to free his long-imprisoned sire:(1)

"I bring thee here my fortress keys,(2) I bring my captive train;

I pledge my faith, my liege, my lord—oh! break my father's chain."

"Rise! rise! even now thy father comes, a ransomed man this day;

Mount thy good steed, and thou and I will meet him on his way:"

Then lightly rose that loyal son, and bounded on his steed;

And urged, as if with lance in hand, his charger's foaming speed.

And lo! from far, as on they pressed, there came a glittering band,

With one that 'mid them stately rode, as a leader in the land:

"Now haste, Bernardo, haste! for there, in very truth, is he,

The father—whom thy grateful heart hath yearned so long to see."

His dark eye flashed, his proud breast heaved, his cheek's blood came and went;

He reached that gray-haired chieftain's side, and there dismounting, bent:

A lowly knee to earth he bent, his father's hand he took;—

What was there in its touch that all his fiery spirit shook?

That hand was cold, a frozen thing—it dropped from his like lead;

He looked up to the face above—the face was of the dead;(3)

A plume waved o'er that noble brow—the brow was fixed and white;

He met at length his father's eyes, but in them was no sight!

Up from the ground he sprang, and gazed; but who can paint that gaze?

They hushed their very hearts who saw its horror and amaze:

They might have chained him, as before that noble form he stood;

For the power was stricken from his arm, and from his cheek the blood.

"Father!" at length he murmured low, and wept like childhood then—

(Talk not of grief till thou hast seen the tears of warlike men—)

He thought on all his glorious hopes, on all his high renown

Then flung the falchion(4) from his side and in the dust sat down,

And, covering with his steel-gloved hand his darkly mournful brow,

"No more, there is no more," he said, "to lift the sword for now:

My king is false! my hope betrayed! my father—oh! the worth:

The glory, and the loveliness, are passed away from earth!"

Up from the ground he sprang once more, and seized the monarch's rein

Amid the pale and wildered looks of all the courtier train;

And with a fierce, o'ermastering grasp, the rearing war-horse led,

And sternly set them face to face—the king before the dead!

"Came I not forth upon thy pledge, my father's hand to kiss?—

Be still, and gaze thou on, false king! and tell me what is this?

The voice, the glance, the heart I sought—give answer, where are they?

If thou wouldst clear thy perjured soul, send life through this cold clay!

"Into these glassy eyes put light—be still, keep down thine ire!—

Bid these white lips a blessing speak—this earth is not my sire!

Give me back him for whom I strove, for whom my blood was shed!

Thou canst not?—and a king!—His dust be mountains on thy head!"

He loosed the steed—his slack hand fell; upon the silent face

He cast one long, deep, troubled look, then turned from that sad place:

His hope was crushed—his after-fate untold in martial strain—

His banner led the spears no more amidst the hills of Spain!

—MRS. HEMANS (1793-1835)

WORDS

betrayed, deceived.

bounded, leapt.

captive, enslaved.

courtier, knightly.

glittering, sparkling.

glorious, splendid.

grateful, thankful.

haughty, proud.

horror, repugnance.

loveliness, beauty.

martial, warlike.

mournful, sorrowful.

oermastering, overpowering.

perjured, forsworn.

ransomed, redeemed.

renown, celebrity.

sternly, austerely.

troubled, disturbed.

wildered, perplexed.

yearned, longed.

QUESTIONS

Who was the "warrior" referred to? Who was the "king"? What did the former beg of the latter? What was his father's name? On what condition had the king promised to deliver up Don Sancho? How did he keep his promise? What effect had this event on Bernardo's future?

————————————————————

(1) His long-imprisoned sire.—Don Sancho Count Saldana of Spain had for many years been kept in prison by King Alphonso of Asturias; but at length his son, Bernardo del Carpio, on coming to maturity, took up arms to effect his father's release.

(2) My fortress keys.—Alphonso had promised to release Don Sancho on condition that Bernardo should deliver up to him his castle of Carpio in exchange for his father's person. To this Bernardo at once consented, and surrendered the castle in all simplicity of heart, little knowing the treachery which lurked under the agreement.

(3) The dead.—The treacherous King had caused Count Saldana to be slain, and his dead body to be placed on horseback, to deceive for a time the dutiful son.

(4) Falchion, sword: properly a short sword, falcated, or bent like a sickle. [Lat. falx, a sickle.]

LESSON 14

THE CHEMISTRY OF A CANDLE (I)

"AND now, uncle," asked Harry, who was a favourite with the old gentleman, "can you tell me what you do when you put a candle out?"

"Put an extinguisher on it, you young rogue, to be sure."

"Oh, but I mean, you cut off its supply of oxygen," said Master Harry.

"Cut off its what?"

"He means something he heard at the Royal Institution,"(1) observed Mrs. Wilkinson. "He reads a great deal about chemistry, and he attended Professor Faraday's lectures there on the chemical history of a candle, and has been full of it ever since."

"Now, you, sir," said Uncle Bagges, "come you here to me, and tell me what you have to say about this chemical. eh?—or comical, which?—this—comical chemical history of a candle."

"Harry, don't be troublesome to your uncle," said Mr Wilkinson.

"Troublesome? Oh, not at all. I like to hear him."

"Let us get a wax candle then, uncle. There's one on the mantle-shelf. Let me light it."

"Take care you don't burn your fingers, or set anything on fire," said Mrs Wilkinson.

"Now, uncle," commenced Harry, having drawn his chair to the side of Mr. Bagges, "we have got our candle burning. Look down on the top of it, around the wick. See, it is a little cup full of melted wax. The heat of the flame has melted the wax just round the wick. The cold air keeps the outside of it hard, so as to make the rim of it. The melted wax in the little cup goes up through the wick to be burned, just as oil does in the wick of a lamp. What do you think makes it go up, uncle?"

"Why—why, the flame draws it up, doesn't it?"

"Not exactly, uncle. It goes up through little tiny passages in the cotton wick, because very, very small channels, or pipes, or pores, have the power in themselves of sucking up liquids. What they do it by is called capillary attraction;(2)—just as a sponge sucks up water, or a bit of lump-sugar the little drop of tea or coffee left in the bottom of a cup.

"Now, I'll blow the candle out; not to be in the dark, but to find out what it is.—Look at the smoke rising from the wick. I'll hold a bit of lighted paper in the smoke so as not to touch the wick. But see, for all that, the candle lights again! So this shows that the melted wax sucked up through the wick is turned into vapour, and the vapour burns. The heat of the burning vapour keeps on melting more wax, and that is sucked up too within the flame, and turned into vapour and burned; and so on till the wax is all used up and the candle is gone. So the flame, uncle, you see, is the last of the candle; and the candle seems to go through the flame into nothing, although it doesn't, but goes into several things;—and isn't it curious, as Professor Faraday said, that the candle should look so splendid and glorious in going away?

"I dare say that the flame of the candle looks flat to you; but if we were to put a lamp-glass over it, so as to shelter it from the draught, you would see it is round—round sideways, and running up to a peak. It is drawn up by the hot air. You know that hot air always rises, and that is the way smoke is taken up the chimney. What do you think is in the middle of the flame?"

"I should say fire," replied Uncle Bagges.

"Oh, no. The flame is hollow. The bright flame we see is something no thicker than a thin peel or skin, and it doesn't touch the wick. Inside of it is the vapour I told you of just now. If you put one end of a bent pipe into the middle of the flame, and let the other end of the pipe dip into a warm bottle, the vapour or gas from the candle will mix with the air there; and if you were to set fire to the mixture of gas from the candle and air in the bottle, it would go off with a bang."

"I wish you'd do that, Harry," said Master Tom, the younger brother of the juvenile lecturer.

"I want the proper things," answered Harry.—"Well, uncle, the flame of the candle is a little shining case, with gas in the inside of it and air on the outside, so that the case of flame is between the air and the gas. The gas keeps going into the flame to burn; and when the candle burns properly, none of the gas ever passes out through the flame, and none of the air ever gets in through the flame to the gas. The greatest heat of the candle is in this skin, or peel, or case of flame."

"Case of flame!" repeated Mr. Bagges. "Live and learn. I should have thought a candle-flame was as thick as my poor old noddle."

"I can show you the contrary," said Harry. "I take this piece of white paper, look, and hold it a second or two down on the candle-flame, keeping the flame very steady. Now, I'll rub off the black of the smoke, and—there—you find that the paper is scorched in the shape of a ring, but inside the ring it is only dirtied, and not singed at all."

"Seeing is believing," remarked the uncle.

"But,"proceeded Harry, "there is more in the candle-flame than the gas that comes out of the candle. You know a candle won't burn without air. There must be always air around the gas, and touching it, as it were, to make it burn. If a candle hasn't got enough of air it goes out, or burns badly, so that some of the vapour inside of the flame comes out through it in the form of smoke; and this is the reason of a candle smoking. So now you know why a great clumsy dip smokes more than a neat wax candle: it is because the thick wick of the dip makes too much fuel in proportion to the air that can get to it.

"What should you say now," continued Harry, "if I were to tell you that the smoke that comes out of a candle is the very thing that makes a candle burn with a bright light? Yes; a candle shines by consuming its own smoke. The smoke of a candle is a cloud of small dust; and the little grains of dust are bits of charcoal, or carbon, as chemists call it. They are burned the moment they are made; and the place they are made in is the case of flame itself, where the strongest heat is. The great heat separates them from the gas which comes from the melted wax; and as soon as they touch the air on the outside of the thin case of flame they burn."

"Can you tell me how it is that the little bits of carbon cause the brightness of the flame?" asked Mr. Wilkinson.

"Because they are pieces of solid matter," answered Harry. "To make a flame shine, there must always be some solid, or at least dense, matter in it."

"Very good," said Mr. Bagges; "solid stuff necessary to brightness!"

"Some gases and other things," resumed Harry, "that burn with a flame you can hardly see, burn splendidly when something solid is put into them. Hydrogen(3) gas if blown through a pipe, burns with very little light; but if the flame is blown upon a piece of quick-lime,(4) it gets so bright as to be quite dazzling. If you now send some oxygen(5) on to the flame, the flame gets no brighter, but the lime shines like a little sun. Make the smoke of oil of turpentine pass through the same oxygen, and it gives the flame a beautiful brightness directly. Well, carbon, or charcoal, is what causes the brightness of all lamps, and candles, and other common lights; so, of course, there is carbon in what they are all made of."

"So carbon is smoke, eh? and light is owing to your carbon. Giving light out of smoke, eh? as they say in the classics," observed Mr. Bagges.

WORDS

answered, replied.

beautiful, lovely.

brightness, brilliancy.

chimney, smoke-vent.

clumsy, coarse.

comical, funny.

commenced, began.

consuming, absorbing.

contrary, opposite.

curious, strange.

darzling, blinding.

directly, immediately.

draught, air-current.

enough, plenty.

exactly, precisely.

extinguisher, cap.

juvenile, youthful.

melted, dissolved.

mixture, union.

necessary, essential.

noddle, head.

observed, remarked.

pores, passages.

proceeded, continued.

properly, rightly.

rogue, rascal.

scorched, blackened.

separates, disjoins.

shelter, protect.

solid, substantial.

splendid, grand.

troublesome, tiresome.

vapour, gas.

QUESTIONS

When a candle burns, why does the melted wax go up through the wick? What happens when you hold a bit of lighted paper in the smoke of a candle after it has been extinguished? What does this show? Of what does the flame of a candle consist? What is inside? How can this be shown? Without what will a candle not burn? Why does a "clumsy dip smoke more than a neat wax candle"? What in reality is the smoke of a candle? Why is it that the little bits of carbon cause the brightness of the flame? Illustrate this by the example of the oxy-hydrogen lime-light.

————————————————————

(1) Royal Institution—founded in London in 1799, by Count Rumford and Sir Joseph Banks. Faraday was director of the laboratory and Fullerian Professor there from 1825 till his death. His lectures on the chemistry of a candle formed part of the series of Christmas lectures adapted to a juvenile audience, which Faraday commenced in 1827 "for boys home for the holidays." They were very successful.

(2) Capillary attraction is the property of liquids which causes them to rise, contrary to gravity, when in contact with other bodies. So water rises on the sides of a sheet of glass placed in it. If a glass tube be placed in water, the water will rise within the glass; and the finer the tube, the higher will it rise. Capillary means hair-like. [Lat. capillus, a hair.]

(3) Hydrogen, lit. water-producing; because this gas combined with oxygen produces water. [Gr. hydor, water; gennao, I produce.]

(4) Quick-lime, lime in a quick or active state; any calcareous substance (as chalk lime-stone, &c.) deprived of its carbonic acid by the action of intense heat.

(5) Oxygen, lit. acid-producing; because it was formerly supposed to be an essential element of all acids. [Gr. oxys, sharp; gennao, I produce.]

LESSON 15

THE CHEMISTRY OF A CANDLE (II)

"BUT what becomes of the candle," pursued Harry, "as it burns away? where does it go?"

"Nowhere, I should think. It burns to nothing."

"Oh, dear, no!" said Harry; "everything goes somewhere. You can see it goes into smoke, which makes soot, for one thing. There are other things it goes into, not to be seen by merely looking, but you can get to see them by taking the right means. Just put your hand over the candle, uncle."

"Thank you, my young gentleman, I would rather be excused."

"Not close enough down to burn you, uncle;—higher up. There;—you feel a stream of hot air, so something seems to rise from the candle. Suppose you were to put a long glass lamp-chimney over the flame, and let the flame burn just within the end of it, as if it were a chimney, some of the hot steam would go up and pass out at the top, but a sort of dew would be left behind in the glass chimney, if the chimney was cold enough when you put it on. There are ways of collecting this dew; and when it is collected it turns out to be really water. I am not joking, uncle. Water is one of the things which the candle turns into while burning—water coming out of fire. In some light-houses, Professor Faraday says, two gallons of oil are burned in a single night; and if the windows are cold, the steam from the oil clouds them, and, in frosty weather, freezes into ice."

"Water out of a candle, eh?" exclaimed Mr. Bagges, "As hard to get, I should have thought, as blood out of a post. Where does it come from?"

"Part from the wax, and part from the air; and yet not a drop of it comes from either the air or the wax. What do you make of that, uncle?"

"Eh? Oh, I'm no hand at riddles! Give it up."

"No riddle at all, uncle. That which comes from the wax is a gas called hydrogen. We can obtain it from water by passing the steam of boiling water through a red-hot gun-barrel which contains a quantity of iron wire or turnings. Part of the steam will mix with the iron turnings, and change them into rust; and the other part, which comes out of the end of the barrel, will be hydrogen gas, and this part of the water we can set on fire."

"Eh?" cried Mr. Bagges. "Upon my word! One of these days we shall have you setting the river on fire!"

"Nothing more easy," said Harry. "When pure hydrogen burns, we get nothing but water. I should like to show you how light this hydrogen is; and I wish I had a small balloon to fill with it and send up to the ceiling; or a pipe full of it to blow soap-bubbles with, and show how much faster they rise than common ones blown with the breath."

"So do I," interposed Master Tom.

"And so," resumed Harry, "hydrogen, you know, uncle is part of water, and just one-ninth part. The other eight parts are a gas also, called oxygen. This is a very curious gas. It won't burn in air at all itself, like gas from a lamp; but it has a wonderful power of making things burn that are lighted and put into it. A lighted candle put into a jar of oxygen blazes up directly, and is consumed before you can say Jack Robinson. Charcoal burns away in it as fast, with beautiful bright sparks; phosphorus burns with a light that would dazzle you to look at; and a piece of iron or steel, just made red-hot at the end first, may be burned in oxygen more quickly than a stick could be in common air. The experiment of burning things in oxygen beats any fire-works."

"How funny that must be!" exclaimed Tom.

"Now we see, uncle," Harry continued, "that water is hydrogen and oxygen united together; that water is got whenever hydrogen is burned in common air; that a candle won't burn without air; and that when a candle burns, there is hydrogen in it burning and forming water. Now, then, where does the hydrogen of the candle get the oxygen, to turn into water with it?"

"From the air, eh?"

"Just so. It is the oxygen in the air that makes things burn; but if the air were noting but oxygen, a candle would not last above a minute.

"'If a house were on fire in oxygen,' as Professor Faraday said, 'every iron bar, or, rather, every pillar, every nail and iron tool, and the grate itself; all the zinc and copper roofs, and leaden coverings, and gutters, and pipes, would consume and burn, increasing the combustion.'"

"That would be, indeed, 'burning like a house on fire,'" observed Mr. Bagges.

"But there is another gas, called nitrogen(1)," said Harry "which is mixed with the air; and it is this which prevents a candle from burning out too fast."

"Eh?" said Mr. Bagges. "Well, I do think we are under considerable obligations to nitrogen."

"I have explained to you, uncle," continued Harry "how a candle, in burning, turns into water. But it turns into something else besides that. The little bits of carbon that I told you about, which are burned in the flame of a candle, and which make the flame bright, mingle with the oxygen in burning, and form still another gas, called carbonic acid(2) gas, which is very destructive to life when we breathe it. So you see that a candle-flame is vapour burning; and that the vapour, in burning, turns into water and carbonic acid gas."

"Haven't you pretty nearly come to your candle's end?" said Mr. Wilkinson.

"Nearly. I only want to tell uncle that the burning of a candle is almost exactly like our breathing. Breathing is consuming oxygen, only not so fast as burning. In breathing, we throw out from our lungs water in the form of vapour, and carbonic acid gas, and take oxygen in. Oxygen is as necessary to support the life of the body as it is to keep up the flame of a candle."

"Well," said Mr. Bagges, "any more to tell us about the candle?"

"If I had time, I could tell you a great deal more that Professor Faraday said about oxygen, and hydrogen,and carbon, and water, and breathing; but you should go and hear him yourself, uncle."

"Eh? well I think I shall. Some of us seniors may learn something from a juvenile lecture, at any rate if given by a Faraday. And now, my boy, I tell you what," added Mr. Bagges; "I am very glad to find you so fond of study and science; and you deserve to be encouraged; and so I'll give you a—what-d'ye-call-it?—a galvanic battery(3) on your next birth-day; and so much for your teaching your old uncle the Chemistry of a Candle."

WORDS

blazes, flames.

ceiling, inside-roof.

collecting, gathering.

combustion, conflagration.

considerable, important.

deserve, merit.

destructive, injurious.

encouraged, stimulated.

exclaimed, ejaculated.

excused, pardoned.

experiment, operation.

explained, expounded.

freezes, congeals.

grate, fire-place.

increasing, augmenting.

joking, making fun.

obligation, indebtedness.

obtain, procure.

prevents, hinders.

pursued, continued.

quantity, portion.

riddles, conundrums.

seniors, old folks.

support, maintain.

suppose, assume.

turnings, filings.

united, joined.

wonderful, extraordinary.

QUESTIONS

What are the different things into which the candle goes when it burns? How is the water produced? What is it that prevents the candle from burning too fast? How is the carbonic acid gas produced? show how the burning of a candle resembles the process of breathing.

————————————————————

(1) Nitrogen, lit. nitre-producing; an elementary gas. forming about four-fifths of the atmosphere. It is incapable of supporting life. [Gr. nitron, nitre (saltpetre); gennao, I produce.]

(2) Carbonic acid.—This is the gas which is generated by fermentation. It is often destructive to life in mines, wells, and very confined apartments. Though it is poison to animal life, it is food to vegetable life.

(3) Galvanic battery, an apparatus (called also a Voltaic battery) for producing electricity by chemical action. In its simplest form it consists of a series of vessels containing sulphuric seid and water, in each of which are placed a plate of copper and a plate of rine, not touching each other. The rine plate in the first vessel is connected with the copper plate in the second by a wire, and so on. A wire of any length is attached to the last sine plate, and another to the first copper plate. As soon as the two last-mentioned wires are brought into contact, the circuit is completed, and a current of electricity passes round the entire circuit.

LESSON 16

THE "MAYFLOWER"

ON the northern border of Nottinghamshire stands the little town of Scrooby. Here, about the end of the sixteenth century, there were some grave and well-reputed persons, to whom the ceremonies of the Established Church were an offence. They met in secret at the house of one of their number, a gentleman named Brewster. They were ministered to in all scriptural simplicity by the pastor of their choice—Mr. Robinson, a wise and good man. But their secret meetings were betrayed to the authorities, and their lives were made bitter by the persecutions that fell upon them. They resolved to leave their own land, and seek among strangers that freedom which was denied them at home.

They embarked with all their goods for Holland. But when the ship was about to sail, soldiers came upon them, plundered them, and drove them on shore. They were marched to the public square of Boston,(1) and there the Fathers of New England endured such indignities as an unbelieving rabble could inflict. After some weeks in prison, they were suffered to return home.

Next spring they tried again to escape. This time a good many were on board, and the others were waiting for the return of the boat which should carry them to the ship suddenly dragoons were seen spurring across the sands. The shipmaster pulled up his anchor, and pushed out to sea with those of his passengers whom he had. The rest were conducted to prison. After a time they were set at liberty. In little groups they also made their way to Holland. Mr. Robinson and his congregation were reünited, and the first stage of the weary pilgrimage from the Old England to the New was at length accomplished.

Eleven quiet and not unprosperous years were spent in Holland. The Pilgrims worked with patient industry at their various handicrafts(2) They quickly gained the reputation of doing honestly and effectively whatever they professed to do; and thus they found abundant employment. Mr. Brewster established a printing-press, and printed books about liberty; which, as he had the satisfaction of knowing, greatly enraged the foolish King James.(3) The little colony received additions from time to time as oppression in England became more intolerable.

The instinct of separation was strong within the Pilgrim heart. They could not bear the thought that their little colony was to mingle with the Dutchmen and lose its independent existence. But already their sons and daughters were forming alliances which threatened this result. The Fathers considered long and anxiously how the danger was to be averted. They determined again to go on pilgrim age. They would seek a home beyond the Atlantic, where they could dwell apart and found a State in which they should be free to think.

On a sunny morning in July 1620, the Pilgrims kneel upon the sea-shore at Delfthaven,(4) while the pastor prays for the success of their journey. Out upon the gleaming sea a little ship lies waiting. Money has not been found to transplant the whole colony, and scarcely one hundred have been sent. The remainder will follow when they can. These hundred depart amid tears and prayers and fond farewells. Mr. Robinson dismissed them with counsels which breathed a pure and high- toned wisdom, urging them to keep their minds ever open for the reception of new truths.

THE "MAYFLOWER" IN CAPE COD BAY

Their little ship, the Speedwell, brought them to South-ampton, where they found the Mayflower, a ship hired for the voyage, and a small band of Pilgrims from London. At Plymouth the Speedwell was pronounced unseaworthy, and was abandoned; and the Mayflower, crowded with the whole party (one hundred and two souls), set sail alone.

The Mayflower was a s hip of one hundred and sixty tons. The weather proved stormy and cold; the voyage unexpectedly long. It was the middle of September when they sailed. It was not till the 11th November that the Mayflower dropped her anchor in the waters of Cape Cod Bay.(5)

A bleak-looking and discouraging coast lay before them. Nothing met the eye but low sand-hills, covered with ill-grown grown wood down to the margin of the sea. The Pilgrims had now to choose a place for their settlement. About this they hesitated so long that the captain threatened to put them all on shore and leave them.

Little expeditions were sent to explore. At first no suitable locality could be found. The men had great hardships to endure. The cold was so excessive that the spray froze upon their clothes, and they resembled men cased in armour. At length a spot was fixed upon. The soil appeared to be good, and abounded in "delicate springs" or water. On the 23rd December the Pilgrims landed—stepping ashore upon a huge boulder of granite,(6) which is still reverently preserved by their descendants. Here they resolved to found their settlement, which they agreed to call New Plymouth.(7)

The winter was severe, and the infant colony was brought very near to extinction. They had been badly fed on board the Mayflower, and for some time after going on shore there was very imperfect shelter from the weather. Sickness fell heavily on the worn-out Pilgrims. Every second day a grave had to be dug in the frozen ground. By the time spring came in there were only fifty survivors, and these sadly enfeebled and dispirited.

THE PILGRIM STONE

But all through this dismal winter the Pilgrims laboured at their heavy task. The care of the sick, the burying of the dead, sadly hindered their work. But the building of their little town went on. They found that nineteen houses would contain their diminished numbers. These they built. Then they surrounded them with a palisade.

Upon an eminence beside their town they erected a structure which served a double purpose. Above, it was a fort, on which they mounted six cannon; below, it was their church. Hitherto the Indians had been a cause of anxiety, but had done them no harm. Now they felt safe. Indeed there had never been much risk. A recent epidemic had swept off nine-tenths of the Indians who inhabited that region, and the discouraged survivors could ill afford to incur the hostility of their formidable visitors.

The Pilgrims had been careful to provide for themselves a government. They had drawn up and signed, in the cabin of the Mayflower, a document forming themselves into a body politic, and promising obedience to all laws framed for the general good. Under this Constitution they appointed John Carver(8) to be their governor. They dutifully acknowledged King James, but they left no very large place for his authority. They were essentially a self-governing people. They knew what despotism was, and they were very sure that democracy could by no possibility be so bad.

The welcome spring came at length, and "the birds sang in the woods most pleasantly." The health of the colony began somewhat to improve; but there was still much suffering to endure. The summer passed not unprosperously. They had taken possession of the deserted clearings of the Indians, and had no difficulty in providing themselves with food. In the autumn came a ship with a new company of Pilgrims. This was very encouraging; but unhappily the ship brought no provisions, and the supplies of the colonists were not sufficient for this unexpected addition. For six months there was only half allowance to each.

Such straits recurred frequently during the first two or three years. Often the colonists knew not at night "where to have a bit in the morning." Once or twice the opportune arrival of a ship saved them from famishing. They suffered much, but their cheerful trust in Providence and in their own final triumph never wavered. They faced the difficulties of their position with undaunted hearts. Slowly but surely the little colony struck its roots and began to grow.

WORDS

abounded, teemed with.

accomplished, completed.

armour, mail.

authorities, magistrates.

betrayed, revealed.

ceremonies, observances.

conducted, led.

counsels, advice.

democracy, republicanism.

descendants, children.

despotism, tyranny.

determined, resolved.

discouraging, uninviting.

document, paper.

dutifully, loyally.

eminence, elevation.

encouraging, inspiriting.

enfeebled, weakened.

enraged, irritated.

epidemic, disease.

excessive, extreme.

extinction, extermination.

hesitated, wavered.

hostility, enmity.

independent, individual.

indignities, insults.

intolerable, insufferable.

locality, district.

margin, border.

opportune, timely.

pilgrimage, journey.

plundered, pillaged.

pronounced, declared.

reception, entertaining.

remainder, residue.

reputation, character.

settlement, colony.

simplicity, plainness.

spurring, galloping.

structure, building.

suffered, permitted.

undaunted, intrepid.

unprosperously, unsuccessfully.

well-reputed, respectable.

QUESTIONS

To what town did the Pilgrim Fathers originally belong? How were they prevented escaping to Holland on their first attempt? What happened next spring? How many years did the Pilgrims spend in Holland? How were they occupied? Why did they resolve to sail to America? Where did they embark? In what year? Where did they meet the Mayflower! How many sailed from Plymouth? When did they land? Where? To what was their number reduced before spring? What did they erect on an eminence beside their town? Where had they framed their constitution? Who was appointed first governor? To what straits were they frequently subjected?

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(1) Boston on the Witham, in Lincolnshire.

(2) Handicrafts, trades which employ the hand chiefly; lit. skill of hand [Eng. hand, and craft, skill; Old Eng. craeft, power to lay hold of a thing.]

(3) King James—James I. of England.

(4) Delfthaven, a small port in South Holland, on the Mass, two miles southwest of Rotterdam.

(5) Cape Cod Bay, a bay in the southeast of Massachusetts, formed by a peninsula jutting northward, the extremity of which is called Cape Cod.

(6) Boulder of granite—Plymouth Rock; called also the Pilgrim Rock, in memory of the event of 1620.

(7) New Plymouth, a town of Massachusetts, on Cape Cod Bay. This settlement formed the nucleus of the State of Massachusetts, the mother State of New England.

(8) John Carver died in 1621, before he had held his office one year.

LESSON 17

THE PILGRIM FATHERS

THE breaking waves dashed high on a stern and rock-bound coast,

And the woods against a stormy sky their giant branches tossed,

And the heavy night hung dark the hills and waters o'er,

When a band of exiles moored their bark on the wild New England shore.

Not as the conqueror comes, they, the true-hearted, came,—

Not with the roll of stirring drums, and the trumpet that sings of fame:

Not as the flying come, in silence and in fear,—

They shook the depths of the desert's gloom with their hymns of lofty cheer.

Amidst the storm they sang, and the stars heard and the sea!

And the sounding aisles of the dim wood rang to the anthems of the free:

The ocean-eagle soared from his nest by the white waves' foam,

And the rocking pines of the forest roared;—this was their welcome home!

There were men with hoary hair amidst that pilgrim band;

Why had they come to wither there, away from their childhood's land?

There was woman's fearless eye, lit by her deep love's truth;

There was manhood's brow, serenely high; and the fiery heart of youth.

What sought they thus afar? bright jewels of the mine?

The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?—They sought a faith's pure shrine!

Ay, call it holy ground, the soil where first they trod!

They have left unstained what there they found,—freedom to worship God!

—MRS. HEMANS (1793-1835)

WORDS

aisles, passages.

anthems, hymns.

conqueror, victor.

exiles, refugees.

fearless, dauntless.

hoary, white.

jewels, riches.

lofty, exalted.

serenely, calmly.

shrine, temple.

stirring, rousing.

unstained, spotless.

LESSON 18

LIVING STOVES

[ANIMAL heat is caused by the union of the oxygen of the air with the carbon derived from the food we eat. This carbon, taken in as a part of our food, and being used to form the tissues of the body, is dislodged. particle by particle, whenever we move a muscle, be it of the heart. lungs, or limbs, and whenever we think or feel; and it is then that the union with oxygen (that is, the combustion takes place.) The more intensely, therefore, we think, and act. and feel, the more carbon we burn, and the more repairs our bodies need. The condition of life is therefore death; and the faster we live the more rapidly are the particles of our bodies burning up—passing away. The following humorous article may help to fix some of these principles in our memories.]

WE must be plain with our reader. It will not do to mince matters where questions of science are concerned. Dainty people will, no doubt, object to the proposition we are about to advance. Nevertheless we persist, and proceed to lay down the following assertion: We are all living stoves—walking fire-places—furnaces in the flesh.

Now we do not intend to say that any one can light a cigar, or boil an egg, or even ignite a lucifer-match at these human hearths. Still, we repeat, these bodies of ours are stoves—fire-places—furnaces, if these terms can be applied to any apparatus for the express production of heat. And is not heat produced in the human body by the union of oxygen with carbon, just the same as by the burning of wood in an open fire-place? and does not this union take place in the capillaries(1) of the blood-vessels?

But granting that our bodies are veritable stoves, the reader will desire to know where we procure our fuel. Fortunately, our coal and fire-wood are stored up in a very interesting form. They are laid before us in the shape of bread and butter, puddings and pies; rashers of bacon for the labourer, and haunches of venison or turtle-soup for the epicure.(2) Instead of being brought up in scuttles, they are presented in tureens, dishes, or tumblers, or all of them, in pleasant succession.

In fact, whenever you send a person an invitation to dinner, you virtually request the honour of his company to take fuel; and when you see him enthusiastically employed on your dainties, you know that he is literally "shovelling" fuel into his corporeal stove. The ultimate form in which this fuel is burned in the capillaries is that of carbon, with a little hydrogen and sulphur; but we swallow it in the shape of fat, starch, sugar, alcohol, and other less inflam-matory compounds. By far the most heating of these substances is fat. Ten pounds of this material, imported into your stove, will do as much work—that is, will produce as much warmth—as twenty-five pounds of starch, twenty-five of sugar, or even twenty-six of spirits.

And a pleasant thing it is to observe how sagaciously the instinct of man has fastened upon the articles which will best supply him with the species of fuel he requires. The Esquimau(3) is extremely partial to oily fare. He does not know why. He never heard of the doctrine of animal heat, but he feels intuitively(4) that bear's grease and blubber are the things for him. Condemn him to live on potatoes or Indian corn, and the poor fellow would resent the cruelty as much as an alderman of the old school if sentenced to subsist on water-gruel alone.

And the savage would be perfectly right. Exposed as he is to the fierce cold of a northern sky, every object around him plundering him of his caloric incessantly, what he needs is plenty of oily food, because from that he can produce the greatest quantity of heat. On the other hand, the native of the tropics, equally ignorant of animal chemistry, eschews the fiery diet, which his climate renders inappropriate, and keeps himself cool on rice, or dates, or watery fruits.

Hence we see the reason why a very stout man, if deprived of food, can keep up his corporeal fires for a longer time than a slender one. Human fat is fuel laid away for use. It constitutes a hoard of combustible material upon which the owner may draw whenever his ordinary supplies are intercepted. Let all plump persons therefore rejoice. We offer them our hearty, perhaps somewhat envious, congratulations. They, at any rate, are prepared to stand a long siege from cold.

For the same reason, animals which hibernate,(5) like the bear, jerboa,(6) marmot,(7) dormouse,(8) bat, and others, generally grow plump before they retire into winter quarters. Upon their capital of fat they subsist during their lethargy,(9) the respiration being lessened, the pulse reduced to a few beats per minute, and the temperature perhaps nearly to the freezing point. But when the season of torpor terminates, they issue from their caves and burrows meagre and ravenous, having burned up their stock of fuel; Bruin(10) himself appearing to be anxious to defraud the perfumers of the unguent(11) which is so precious in their eyes.

But perhaps the most striking feature in this warmth-producing apparatus(12) within us is the self-regulating power which it possesses. The fires on our domestic hearths decline at one moment, and augment at another. Sometimes the mistress of the house threatens to faint on account of excessive heat; sometimes the master endeavours to improve the temperature by a passionate use of the poker, with an occasional growl respecting the excessive cold.

Were such irregularities to prevail unchecked in our fleshy stoves, we should suffer considerable annoyance. After a meal of very inflammatory materials, or an hour spent in extraordinary exertion, the gush of heat might throw the system into a state of high fever. How is prevented? In some of our artificial stoves, little doors or slides are employed to control the admission of air; in furnaces connected with steam-engines we may have dampers, which will accomplish the same purpose by the ingenious workings of the machine itself.

But neither doors nor dampers, pokers nor stokers, can be employed in the bodily apparatus. If, on the one hand, our human fires should begin to flag from undue expenditure of heat, the appetite speaks out sharply and compels the owner to look around for fuel. Hunger rings the bell and orders up coal in the shape of savoury meats. Should the summons be neglected, the garnered fat, as we have seen, is thrown into the grate to keep the furnace in play.

If, on the other hand, the heat of the body should become unreasonably intense, a very cunning process of reduction is adopted. When a substance grows too hot, the simplest method of bringing it into a cooler frame is to sprinkle it with water. This is precisely what occurs in our human frames. For no sooner does our internal heat rise above its standard height than the perspiration tubes, with their six or seven millions of openings, indignant at the event, begin to pour out the fluid. so as to bathe the surface of the whole body. Whenever, therefore, a man becomes over-heated, by working, running, rowing, fighting, making furious speeches or other violent exertions, he invariably resorts to this method of quenching the heat, by "pouring on water."

What shall we say, then, good reader? Speaking seriously, and looking at the question from a mere human point of view, could any project appear more hopeless than one for burning fuel in a soft, delicate fabric, like the human body—a fabric composed for the most part of mere fluids—a fabric which might be easily scorched by excess of heat or damaged by excess of cold? Does it not seem strange that a stove should have flesh for its walls, veins for its flues, and skin for its covering? Yet here is an apparatus which, as if by magic, produces a steady stream of heat;—not trickling penuriously from its fountains, but flowing on day and night, winter and summer, without a moment's cessation, from January to December.

Carry this splendid machine to the coldest regions on the globe, set it up where the frosts are so crushing that nature seems to be trampled dead,—still it pours out its mysterious supplies with unabated profusion. It is an apparatus, too, which does its work unwatched, and in a great measure unaided. The very fuel, which is thrown into it in random heaps, is internally sifted and sorted, so that the true combustible elements are conveyed to their place and applied to their duty with unerring precision.

No hand is needed to trim its fires, to temper its glow, to remove its ashes. Smoke there is none, spark there is none, flame there is none. All is so delicately managed that the fairest skin is neither shrivelled nor blackened by the burning within. Is this apparatus placed in circumstances which rob it too fast of its heat? Then the appetite becomes clamorous for food, and in satisfying its demands the fleshy stove is silently replenished. Or, are we placed in peril from superabundant warmth? Then the tiny flood-gates of perspiration are flung open, and the surface is laid under water until the fires within are reduced to their wonted level.

Assailed on the one hand by heat, the body resists the attack, if resistance be possible, until the store of moisture is dissipated; assailed on the other by cold, it keeps the enemy at bay until the hoarded fuel is expended. Thus protected, thus provisioned, let us ask whether these human hearths are not entitled to rank among the standing marvels of creation; for is it not startling to find, that, let the climate be mild or rigorous, let the wind blow from the sultry desert or come loaded with polar sleet, let the fluctuations of temperature be as violent as they may without us, there shall still be a calm, unchanging, undying summer within us?

—GEORGE WILSON

WORDS

annoyance, uneasiness.

augment, increase.

constitutes, forms.

defraud, cheat.

dissipated, dispersed.

elements, constituents.

endeavours, attempts.

enthusiastically, earnestly.

eschews, shuns.

expenditure, outlay.

extraordinary, unusual.

extremely, excessively.

fabric, frame.

fluctuations, changes.

humorous, amusing.

inappropriate, unfit.

in1dignant, angry.

profusion, abundance.

proposition, assertion.

quenching, reducing.

replenished, refilled.

resistance, opposition.

respiration, breathing.

rigorous, severe.

inflammatory, exciting.

ingenious, skilful.

intense, severe.

intensely, earnestly.

intercepted, cut off.

interesting, pleasing.

invariably, uniformly.

invitation, request.

irregularities, disorders.

mysterious, hidden.

particles, atoms.

penuriously, stingily,

perspiration, sweat.

precision, accuracy.

presented, served up.

procure, obtain.

production, generation.

sagaciously, shrewdly.

sentenced, condemned.

subsist, live.

temperature, degree of heat.

terminates, expires.

ultimate, final.

veritable, actual,

QUESTIONS

How is animal beat produced? where does the carbon come from? When does the combustion take place? To what may our bodies therefore be compared? What is their fuel? Which is the best fuel? In what countries is it the chief food? What does the native of the tropics prefer? Why can a stout man survive without food longer than a lean man? What are hibernating animals? Give examples. How are they sustained during winter? What is perhaps the most striking feature in our heal-producing apparatus? How does it intimate that more fuel is required? How is excessive heat reduced?

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(1) Capillaries, the minute hair-like vessels in which the arteries terminate and the veins originate. [Lat. capillus, a hair; from caput, the head.]

(2) Epicure one fond of good living, [After Epicurus, a philosopher who taught that pleasure was the highest good.]

(3) Esquimau, now generally spelt Eskimo (Es'-ke-mo), an inhabitant of the Arctic regions.

(4) Intuitively, instinctively; without reasoning.

(5) Hibernate, pass the winter in a state of torpor. [Lat. hiberno, to go into winter quarters; from hiems, winter.]

(6) Jerboa, a small animal of the rat kind, with long hind legs like a kangaroo. One species is found in Egypt, another at the Cape of Good Hope.

(7) Marmot, also an animal of the rat kind, but in size resembling the rabbit. Found in Europe and the north of Asia and of America. They form burrows and live in large societies.

(8) Dormouse, the sleeping mouse; so called because it hibernates.

(9) Lethargy, state of torpor. [Gr. lethe, forgetfulness; argos, idle.]

(10) Bruin, the name under which the bear is personified; lit. the brown animal, [Du bruin, Ger. brawn, brown.]

(11) Unguent, ointment That here referred to is "bear's grease." [Lat unguo, I anoint.]

(12) Apparatus, machinery, [Lat. ad, to; paratus, prepared.]

LESSON 19

DAVID'S LAMENT FOR ABSALOM

THE pall was settled. He who slept beneath

Was straightened for the grave; and, as the folds

Sank to the still proportions, they betrayed

The matchless symmetry of Absalom.(1)

His helm was at his feet: his banner, soiled

With trailing through Jerusalem, was laid

Reversed, beside him: and the jewelled hilt,

Whose diamonds lit the passage of his blade,

Rested, like mockery, on his covered brow.

The soldiers of the king trod to and fro,

Clad in the garb of battle; and their chief,

The mighty Joab, stood beside the bier,

And gazed upon the dark pall steadfastly,

As if he feared the slumberer might stir.

A slow step startled him. He grasped his blade,

As if a trumpet rang; but the bent form

Of David entered, and he gave command,

In a low tone, to his few followers,

And left him with his dead.—The king stood still

Till the last echo died; then, throwing off

The sackcloth(2) from his brow, and laying back

The pall from the still features of his child,

He bowed his head upon him, and broke forth

In the resistless eloquence of woe:—

"Alas, my noble boy! that thou shouldst die!

Thou, who wert made so beautifully fair;—

That Death should settle in thy glorious eye,

And leave his stillness in this clustering hair!

How could he mark thee for the silent tomb,

My proud boy, Absalom?

"Cold is thy brow, my son! and I am chill,

As to my bosom I have tried to press thee!

How was I wont to feel my pulses thrill,

Like a rich harp-string, yearning to caress thee,

And hear thy sweet 'My father!' from those dumb

And cold lips, Absalom!

"The grave hath won thee! I shall hear the gush

Of music, and the voices of the young;

And life will pass me in the mantling blush,

And the dark tresses to the soft flung;—

But thou no more with thy sweet voice shalt come

To meet me, Absalom!

"And oh! when I am stricken, and my heart,

Like a bruised reed, is waiting to be broken,

How will its love for thee, as I depart,

Yearn for thine ear to drink its last deep token!

It were(3) so sweet, amid death's gathering gloom,

To see thee, Absalom!

"And now, farewell!'Tis hard to give thee up,

With death so like a gentle slumber on thee!—

And thy dark sin!(4)—oh! I could drink the cup,

If from this woe its bitterness had won(5) thee.

May God have called thee, like a wanderer, home,

My lost boy, Absalom!"

He covered up his face, and bowed himself

A moment on his child; then, giving him

A look of melting tenderness, he clasped

His hands convulsively,(6) as if in prayer.

And, as if strength were given him of God,

He rose up calmly, and composed the pall(7)

Firmly and decently,—and left him there,

As if his rest had been a breathing sleep.

—N. P. WILLIS(8)

WORDS

bitterness, sharpness.

clustering, gathering.

decently, becomingly.

mantling, flushing.

matchless, unequalled.

mockery, derision.

resistless, irresistible.

reversed, inverted.

steadfastly, fixedly.

straightened, laid out.

stricken, smitten.

symmetry, regularity.

tenderness, love.

trailing, dragging.

yearning, longing.

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(1) Absalom.—Absalom was son of King David of Israel. He rebelled against his father, who fled across the river Jordan into Gilead. Absalom also crossed the Jordan, with a large army; but be was defeated by Joab in the wood of Ephraim, and slain after the battle. When David heard of his death, he said, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!"(2 Samuel, xviii. 33).

(2) Sackcloth, coarse cloth; a garment worn by the Israelites in time of mourning.

(3) It were—it would be.

(4) Thy dark sin—his rebellion against David.

(5) Had won—could have won.

(6) Convulsively, with violent shaking or agitation.

(7) Composed the pall—arranged the shroud, or covering of the dead body.

(8) Nathaniel P. Willis, an American poet and essayist; burn at Portland, Maine, in 1806; began to write early; became Secretary of the American Legation at Paris; best known prose work, Pencillings by the Way, an account of his travels in Europe; died in 1867

LESSON 20

SCENES IN CANTON

THE recently arrived stranger naturally manifests surprise and incredulity on being told that the estimated population of Canton exceeds a million. When, however, he visits the close streets, with their dense population and busy wayfarers, huddled together in lanes from five to nine feet wide, where Europeans could scarcely inhale the breath of life, the greatness of the number no longer appears incredible. After the first feelings of novelty have passed away, disappointment, rather than admiration, occupies the mind. On leaving the open space before the factories, we behold an endless succession of narrow avenues, scarcely deserving the name of streets.

As the visitor pursues his course, narrow lanes still continue to succeed one another, and the conviction is gradually impressed on the mind that such is the general character of the streets of the city. Along these, busy traders, mechanics, barbers, venders, and porters, make their way; while occasionally the noisy abrupt tones of vociferating coolies(1) remind the traveller that some materials of bulky dimensions are on their transit, and suggest the expediency of keeping at a distance, to avoid collision. Now and then the monotony of the scene is relieved by some portly mandarin,(2) or merchant of the higher class, borne in a sedan chair(3) on the shoulders of two, or sometimes four men. Yet, with all this hurry and din, there seldom occurs any accident or interruption of good nature.

SEDAN CHAIR

On the river the same order and regularity prevail. Though there are probably not fewer than 200,000 denizens of the river, whose hereditary domains are the watery element that supports their little dwellings, yet harmony and good feeling are conspicuous in the accommodating manner with which they make way for each other. These aquatic tribes of the human species show a most philosophic spirit of equanimity, and contrive in this way to strip daily life of many of its little troubles; while the fortitude and patience with which the occasional injury or destruction of their boats is borne are remarkable.

To return from the wide expanse of the river population to the streets in the suburbs, the same spirit of contented adaptation to external things is everywhere observable; and it is difficult which to regard with most surprise—the narrow abodes of the one, or the little boats which serve as family residences to the other.

A STREET IN CANTON

There is something of romance in the effect of Chinese streets. On either side are shops, decked out with native wares,—furniture and manufactures of various kinds.

These are adorned by pillar sign-boards, rising perpendicularly, and inscribed from top to bottom with the various kinds of saleable articles which may be had within. Native artists seem to have lavished their ingenuity on several of these inscriptions, in order to give, by their caligraphy,(4) some idea of the superiority of the commodities for sale. Many of these sign-boards contain some fictitious emblem, adopted as the name of the shop—similar to the practice prevalent in London two centuries ago.

On entering, the proprietor, with his assistants or partners, welcomes a foreigner with sundry salutations; sometimes advancing to shake hands, and endeavouring to make the most of his scanty knowledge of English. They will show their goods with the utmost patience, and evince nothing of disappointment if, after gratifying his curiosity, he depart without purchasing.

At a distance from the factories, where the sight of a foreigner is a rarity, crowds of idlers, from fifty to a hundred, rapidly gather round the shop, and frequent embarrassment ensues, from an imperfect knowledge of their language. In these parts, the shopkeepers know no language but their own, are more moderate in their politeness, and, as a compensation, put a smaller price on their wares. To write one's name in Chinese characters is a sure method of securing their favour.

Sometimes no fewer than eight or ten blind beggars find their way into a shop, and there they remain, singing a melancholy, dirge-like strain, and most perseveringly beating together two pieces of wood. At length the weary shopman takes compassion on them, and provides for the quiet of his shop by giving a copper cash to each; on receiving which they depart, and repeat the same experiment elsewhere.

The streets abound with these blind beggars, who are seldom treated with indignity. A kindly indulgence is extended to them, and they enjoy a prescriptive(5) right of levying a copper cash from every shop or house they enter. It is said that this furnishes a liberal means of livelihood to an immense number of blind persons, who in many instances are banded together in companies or societies, subject to a code of rules, on breach of which the transgressor is expelled the community.

In every little open space there are crowds of travelling doctors, haranguing the multitude on the wonderful powers and healing virtues of the medicines which they expose for sale. Close by, some cunning fortune-teller may be seen, with crafty look, explaining to some awe-stricken simpleton his destiny in life, from a number of books arranged before him, and consulted with due solemnity. In another part some tame birds are exhibiting their clever feats, in singling out, from amongst a hundred others, a piece of paper enclosing a coin, and then receiving a grain of millet(6) as a reward of their cleverness.

CHINESE FORTUNE-TELLER

At a little distance are some fruit-stalls, at which old and young are making purchases, casting lots for the quantity they are to receive. Near these, again, are noisy gangs of people, pursuing a less equivocal course of gambling, and evincing, by their excited looks and clamour, the intensity of their interest in the issue. In another part may be seen disposed the apparatus of some Chinese tonsor,(7) who is performing his skilful vocation on the crown of some fellow-countryman unable to command the attendance of the artist at a house of his own.

—ALBERT SMITH(8)

WORDS

avenues, passages.

clamour, outcries.

community, society.

compensation, recompense.

conspicuous, prominent.

conviction, assurance.

curiosity, inquisitiveness.

denizens, inhabitants.

destiny, doom.

disappointment, dissantisfaction.

ensues, follows.

equanimity, composure.

estimated, computed.

evincing, displaying.

expediency, propriety.

gratifying, indulging.

haranguing, addressing.

hereditary, ancestral.

incredulity, disbelief.

indignity, dishonour.

inhale, draw in.

intensity, depth.

interruption, disturbance.

lavished, squandered.

levying, exacting.

manifests, exhibits.

monotony, sameness.

perseveringly, persistently.

quantity, amount.

residences, dwellings.

salutations, greetings.

solemnity, gravity.

suburbs, outskirts.

transgressor, offender.

vocation, calling.

vociferating, shouting.

QUESTIONS

What is the estimated population of Canton? What is the general character of its streets? How many of the inhabitants live on the river? What spirit is generally observable among them? Describe the sign-boards of Chinese shops. How do the shopkeepers treat foreigners? How are poor blind persons supported in Canton? What people pursue their callings in the open air?

————————————————————

(1) Coolies, porters or carriers. [Hind. bill, a labourer.]

(2) Mandarin, a public officer; the governor of a province. The name is of Portuguese origin, from which we must infer that it was first given to the Chinese officials by Portuguese traders. [Port. mandarim; Lat. mando, I command.]

(3) Sedan chair, a portable covered chair, carried on poles by two men; so called from Sedan. a town in France, where it was first made. That generally used in India and China is called a palanquin (palangkeen), which is in the form of a covered couch suspended from poles, by which it is borne on the shoulders of four carriers.

(4) Caligraphy, beautiful writing. (Gr. kalos, beautiful; graphs, writing.)

(5) Prescriptive right, right acquired by long usage.

(6) Millet, a kind of grain much cultivated in the East. where is forms an important article of food.

(7) Tonsor, barber. Tonsor is a Latin word, from tondere, to shear or shave, and has reference to the operation Barber is from Lat barba, the beard, and has reference to the part operated on.

(8) Albert Smith, novelist and humorist; born 1816, died 1860.

LESSON 21

THE RAINBOW

[ALL transparent bodies have the power of decomposing the light which falls on them. A soap-bubble, for example, exhibits a beautiful play of colours on its surface; and so is it with that most beautiful of all the phenomena of the atmosphere, the rainbow. The drops of rain act as a prism, and separate the white light of the solar rays into the seven prismatic colours of which sunlight is composed—namely, violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red; the dark cloud behind the falling shower acting as a screen, on which the brilliant arch is made visible to the spectator.]

TRIUMPHAL arch, that fill'st the sky

When storms prepare to part!

I ask not proud philosophy

To teach me what thou art:

Still seem, as to my childhood's sight,

A midway station given

For happy spirits to alight

Betwixt the earth and heaven.

Can all that optics(1) teach unfold

Thy form to please me so,

As when I dreamt of gems and gold

Hid in thy radiant bow?

When science from Creation's face

Enchantment's veil withdraws,

What lovely visions yield their place

To cold material laws!

And yet, fair bow, no fabling dreams,

But words of the Most High,

Have told why first(2) thy robe of beams

Was woven in the sky.

When o'er the green undeluged earth

Heaven's cov'nant thou didst shine,

How came the world's gray fathers forth

To watch thy sacred sign!

And when its yellow lustre smiled

O'er mountains yet untrod,

Each mother held aloft her child,

To bless the bow of God.

Methinks thy jubilee(3) to keep,

The first-made anthem(4) rang

On earth, delivered from the deep,

And the first poet sang.

Nor ever shall the Muse's eye

Unraptured greet thy beam:

Theme of primeval(5) prophecy,

Be still the poet's theme.

The Earth to thee her incense yields,

The lark thy welcome sings,

When, glittering in the freshened fields,

The snowy mushroom springs.

How glorious is thy girdle, cast

O'er mountain, tower. and town;

Or mirrored in the ocean vast,

A thousand fathoms down!

As fresh in yon horizon dark,

As young thy beauties seem,

As when the eagle from the ark

First sported in thy beam.

For, faithful to its sacred page,

Heaven still rebuilds thy span,

Nor lets the type grow pale with age

That first spoke peace to man.

—THOMAS CAMPBELL(6)

WORDS

decompōsing, resolving.

delivered, released.

enchantment, magic.

faithful, constant.

girdle, belt.

glorious, magnificent.

horizon, sky-line.

incense, offerings.

lustre, brightness.

material, physical.

mirrored, reflected.

phenomena, appearances.

philosophy, science.

radiant, shining.

sported, played.

theme, subject.

transparent, clear.

undeluged, freed from the Flood.

unfold, explain.

————————————————————

(1) Optics, the science which treats of the laws of light and sight.

(2) Why first—as a token of the covenant God made with Noah, that there should not any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

(3) Jubilee, a festival held at certain intervals; generally fifty years. The Jews were commanded to keep a jubilee every fiftieth year. There was a national jubilee in England on account of George III entering the fiftieth year of his reign, in 1809.

(4) Anthem, a sacred song; lit. sung by alternate voices. [Gr. anti, in return; phons, voice.]

(5) Primeval, earliest; belonging to the first ages. [Lat, primum, first; .vum, an age.]

(6) Thomas Campbell, poet; born at Glasgow in 1777; author of The Pleasures of Hope, and Gertrude of Wyoming; best known by his lyrics, Hohenlinden, Lord Ullin's Daughter, The Battle of the Baltic, and Ye Mariners of England; edited Specimens of the British Poets, with critical and historical essays; died in 1844.

LESSON 22

GREENLAND (I)

GREENLAND(1) is a vast island, or cluster of islands perpetually joined together by ice, forming a continent about seven times as large as the British Isles; but its exact extent is not known, as its northern limit, which lies far within the Arctic Ocean, has never been explored.

The American expedition(2) of 1853, under the command of the celebrated Dr. Kane,(3) reached a point on the western coast of Greenland farther north than had previously been attained. It was within six hundred miles of the North Pole. Here they discovered an immense glacier,(4) since named the Humboldt(5) Glacier, which, as described by Dr. Kane, rose like a solid glassy wall, three hundred feet above the level of the water! He considers this great glacier to be the northern termination of a vast ice ocean, which occupies the interior of nearly the whole of Greenland.

Attempts were made by one of Dr. Kane's sledge parties to climb the glacier; but, though provided with apparatus, they failed in all their efforts to scale the stupendous mass. Another party, pushing northward and keeping parallel to the glacier, at a distance of about six miles from it, came in sight of a vast open sea,(6) extending as far as the eye could reach. This sea abounded with seals, bears, and all kinds of Arctic birds. It would thus seem as if the limit of the icy barrier had been reached, and that probably round the pole itself there exists an open sea, in which animal life is abundant.

The native inhabitants of Greenland are true Esquimaux; and from them, indeed, our earliest knowledge of the Esquimau race was obtained. The habits of these people have been made familiar to us by the accounts given to the world by Danish colonists and missionaries(7) hundreds of years ago; and, in later times, by the Arctic explorers and whale fishers who have visited the frozen regions of the North.

ESQUIMAU HOUSER

They inhabit a vast territory, extending from Greenland to the shores of the Pacific; and yet the whole Esquimau race is supposed to number only about fifty thousand, or not much more than the population of such a town as Carlisle. The average stature of the Esquimaux is far below that of European nations. The common height is little more than five feet, and an Esquimau of six feet would be a giant among his people.

The northern Esquimaux live in houses built of snow or ice; but the huts in the south of Greenland are made of stone or wood, and covered with brush, turf, and earth. In the summer they live in tents made of skins. It is not uncommon to find several families crowded together in the smallest possible space, where they eat, drink, and sleep, with fish and flesh lying all around, and dogs reposing on every side.

The food of the Esquimaux includes almost every animal found within their region, but the seal and the walrus are their principal support for nine months of the year. Their improvidence often reduces them to terrible straits. Captain Parry(8) speaks of meeting with some who had no food, and who, to keep themselves from starvation, were devouring the very skins which composed their clothes!

The children are carried about by the mother very carefully on her back, in a fur hood, until they are two or three years of age, and then they take care of themselves, being expected to imitate what they see their elders do. A boy very early has a bow and arrows put into his hands, that he may practise shooting at a mark. Towards his tenth year his father provides him with a kayak,(9) that he may initiate him in the arts of rowing, rising, oversetting and coming up again, fowling, fishing, and all those dexterous feats in which he is himself skilled. In his sixteenth year he is expected to accompany his father in seal-catching; and his first seal is made the occasion of great festivity. The girls at fourteen years of age are required to sew, cook, and dress leather; and two or three years later they must learn to row the woman's boat, and build houses!

The traffic of the Greenlanders is, of course, limited to a very small number of articles. They not unfrequently load their sledges and boats with various commodities, and start off with their families on a trading expedition. They often stay away for a year or more, during which time they build a house in the neighbourhood of some settlement.

They rarely cheat, much less rob, each other; but they think it fair, and even to the credit of their shrewdness, to cheat Europeans, or steal from them all they can! The blubber and skins which they sell to them are in exchange for almost any article manufactured from iron or steel. They are ignorant of the value of gold, which they do not prize more than tin or brass; but iron, in any shape, is invaluable to them.

The Esquimaux are not without their festivities. The chief of these is called the Sun Feast, at the winter solstice,(10) to celebrate the reappearance of the sun, and the renewal of hunting and fishing opportunities. Throughout the country they assemble together in companies, and do their best in the way of entertainment.

The perfection to which the Esquimaux carry such work as they attempt is quite wonderful, when we consider the scarcity of material and the want of emulation and of any division of labour among them. Their houses are built with mathematical regularity, and are well adapted for securing warmth and protection against the encroachments of the weather.

WORDS

abundant, plentiful.

accompany, go with.

average, medium.

celebrated, distinguished.

commodities, wares.

considers, believes.

emulation, rivalry.

encroachments, ravages.

explored, examined.

extending, stretching.

festivities, entertainments.

festivity, rejoicing.

imitate, copy.

improvidence, thoughtlessness.

includes, embraces.

invaluable, precious.

obtained, derived.

perpetually, continually.

previously, before.

provided, furnished.

reposing, resting.

scarcity, rarity.

shrewdness, cleverness.

stature, height.

straits, hardships.

stupendous, amazing.

supposed, believed.

termination, limit.

territory, region.

uncommon, unusual.

QUESTIONS

What is Greenland? Who reached the most northerly point in it that has ever been attained? When? What did they discover? What did a party going still further north discover? Who are the natives of Greenland? How many do the Esquimaux number in all? Of what are their houses built? What does their food include? At what age are their boys taught to manage a boat? What is their man's boat called? For what purpose do the Esquimaux often go on distant expeditions? What metals do they prise most highly? What is their chief festivity?

————————————————————

(1) Greenland, was first discovered by a Norwegian in 981 A. D., and was colonized from Iceland. After being forgotten for centuries, it was rediscovered by Davis in 1587; and the Danes reopened communication with it early in the following century.

(2) American expedition, sent out to the Arctic regions to search for Sir John Franklin.

(3) Dr. Kane, a famous American traveller, born at Philadelphia in 1822; appointed an assistant-surgeon in the United States Navy; travelled in India and Africa, and twice visited the Arctic regions; author of Arctic Explorations; died in 1857.

(4) Glacier, a mass or field of ice. Glaciers accumulate in the upper valleys of lofty mountains: for example, in Switzerland and Piedmont. It is a French word, derived from the Latin, glacies, ice.

(5) Humboldt.—So called after the famous Baron Von Humboldt, a distinguished German traveller and natural philosopher; born at Berlin 1769; travelled in South America, Mexico, and Central Asia; author of Kosmos, or a Physical Description of the Universe, and of numerous scientific treatises; died in 1859.

(6) Open sea.—Recent explorations have cast doubts on this account of the Polar Sea. What Kane's party saw is said to be merely a broad channel.

(7) Missionaries.—Many of the natives have been converted to Christianity by Moravian missionaries. The Moravians are a sect of Christians which sprang up in Moravia and Bohemia (Czecho-Slovakia) about the middle of the fifteenth century.

(8) Parry, Sir William, an eminent navigator, born at Bath in 1790. He made five expeditions to the Arctic regions, four of which were under his command. The object of most of them was to ascertain the existence of a northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He published interesting journals of all his expeditions. Died 1855.

(9) Kayak, the man's boat.

(10) Winter solstice, the 21st December, the shortest day, when the sun, reaching the point in the ecliptic farthest from the equator, appears to stand still. The summer solstice is the 21st June, the longest day.

LESSON 23

GREENLAND (II)

THE kayak, or man's boat, has a canoe-shaped frame work, from eighteen to twenty feet in length, tapering to a point at the head and stern, so that it is shaped like a weaver's shuttle. The breadth at the centre is from one foot and a half to two feet, and the depth about one foot. The interior of the vessel is hollowed just enough to allow a person to sit with his feet extended on the bottom; and as each man is his own boatbuilder, it is always constructed with a nice adaptation to his particular size and weight. When completed, the whole weight of the vessel is not more than sixty pounds, and it can be easily carried on the head without the assistance of the hands.

KAYAK

In front of the kayaker lies his line, rolled up on a little raised seat made for it; and behind him rests his seal-skin bladder—an air-tight sack, which is always kept inflated and fastened to the sealing-line. This is said to answer the double purpose of a buoy and a brake or drag to retard the motion of the prey after it has been struck. The doublebladed oar or paddle is about seven feet in length. It is made of solid red deal, if that can be procure, with inlaid bone at the sides. The kayak is covered with new seal-skin once a year, and is so expeditious and convenient that the Danish authorities of Greenland use this kind of boat as an express for communication between different posts.

The oomiak(1), or woman's boat, is usually about twenty feet long, five feet broad, and three feet deep. It is sometimes built so as to accommodate twenty persons. It is made of slender laths, fastened with whalebone, and covered with dressed sealskin. These boats are generally managed by three or four women together; and in fair weather they row them very rapidly. In any danger, a man with his kayak keeps them in sight, to aid them if required.

The next object of importance to the Esquimau is the sledge, which finds occupation during at least three-fourths of the year. A native who possesses both a kayak and a sledge is considered a person of property.

The best sledges have their runners made of the jaw-bones of the whale; the upper part consisting of bones, pieces of wood, or deer horns lashed across. Sledge-runners are sometimes made of frozen walrus skin. By an ingenious contrivance they are also formed out of seal-skin. Cases of this skin are filled with earth and moss, a little water is added, and the whole soon becomes frozen into a solid piece. The length of a bone sledge is from four to fourteen feet, and the breadth about twenty inches.

Scarcely any coasts in the world teem more abundantly with animal life than the sterile and ice-bound shores of the Arctic regions. From Greenland westward, along the northern coasts of America. thousands of bears, seals, walruses, foxes, dogs, and other Arctic mammals,(2) and millions of gulls, geese, auks, and other far-flying aquatic birds, are continually passing to and fro, some through the air, and others upon vast fields of ice, either fixed or moving.

The animals found in these frozen regions have a double interest to the voyager; for besides supplying him with nourishing food, they interrupt the intense solitude of that vast and silent land. Vegetable life grows more scant and stunted as he advances north; but animal life is larger and more abundant in development, although seen in less variety. The Arctic animals show less beauty of colouring than those of warmer climates; white and different shades of brown principally supplying the place of the more brilliant tints.

There is nothing more wonderful than the adaptation of the clothing of creatures to their natural condition. In warm latitudes the quadrupeds have thin and short hair, but those of the polar regions are supplied with the thickest furs. The aquatic birds, also, are protected by a coat of oily feathers, so that they can plunge securely into the icy waters.

Almost all Arctic animals are beasts and birds of prey; and they derive their sustenance mainly from the sea, the land furnishing very scanty means of supporting life. The ultimate source from which the food of all these animals comes—and which, from its abundance, is the cause of life being so extremely prolific in all those regions—is to be found in the vast number of medusoe or jelly-fishes with which the seas in those latitudes are filled.

Some of the species have a sort of fringe of hairs, like little snakes, which hang from the margin of the cup-shaped disc that is formed by their bodies, and float writhing and twisting in the water as the cup, by alternate expansions and contractions, forces its way along. It is from this circumstance that they have received their name of medusæ—Medusa(3) having been a fabled monster of ancient times whose head was adorned with snakes instead of hair.

Many of the medusæ are phosphorescent:(4) and these luminous species are sometimes so numerous that the whole surface of the ocean glows with them at night, as if the waves were undulations of liquid fire.

MEDUSA

The different species vary extremely, both in form and in size. Some are so minute as not to be seen by the naked eye; in consequence of which it often happens that curious persons, seeing the whole surface of the sea glowing with the light which they produce, are surprised to find nothing visible in the water when they draw up a bucketful of it to the deck of the ship in order to ascertain the cause.

Others of the medusæ are of great size and strength. They sometimes seize and devour fishes of considerable magnitude; and yet their bodies contain so little substance, that when drawn up on the beach, they look like a mere mass of jelly. On being exposed for a short time to the sun and air, they almost entirely dry up and disappear, leaving nothing behind them but a thin filmy web.

Animals of this class swarm in countless millions in all the northern seas. So dense are the shoals sometimes, that the whole colour of the sea for hundreds of miles is changed by them! They furnish, of course, immense quantities of food for whales and other cetaceous(5) animals, and also for fishes of all kinds; which in their turn give sustenance to bears, seals, walruses, and multitudes of other animals.

WORDS

accommodate, contain.

adaptation, suitableness.

alternate, by turns.

aquatic, water.

ascertain, determine.

circumstance, fact.

communication, intercourse.

constructed, made.

contraction, narrowing.

contrivance, device.

countless, numberless.

development, growth.

expansion, widening.

expeditious, speedy.

extended, stretched.

filmy, cob-web-like.

inflated, distended.

ingenious, clever.

interior, inside.

luminous, shining.

magnitude, greatness.

managed, guided.

multitudes, hosts.

nourishing, wholesome.

occupation, employment.

prolific, productive.

quadrupeds, four-footed animals.

solitude, loneliness.

sterile, unfruitful.

surprised, astonished.

sustenance, nourishment.

tapering, diminishing.

undulations, waves.

writhing, twisting.

QUESTIONS

What is the usual length of a kayak? And its weight? With what is it propelled? What is the length of the oomiak? Of what are the best sledges made? With what do the Arctic regions abound? What difference is noticed between Arctic animals and those of warmer regions? Mention instances of the adaptation of the clothing of animals to their condition. What is the chief source of food for animal life in the Arctic regions? What is the origin of the name? What is the cause of the luminous appearance which some of them give the sea?

————————————————————

(1) Oomiak, from Greenland Inuktitut: boat for the use of women.

(2) Mammals, animals that suckle their young; the chief of the Backboned animals. [Lat. mamma, a breast.]

(3) Medusa, one of the fabled Gorgons, who had serpents entwined in their hair, and eyes so terrible that they turned to stone every one who looked upon them.

(4) Are phosphorescent—have the power of giving out light.

(5) Cetaceous, whale-like. All sea-mammals belong to the order Cetacea.

LESSON 24

ICELAND, AND THE GEYSERS

ICELAND is an island somewhat larger than Ireland. It is situated in the Atlantic Ocean, on the confines of the Arctic Circle, amid regions of ice and snow; yet it gives abundant evidence of the volcanic fires(1) which are slum bering beneath its surface.

Among its most remarkable features are its hot springs, which in some places throw up a column of water to the height of a hundred feet. These springs abound on many parts of the coast, as well as in the interior of the island; and in some cases the waters of the ocean are sensibly heated by their action.

The most celebrated of these hot springs are the Geysers,(2) situated in the north of the island, where, within the space of a few acres, more than fifty of them may be seen.

The Great Geyser rises from a mound of flinty earth, deposited by the water, about thirty feet in height, and extending about two hundred feet across. On the top of this mound is a basin sixty feet wide and seven feet deep, in the centre of which is the opening through which the water rises.

A visit to the Geysers is thus described by Lord Dufferin in his book entitled "Letters from High Latitudes," giving an account of a voyage and visit to Iceland:—

"As the baggage-horses with our tents and beds had not yet arrived, we sat quietly down to coffee brewed in Geysers' water, when suddenly it seemed as if, beneath our very feet, a number of cannon were going off under ground. The whole earth shook. We set off at full speed toward the Great Geyser, expecting to see the grand water explosion. By the time we reached its brim, however, the noise had ceased, and all we could see was a slight trembling movement in the centre.

"Irritated by this false alarm, we determined to avenge ourselves by going and tormenting the Strokkur. Strokkur, or the churn, you must know, is an unfortunate Geyser, with so little command over his temper and his stomach that you can get a rise out of him whenever you like. All that is necessary is to collect a quantity of sods, and throw them down his funnel. As he has no basin to protect himself from these liberties, you can approach to the very edge of the pipe, about five feet in diameter, and look down at the water, which is perpetually boiling at the bottom.

"In a few minutes the dose of turf you have just administered begins to disagree with him. He works himself up into an awful passion. Tormented by the qualms of sickness, he groans, and hisses, and boils up, and spits at you with malicious vehemence, until at last, with a roar of mingled pain and rage, he throws up into the air a column of water forty feet high, which carries with it all the sods that have been cast in, and scatters them scalded and half digested at your feet.

"So irritated has the poor thing's stomach become by the discipline it has undergone, that even long after all foreign matter has been thrown off, it goes on retching and sputtering, until at last nature is exhausted, when, sobbing and sighing to itself, it sinks back into the bottom of its den.

"As the Great Geyser explodes only once in forty hours or more, it was, of course, necessary that we should wait his pleasure—in fact, our movements entirely depended on his. For the next two or three days, therefore, like pilgrims round an ancient shrine, we patiently kept watch; but he scarcely deigned to favour us with the slightest manifestation of his latent energies. Two or three times the cannonading we had heard immediately after our arrival recommenced, and once an eruption to the height of about ten feet occurred; but so brief was its duration, that by the time we were on the spot, although the tent was not eighty yards distant, all was over.

"At length, after three days' watching in languid expectation of the eruption, our desire was gratified. A cry from the guides made us start to our feet and rush toward the basin. The usual underground thunders had already commenced; a violent agitation was disturbing the centre of the pool Suddenly a dome of water lifted itself to the height of eight or ten feet, then burst and fell; immediately after which a shining liquid column, or rather a sheaf of columns, wreathed in robes of vapour, sprang about seventy feet into the air, and, in a succession of jerking leaps, each higher than the former, flung their silvery crests against the sky. For a few minutes the fountain held its own, then all at once it seemed to lose its ascending energy. The unstable waters faltered, drooped, fell, 'like a broken purpose,' back upon themselves, and were immediately sucked down into the recesses from which they had sprung."

WORDS

administered, supplied.

agitation, commotion.

celebrated, famous.

column, pillar.

confines, borders.

deposited. laid down.

diameter, measurement across.

discipline, treatment.

energies, powers.

evidence, proof.

exhausted, tired out.

expectation, anticipation.

expecting, hoping.

explosion, eruption.

extending, measuring.

irritated, enraged.

malicious, mischievous.

manifestation, indication.

occurred, happened.

pilgrims, wanderers.

recesses, cavities.

sensibly, perceptibly.

situated, placed.

succession, series.

tormenting, harassing.

trembling. vibrating.

underground, subterranean.

vehemence, violence.

wreathed, enveloped.

QUESTIONS

Where is Iceland situated? What slumber beneath its surface? What are the most celebrated of the hot springs called? What is the peculiarity of the Strokkur? What does the name mean? How often does the Great Geyser explode? How high does it send its column of water?

————————————————————

(1) Evidence of volcanic fires.—Dismal tracts of lava (melted rock thrown up by volcanoes) traverse the island in every direction. A deep valley, one hundred miles in width, covered with lava, sand, and ashes, and studded with low volcanic cones, stretches across the island from sea to sea. At the southern and of this valley stands the celebrated volcano Mount Hecla, 5200 feet high, and covered with perpetual snow.

(2) Geysers.—The Geysers are supposed to be caused by the collection of heated vapours in large cavities of the earth, which at length acquire sufficient force to expel the waters subject to their pressure. The word geyser signifies, in the Icelandic dialect, "fury."

LESSON 25

LADY CLARE

IT was the time when lilies blow,

And clouds are highest up in air,

Lord Ronald brought a lily-white doe

To give his cousin, Lady Clare.

I trow they did not part in scorn;(1)

Lovers long betrothed were they:

They two will wed the morrow morn;

God's blessing on the day.

"He does not love me for my birth,

Nor for my lands, so broad and fair;

He loves me for my own true worth,

And that is well," said Lady Clare.

In there came old Alice the nurse;

Said, "Who was this that went from thee?"—

"It was my cousin," said Lady Clare;

"To-morrow he weds with me."(2)

"O God be thanked!" said Alice the nurse,

"That all comes round so just and fair;—

Lord Ronald is heir of all your lands,

And you are not the Lady Clare."

"Are ye(3) out of your mind, my nurse, my nurse,"

Said Lady Clare, "that ye speak so wild?"—

"As God's above," said Alice the nurse,

"I speak the truth—you are my child.

"The old Earl's daughter died at my breast—

I speak the truth, as I live by bread!

I buried her like my own sweet child,

And put my child in her stead."

"Falsely, falsely have ye done,

O mother," she said, "if this be true;

To keep the best man under the sun

So many years from his due."

"Nay, now, my child," said Alice the nurse;

"But keep the secret for your life,

And all you have will be Lord Ronald's

When you are man and wife."

"If I'm a beggar born," she said,

"I will speak out, for I dare not lie;—

Pull off, pull off the brooch of gold,

And fling the diamond necklace by!"

"Nay, now, my child," said Alice the nurse,

"But keep the secret all ye can."—

She said, "Not so; but I will know

If there be any faith in man."

"Nay, now, what faith?" said Alice the nurse;

"The man will cleave unto his right."—

"And he shall have it," the lady replied,

"Though I should die, to-night!"

"Yet give one kiss to your mother dear!

Alas, my child, I sinned for thee."—

"O mother, mother, mother," she said,

"So strange it seems to me.

"Yet here's a kiss for my mother dear,—

My mother dear, if this be so;

And lay your hand upon my head,

And bless me, mother, ere I go."

She clad herself in a russet gown;(4)

She was no longer Lady Clare:

She went by dale, and she went by down,(5)

With a single rose in her hair.

The lily-white doe Lord Ronald had brought,

Leapt up from where she lay,

Dropt her head in the maiden's hand,

And followed her all the way.

Down Stept Lord Ronald from his tower:

"O Lady Clare, you shame your worth!

Why come you drest like a village maid,

That are the flower of the earth?"

"If I come drest like a village maid,

I am but as my fortunes are;

I am a beggar born," she said,

"And not the Lady Clare."

"Play me no tricks," said Lord Ronald,

"For I am yours in word and deed;—

Play me no tricks," said Lord Ronald;

"Your riddle is hard to read."

O, and proudly stood she up!

Her heart within her did not fail;

She looked into Lord Ronald's eyes,

And told him all her nurse's tale.

He laughed a laugh of merry scorn;

He turned and kissed her where she stood:

"If you are not the heiress born,

And I," said he, "the next in blood—

"If you are not the heiress born,

And I," said he, "the lawful heir,

We two will wed to-morrow morn,

And you shall(6) still be Lady Clare."

—ALFRED TENNYSON

WORDS

betrothed, affianced.

blessing, benediction.

brooch, ornament.

buried, interred.

cleave, adhere.

diamond, precious stone.

faith, sincerity.

falsely, wrongly.

fortunes, fate.

heiress, a female heir.

lawful, rightful.

lilies, flowers.

merry, jovial.

necklace, string of gems.

proudly, nobly.

replied, answered.

riddle, puzzle.

scorn, contempt.

secret, mystery.

stead, place.

strange, inexplicable.

————————————————————

(1) I trow they did not part in scorn.—This is the poet's way of telling us that the lovers had parted before Alice the nurse came in and told her story. I trow is, I trust, I believe. True, trust, trow, and troth are all from the same root,—a Gothic word meaning sure, reliable.

(2) Weds with me.—Notice the precise use of the word wed in this poem, as applied to the joint act of the two persons concerned. "They two will wed the morrow morn;" "He weds with me." A wed is literally a pledge, and wedding is as exchange of pledges—a mutual plighting of troth.

(3) Are ye.—Ye is often used colloquially, that is, in common conversation, for you with a singular meaning, as in "How d'ye do?" This form of expression has probably arisen from the corruption of you by rapid pronunciation.

(4) Russet gown—a dress of a reddish-brown colour, but also with the idea of coarseness; "drest like a village maid," as Lord Ronald describes her in the 17th stanza.

(5) By dale…by down—by valley and by hill. Down is the Old Eng dun, a hill. It is used as a proper name in the North and South Downs, hills in the south of England.

(6) You shall.—Observe the change from will to shall,—"We two will… and you shall." In both cases the speaker (Lord Ronald) expresses his own wish or determination. For this purpose will is used in the first person (we), and shall in the second (you).

LESSON 26

THE BATTLE OF THE NILE

'Tis an old story now, that Battle of the Nile;(1) but a brave story can never die of age.

The Bay is wide, but dangerous from shoals: the line of deep blue water, and the old castle of Aboukir,(2) map out the position of the French fleet on the 1st of August 1798. Having landed Buonaparte and his army, the French Admiral moored his fleet in the form of a crescent close along the shore. His vastly superior force, and the strength of his position (protected towards the north by dangerous shoals, and towards the west by the castle and batteries), made him consider that position impregnable; and on the strength of this conviction he wrote to Paris that Nelson(3) had purposely avoided him.

Was he undeceived when Hood,(4) in the Zealous, made signal that the enemy was in sight, and a cheer of triumph burst from every ship in the British fleet?—that fleet which had been sweeping the seas with bursting sails for six long weeks in search of its formidable foe, and which now bore down upon him with fearless exultation. The soundings of that dangerous bay were unknown to Nelson; but he knew that where there was room for a French ship to swing, there must be room for an Englishman to anchor at either side of him,—and the closer the better!

As his proud and fearless fleet came on, he hailed Hood, to ask whether the action should commence that night; then receiving the answer he longed for, the signal for "close battle" flew from his mast-head. The delay thus caused to the Zealous gave Foley(5) the lead. He showed the example of leading inside the enemy's lines,(6) and anchored by the stern alongside the second ship; thus leaving to Hood the first. The latter, putting his own generous construction on an accident, exclaimed, "Thank God, he has nobly left to his old friend still to lead the van!"

Slowly and majestically, as the evening fell, the remainder of the fleet came on beneath a cloud of sails, receiving the fire of the castle and the batteries in portentous silence, only broken by the crash of spars, or the boatswain's whistle; each ship furling her sails calmly, as a sea-bird might fold its wings, and gliding tranquilly onward till she found her destined foe. Then the anchor dropped astern, and the fire burst from her bloodstained decks with a vigour that showed how sternly it had been repressed till then.

The leading ships passed between the enemy and the shore; but when the Admiral came up, he led the remainder of the fleet along the seaward side, thus doubling on the Frenchman's line, and placing it in a defile of fire.

The sun went down soon after Nelson anchored; and his rearward ships were guided through the darkness and the dangers of that formidable bay only by the Frenchman's fire flashing fierce welcome, as each enemy arrived and went hovering along the lines. He coolly scrutinized how he might draw most of that fire upon himself. The Bellerophon, with reckless gallantry, fastened on the gigantic Orient, by whose terrible artillery she was soon crushed, and scorched into a wreck. Then she drifted helplessly to leeward. But she had already done her work,—the Orient was on fire, and through the terrible roar of battle a whisper went for a moment that paralyzed every eager heart and hand. During that dread pause the fight was suspended; the very wounded ceased to groan: yet the burning ship still continued to fire broadsides from her flaming decks; her gallant crew alone unawed by their approaching fate, and shouting their own death-song.

At length the terrible explosion came; and the column of flame, that shot upwards into the very sky, for a moment rendered visible the whole surrounding scene, from the red flags aloft to the reddened decks below; the wide shore with all its swarthy crowds, and the far-off glittering seas with the torn and dismantled fleets. Then darkness and silence came again, broken only by the shower of blazing fragments in which that brave ship fell upon the waters.

Till that moment, Nelson was ignorant how the battle went. He knew that every man was doing his duty, but he knew not how successfully. He had been wounded in the forehead, but had found his way unnoticed to the deck in the suspense of the coming explosion. Its light was a fitting lamp for eyes like his to read by. He saw his own proud flag still floating everywhere; and at the same moment his crew recognized their wounded chief. Their cheer of welcome was only drowned in the renewed roar of their artillery, which continued until it no longer found an answer, and Silence had confessed Destruction.

Morning rose upon an altered scene. The sun had set upon as proud a fleet as ever sailed from the gay shores on France. Now only torn and blackened hulls marked the position they had then occupied; and where their Admiral's ship had been, the blank sea sparkled in the sunshine. Two ships of the line and two frigates escaped, only to be captured soon afterwards; but within the bay the tricolour(7) was flying on only one ship. As the Theseus approached to attack her, attempting to capitulate she hoisted a flag of truce. "Your battle-flag or none!" was the stern reply, as her enemy rounded to, and the matches glimmered over her line of guns, Slowly and reluctantly, like an expiring hope, that pale flag fluttered down from her lofty spars, and the next that floated was that of England.

And now the battle was over—India was saved upon the shores of Egypt—the career of Buonaparte was checked, and his navy annihilated. Seven years later that navy was revived, to perish utterly at Trafalgar—a fitting hecatomb(8) for the obsequies(9) of Nelson, whose life, it seemed, terminated as his mission was accomplished.

—WARBURTON

WORDS

annihilated, demolished.

approaching, coming.

artillery, cannon.

capitulate, surrender.

captured, secured.

consider, deem.

construction, interpretation.

conviction. belief.

crescent, semi-circle.

dangerous, perilous.

destined, appointed.

destruction, demolition.

dismantled, destroyed.

explosion, bursting.

exultation, delight.

formidable, terrible.

generous, liberal.

gigantic, tremendous.

impregnable, invincible.

majestically, grandly.

paralyzed, unnerved.

portentous, ominous.

recognized, discovered.

reluctantly, unwillingly.

repressed, restrained.

scrutinized, calculated.

suspense, anxiety.

terminated, closed.

undeceived, enlightened.

QUESTIONS

When was the Battle of the Nile fought? What account of Nelson's doings had the French Admiral sent to Paris? What had Nelson really been doing for six weeks? Who showed the example of leading inside the enemy's lines? In what position was the French fleet placed when Nelson came up? What was the turning-point of the battle? How many ships carried the French flag next morning? What were the results of the victory?

————————————————————

(1) Battle of the Nile.—The object of Buonaparte's secret expedition to Egypt was to seise upon that approach to India, and ultimately to wrest that possession from the hands of England. He started from Toulon on the 19th of May 1798, and, having stayed to capture Malta on his way, he landed on the shores of Egypt on the 30th of June. Nelson, meantime, was cruising up and down the Mediterranean in eager search of the French fleet, little dreaming that at one time a fog-bank off Candia was all that lay between them. The French had seventeen ships, of which thirteen were first-rates. The English had the same number of first-rates, but only one frigate.

(2) Aboukir, a bay, point, and castle, about twelve miles northeast of Alexandri.

(3) Nelson.—See LIVES OF GREAT MEN, in Appendix.

(4) Hood, Viscount Samuel, a great English Admiral, was born in 1724. He distinguished himself by taking Toulon in 1793, and Corsica (where Nelson lost his right eye) in 1794. He was made governor of Greenwich Hospital, and died in 1816.

(5) Foley, Sir Thomas, a distinguished naval officer and friend of Nelson, was born in 1757. He was captain of Nelson's flag-ship at Copenhagen (1801); and it was to him that Nelson made the famous remark, when Admiral Sir Hyde Parker signalled to leave off the action, "I really do not see the signal, Foley;"—which was quite true, for he held the glass to his blind eye! Foley died in 1831.

(6) Inside the enemy's lines.—That is, between the French ships and the shore.

(7) Tricolour, the national flag of France, adopted at the first revolution. The colours are red, white, and blue.

(8) Hecatomb, sacrifice; lit. the sacrifice of a hundred oxen [Gr. hekaton, a hundred; and bous, an ox], and hence any great number of victims.

(9) Obsequies, funeral ceremony, because at Trafalgar Nelson was killed (1805).

LESSON 27

THE AURORA

ONE of the most mysterious and beautiful of Nature's manifestations is the Aurora.(1) In our own latitudes strikingly beautiful auroral displays may sometimes be witnessed; but it is in the Arctic and Antarctic regions that the phenomenon appears in its fullest beauty. The following description may be taken as an example of what is often seen in the Polar regions—the true home of the aurora:—

Darkness broods over the Polar world. Even the outlines of the mighty hills can scarcely be distinguished. No object can be seen moving over the wide expanse of frozen sea.

Suddenly from east to west appears a beautiful arch of living gold! The lights dart to and fro, their colours rivalling those of the rainbow. Beyond the arch, a stream of golden rays shoots up far above all the rest, and the stars are obscured as the "merrie dancers"(2) sweep along in waves of light.

There is something surpassingly beautiful in the appearance of the true "auroral curtain." Fringed with coloured streamers, it waves to and fro, as if shaken by some unseen hand. Then, from end to end, there passes a succession of undulations, and the curtain seems to wave in a series of graceful curves.

Suddenly, and as it were by magic, there succeeds a perfect stillness; as if the unseen power, which had been displaying the varied beauties of the auroral curtain were resting for a moment. But even while the motion of the curtain is stilled, we see the alternate waxing and waning of its mysterious light.

THE AURORA IN THE POLAR REGIONS

While we gaze, fresh waves of disturbance traverse the magic canopy. Startling coruscations add splendour to the scene; and the noble span of the auroral arch, from which the waving curtain seems to hang, gives a grandeur to the spectacle which no words can adequately describe.

At length the luminous zone breaks up. The scene of the display becomes covered with scattered streaks and patches of ashen gray light, which hang like clouds over the heavens. Then these in turn disappear, and nothing remains of the brilliant spectacle but a dark smoke-like cloud on the horizon.

WORDS

adequately, fitly.

coruscations, flashes, or gleams of light.

description, account.

displaying, unfolding.

grandeur, splendour.

luminous, full of light.

manifestations, exhibitions.

rivalling, emulating.

spectacle, sight.

surpassingly, exceedingly.

traverse, cross.

undulations, vibrations.

————————————————————

(1) Aurora, is simply the Latin word for the "dawn" or "daybreak," used by the old Roman poets. Then this, like the other great aspects of Nature, was personified, and Aurora became the goddess of the morning. The full name of the meteorological phenomenon described in this lesson is the Aurora Borealis—that is, the northern dawn—or, popularly, the northern lights. It was formerly believed that the aurora did not belong to the atmosphere of the Earth, but had its origin in a more distant region of the heavens. Recent experiments, however, prove beyond question that this beautiful phenomenon is occasioned by the passage of electric discharges through the upper regions of the atmosphere, where the air is highly rarefied.

(2) Merrie Dancers.—So the northern lights are called in shetland.

LESSON 28

THE BATTLE OF THE BALTIC

(A.D. 1801.)

OF Nelson and the North(1)

Sing the glorious day's renown,

When to battle fierce came forth

All the might of Denmark's crown,

And her arms along the deep proudly shone;

By each gun the lighted brand

In a bold determined hand,

And the Prince of all the land(2)

Led them on.

Like leviathans afloat,

Lay their bulwarks on the brine;

While the sign of battle flew

On the lofty British line;

It was ten of April morn by the chime:

As they drifted on their path,

There was silence deep as death;

And the boldest held his breath

For a time.

But the might of England flushed

To anticipate the scene;

And her van the fleeter rushed

O'er the deadly space between.

"Hearts of oak!" our captains cried, when each gun

From its adamantine(3) lips

Spread a death-shade round the ships,

Like the hurricane eclipse

Of the sun!

Again! again! again!

And the havoc did not slack,

Till a feeble cheer the Dane

To our cheering sent us back.

Their shots along the deep slowly boom;—

Then cease—and all is wail,

As they strike the shattered sail;

Or, in conflagration pale,

Light the gloom!

Out spoke the Victor then,

As he hailed them o'er the wave:

"Ye are brothers!(4) ye are men!

And we conquer but to save!

So peace, instead of death, let us bring;—

But yield, proud foe, thy fleet,

With the crews, at England's feet,

And make submission meet

To our King."

Then Denmark blessed our Chief,

That he gave her wounds repose;

And the sounds of joy and grief

From her people wildly rose,

As Death withdrew his shades from the day:

While the Sun looked smiling bright

O'er a wide and woful sight,

Where the fires of funeral light

Died away!

Now joy, Old England, raise!

For the tidings of thy might,

By the festal cities' blaze,

While the wine-cup shines in light;—

And yet, amidst that joy and uproar,

Let us think of them that sleep,

Full many a fathom deep,

By thy wild and stormy steep,

Elsinore!(5)

Brave hearts! to Britain's pride

Once so faithful and so true,

On the deck of fame that died,

With the gallant, good Riou!(6)

Soft sigh the winds of heaven o'er their grave!

While the billow mournful rolls,

And the mermaid's song condoles,

Sing glory to the souls

Of the brave!

—THOMAS CAMPBELL

WORDS

anticipate, forestall.

condoles, sympathizes.

conflagration, flame.

determined, resolute.

eclipse, obscuration.

gallant, brave.

havoc, devastation.

hurricane, tempestuous.

leviathans, monsters.

renown, fame.

shattered, shivered.

submission, surrender.

————————————————————

(1) The North.—In 1800. Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Denmark formed a maritime confederacy, of northern league, against Britain. A fleet of eighteen sail, under Sir Hyde Parker and Admiral Nelson, was despatched to the Baltic to break it up. Nelson undertook, with his squadron, to reduce the batteries of Copenhagen. During the cannonade, Parker signalled to Nelson to stop firing; but Nelson put his telescope to his blind eye, and ordered his own signal for "close action"to be nailed to the mast.

(2) The Prince of all the land.—The Prince Regent of Denmark commanded the Danish forces. He had been declared Regent in 1784, when his father, Christian VII.,became deranged. In 1801 he succeeded to the throne as Frederick VI.

(3) Adamantine, diamond; impenetrable.

(4) Ye are brothers.—When some of the Danish ships which had struck their colours fired upon the boats sent to take possession of them, Nelson wrote to the Crown Prince: "The brave Danes are the brothers and should never be the enemies, of the English;" referring to their common Teutonic origin.

(5) Elsinore, a town and sea-port of Denmark, on the western side of the Sound.

(6) Rion.—Captain Rion, justly styled "the gallant and good" by Lord Nelson in his despatches, was killed in the battle.

LESSON 29

TRIUMPHS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Now gather all our Saxon bards, let harps and hearts be strung,

To celebrate the triumphs of our own good Saxon tongue;

For stronger far than hosts that march with battle-flags unfurled,

It goes with FREEDOM, THOUGHT, and TRUTH, to rouse and rule the world.

Stout Albion(1) learns its household lays on every surf-worn shore,

And Scotland hears its echoing far as Orkney's breakers roar—

From Jura's(2) crags and Mona's(3) hills it floats on every gale,

And warms with eloquence and song the homes of Innisfail.(4)

On many a wide and swarming deck it scales the rough wave's crest,

Seeking its peerless heritage—the fresh and fruitful West:

It climbs New England's(5) rocky steeps as victor mounts a throne;

Niagara knows and greets the voice, still mightier than its own.

It spreads where Winter piles deep snows on bleak Canadian plains,

And where on Essequibo's(6) banks eternal Summer reigns:

It glads Acadia's(7) misty coasts, Jamaica's glowing isle,

And bides where, gay with early flowers, green Texan prairies(8) smile:

It tracks the loud swift Oregon,(9) through sunset valleys rolled,

And soars where Californian brooks wash down their sands of gold.

It sounds in Borneo's(10) camphor groves, on seas of fierce Malay,

In fields that curb old Ganges' flood, and towers of proud Bombay:

It wakes up Aden's(11) flashing eyes, dusk brows, and swarthy limbs;

The dark Liberian(12) soothes her child with English cradle hymns.

Tasmania's(13) maids are wooed and won in gentle Saxon speech;

Australian boys read Crusoe's life(14) by Sydney's sheltered beach;

It dwells where Afric's southmost capes meet oceans broad and blue,

And Nieuveld's(15) rugged mountains gird the wide and waste karroo.(16)

It kindles realms so far apart, that, while its praise you sing,

These may be clad with Autumn's fruits, and those with flowers of Spring;

It quickens lands whose meteor lights flame in an Arctic sky,

And lands for which the Southern Cross(17) hangs its orbëd fires on high.

It goes with all that prophets told, and righteous kings desired,—

With all that great apostles taught, and glorious Greeks admired,—

With Shakespeare's(18) deep and wondrous verse, and Milton's(19) loftier mind,—

With Alfred's(20) laws, and Newton's(21) lore,—to cheer and bless mankind.

Mark, as it spreads, how deserts bloom, and error flies away,

As vanishes the mist of night before the star of day!

But grand as are the victories whose monuments we see,

Three are but as the dawn, which speaks of noontide yet to be

Take heed, then, heirs of Saxon fame! take heed,nor once disgrace,

With deadly pen or spoiling sword, our noble tongue and race.

Go forth prepared in every clime to love and help each other,

And judge that they who counsel strife would bid you smite—a brother.

Go forth, and jointly speed the time, by good men prayed for long,

When Christian States, grown just and wise, will scorn revenge and wrong;

When Earth's oppressed and savage tribes shall cease to pine or roam,

All taught to prize these English words—FAITH, FREEDOM, HEAVEN, and HOME.

—J. G. LYONS

WORDS

celebrate, commemorate.

counsel, advise.

disgrace, debase.

eloquence, oratory.

heritage, inheritance.

household, familiar.

kindles, excites.

meteor, flashing.

monuments, memorials.

peerless, unequalled.

prepared, equipped.

quickens, enlivens.

revenge, retaliation.

righteous, upright.

sheltered, protected.

swarthy, dusky.

triumphs, victories.

unfurled, unrolled.

vanishes, disappears.

wondrous, marvellous.

————————————————————

(1) Albion, the earliest name by which Great Britain is mentioned by ancient writers. The name is probably derived from the same Celtic root as Alp, which signifies a height or mountain.

(2) Jura, an island, one of the Inner Hebrides, on the west of Scotland.

(3) Mona, the Isle of Man.

(4) Innisfail, on the coast of Ireland.

(5) New England, the name given to the earliest British Colonies in North America; still applied to the six Eastern States of the Union.

(6) Essequibo, the principal river of British Guiana, in South America.

(7) Acadia, the former name of Nova Scotia. The French called the country Acadie, it is supposed, a native word cadie, or kaddy, signifying "abundance."

(8) Texan prairies—Texas, the wide region stretching from the Mississippi westward to Mexico, belonged to the latter country till 1836. It was independent from 1836 till 1846, when it was annexed to the United States. It is now the largest State in the Union.

(9) Oregon, the Columbia, or Oregon river, in the west of the United States.

(10) Borneo, the central island of Malaysia (East Indies), and the third largest island on the globe.

(11) Aden, a town and sea-port on the south-west coast of Arabia. It has belonged to Britain since 1839, and is the chief coaling station on the steamboat passage to India.

(12) Liberia,on the west coast of Africa, formerly a dependency of the United States, was recognized as an independent republic in 1848.

(13) Tasmania, on island south of Australia, one fourth the size of Great Britain. It was formerly called Van Diemen's Land. Its present name is derived from Tasman, a Dutch navigator, who discovered it in 1642.

(14) Crusoe's life—Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1719. It is supposed to have been founded on the incident of Alexander Selkirk, a Scotch adventurer, having been put ashore on the island of Juan Fernandez (400 miles west of Valparaiso), where he lived alone for four years and four months.

(15) Nieuveld, a mountain range of South Africa, rising to the height of 7000 feet above the sea.

(16) Karroo.—The wide plains occupying the terraces between the lofty mountains in South Africa are called karroos.

(17) The Southern Cross, the most brilliant and striking constellation in the Southern Hemisphere.

(18) Shakespeare, the great English Dramatist, author of Hamlet, King Lear, The Tempest, &c. (A.D. 1564-1616).

(19) Milton, the author of Paradise Lost (A. D. 1608-1674).

(20) Alfred, Alfred the Great, King of Wessex (reigned A. D. 871-901).

(21) Newton, Sir Issac Newton, the great philosopher who discovered the law of gravitation (A.D. 1642-1727).

LESSON 30

YOUNG LOCHINVAR

OH, young Lochinvar is come out of the west;

Through all the wide Border his steed was the best:

And save his good broad-sword he weapons had none;

He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone.

So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,

There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.

He stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for stone,

He swam the Esk river where ford there was none;

But, ere he alighted at Netherby gate,

The bride had consented—the gallant came late:

For a laggard in love and a dastard(1) in war

Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.

So boldly he entered the Netherby hall,

Among bridesmen, and kinsmen, and brothers and all

Then spoke the bride's father, his hand on his sword,

(For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word),

"Come ye in peace here, or come ye in war,

Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar."

"I long wooed your daughter, my suit you denied;—

Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide—

And now am I come, with this lost love of mine

To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine.

There are maidens in Scotland, more lovely by far,

That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar."

The bride kissed the goblet; the knight took it up,

He quaffed off the wine, and he threw down the cup;

She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh,

With a smile on her lips and a tear in her eye.

He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar,—

"Now tread we a measure!" said young Lochinvar.

So stately his form, and so lovely her face,

That never a hall such a galliard(2) did grace;

While her mother did fret, and her father did fame,

And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume;

And the bride-maidens whispered, "'Twere better by far

To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar."

One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear,

When they reached the hall door, and the charger stood near,

So light to the croupe(3) the fair lady he swung,

So light to the saddle before her he sprung!—

"She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur!(4)

They'll have fleet steeds that follow!" quoth young Lochinvar.

There was mounting 'mong Græmes of the Netherby clan;

Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran

There was racing and chasing on Cannobie lee,

But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see!

So daring in love and so dauntless in war,

Have ye e'er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar?

—SIR WALTER SCOTT (1771-1882)

WORDS

bridal, wedding.

charger, steed.

consented, agreed.

craven, cowardly.

dangling, swinging.

daring, bold.

dauntless, fearless.

gallant, lover.

goblet, cup.

kinsmen, relatives.

matched, married.

quaffed, drank.

stately, dignified.

weapons, arms.

whispered, hinted.

————————————————————

(1) Laggard…dastard.—Examples of words ending in the suffix-ard, signifying nature or habit. A laggard is one who is in the habit of lagging; a dastard is one whose nature it is to shrink or be frightened. So drunk-ard is one who frequently drinks to excess. Dot-ard and dull-ard are other examples. Braggart and sweet-heart exhibit other forms of the same suffix.

(2) Galliard, a gay, lively dance. It is the French gaillard, from gai, gay.

(3) Croupe, the place behind the saddle.

(4) Scaur, cliff: steep bank. [Sc.]

LESSON 31

THE TIDAL BORE OF THE TSIEN-TANG

IN the open expanse of the Southern Ocean, as well as over a large portion of the Pacific, the tidal wave 1 rarely exceeds five or six feet in height, and in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans perhaps eight or ten. In bays and gulfs, however, opening broadly to its course, and narrowing towards their interior recesses—such as the Bay of Bengal, the Bristol Channel, and the Bay of Fundy in America—it may rise to twenty, thirty, or, under favourable circumstances of wind and season, even to fifty or sixty feet in height! And where such seas terminate in river-estuaries, the wave, still converging, forms a high head or wall of water, termed a Bore, which ascends the river with sudden and destructive force.

Tidal bores of considerable magnitude occur in many rivers, such as the Severn, Garonne, Amazon, and Hoogly; but that of the Tsien-tang in China appears to excel them all in grandeur, especially at spring-tides and during strong easterly gales. Dr. Macgowan gives the following graphic account of it in the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society:—

"Between the river and the city walls, which are a mile distant, dense suburbs extend for several miles along the banks.As the hour of flood-tide approached, crowds gathered in the streets running at right angles with the Tsien-tang, but at safe distances. My position was a terrace in front of the Triwave Temple, which afforded a good view of the entire scene.

"On a sudden all traffic in the thronged mart was suspended; porters cleared the front street of every description of merchandise, boatmen ceased lading and unlading their vessels, and put out into the middle of the stream, so that a few minutes sufficed to give a deserted appearance to the busiest part of one of the busiest cities of Asia. The centre of the river teemed with craft, from small boats to large barges, including the gay 'flower-boats'.

"Loud shouting from the fleet announced the appearance of the flood, which seemed like a glistening white cable stretched athwart the river at its mouth, as far down as the eye could reach. Its noise, compared by Chinese poets to that of thunder, speedily drowned that of the boatmen; and as it advanced with great rapidity—at the rate, I should judge, of twentyfive miles an hour—it assumed the appearance of an alabaster wall, or rather of a cataract four or five miles across, and about thirty feet high, moving bodily onward! Soon it reached the advanced guard of the immense assemblage of vessels awaiting its approach.

"Knowing that the Bore of the Hoogly-which scarcely deserves mention in connection with the one before me—invariably overturned boats which were not skilfully managed, I could not but feel apprehensive for the lives of the floating multitude. As the foaming wall of water dashed furiously onward they were silenced, all being intently occupied in keeping their prows towards the wave, which threatened to submerge everything afloat; but they all vaulted, as it were, to the summit with perfect safety.

"The spectacle was of greatest interest when the Bore had passed about half way among the craft. On one side they were quietly reposing on the surface of the unruffled stream, while those on the lower portion were pitching and heaving on the flood: others were scaling, with the agility of salmon, the formidable cascade.

"This grand and exciting scene was of but a moment's duration,—it passed up the river in an instant; but, from this point, with gradually diminishing force, size, and velocity, until it ceased to be perceptible, at a distance, say the Chinese accounts, of eighty miles from the city. The change from ebb to flood-tide was almost instantaneous. A slight flood continued after the passage of the wave, but it soon began to ebb.

THE TIDAL BORE OF THE TSIEN-TANG

"A very short period elapsed between the passage of the Bore and the resumption of traffic. The vessels were soon attached to the shore again, and women and children were occupied in gathering articles which the careless or unskilful had lost in the confusion. The streets were drenched with spray, and a considerable volume of water splashed over the banks into the head of the Grand Canal? a few feet distant."

'Tidal wave.—Tides are periodical swells in the ocean, produced by the attraction of the sun and the moon. The influence of the moon in producing the tides is seven times as great as that of the sun, owing to its nearness to the Earth. A great protuberance of water, forming a tidal wave, follows the moon round the Earth; and its crest marks flood-tide, or highwater, wherever it happens to be.

This would account for one tide each day; but there are two tides in twenty-four hours,—or rather in twenty-four hours fifty minutes, the length of the lunar day; i.e., the time that elapses between moon-rise and moon-rise at the same place. The two tidal waves are always at opposite sides of the globe, and as it were chase one another round the Earth.

The reason of this is, that while the moon draws the waters from the Earth on the side nearest to it, it also draws the solid Earth away from the waters on the opposite side, and causes a corresponding protuberance there.

When the sun and the moon exert their influence in the same direction the tides are highest, and are called spring-tides. (See fig. 1) When they operate at right angles to each other, the force of the sun neutralizes to some extent that of the moon, and the tides are lowest; then called neap-tides. (See fig. 2)

WORDS

afforded, gave.

announced, intimated.

apprehensive, anxious.

approached, drew near.

assemblage, collection.

cascade, waterfall.

circumstances, conditions.

confusion, turmoil.

converging, narrowing.

description, kind.

elapsed, passed.

especially, particularly.

expanse, space.

glistening, shining.

graphic, vivid.

instantaneous, momentary.

intently, eagerly.

magnitude, size.

merchandise, commodities.

recesses, bays.

resumption, reopening.

submerge, overflow.

sufficed, were enough.

suspended, stopped.

terminate, finish.

unruffled, smooth.

vaulted, sprang.

velocity, speed.

QUESTIONS

What is the usual height of the tidal wave in the open sea Where does it rise to a much greater height? What is it termed in narrow estuaries? Where do tidal bores occur? Which is the most remarkable? What change did its approach make on the streets? What did the boatmen do? At what rate did it advance? What appearance did it assume? When was the spectacle of greatest interest? How long did the scene last?

LESSON 32

THE SAXON AND THE GAEL

THE Chief(1) in silence strode before,

And reached that torrent's sounding shore,

Which, daughter of three mighty lakes,(2)

From Vennachar in silver breaks,

Sweeps through the plain and ceaseless mines

On Bochastle(3) the mouldering lines,

Where Rome, the empress of the world,

Of yore her eagle-wings unfurled.

And here his course the Chieftain stayed,

Threw down his target and his plaid,

And to the Lowland warrior said:

"Bold Saxon! to his promise just,

Vich-Alpine(4) has discharged his trust.

This murderous Chief, this ruthless man,

This head of a rebellious clan,

Hath led thee safe through watch and ward,

Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard.

Now, man to man, and steel to steel,

A Chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel!

See here, all vantageless I stand,

Armed, like thyself, with single brand:

For this is Coilantogle ford,(5)

And thou must keep thee with thy sword."

The Saxon paused:—"I ne'er delayed,

When foeman bade me draw my blade;

Nay, more, brave Chief, I vowed thy death;

Yet sure thy fair and generous faith,

And my deep debt for life preserved,

A better meed have well deserved:

Can nought but blood our feud atone?

Are there no means—?" "No, Stranger, none?

And hear,—to fire thy flagging zeal,—

The Saxon cause rests on thy steel;

For thus spoke Fate, by prophet bred

Between the living and the dead:

'Who spills the foremost foeman's life,

His party conquers in the strife.'"—

"Then, by my word," the Saxon said,

"The riddle is already read.

Seek yonder brake beneath the cliff,—

There lies Red Murdoch,(6) stark and stiff

Thus Fate has solved her prophecy;

Then yield to Fate, and not to me.

To James, at Stirling, let us go;

When, if thou wilt be still his foe,

Or if the King shall not agree

To grant thee grace and favour free,

I plight mine honour, oath, and word,

That, to thy native strengths restored,

With each advantage shalt thou stand

That aids thee now to guard thy land."—

Dark lightning flashed from Roderick's eye

"Soars thy presumption, then, so high,

Because a wretched kern(7) ye slew,

Homage to name to Roderick Dhu?

He yields not, he, to man nor Fate!

Thou add'st but fuel to my hate:—

My clansman's blood demands revenge.—

Not yet prepared! Nay, then, I change

My thought, and hold thy valour light

As that of some vain carpet knight,

Who ill deserved my courteous care,

And whose best boast is but to wear

A braid of his fair lady's hair."—

"I thank thee, Roderick, for the word!

It nerves my heart, it steels my sword;

For I have sworn this braid(8) to stain

In the best blood that warms thy vein.

Now, truce farewell! and ruth begone!—

Yet think not that by thee alone,

Proud Chief! can courtesy be shown;

Though not from copse, or heath, or cairn,

Start at my whistle(9) clansmen stern.

Of this small horn one feeble blast

Would fearful odds against thee cast.

But fear not—doubt not—which thou wilt—

We try this quarrel hilt to hilt."

Then each at once his falchion drew;

Each on the ground his scabbard threw;

Each looked to sun, and stream, and plain,

As what he ne'er might see again;—

Then foot, and point, and eye opposed,

In dubious strife they darkly closed.—

Ill fared it then with Roderick Dhu

That on the field his targe(10) he threw,

Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide

Had death so often dashed aside;

For, trained abroad his arms to wield,

Fitz-James's blade was sword and shield.

He practised every pass and ward,

To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard;

While, less expert, though stronger far,

The Gael maintained unequal war.

Three times in closing strife they stood,

And thrice the Saxon blade drank blood;

No stinted draught, no scanty tide—

The gushing flood the tartans dyed.

Fierce Roderick felt the fatal drain.

And showered his blows like wintry rain;

And as firm rock, or castle-roof,

Against the winter shower is proof,

The foe, invulnerable still,

Foiled his wild rage by steady skill;

Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand

Forced Roderick's weapon from his hand,

And backward borne upon the lea,(11)

Brought the proud Chieftain to his knee!—

"Now yield thee, or by vows oft made

Thy very heart's blood dyes my blade!"—

"Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy!

Let recreant yield, who fears to die."—

Like adder darting from his coil,

Like wolf that dashes through the toil,

Like mountain-cat who guards her young,

Full at Fitz-James's throat he sprung;

Received, but recked not of a wound,

And locked his arms his foeman round!—

Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own!

No maiden'a hand is round thee thrown!

That desperate grasp thy frame might feel

Through bars of brass and triple steel!—

They tug, they strain!—down, down they go

The Gael above, Fitz-James below!

The Chieftain's gripe his throat compressed,

His knee was planted on his breast;

His clotted locks he backward threw,

Across his brow his hand he drew,

From blood and mist to clear his sight,

Then gleamed aloft his dagger bright!—

But hate and fury ill supplied

The stream of life's exhausted tide,

And all too late the advantage came

To turn the odds of deadly game;

For, while the dagger gleamed on high,

Reeled soul and sense, reeled brain and eye.

Down came the blow, but in the heath

The erring blade found bloodless sheath!

The struggling foe may now unclasp

The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp;—

Unwounded from the dreadful close,

But breathless all, Fitz-James(12) arose.

—SIR WALTER SCOTT (1771-1832)

WORDS

ceaseless, continually.

compressed, squeezed.

conquers, triumphs.

courteous, obliging.

demands, calls for.

deserved, merited.

desperate, violent.

discharged, fulfilled.

dubious, doubtful.

exhausted, drained.

falchion, sword.

feint, make a mock attack.

invulnerable, invincible.

maintained, supported.

mouldering, decaying.

plight, pledge.

presumption, arrogance.

prophecy, prediction.

quarrel, dispute.

recreant, coward.

relaxing, loosening.

restored, returned.

ruthless, pitiless.

scabbard, sheath.

stinted, limited.

struggling, straining.

supplied, compensated.

torrent, river.

vantageless, without advantage.

weapon, sword.

————————————————————

(1) The chief.—Roderick Dhu, who has pledged his word to conduct Fitz-James safely as far as Coilantogle ford.

(2) Three mighty lakes—Katrine, Achray, and Vennachar; which form a chain of lakes, from the last of which the stream in question flows.

(3) Bochastle, a haugh, or low-lying plain, between the stream that flows from Vennachar and that which flows from Loch Lubuaig. On this plain there is a small eminence called the Dun (Hill) of Bochastle, where, as well as on the plain itself, are some intrenchments which have been thought Roman.

(4) Vich-Alpine, the son, or descendant of Alpine; therefore the head of the Clam Alpine.

(5) Coilantogle ford, a ford on the river, at the eastern extremity of Loch Vennachar, where the sluices of the Glasgow water-works now stand.

(6) Red Murdoch, one of the chief's clansmen, who had attempted to decoy Fitz-James, but whom the latter had slain.

(7) Kern, a Highland soldier; properly an Irish foot soldier armed with a sword and shield. The word is generally used as a term of contempt Thus: "I cannot strike at wretched kernes."—SHAKESPEARE; Macbeth.

(8) This braid.—Red Murdoch had killed Blanche of Devan, a half-crazed young widow, with an arrow intended for Fitz-James. The knight had thereupon taken a lock of her hair, and that of her bridegroom which she wore, and dipping them in blood, had sworn to wear no other favour till he had stained them anew in the blood of Roderick Dhu, who had slain Blanche's husband.

(9) Start at my whistle.—In passing Lanrick Mead, by the side of Loch Vennachar, Roderick had whistled, and the glen had been in a moment garrisoned by armed men, who had concealed themselves under the bracken and bushes.

(10) Targe, Old Eng and Fr. form of target, a shield or buckler, made of bull-hide and covered with brass bosses. [Commonly connected with Lat tergus a hide.]

(11) The lea—turf, field, pasture-land. [Old Eng leag, unploughed land.]

(12) Fitz-James was, according to the story of The Lady of the Lake, in which this passage occurs. King James V. of Scotland, who was fond of roaming the country in disguise, partly to see the condition of his people, partly to gratify his love of adventure. The name Fitz-James under which he was travelling means "Son of James"

LESSON 33

THE WELL OF ST. KEYNE

A WELL there is in the west country,

And a clearer one never was seen;

There is not a wife in the west country

But has heard(1) of the Well of St. Keyne.

An oak and an elm tree stand beside,

And behind does an ash tree grow;

And a willow from the bank above

Droops to the water below.

A traveller came to the Well of St. Keyne,

Joyfully he drew nigh;

For from cock-crow he had been travelling,

And there was not a cloud in the sky.

He drank of the water so cool and clear,

For hot and thirty was he;

And he sat down upon the bank,

Under the willow tree.

There came a man from the neighbouring town,

At the Well to fill his pail;

By the well-side he rested it,

And he bade the stranger hail.

"Now, art thou a bachelor, stranger?" quoth he,

"For an(2) if thou hast a wife,

The happiest draught thou hast drunk this day

That ever thou didst in thy life.

"Or has thy good woman, if one thou hast,

Ever here in Cornwall been?

For an if she have I'll venture my life

She has drunk of the Well of St. Keyne."

"I have left a good woman who never was here,"

The stranger he(3) made reply;

"But that my draught should be better for that,

I pray you answer me why."

"St Keyne," quoth the Cornishman, "many a time

Drank of this crystal Well;

And before the angel summoned her

She laid on the water a spell;(4)—

"If the husband, of this gifted Well

Shall drink before his wife,

A happy man henceforth is he,

For he shall be master for life.

"But if the wife should drink of it first,

Woe be to the husband then!"—

The stranger stooped to the Well of St. Keyne,

And drank of the water again.

"You drank of the Well, I warrant, betimes,"

He to the Cornishman said;

But the Cornishman smiled as the stranger spake,

And sheepishly shook his head.

"I hastened as soon as the wedding was done,

And left my wife in the porch;

But in truth she had been wiser than I,

For she took a bottle to church!"

—ROBERT SOUTHEY(5)

WORDS

bachelor, unmarried man.

clearer, purer.

draught, drinking.

gifted, potent.

hastened, hurried.

joyfully, gladly.

master, superior.

neighbouring, adjoining.

reply, answer.

sheepishly, bashfully.

summoned, called.

venture, stake.

warrant, engage.

————————————————————

(1) But has heard.—Who has not beard.

(2) An—the same word as and, with the same meaning as if. And if occurs in the New Testament: "But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart," &c. (Matthew, xxiv. 48.) In Old English an is sometimes used by itself for if, and very frequently a long with if, as here.

(3) The stranger he.—He is unnecessary after stranger; but the use of the pronoun after the noun was common in old ballads, in imitation of which the poem is written.

(4) Spell—lit. speech. discourse, as to "gospel" (good news); a form of words possessing and conferring magical power.

(5) Robert Southey (1774-1843), a Lake poet, and author of Life of Nelson.

LESSON 34

CAPTURING THE WILD HORSE

WE left the buffalo camp about eight o'clock, and had a toilsome and harassing march of two hours, over ridges of hills covered with a ragged forest of scrub oaks(1) and broken by deep gullies.

About ten o'clock in the morning we came to where this line of rugged hills swept down into a valley, through which flowed the north fork of Red River. A beautiful meadow, about half a mile wide, enamelled with yellow autumnal flowers, stretched for two or three miles along the foot of the hills.

The meadow was finely diversified by groves and clumps of trees, so happily disposed that they seemed as if set out by the hand of Art. As we cast our eyes over this fresh and delightful valley, we beheld a troop of wild horses,(2) quietly grazing on a green lawn about a mile distant, to our right; while to our left, at nearly the same distance, were several buffaloes, some feeding, others reposing and ruminating,(3) among the high, rich herbage, under the shade of a clump of cotton-wood trees. The whole had the appearance of a broad beautiful tract of pasture-land on the highly ornamental estate of some gentleman farmer, with his cattle grazing about the lawns and meadows.

A council of war was now held, and it was determined to profit by the present favourable opportunity, and try our hand at the grand hunting manœuvre, which is called "ringing the wild horse." This requires a large party of horsemen, well mounted. They extend themselves in every direction, at certain distances apart, and gradually form a ring of two or three miles in circumference, so as to surround the game. This must be done with extreme care, for the wild horse is the most readily alarmed inhabitant of the prairie, and can scent a hunter at a great distance, if to windward.

The ring being formed, two or three ride toward the horses, which start off in the opposite direction. Whenever they approach the bounds of the ring, however, a huntsman presents himself, and turns them from their course. In this way they are checked and driven back at every point, and kept galloping round and round this magic circle, until, being completely tired down, it is easy for hunters to ride up to them and throw the lariat(4) over their heads. The prime horses, however, of the most speed, courage, and strength, are apt to break through and escape; so that, in general, it is the second-rate horses that are taken.

Preparations were now made for a hunt of this kind. The pack horses were taken into the woods, and firmly tied to trees, lest, in a rush of wild horses, they should break away. Twenty-five men were then sent, under the command of a lieutenant, to steal along the edge of the valley, within the strip of wood that skirted the hills. They were to station themselves about fifty yards apart, within the edge of the woods, and not to advance or show themselves until the horses dashed in that direction. Twenty-five men were also sent across the valley, to steal in like manner along the river bank that bordered the opposite side, and to station themselves among the trees.

A third party, of about the same number, was to form a line stretching across the lower part of the valley, so as to connect the two wings. Beatte and our other half-breed, Antoine, together with the ever-officious Tonish, were to make a circuit through the woods, so as to get to the upper part of the valley, in the rear of the horses, and drive them forward into the kind of sack that we had formed, while the two wings should join behind them, and make a complete circle.

The flanking parties were quietly extending themselves out of sight on each side of the valley, and the residue were stretching themselves like the links of a chain across it, when the wild horses gave signs that they scented an enemy,—snuffing the air, snorting, and looking about. At length they pranced off slowly toward the river, and disappeared behind a green hank.

Here, had the regulations of the chase been observed, they would have been quietly checked and turned back by the advance of a hunter from among the trees; unluckily, however, we had our wild-fire, Jack-o'-lantern,(5) little Frenchman to deal with. Instead of keeping quietly up the right side of the valley, to get above the horses, the moment he saw them move toward the river he broke out of the covert of woods, and dashed furiously across the plain in pursuit of them. This put an end to all system. The half-breeds and half a score of rangers joined in the chase.

Away they all went over the green bank. In a moment or two the wild horses reappeared, and came thundering down the valley, with Frenchman, half-breeds, and rangers galloping and bellowing behind them. It was in vain that the line drawn across the valley attempted to check and turn back the fugitives—they were too hotly pressed by their pursuers; in their panic they dashed through the line, and clattered down the plain.

The whole troop joined in the headlong chase; some of the rangers without hats or caps, their hair flying about their ears; and others with handkerchiefs tied round their heads. The buffaloes, which had been calmly ruminating among the herbage, heaved up their huge forms, gazed for a moment at the tempest that came scouring down the meadow, then turned and took to heavy rolling flight. They were soon overtaken. The promiscuous masses were pressed together by the contracting sides of the valley, and away they went, pell mell, hurry skurry, wild buffalo, wild horse, wild huntsman, with clang and clatter, and whoop and halloo, that made the forests ring.

At length the buffaloes turned into a green brake on the river bank, while the horses dashed up a narrow defile of the hills, with their pursuers close at their heels. Beatte passed several of them, having fixed his eye upon a fine Pawnee(6) horse, that had his ears slit and saddle-marks upon his back. He pressed him gallantly, but lost him in the woods.

Among the wild horses was a fine black mare, which, in scrambling up the defile, tripped and fell. A young ranger sprang from his horse and seized her by the mane and muzzle. Another ranger dismounted, and came to his assistance. The mare struggled fiercely, kicking and biting, and striking with her fore feet; but a noose was slipped over her head, and her struggles were in vain.

It was some time, however, before she gave over rearing and plunging and lashing out with her feet on every side. The two rangers then led her along the valley by two strong lariats, which enabled them to keep at a sufficient distance on each side to be out of the reach of her hoofs; and whenever she struck out in one direction, she was jerked in the other. In this way her spirit was gradually subdued.

As to Tonish, who had marred the whole scheme by his precipitancy, he had been more successful than he deserved, having managed to catch a beautiful cream-coloured colt, about seven months old, that had not had strength to keep up with its companions. The mercurial(7) little Frenchman was beside himself with exultation. It was amusing to see him with his prize. The colt would rear and kick, and struggle to get free, when Tonish would take it round the neck, wrestle with it, jump on its back, and cut as many antics as a monkey with a kitten.

Nothing surprised me more, however, than to witness how soon these poor animals, thus taken from the unbounded freedom of the prairie, yielded to the dominion of man. In the course of two or three days the mare and colt went with the lead horses, and became quite docile.

—WASHINGTON IRVING(8)

WORDS

antics, capers.

assistance, help.

bellowing, roaring.

buffaloes, wild oxen.

circuit, round-about route.

circumference, measurement around.

clattered, rattled.

companions, fellows.

completely, utterly.

defile, ravine.

direction, way; line.

disposed, arranged.

diversified, varied.

docile, tractable.

dominion, rule.

enamelled, inlaid.

exultation, delight.

flanking, side.

furiously, violently.

gallantly, bravely.

gradually, by degrees.

inhabitant, denizen.

lieutenant, officer below captain.

managed, contrived.

manœuvre, tactics.

opportunity, occasion.

ornamental, embellished.

precipitancy, rashness.

preparations, arrangements.

prime, first rate.

promiscuous, mixed.

pursuit, chase.

reposing, resting.

residue, remainder.

scented, smelled.

scrambling, strugglingly.

toilsome, laborious.

unluckily, unfortunate.

QUESTIONS

How is the manœuvre of "ringing the wild horse" performed? Why did the plan fail on this occasion? By what were the wild horses joined in their flight? Where did the buffaloes turn aside? Where did the horses go? How was the black mare captured? How was she led along the valley? What had the Frenchman captured? What was the most surprising thing in the case of the captives?

————————————————————

(1) Scrub oaks, low brush-wood of oak.

(2) Wild horses are not indigenous to America, but were introduced—those in North America by the English settlers, those in South America by the Spaniards. They frequent the open plains, not the forests, of both continents, in droves sometimes numbering thousands of horses alone, sometimes mixed with other animals.

(3) Ruminating, chewing the cud.

(4) Lariat, the lasso, a long cord or thong of leather with a noose attached.

(5) Jack-o'-lantern, lively, flighty; one of the popular names of the ignis fatuus, or marsh wild-fire; supposed to be caused by the decomposition of animal and vegetable matter, producing an inflammable gas: called also Will-o'-the-Wisp.

(6) Pawnee, a well-known tribe of North American Indians.

(7) Mercurial, sprightly; lively; like the god Mercury, or like quicksilver.

(8) Washington Irving, a popular American author (1783-1859).

LESSON 35

THE SIEGE OF QUEBEC

(A.D. 1759)

THE closing scene of French dominion in Canada(1) was marked by circumstances of deep and peculiar interest. The pages of romance can furnish no more striking episode(2) than the Battle of Quebec. The skill and daring of the plan which brought on the combat, and the success and fortune of its execution, are unparalleled. A broad, open plain, offering no advantages to either party, was the field of fight. The contending armies were nearly equal in military strength, if not in numbers. The chiefs of both were men already of honourable fame. France trusted firmly in the wise and chivalrous Montcalm:(3) England trusted hopefully in the young and heroic Wolfe.(4) The magnificent stronghold which was staked upon the issue of the strife stood close at hand. For miles and miles around, the prospect extended over as fair a land as ever rejoiced the sight of man—mountain and valley, forest and waters, city and solitude, grouped together in forms of almost ideal beauty.

Quebec stands on the slope of a lofty eminence on the left bank of the St. Lawrence. A table-land extends westward from the citadel for about nine miles. The portion of the heights nearest the town on the west is called the Plains of Abraham. Wolfe had discovered a narrow path winding up the side of the steep precipice from the river. For miles on either side there was no other possible access to the heights. Up this narrow path Wolfe decided to lead secretly his whole army, and make the plains his battle-ground!

QUEBEC

The extraordinary daring of the enterprise was its safety. The wise and cautious Montcalm had guarded against all the probable chances of war; but he was not prepared against an attempt for which the pages of romance can scarcely furnish a parallel.

Great preparations were made throughout the fleet and the army for the decisive movement; but the plans were still kept secret. A wise caution was observed in this respect; for the treachery of a single deserter might have imperilled the success of the expedition had its exact object been known. At nine o'clock at night, on the 13th of September, 1759, the first division of the army, 1600 strong, silently removed into flat-bottomed boats. The soldiers were in high spirits: Wolfe led in person. About an hour before day-light, the flotilla(5) dropt down with the ebb-tide, "Weather favourable; a star light night."

Silently and swiftly, unchallenged by the French sentries, Wolfe's flotilla dropped down the stream in the shade of the overhanging cliffs. The rowers scarcely stirred the waters with their oars; the soldiers sat motionless. Not a word was spoken, save by the young general. He, as a midshipman on board of his boat afterwards related, repeated, in a low voice, to the officers by his side, Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard;"(6) and as he concluded the beautiful verses, he said, "Now, gentlemen, I would rather be the author of that poem than take Quebec!"

But while Wolfe thus in the poet's words gave vent to the intensity of his feelings, his eye was constantly bent upon the dark outline of the heights under which he was hurrying. He recognised at length the appointed spot (now called Wolfe's Cove), and leaped ashore. Some of the leading boats, conveying the light company of the 78th Highlander, had, in the meantime, been carried about two hundred yards lower down by the strength of the tide. These Highlanders, under Captain Donald MacDonald, were the first to land. Immediately over their heads hung a woody precipice, without path or track upon its rocky face. On the summit, a French sentinel marched to and fro, still unconscious of their presence.

Without a moment's hesitation, MacDonald and his men dashed at the height. They scrambled up, holding on by rocks and branches of trees, guided only by the stars that shone over the top of the cliff. Half the ascent was already won, when, for the first time, "Qui vive?"(7) broke the silence of the night. "La France," answered the Highland captain, with ready self-possession, and the sentry shouldered his musket and pursued his round.

In a few minutes, however, the rustling of the trees close at hand alarmed the French guard. They hastily turned out, fired one irregular volley down the precipice, and fled in panic. The captain, M. de Vergor, alone, though wounded, stood his ground. When summoned to surrender, he fired at one of the leading assailants, but was instantly overpowered. In the meantime, nearly five hundred men landed and made their way up the height. Those who had first reached the summit then took possession of the intrenched post at the top of the path which Wolfe had selected for the ascent of his army.

Wolfe, Monckton, and Murray landed with the first division. As fast as each boat was cleared, it put back for reinforcements to the ships, which had now also floated down with the tide to a point nearly opposite that of disembarkation. The battalions formed on the narrow beach at the foot of the winding path; and as soon as completed, each ascended the cliff, when they again formed upon the plains above.

The boats plied busily; company after company was quickly landed; and as soon as the men touched the shore, they swarmed up the steep ascent with ready alacrity. When morning broke, the whole disposable force of Wolfe's army stood in firm array upon the table-land above the cove. Only one gun, however, could be carried up the hill; and even that was not got into position without incredible difficulty.

Montcalm was already worsted as a general: it was still, however, left him to fight as a soldier. His order of battle was steadily and promptly made. He commanded the centre column in person. His total force engaged was 7520, besides Indians. Wolfe showed only a force of 4828 of all ranks; but every man was a trained soldier.

The French attacked. After a spirited advance made by a swarm of skirmishers, their main body, in long unbroken lines, was seen approaching Wolfe's position. Soon a murderous and incessant fire began. The British troops fell fast. Wolfe, at the head of the 28th, was struck in the wrist, but was not disabled. Wrapping a handkerchief round the wound, he hastened from one rank to another, exhorting the men to be steady and to reserve their fire. No English soldier pulled a trigger: with matchless endurance they sustained the trial. Not a company wavered: their arms shouldered as if on parade, and motionless, save when they closed up the ghastly gaps, they waited the word of command.

When the head of the French attack had reached within forty yards, Wolfe gave the order to "fire." At once the long row of muskets was levelled, and a volley, distinct as a single shot, flashed from the British line. For a moment the advancing columns still pressed on, shivering like pennons in the fatal storm; but a few paces told how terrible had been the force of the long-suspended blow.

Montcalm commanded the attack in person. Not fifteen minutes had elapsed since he had first moved on his line of battle, and already all was lost! But the gallant Frenchman, though ruined, was not dismayed. He rode though the broken ranks, cheered them with his voice, encouraged them by his dauntless bearing, and, aided by a small redoubt, even succeeded in once again presenting a front to his enemy.

Meanwhile Wolfe's troops bad reloaded. He seized the opportunity of the hesitation in the hostile ranks, and ordered the whole British line to advance. At first they moved forward with majestic regularity, receiving and paying back with deadly interest the volleys of the French; but soon the ardour of the soldiers broke through the restraints of discipline—they increased their pace to a run, rushing over the dying and the dead, and sweeping the living enemy off their path.

Wolfe was then wounded in the body; but he concealed his suffering, for his duty was not yet accomplished. Again a ball from the redoubt struck him on the breast. He reeled on one side; but at the moment that was not generally observed. "Support me," said he to a grenadier(8) officer who was close at hand, "that my brave fellows may not see me fall." In a few seconds, however, he sank, and was borne a little to the rear.

THE DEATH OF WOLFE

The brief struggle fell heavily upon the British, but was ruinous to the French. They wavered under the carnage the columns which death had disordered were soon broken and scattered. Montcalm, with a courage that rose above the wreck of hope, galloped through the groups of his stubborn veterans, who still made head against the enemy, and strove to show a front of battle. His efforts were vain. The head of every formation was swept away before that terrible musketry. In a few minutes the French gave way in all directions. Just then their gallant general fell with a mortal wound: from that time all was utter rout.

While the British troops were carrying all before them, their young general's life was ebbing fast away. From time to time he tried, with his faint hand, to clear away the death-mist that gathered on his sight, but the efforts seemed vain, for presently he lay back, and gave no signs of life beyond a heavy breathing and an occasional groan.

Meantime the French had given way, and were flying in all directions. A grenadier officer seeing this, called out to those around him, "See! they run!" The words caught the ear of the dying man. He raised himself, like one aroused from sleep, and asked eagerly, "Who run?"(9) "The enemy, sir," answered the officer; "they give way everywhere." "Go, one of you, to Colonel Burton," said Wolfe: "tell him to march Webbe's (the 48th) regiment with all speed down to the St. Charles river, to cut off the retreat." His voice grew faint as he spoke, and he turned on his side, as if seeking an easier position. When he had given this last order, his eyes closed in death.

When the news reached England, triumph and lamentation were strangely intermingled. Astonishment and admiration at the splendid victory, with sorrow for the loss of the gallant victor, filled every breast. Throughout all the land were illuminations and public rejoicings, except in the little Kentish village of Westerham, where Wolfe had been born, and where his widowed mother now mourned her only child.

Wolfe's body was embalmed, and borne to the river for conveyance to England. The army escorted it in solemn state to the beach. They mourned their young general's death as sincerely as they had followed him in battle bravely. His remains were landed at Plymouth with the highest honours: minute-guns were fired, flags were hoisted half-mast high, and an escort with arms reversed received the coffin on the shore. They were then conveyed to Greenwich, and buried beside those of his father, who had died but a few months before.

After further successes of the British in other parts of Canada. under Generals Amherst, Haviland, and Sir William Johnson, the French cause became utterly hopeless. On the 8th of September, 1760, a British force of 16,000 men assembled before Montreal; and on the same day a capitulation was signed which severed Canada from France for ever.

One of the most momentous political questions that have ever moved the human race was decided in this struggle. When a few English and French emigrants first landed among the Virginian and Canadian forests it began: when the British flag was hoisted on the citadel of Quebec it was decided. From that day Providence pointed out to the Anglo-Saxon race that to them was henceforth intrusted the destiny of the New World.

—WARBURTON

WORDS

alacrity, liveliness.

ardour, eagerness.

aroused, awakened.

assailants, enemies.

capitulation, surrender.

chivalrous, heroic.

commanded, headed.

concealed, hid.

conveyance, carriage.

decisive, final.

disembarkation, landing.

dismayed, disheartened.

disposable, available.

dominion, supremacy.

eminence, height.

escorted, accompanied.

exhorting, encouraging.

extraordinary, uncommon.

hesitation, delay.

imperilled, endangered.

incessant, ceaseless.

incredible, not to believed.

intensity, high strain.

intermingled, mixed.

intrenched, fortified.

intrusted, committed.

irregular, indiscriminate.

lamentation, sorrow.

momentous, important.

musketry, fire.

peculiar, strange.

precipice, cliff.

regularity, order.

reinforcements, fresh troops.

repeated, recited.

romance, fiction.

ruinous, destructive.

surrender, yield.

sustained, bore.

unchallenged, unquestioned.

unconscious, ignorant.

unparalleled, unequalled.

QUESTIONS

Where does Quebec stand? Where are the Plains of Abraham? What plan did Wolfe form for reaching them? How did the safety of the plan depend upon its daring? At what time did the expedition start? What poem did Wolfe repeat as they floated down? What is the place where he leaped ashore now called? Where were the 78th Highlanders carried? How did their captain deceive the sentry? What did the soldiers who first reached the summit do? By what time had Wolfe his army marshalled on the table-land? How strong was it? How many were in the French army? Who commanded the latter? Which began the attack? What order did Wolfe give which tried the endurance of his men? What was the result of this plan? What order did Wolfe give when the French wavered? What happened to him soon after? What did Montcalm do when the French ranks were broken? What happened to Montcalm? What was Wolfe's last order? How was the news received in England? where was Wolfe buried?

————————————————————

(1) French dominion in Canada extended from the founding of Quebec by Champlain, in 1608, till the fall of Quebec, in 1759. The first European who set foot on Canada was a Frenchman, Jacques Cartier, who, in 1535, sailed up the St Lawrence as far as where Montreal now stands.

(2) Episode, a digression, or incidental narrative. [Gr.epi, upon: eisodos, a coming in.]

(3) Montcalm, Louis Joseph, Marquis do Montcalm, was born in 1712. He went to Canada as Field-Marshal of the French Army in 1756, and was successful in opposing the English till his death at Quebec in 1759.

(4) Wolfe, James, was born in Kent in 1726. He served with distinction in the Continental war which terminated with the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, He gained fresh laurels at the Battle of Minden, and in the taking of Louisburg. Pitt selected him for the command of the expedition against Quebec, in which he was killed (1759).

(5) Flotilla, a fleet of small ships; lit. a little fleet. [Dim. of Sp.flota, a fleet; Old Eng. fleotan, to float; Lat. fluo, to flow.]

(6) "Elegy in a Country Churchyard," a well known poem by Thomas Gray.

(7) "Qui vive?" (ke-viv)—Who goes there? The form of demanding the pass-word; which the Highland captain gave correctly. "La France."

(8) Grenadier.—Originally the Grenadier corps, established in England in 1685, was a company of soldiers armed with pouches of hand grenades, or bomb-shells. Afterwards the name was given to the company of tall, powerful men, which led each battalion. Lastly the name has been given to one of the regiments of Guards attached to the Court.

(9) "Who run?"—Another version of this incident concludes thus: "Who run?" cried Wolfe. "The enemy," replied the officer. "Then God be praised!" said Wolfe; "I shall die happy." And with these words he expired.

LESSON 36

THE DESERTED VILLAGE

SWEET Auburn!(1) loveliest village of the plain,

Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain;

Where smiling Spring its earliest visit paid,

And parting Summer' lingering blooms delayed;

Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease,

Seats of my youth, when every sport could please;

How often have I loitered o'er thy green,

Where humble happiness endeared each scene!

How often have I paused on every charm;—

The sheltered cot, the cultivated farm,

The never-failing brook, the busy mill,

The decent church that topped the neighbouring hill;

The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade,

For talking age and whispering lovers made!

How often have I blessed the coming day,

When toil, remitting, lent its turn to play;

And all the village train, from labour free,

Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree;

While many a pastime(2) circled in the shade,

The young contending, as the old surveyed;

And many a gambol frolicked o'er the ground,

And sleights(3) of art and feats of strength went round,

And still, as each repeated pleasure tired,

Succeeding sports the mirthful band inspired:—

The dancing pair, that simply sought renown

By holding out to tire each other down;

The swain, mistrustless(4) of his smutted face,

While secret laughter tittered round the place;

The bashful virgin's sidelong looks of love;

The matron's glance that would those looks reprove;—

These were thy charms, sweet village! sports like these

With sweet succession, taught e'en toil to please.

Sweet was the sound, when oft, at evening's close,

Up yonder hill the village murmur rose;

There as I passed, with careless steps and slow,

The mingling notes came softened from below:—

The swain, responsive as the milk-maid sung;

The sober herd, that lowed to meet their young;

The noisy geese, that gabbled o'er the pool;

The playful children, just let loose from school;

The watch-dog's voice, that bayed(5) the whispering wind;

And the loud laugh, that spoke the vacant mind;—

These all, in sweet confusion, sought the shade,

And filled each pause the nightingale had made.

—OLIVER GOLDSMITH(6)

WORDS

bashful, retiring.

contending, striving.

endeared, made dear.

gambol, frolic.

inspired, excited.

labouring, hard-working.

lingering, loitering.

remitting, ceasing.

reprove, rebuke.

responsive, answering.

surveyed, looked on.

vacant, empty.

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(1) Sweet Anburn.—The "village" here described is the little hamlet of Lissoy, in West Meath in Ireland, where Goldsmith spent his boyhood.

(2) Pastime, game, sport; lit. something to pass the time.

(3) Sleights, tricks; clever strokes.

(4) Mistrustless, unsuspicious.

(5) Bayed, barked at.

(6) Oliver Goldsmith, born near Longford, in Ireland, in 1728; poet, novelist, essayist: author of The Traveller and The Deserted Village(poems); The Vicar of Wakefield(a novel); The Citisen of the World(series of essays); The Good-Natured Man, She Stoops to Conquer(comedies): led a reckless and wandering life; died in London in 1774.

LESSON 37

HUDSON BAY TERRITORY

ONE of the boldest and most successful of early navigators was the celebrated Henry Hudson, discoverer of that vest inland sea now known by the name of Hudson Bay.

He first distinguished himself by making three attempts to reach China by the Arctic seas to the north of Europe; but on each occasion the solid ice arrested his progress, and at last he was convinced that a north-eastern passage did not exist. The correctness of this judgment has been established by the more accurate knowledge of these dreary regions which we now possess. Baffled in that direction, Hudson resolved to pursue his explorations in another quarter, and crossed the Atlantic to America, where, with most insignificant means, his skill and daring were destined to achieve the greatest results.

He sailed along the coast of North America, and at length was rewarded for his toils by the discovery of the bay on which New York stands, and of the magnificent river which, as he was the first to explore it, has since borne his name—the Hudson.

Soon afterwards he returned to England, and obtained the command of a vessel of fifty-five tons burden, manned by twenty-three men, and victualled for six months. In this humble craft he set sail in 1610 on what proved to be his last voyage. After touching at the Orkney Islands, and at Iceland,—where he saw Mount Hecla in violent eruption in the midst of perpetual snows,—Hudson passed the south of Greenland and reached the strait which now bears his name. Here, in addition to the ordinary difficulties and dangers of navigation among the ice, he had to struggle against a mutiny among his crew; but, in spite of all, this intrepid explorer boldly pushed on till his vessel ploughed the waters of that great inland sea now known as Hudson Bay.

He did not know for a long time that it was a bay, but indulged the hope that he had discovered what he had so long sought—a passage by the north-west to China. Indeed the extent of its surface amply justified this expectation, since, with the exception of the Mediterranean, it is the largest inland sea in the world.

Here he was obliged to pass the winter. It is impossible to describe the hardships which the men endured. Notwithstanding all the birds, fishes, and animals serviceable for food which they could succeed in catching, they were always in dread of starvation.

When the ice broke up, Hudson prepared for the homeward voyage. The last ration of bread was dealt out to the crew on the day of their setting sail. A report that their commander had concealed a quantity of bread for his own use was readily believed by his famishing men, and a mutiny broke out.

Having put their captain, together with the sick and the frost-maimed, into the shallop,(1) the crew cast the boat adrift with its hapless freight, and stood out to sea. Doubtless, Hudson and his miserable companions found a grave in the great inland sea which he had discovered; for the boat was never seen or heard of more.

Two days after the mutineers had sailed, they encountered a violent storm, and for fourteen days were in the greatest danger from the ice. That storm was probably fatal to their intrepid commander and his forlorn party, who may thus have escaped a still more terrible death from want and exposure. Just retribution overtook the guilty mutineers. Not one of the ringleaders lived to reach the land; and the rest gained the shore only after suffering the most awful extremities of famine. None of them were ever brought to trial for their misdeeds;—probably because those who were deepest in guilt had already paid the penalty of their crime.

Sixty years after the death of Hudson, a Company(2) was formed in London, under the direction of Prince Rupert, for the purpose of prosecuting the fur trade in the regions surrounding Hudson Bay.

The first fort established by the Company was near the head of James Bay. Soon afterwards several others were built, in different parts of the country; and before long the Company spread and grew wealthy, and eventually extended their trade far beyond the chartered limits.

Imagine an immense extent of country, many hundred miles broad and many hundred miles long, covered with dense forests, expanded lakes, broad rivers, wide prairies, dreary swamps, and mighty mountains; and all in a state of primeval simplicity—undefaced by the axe of civilized man, and untenanted by aught save a few roving hordes(3) of Red Indians and myriads of wild animals. Imagine amid this wilderness a number of small squares, each enclosing half-a-dozen wooden houses and about a dozen men, and between each of these establishments a space of forest varying from fifty to three hundred miles in length; and you will have a pretty correct idea of the Hudson Bay Territory, and of the number of its forts, and the distance between them. If Great Britain were converted into a wilderness and placed in the middle of Rupert's land,(4) three forts would be built in it—one at the Land's End, one in Wales, and one in the Highlands; so that in Britain there would be but three hamlets, with a population of some thirty men, half-a-dozen women, and a few children! The Company's posts extended, with these intervals between them, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and from within the Arctic Circle to the northern boundaries of the United States.

The country was divided into four large departments; again divided into districts, each under the direction of an influential officer; and these were subdivided into numerous establishments, forts, posts, and outposts.

A FORT IN HUDSON BAY TERRITORY

The name of fort was given to all the posts in the country, but the only two that are real, bond fide forts, are Fort Garry and the Stone Fort, in the colony of Red River,(5) which are surrounded by stone walls with bastions at the corners. The others are merely defended by wooden pickets or stockades;(6) and a few, where the Indians are quiet and harmless, are entirely destitute of defence of any kind. Some of the chief posts have a complement of about thirty or forty men; but most of them have only ten, five, four, or even two, besides the gentleman in charge.

The trade carried on in this desolate region is in peltries of all sorts: oil, dried and salted fish, feathers, quills, and ivory.

The most valuable of the furs which it produces is that of the black fox. This beautiful animal resembles in shape the common fox of England, but it is much larger, and jet black, with the exception of one or two white hairs along the back bone and a pure white tuft on the end of the tail. A single skin sometimes brings from twenty-five to thirty pounds in the British market! but—they are very scarce.

Beaver, in days of yore, was the staple fur of the Territory; but, alas! the silk hat has given it its death-blow. The most profitable fur in the country is that of the marten. It somewhat resembles the Russian sable, and generally maintains a steady price. These animals, moreover, are very numerous, particularly in the region of Mackenzie River, whence great numbers of skins are annually sent to England.

Trade is carried on with the natives by means of a standard valuation, called in some parts of the country a castor. This is to obviate the necessity of circulating money, of which there is little or none, excepting in the colony of Red River. Probably a trader tells an Indian, after looking over his furs, that he has got fifty or sixty castors; at the same time he hands to him fifty or sixty little bits of wood in lieu of cash, so that the latter may know, by returning these in payment of the goods for which he really exchanges his skins, how fast his funds decrease. Having selected the blankets, knives, and other articles which he wishes to purchase, to the extent that his wooden money will admit of, he packs up his goods and departs to show his treasures to his wife. The value of a castor is from one to two shillings. The natives generally visit the trading establishments twice a year;—once in October, when they bring in the produce of their autumn hunts; and again in March, when they come in with that of the great winter hunt.

The number of castors that an Indian makes in a winter hunt varies from fifty to two hundred, according to his perseverance and activity, and the part of the country in which he hunts. The largest amount I ever heard of made by one man, was two hundred and sixty castors. The poor fellow was soon afterwards poisoned by his relatives, who were jealous of his superior abilities as a hunter, and envious of the favour shown him by the white men.

After the furs are collected in spring at all the different out-posts, they are packed in conveniently-sized bales, and forwarded, by means of boats and canoes, to the depots on the sea-coast, whence they are transported to England. The whole country in summer is, consequently, in commotion with the passing and repassing of brigades of boats laden with bales of merchandise and furs; the still waters of the lakes and rivers are rippled by the paddle and the oar; and the long silent echoes, which have slumbered in the icy embrace of a dreary winter, are now once more awakened by the merry voice and tuneful song of the hardy voyageur.(7)

—R. M. BALLANTINE

WORDS

abilities, skill.

arrested, checked.

baffled, frustrated.

bastions, fortifications.

brigades, squadrons.

commotion, stir.

converted, transformed.

departments, divisions.

destitute, devoid.

embrace, clasp.

encountered, met with.

establishments, settlements.

eventually, ultimately.

famishing, starving.

indulged, cherished.

influential, important.

insignificant, inconsiderable.

intervals, spaces.

intrepid, fearless.

jealous, envious.

justified, warranted.

lieu, place.

magnificent, splendid.

miserable, wretched.

mutiny, insurrection.

myriads, immense numbers.

navigators, explorers by sea.

numerous, plentiful.

obviate, prevent.

peltries, furry skins.

perseverance, application.

prairies, meadows.

primeval, pristine.

prosecuting, carrying on.

purchase, buy.

retribution, punishment.

selected, chosen.

serviceable, available.

staple, standard.

transported, conveyed.

victualled, provisioned.

QUESTIONS

From whom is Hudson Bay named? How did Hudson first distinguish himself? In what year did he set out on his last voyage? What places did he touch at on his way to America? What did he suppose Hudson Bay to be? From what did his crew suffer during the winter? What did they do on the homeward voyage? Why were not the survivors brought to trial? When was the Hudson's Bay Company established? Where was their first fort built? How many stations would be built in an area equal to Great Britain? In what articles did the Company trade? Which is the most valuable fur? Which used to be the staple? Why has it gone down? Which is the most profitable fur? What is a castor? How many castors does an Indian usually make in a winter hunt?

————————————————————

(1) Shallop, a small boat with a lugsail.

(2) Company.—The Hudson's Bay Company obtained a charter from Charles II. in 1670. Their license expired in 1859, when their governing rights were transferred to the British Crown.

(3) Horde, a wandering tribe.

(4) Rupert's Land, the central and principal division of the Hudson Bay Territory; named after Prince Rupert, the cousin of Charles II., being the son of Elizabeth (the daughter of James I.), who married the Elector Palatine.

(5) Red River, south of Lake Winnipeg.

(6) Pickets or Stockades—stakes sharpened at the top and fixed in the ground side by side to form a paling or breast-work.

(7) Voyageur (vo-yahj-ur), traveller. [Fr. voie, Lat. via, a way.]

LESSON 38

THE FOUR ERAS(1)

THE lark has sung his carol in the sky;

The bees have hummed their noontide harmony;

Still in the vale the village bells ring round,

Still in Llewellyn Hall the jests resound:

For now the caudle-cup(2) is circling there;

Now, glad at heart, the gossips(3) breathe their prayer,

And, crowding, stop the cradle to admire

The babe, the sleeping image of his sire.

A few short years, and then these sounds shall had

The day again, and gladness fill the vale;

So soon the child a youth, the youth a man,

Eager to run the race his fathers ran.

Then the huge ox shall yield the broad sirloin;

The ale, new-brewed, in floods of amber shine;

And, basking in the chimney's ample blaze,

'Mid many a tale told of his boyish days,

The nurse shall cry, of all her ills beguiled,

"'Twas on these knees he sate so oft, and smiled."

And soon again shall music swell the breeze;

Soon, issuing forth, shall glitter through the trees

Vestures of nuptial white; and hymns be sung,

And violets scattered round; and old and young.

In every cottage porch, with garlands green,

Stand still to gaze, and, gazing, bless the scene;

While, her dark eyes declining, by his side

Moves in her virgin-veil the gentle bride.

And once, alas! nor in a distant hour,

Another voice shall come from yonder tower;

When in dim chambers long black weeds are seen,

And weepings heard where only joy has been;

When by his children borne, and from his door

Slowly departing, to return no more,

He rests in holy earth with them that went before.

—SAMUEL ROGERS(4)

WORDS

basking, luxuriating.

beguiled, deprived.

carol, song.

chambers, rooms.

declining, casting down.

departing, withdrawing.

distant, remote.

garlands, wreaths.

harmony, music.

image, picture.

nuptial, wedding.

resound, echo.

scattered, sprinkled.

sirloin, loin of beef.

vestures, garments.

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(1) The Four Eras are, Birth, Coming of Age, Marriage, and Death.

(2) Candle-cup, a warm drink, made of wine and other ingredients.

(3) Gossips, idle talkers; lit. a god-relative,—god-father or -mother, [Old Eng. god-sib, god-relative.]

(4) Samuel Rogers, poet; born in 1763, became a wealthy banker; author of The Pleasures of Memory: died in 1855.

LESSON 39

THE SKATER AND THE WOLVES

[THE following remarkable account of an escape from wolves in America, during the winter of 1844, is related by Mr. Whitehead.]

I HAD left my friend's house one evening just before dusk, with the intention of skating a short distance up the noble river which glided directly before the door. The night was beautifully clear. A peerless moon rode through an occasional fleecy cloud, and stars twinkled from the sky and from every frost-covered tree in millions. Light also came glinting from ice, and snow-wreath, and encrusted branches, as the eye followed for miles the broad gleam of the river, that like a jewelled zone(1) swept between the mighty forests on its banks. And yet all was still. The cold seemed to have frozen tree, and air, and water, and every living thing. Even the ringing of my skates echoed back from the hill with a startling clearness; and the crackle of the ice, as I passed over it in my course, seemed to follow the ride of the river with lightning speed.

I had gone up the river nearly two miles, when, coming to a little stream which empties into the larger, I turned into it to explore its course. Fir and hemlock(2) of a century's growth met overhead, and formed an archway radiant with frost-work. All was dark within; but I was young and fearless, and as I peered into an unbroken forest that reared itself on the borders of the stream, I laughed with very joyousness.

My wild hurrah rang through the silent woods, and I stood listening to the echo that reverberated(3) again and again, until all was hushed. Suddenly a sound arose—it seemed to me to come from beneath the ice; it was low and tremulous at first, but it ended in one long wild yell I was appalled. Never before had such a noise met my ears. Presently I heard the brushwood on shore crash, as though from the tread of some animal. The blood rushed to my forehead—my energies returned, and I looked around me for some means of escape.

The moon shone through the opening at the mouth of the creek by which I had entered the forest, and, considering this the best means of escape, I darted toward it like an arrow. It was hardly a hundred yards distant, and the swallow could scarcely have excelled me in flight; yet, as I turned my head to the shore, I could see several dark objects dashing through the brushwood at a pace nearly double in speed to my own. By their great speed, and the short yells which they occasionally gave, I knew at once that these were the much dreaded gray wolves.

The bushes that skirted the shore flew past with the velocity of lightning as I dashed on in my flight to pass the narrow opening. The outlet was nearly gained—a few seconds more and I would be comparatively safe; but in a moment my pursuers appeared on the bank above me, which here rose to the height of ten feet. There was no time for thought-I bent my head and dashed madly forward. The wolves sprang, but, miscalculating my speed, fell behind, while their intended prey glided out upon the river!

Nature turned me toward home. The light flakes of snow spun from the iron of my skates, and I was some distance from my pursuers, when their fierce howl told me I was still their fugitive. I did not look back; I did not feel afraid, or sorry, or glad; one thought of home, of the bright faces awaiting my return, and of their tears if they never should see me,—and then all the energies of body and mind were exerted for escape.

SKATER CHASED BY WOLVES

I was perfectly at home on the ice. Many were the days that I had spent on my good skates, never thinking that they would thus prove my only means of safety. Every half minute a furious yelp from my fierce attendants made me but too certain that they were in close pursuit. Nearer and nearer they came,—at last I heard their feet pattering on the ice—I even felt their very breath and heard their snuffing scent! Every nerve and muscle in my frame was stretched to the utmost tension.(4)

The trees along the shore seemed to dance in an uncertain light, and my brain turned with my own breathless speed; yet still my pursuers seemed to hiss forth their breath with a sound truly horrible, when an involuntary motion on my part turned me out of my course. The wolves, close behind, unable to stop, and as unable to turn on the smooth ice, slipped and fell, still going on far ahead. Their tongues were lolling out; their white tusks were gleaming from their bloody mouths; their dark shaggy breasts were fleeced with foam; and as they passed me their eyes glared, and they howled with fury. The thought flashed on my mind that by this means I could avoid them,—namely, by turning aside whenever they came too near; for, by the formation of their feet, they are unable to run on ice except in a straight line.

I immediately acted upon this plan. The wolves having regained their feet, sprang directly towards me. The race was renewed for twenty yards up the stream; they were already close at my back, when I glided round and dashed directly past them. A fierce yell greeted my evolution,(5) and the wolves, slipping on their haunches, sailed onward, presenting a perfect picture of helplessness and baffled rage. Thus I gained nearly a hundred yards at each turning. This was repeated two or three times, the animals becoming more excited and baffled every moment.

At one time, by delaying my turning too long, my sanguinary antagonists came so near that they threw their white foam over my dress as they sprang to seize me, and their teeth clashed together like the spring of a fox-trap! Had my skates failed for one instant,—had I tripped on a stick, or had my foot been caught in a fissure of the ice,—the story I am now telling would never have been told.

I thought over all the chances. I knew where they would first seize me if I fell. I thought how long it would be before I died; and then of the search for my body, that would already have had its tomb; for oh! how fast man's mind traces out all the dread colours of death's picture, only those who have been near the grim original can tell.

At last I came opposite the house, and my hounds—I knew their deep voices—roused by the noise, bayed furiously from their kennels. I heard their chains rattle; how I wished they would break them!—then I should have had protectors to match the fiercest denizens of the forest. The wolves, taking the hint conveyed by the dogs, stopped in their mad career, and after a few moments turned and fled.

I watched them until their forms disappeared over a neighbouring hill; then, taking off my skates, I wended my way to the house, with feelings which may be better imagined than described. But even yet I never see a broad sheet of ice by moonlight without thinking of that snuffing breath, and those fearful things that followed me so closely down that frozen river.

Such is the strange tale of escape from the winter wolves of America. In Russia they are no less dreaded; and the traveller, even when flying over the snow in his swift sledge, often finds the speed of his horses barely sufficient to rescue him from the hungry pack. On such occasions their merciless rapacity often proves his means of escape; for no sooner does he shoot down one of the foremost, than the whole pack crowd round it and tear it to pieces! By such means time is gained, and the affrighted horses, fleeing at their utmost speed, at length dash with the sledge into the shelter of the long wished-for station.

WORDS

affrighted, terrified.

antagonists, foes.

appalled, dismayed.

attendants, pursuers.

comparatively, relatively.

considering, deeming.

denizens, inhabitants.

dreaded, feared.

encrusted, coated with frost.

energies, powers.

excelled, surpassed.

exerted, put forth.

formation, construction.

fugitive, object pursued.

furiously, wildly.

helplessness, feebleness.

imagined, fancied.

intention, purpose.

involuntary, unintentional.

joyousness, gladness.

miscalculating, not allowing for.

original, reality.

protectors, guardians.

radiant, lustrous.

rapacity, greediness.

regained, recovered.

rescue, deliver.

sanguinary, bloodthirsty.

startling, surprising.

tremulous, quivering.

twinkled, glittered.

uncertain, wavering.

velocity, swiftness.

QUESTIONS

Where did this incident occur? At what time? How far up the river had the skater gone when he turned into the forest? Of what kind were the wolves that pursued him? Why did they miss him when they sprang from the bank? By what plan did he at last escape from them? What made them stop and return to the forest? By what means do travellers often escape from Russian wolf-packs?

————————————————————

(1) Zone, belt or girdle.

(2) Hemlock, the Canadian fir-tree, which grows to the height of eighty feet; not the poisonous herb.

(3) Reverberated, resounded; lit. beat back. [Lat. re, again; verbero, I beat; from verber, a lash.]

(4) Tension, stiffness; state of being strained to the utmost. [Lat. tendo, I stretch.]

(5) Evolution, clever movement. Evolutions is applied to the tactical movements of troops. [Lat. evolvo, from a out, and volvo. I roll.]

LESSON 40

THE VILLAGE PREACHER

NEAR yonder copse,(1) where once the garden smiled,

And still where many a garden flower grows wild,

There, where a few torn shrubs the place disclose,

The village preacher's modest mansion rose.

A man he was to all the country dear,

And passing(2) rich with forty pounds a year;

Remote from towns he ran his godly race,

Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change, his place.

Unskilful he to fawn, or seek for power,

By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour;

Far other aims his heart had learned to prize,

More bent to raise the wretched than to rise.

His house was known to all the vagrant train;

He chid their wanderings, but relieved their pain.

The long-remembered beggar was his guest,

Whose beard descending swept his aged breast;

The ruined spendthrift,(3) now no longer proud,

Claimed kindred there, and had his claim allowed;

The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay,

Sat by his fire and talked the night away,

Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrow done,

Shouldered his crutch, and showed how fields were won.

Pleased with his guests, the good man learned to glow,

And quite forgot their vices, in their woe;

Careless their merits or their faults to scan,

His pity gave, ere charity began.

Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride,

And even his failings leaned to virtue's side;

But, in his duty prompt at every call,

He watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all:

And, as a bird each fond endearment tries

To tempt her new-fledged offspring to the skies

He tried each art, reproved each dull delay,

Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way.

Beside the bed where parting life was laid,

And sorrow, guilt, and pain, by turns dismayed,

The reverend champion(4) stood. At his control,

Despair and anguish fled the struggling soul;

Comfort came down(5) the trembling wretch to raise,

And his last faltering accents whispered praise.

At church, with meek and unaffected grace,

His looks adorned the venerable place;

Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway;

And fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray.

The service past, around the pious man,

With ready zeal, each honest rustic ran;

Even children followed with endearing wile,

And plucked his gown, to share the good man's smile.

His ready smile a parent's warmth expressed,

Their welfare pleased him, and their cares distressed.

To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given,

But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven:

As some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form,

Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm;(6)

Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread.

Eternal sunshine settles on its head.

—OLIVER GOLDSMITH

WORDS

allowed, acknowledged.

allured, enticed.

anguish, torment.

charity, alms-giving.

descending, flowing down.

disclose, reveal.

distressed, grieved.

endearment, caress.

failings, frailties.

faltering, inarticulate.

fashioned, adapted.

mansion, dwelling.

relieved, alleviated.

unaffected, natural.

unskilful, unqualified.

vagrant, begging.

venerable, sacred.

wile, sly artifice.

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(1) Copse, also coppice, a wood of small trees, periodically cut down for their bark or timber. [Fr couper, to cut.]

(2) Passing, exceedingly. The village Preacher is a portrait of the Rev. Charles Goldsmith, the poet's father. "Forty pounds a year" was actually his income at the time when the poet was born.

(3) Spendthrift, one who recklessly spends his thrift, or gains.

(4) Champion, defender (of the faith).

(5) Came down—that is, from heaven.

(6) Midway leaves the storm—that is, the storm does not reach more than half way up the cliff.

LESSON 41

AN INDIAN'S TRAPS

SUPPOSE yourself, gentle reader, standing at the gate of one of the forts in Hudson Bay, watching a savage arranging his snow-shoes, preparatory to entering the gloomy forest. Let us walk with this Indian on a visit to his traps.

SNOW-SHON

The night is very dark, as the moon is hid by thick clouds; yet it occasionally breaks out sufficiently to illumine our path to the Indian's wigwam,(1) and to throw the shadows of the neighbouring trees upon the pale snow, which, owing to the intense cold, crunches under our feet as we advance. The tent, at which we soon arrive, is pitched at the foot of an immense tree, which stands in a little hollow where the willows and pines are luxuriant enough to afford a shelter from the north wind. Suddenly the deer-skin robe that covers the entrance to the wigwam is raised, and a bright stream of warm light gushes out, tipping the dark green points of the opposite trees, and mingling strangely with the paler light of the moon—and the Indian stands erect in front of his solitary home.

MOCCASIN

He is in his usual hunting costume. A large leathern coat, very much overlapped in front, and fastened round his waist with a scarlet belt, protects his body from the cold. A small rat-skin cap covers his head, and his legs are cased in the ordinary blue cloth leggins. Large moccasins,(2) with two or three pairs of blanket socks, clothe his feet; and fingerless mittens, made of deer-skin, complete his costume.

After a few minutes passed in contemplation of the heavens, the Indian prepares himself for the walk. First he sticks a small axe in his belt, serving as a counterpoise to a large hunting-knife and fire-bag(3) which depend from the other side. He then slips his feet through the cords of his snow-shoes, and throws the line of a small hand-sledge over his shoulder. Having attached the sledge to his back, he stoops to receive his gun from his faithful squaw,(4) who has been watching his operations through a hole in the tent; and throwing it on his shoulder, strides off, without uttering a word, across the moonlit space in front of the tent, turns into a narrow track that leads down the dark ravine, and disappears in the shades of the forest.

The forest is now almost dark, the foliage overhead having become so dense that the moon penetrates through it only in a few places, rendering the surrounding masses darker by contrast. The outline of an old snow-shoe track, at first faintly seen, is soon no longer visible; but still the Indian moves forward with rapid, noiseless step, as sure of his way as if a broad beaten track lay before him. In this manner he moves on for nearly two miles, sometimes stooping to examine closely the newly-made track of some wild animal, and occasionally giving a glance at the sky through the openings in the leafy canopy(5) above him. Suddenly a faint sound in the bushes ahead brings him to a full stop.

He listens attentively, and a noise, like the rattling of a chain, is heard proceeding from the recesses of a dark, wild-looking hollow, a few paces in front. Another moment, and the rattle is again distinctly heard. A slight smile of satisfaction crosses the Indian's dark visage; for one of his traps is set in that place, and he knows that something has been caught. Quickly descending the slope, he enters the bushes whence the sound proceeds, and pauses when within a yard or two of his trap, to peer through the gloom.

A cloud passes off the moon, and a faint ray reveals, it may be, a beautiful black fox caught in the snare. A slight blow on the snout from the Indian's axe-shaft kills the unfortunate animal; in ten minutes more it is tied on his sledge, the trap is re-set and again covered over with snow, so that it is almost impossible to tell that anything is there; and the Indian pursues his way.

A TRAP

The steel-trap used by the Indians is very similar to the ordinary rat-trap of England, with this difference, that it is a little larger, is destitute of teeth, and has two springs in place of one. A chain is attached to one of the springs, for the purpose of fixing a weight to the trap, so that the animal caught may not be able to drag it far from the place where it has been set. The track in the snow enables the hunter to find his trap again. It is generally so set that the jaws, when spread out flat, are exactly on a level with the snow.

The chain and weight are both hid, and a thin layer of snow is spread on the top of the trap. The bait (which generally consists of chips of a frozen partridge, rabbit, or fish) is then scattered around in every direction; and, with the exception of this, nothing distinguishes the spot.

Foxes, beavers, wolves, lynxes,(6) and other animals, are caught in this way, sometimes by a fore-leg, sometimes by a hind-leg, sometimes by two legs at once, and occasionally by the nose. Of all these ways the Indians prefer catching by two legs, as there is then not the slightest possibility of the animal escaping.

When foxes are caught by one leg, they often eat it off close to the trap, and escape on the other three! I have frequently seen this happen; and I once saw a fox caught which had evidently escaped in this way, as one of its legs was gone and the stump healed up and covered again with hair. When they are caught by the nose they are almost sure to escape, unless taken out of the trap very soon,as their snouts are so sharp or wedge-like that they can pull them from between the jaws of the trap without much difficulty.

Having described this machine, we shall now rejoin the Indian, whom we left on his way to his next trap. There he goes, moving swiftly over the snow, mile after mile, as if he could not feel fatigue; turning aside now and then to visit a trap, and giving a short grunt when nothing is in it; or killing the animal when caught, and tying it on the sledge.

Toward midnight, however, he begins to walk more cautiously, examines the priming of his gun, and moves the axe in his belt, as if he expected to meet some enemy suddenly. The fact is, that close to where he now stands are two traps which he set in the morning close to each other, for the purpose of catching one of the formidable coast wolves.

These animals are so sagacious that they will scrape all round a trap, let it be ever so well set, and, after eating all the bait, walk away unhurt. Indians, consequently, endeavour in every possible way to catch them, and, among others, by setting two traps close together; so that while the wolf scrapes at one, he may perhaps put his foot in the other. It is in this way that our Indian friend's traps are set, and he now proceeds cautiously towards them, his gun in the hollow of his left arm.

Slowly he advances, peering through the bushes; but nothing is visible. Suddenly a branch crashes under his snow-shoe, and with a savage growl a large wolf bounds toward him, landing almost at his feet! A single glance, however, shows the Indian that both traps are on its legs, and that the chains prevent its further advance. He places his gun against a tree, draws the axe from his belt, and advances to kill the animal.

It is, however, an undertaking of some difficulty. The fierce brute, which is larger than a Newfoundland dog, strains every nerve and sinew to break its chains, while its eyes glisten in the uncertain light, and foam curls from its blood-red mouth. Now it retreats as the Indian advances, grinning horribly the while; and anon,(7) as the chains check its further retreat, it springs with fearful growl toward the Indian, who slightly wounds it with his axe, as he jumps backward just in time to save himself from the infuriated animal, which catches in its fangs(8) the flap of his leggin, and tears it from his limb. Again the Indian advances, and the wolf retreats and again springs on him, but with out success.

At last, as the wolf glances for a moment to one side—apparently to see if there is any way of escape—quick as lightning the axe flashes in the air, and descends with stunning violence on its head; another blow follows, and in five minutes more the animal is bound to the sledge.

—R. M. BALLANTYNE

WORDS

attached, fastened.

attentively, intently.

cautiously, warily.

contemplation, study.

costume, dress.

counterpoise, offset.

difference, exception.

distinguishes, marks.

endeavour, strive.

evidently, apparently.

examine, inspect.

fatigue, weariness.

frequently, often.

illumine, light.

infuriated, enraged.

luxuriant, exuberant.

occasionally, sometimes.

operations, proceedings.

ordinary, common.

penetrates, pierces.

possibility, chance.

preparatory, introductory.

proceeds, advances.

ravine, pass.

recesses, depths.

retreats, retires.

sagacious, shrewd.

satisfaction, pleasure.

slightly, triflingly.

solitary, lonely.

undertaking, work.

unfortunate, luckless.

uttering, speaking.

violence, force.

QUESTIONS

Where had the Indian pitched his tent? why there? What covered the entrance to the hut? How was the Indian dressed? How was he armed? What brought him to a full stop in his round? What did the sound resemble? What did it tell the Indian? How did he kill the animal? What difference is there between the Indian's steel-trap and an English rat-trap? With what is it baited? What do foxes often do, when caught by one leg? Why had the Indian set two traps close together in one place? What was the result? What risk did he run, in attempting to kill the wolf? What moment did he seise for striking it with his axe?

————————————————————

(1) Wigwam, hut or cabin. It is conical in shape, and covered with bark or matting. The word is an English corruption of the Indian name for a house.

(2) Moccasins, Indian shoes made of deer-skin, or other soft leather, without soles. [Indian, makisin.]

(3) Firebag, a bag containing materials for kindling fire from a spark; corresponding with a tinder-box.

(4) Squaw, wife. [Indian, squeiaw, a woman.]

(5) Canopy, a covering over a throne or bed; lit. a net to keep off gnats. [Gr. konopeion, a mosquito-curtain, from konops, a gnat.]

(6) Lynx, a wild animal of the cat kind, remarkable for its brilliant eyes; hence supposed to be sharp-sighted (lynx-eyed)

(7) Anon, presently; soon after; lit. in one (moment.) [Old Eng. on, in; an, one.]

(8) Fangs, long pointed teeth.[Old Eng, fang, from fon, to seise; Ger. fangen.]

LESSON 42

VIRGINIA

SIR WALTER RALEIGH spent a large fortune in attempting to colonize Virginia.(1) He succeeded in directing the attention of his countrymen to the region which had kindled his own enthusiasm. But his colonies never prospered. Sometimes the colonists returned home disgusted by the hardships of the wilderness. Once they were massacred by the Indians. When help came from England, the infant settlement was in ruins. The bones of unburied men lay about the fields; wild deer strayed among the untenanted houses. Once a colony wholly disappeared. To this day its fate is unknown.

Sir Walter was enduring his long captivity in the Tower,(2) writing his "History of the World," and moaning piteously over the havoc which prison-damps had wrought upon his handsome frame. The time had now come, and his labours were about to bear fruit. The history of Virginia was about to open. It opened with meagre promise. In 1606 A. D. a charter from the King established a Company whose function was to colonize—whose privilege was to trade.

The Company sent out an expedition, which sailed in three small vessels. It consisted of one hundred and five men. Of these, one half were gentlemen of broken fortune. Some were tradesmen; others were footmen. Only a very few were farmers, or mechanics, or persons in any way fitted for the life they sought, Morally, the aspect of the expedition was even more discouraging. "An hundred dissolute persons" were on board the ships. The respectable portion of the expedition must have gone into very little space.

But, happily for Virginia, there sailed with these reprobate founders of a new empire a man whom Providence had highly gifted with fitness to govern his fellow-men. His name was John Smith. No writer of romance would have given his hero this name. But, in spite of his name, the man was truly heroic. He was still under thirty, a strong-limbed, deep-chested, massively-built man. From boyhood he had been a soldier—roaming over the world in search of adventures, wherever hard blows were being exchanged.

Returning to England when the passion for colonizing was at its height, he caught at once the prevailing impulse. He joined the Virginian expedition. Ultimately be became its chief. His fitness was so manifest, that no reluctance on his own part, no jealousies on that of his companions, could bar him from the highest place. Men became kings of old by the same process which now made Smith a chief.

The "dissolute persons" sailed in their ships up the James river. Landing there, they proceeded to construct a little town, which they named Jamestown,(3) in honour of the King. This was the first colony which struck its roots in American soil. The colonists were charmed with the climate, and with the luxuriant beauty of the wilderness on whose confines they had settled.

But as yet it was only a wilderness. The forest had to be cleared that food might be grown. The exiled gentlemen laboured manfully, but under grievous discouragements. "The axes so oft blistered their tender fingers that many times every third blow had a loud oath to drown the echo." Smith was a man upon whose soul there lay a becoming reverence for sacred things. He devised how to have every man's oaths numbered; "and at night for every oath, to have a can of water poured down his sleeve." Under this treatment the evil assuaged.

The emigrants had landed in early spring. Summer came with its burning heat. Supplies of food ran low. "Had we been as free from all sins as from gluttony and drunkenness," Smith wrote, "we might have been canonized as saints." The colonists sickened and died. From those poor blistered fingers dropped for ever the unaccustomed axe. Before autumn every second man had died. But the hot Virginian sun, which proved so deadly to the settlers, ripened the wheat they had sowed in the spring, and freed the survivors from the pressure of want. Winter brought them a healthier temperature and abundant supplies of wild-fowl and game.

When the welfare of the colony was in some measure secured, Smith set forth with a few companions to explore the interior of the country. He and his followers were captured by the Indians. The followers were summarily butchered. Smith's composure did not fail him in the worst extremity. He produced his pocket-compass, and interested the savages by explaining its properties. He wrote a letter in their sight—to their infinite wonder. They spared him, and made a show of him in all the settlements round about. He was to them an unfathomable mystery. He was plainly superhuman. Whether his power would bring to them good or evil, they were not able to determine.

After much hesitation they chose the course which prudence seemed to counsel. They resolved to extinguish powers so formidable, regarding whose use they could obtain no guarantee. Smith was bound and stretched upon the earth, his head resting upon a great stone. The mighty club was uplifted to dash out his brains. But Smith was a man who won golden opinions from all. The Indian chief had a daughter, Pocahontas, a child of ten or twelve years. She could not bear to see the pleasing Englishman destroyed. As Smith lay waiting the fatal stroke, she seized him in her arms and interposed herself between him and the club. Her intercession prevailed, and Smith was set free.

Five years later,"an honest and discreet" young Englishman called John Rolfe loved this young Indian girl. He had a sore mental struggle about uniting himself with "one of barbarous breeding and of a cursed race." But love triumphed. He laboured for her conversion, and had the happiness of seeing her baptized in the little church of Jamestown. Then he married her.

After a time he took her home to England. Her appearance was pleasing; her mind was acute; her piety was sincere; her manners bore picturesque evidence of her forest upbringing. The English King and Court regarded her with lively interest as the first-fruits of the wilderness. Great hopes were founded on this union of the two races. She is the brightest picture—this young Virginian wife and mother—which the history of the doomed native races presents to us. But she did not live to revisit her native land. Death parted her very early from her husband and her child.(4)

When Smith returned from captivity the colony was on the verge of extinction. Only thirty-eight persons were left, and they were preparing to depart. With Smith hope returned to the despairing settlers. They resumed their work, confident in the resources of their chief. Fresh arrivals from England cheered them.

The character of these reinforcements was no improvement upon that of their predecessors. "Vagabond gentlemen" formed still a large majority of the settlers—many of them, we are told, "packed off to escape worse destinies at home." The colony, thus composed, had already earned a very bad reputation: so bad, that some, rather than be sent there, "chose to be hanged, and were."

Over these most undesirable subjects Smith ruled with an authority which no man dared or desired to question. But he was severely injured by an accidental explosion of gunpowder. Surgical aid was not in the colony. Smith required to go to England, and once more hungry ruin settled down upon Virginia. In six months the five hundred men whom Smith had left had dwindled to sixty. These were already embarked and departing when they were met by Lord Delaware,(5) the new governor. Once more the colony was saved.

Years of quiet growth succeeded. Emigrants—not wholly now of the dissolute sort-flowed steadily in. In 1688 the population of Virginia had increased to 50,000; and within a few years of the settlement, the Virginians had a written Constitution, according to which they were ruled.

—ROBERT MACKENZIE

WORDS

abundant, plentiful.

adventures, enterprises.

assuaged, diminished.

barbarous, savage.

canonized, enrolled.

cleared, freed of trees.

colonize, make settlements.

companions, associates.

composure, self-possession.

confident, trustful.

confines, borders.

construct, build.

departing, leaving.

destinies, fates.

discouraging, dispiriting.

dissolute, vicious.

dwindled, fallen.

enthusiasm, ardent zeal.

exchanged, given and taken.

explaining, describing.

extinction, annihilation.

extinguish, quench.

function, duty.

guarantee, security.

intercession, mediation.

massacred, murdered.

meagre, scanty.

picturesque, quaint.

piteously, grievously.

predecessors, precursors.

prevailing, predominant.

privilege, right.

properties, peculiarities.

reluctance, backwardness.

reprobate, profligate.

reputation, character.

resources, powers of contrivance.

respectable, moral.

reverence, veneration.

succeeded, followed.

summarily, quickly.

unfathomable, incomprehensible.

untenanted, uninhabited.

wilderness, forest.

QUESTIONS

Who first attempted to colonize Virginia? With what success? When was a company chartered to colonize it? What was the character of the emigrants? Who became the chief of the expedition? What was the first English town in America? How did Smith put down the vice of swearing? From what did the settlers suffer in their first summer? How many died before autumn? What brought them relief? What befell Smith when exploring the interior? How was his life saved? What subsequently became of Pocahontas? In what state was the colony when Smith returned from captivity? Why was he compelled to return to England? Whom did Lord Delaware meet on his arrival? What was the population of Virginia in 1688?

————————————————————

(1) .Virginia, the first British settlement in North America, was taken possession of by Raleigh in 1584, and named after the virgin queen, Elizabeth.

(2) .Long captivity in the Tower—thirteen years. In 1808 he had been condemned on a charge of being accessory to a plot to place Arabells Stuart on the throne. He was reprieved, but remained a prisoner in the Tower till 1616. An expedition which he undertook to South America failed, and gave offence to Spain. On his return, James, to please the Spanish minister, sent Raleigh to the block on the sentence passed fifteen years before—1618.

(3) Jamestown, named after James I. This, the first English town in America, was founded by Captain Newport in 1607. It is now in decay.

(4) .Her child.—Many of the leading families in Virginia trace their descent from the son of Pocahontas.

(5) .Lord Delaware.—Lord De la War had been appointed governor for life in 1609, but sickness prevented his going out till the following year. He was soon compelled by ill health to return to England. In 1617, though still delicate, he set sail again for Virginia, but died at the mouth of the bay which has ever since borne his name.

LESSON 43

WATERLOO

THERE was a sound of revelry by night,

And Belgium's capital(1) had gathered then

Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright

The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men:

A thousand hearts beat happily; and when

Music arose with its voluptuous swell,

Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again,

And all went merry as a marriage bell;

But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell.

Did ye not hear it?—No; 'twas but the wind,

Or the car rattling o'er the stony street;

On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;

No sleep till morn, when youth and pleasure meet,

To chase the glowing hours with flying feet:—

But hark! that heavy sound breaks in once more,

As if the clouds its echo would repeat;

And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before!—

Arm! arm! it is—it is—the cannon's opening roar!

Within a windowed niche of that high hall

Sate Brunswick's fated chieftain:(2) he did hear

That sound the first amidst the festival,

And caught its tone with death's prophetic ear;

And when they smiled because he deemed it near,

His heart more truly knew that peal too well

Which stretched his father on a bloody bier,

And roused the vengeance blood alone could quell:

He rushed into the field, and foremost fighting fell.

Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro,

And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress,

And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago

Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness;

And there were sudden partings, such as press

The life from out young hearts; and choking sighs

Which ne'er might be repeated;—who could guess

If ever more should meet those mutual eyes?(3)

Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise.

And there was mounting in hot haste: the steed,

The mustering squadron, and the clattering ear

Went pouring forward with impetuous speed,

And swiftly forming in the ranks of war;

And the deep thunder, peal on peal afar;

And near, the beat of the alarming drum

Roused up the soldier ere the morning star;

While thronged the citizens with terror dumb,

Or whispering, with white lips—"The foe! They come! they come!"

And wild and high the "Camerons' gathering"(4)rose!

The war-note of Lochiel, which Albyn's hills(5)

Have heard—and heard, too, have her Saxon foes.

How in the noon of night that pibroch thrills,

Savage and shrill! but with the breath which fills

Their mountain-pipe, so till the mountaineers

With the fierce native daring which instils

The stirring memory of a thousand years:

And Evan's, Donald's fame,(6) rings in each clansman's ears

And Ardennes(7) waves above them her green leaves,

Dewy with Nature's tear-drops, as they pass,

Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves,

Over the unreturning brave—alas!

Ere evening to be trodden like the grass,

Which now beneath them, but above shall grow

In its next verdure, when this fiery mass

Of living valour, rolling on the foe,

And burning with high hope, shall moulder cold and low.

Last noon beheld them full of lusty life;

Last eve in beauty's circle proudly gay;

The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife;

The morn, the marshalling in arms; the day,

Battle's magnificently stern array!

The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which,(8) when rent,

The Earth is covered thick with other clay,

Which her own clay shall cover,—heaped and pent,

Rider and horse, friend, foe, in one red burial blent!

—LORD BYRON (1788-1824)

WORDS

alarming, warning.

blent, mingled.

festival, banquet.

impetuous, furious.

inanimate, lifeless.

instils, pours in.

knell, death-signal.

loveliness, beauty.

marshalling, arraying.

memory, recollection.

mountaineers, highlanders.

mustering, assembling.

prophetic, portentous.

repeat, return.

revelry, festivity.

unconfined, unbounded.

valour, courage.

vengeance, revengefulness.

voluptuous, delicious.

————————————————————

(1) Belgium's capital—Brussels, where a great ball was given by the Duchess of Richmond, on the night of the 15th June 1815, which was attended by many of the officers of the allied armies. During the evening, news arrived that Napoleon had crossed the frontier, and was marching on Brussels. The officers were summoned from the ball-room, and marched before daybreak. Next day, 16th June, engagements at Quatre-Bras and Ligny were fought. Waterloo was not fought till the 18th.

(2) Brunswick's fated chieftain.—William-Frederick, Duke of Brunswick, fell at Quatre-Bras, when leading the advanced guard of Wellington's army. His father, to whom allusion is made in this stanza, was a great general, and was killed at the battle of Auerstadt in 1806.

(3) Mutual eyes—eyes exchanging loving or sympathetic looks.

(4) "Camerons' gathering"—the pibroch or war-note of the Cameron Highlanders (79th regiment), raised by Allan Cameron of Erroch in 1793. It is called "The war-note of Lochiel,"because the Camerons of Lochiel were the chiefs of their clan. The reference in" Heard, too, have her Saxon foes," is made to the part taken by the Camerons on more than one occasion in support of the Stuarts.

(5) .Albyn's hills—the Highlands of Scotland.

(6) Evan's, Donald's fame.—Sir Evan Cameron of Lochiel, who was remarkable for his personal valour and his integrity, fought under Claverhouse at Killiecrankie (1689). On his death in 1719, he was succeeded by his grandson Donald. The latter was the first to join the standard of the young Pretender in 1745. He was severely wounded at Culloden (1746). He afterwards escaped to France with Prince Charles Edward, entered the French service, and died abroad in 1748.

(7) Ardennes.—The wood of Soignies, which lies between Waterloo and Brussels, is supposed to be a remnant of the Forest of Ardennes, which traversed the hilly region so called in the south of Belgium. The Forest of Ardennes is famous as the imaginary scene of Shakespeare's As You Like It.

(8) Which.—This word has no grammatical connection with the rest of the sentence. The phrase is plainly an imitation of the Latin construction called the ablative absolute; but the English equivalent of that is. "which being rent."

LESSON 44

THE SLAVE'S DREAM

BESIDE the ungathered rice he lay, his sickle in his hand;

His breast was bare, his matted hair was buried in the sand.

Again, in the mist and shadow of sleep, he saw his native land.

Wide through the landscape of his dreams the lordly Niger(1) flowed;

Beneath the palm-trees on the plain once more a king he strode,

And heard the tinkling caravans descend the mountain-road.

He saw once more his dark-eyed queen among her children stand;

They clasped his neck, they kissed his cheeks, they held him by the hand!—

A tear burst from the sleeper's lids, and fell into the sand.

And then at furious speed he rode along the Niger's bank;

His bridle-reins were golden chains, and, with a martial clank,

At each leap he could feel his scabbard of steel smiting his stallion's flank.

Before him, like a blood-red flag, the bright flamingoes(2) flew;

From morn till night he followed their flight, o'er plains where the tamarind(3) grew,

Till he saw the roofs of Caffre huts, and the ocean rose to view.

At night he heard the lion roar, and the hyena scream,

And the river-horse, as he crushed the reeds beside some bidden stream

And it passed, like a glorious roll of drums, through the triumph of his dream.

The forests, with their myriad(4).tongues, ahouted of liberty;

And the blast of the desert cried aloud, with a voice so wild and free,

That he started in his sleep and smiled at their tempestuous glee.

He did not feel the driver's whip, nor the burning heat of day,

For death had illumined the land of sleep, and his lifeless body lay

A worn-out fetter that the soul had broken and thrown away.

—LONGFELLOW

WORDS

caravans, companies of travellers.

fetter, chain.

furious, wild.

glorious, grand.

illumined, lighted.

landscape, scene.

liberty, freedom.

martial, warlike.

matted, tangled.

scabbard, sheath.

stallion, horse.

tempestuous, boisterous.

QUESTIONS

Where was the slave lying? What had he once been?What did he dream? How did the dream end?

————————————————————

(1) Niger, the great river in Western Africa flowing through the "native land"of the slave, where he had once been a king.

(2) Flamingo, a web-footed bird, of a bright scarlet colour, with very long neck and legs. Though its body is smaller than that of the stork, it stands nearly five feet high. It inhabits the warm regions of Asia, Africa, and America. [Lat. flamma, flame.]

(3) Tamarind, a tropical pod-bearing tree, prized for its rich fruit and pleasant shade; lit. the Indian date. [It tamarindo; Arab, tamr hindi, Indian dates.]

(4) Myriad, countless; lit. ten thousand. [Gr. murioi. ten thousand.]

LESSON 45

THE SIEGE OF TORQUILSTONE (I)

THE noise within the castle, occasioned by the defensive preparations, which had been considerable for some time, now increased into tenfold bustle and clamour. The heavy yet hasty step of the men-at-arms traversed the battlements, or resounded on the narrow and winding passages and stairs which led to the various bartisans(1) and points of defence. The voices of the knights were heard animating their followers, or directing means of defence, while their commands were often drowned in the clashing of armour, or the clamorous shouts of those whom they addressed.

Tremendous as these sounds were, and yet more terrible from the awful event which they presaged, there was a sublimity mixed with them which Rebecca's high-toned mind could feel even in that moment of terror. Her eye kindled, although the blood fled from her cheeks; and there was a strong mixture of fear with a thrilling sense of the sublime as she repeated, half whispering to herself,half speaking to her companion, the sacred text—"The quiver rattleth—the glittering spear and the shield—the noise of the captains and the shouting!"

But Ivanhoe was, like the war-horse of that sublime passage, glowing with impatience at his own inactivity, and with an ardent desire to mingle in the affray of which these sounds were the introduction. "If I could but drag myself," he said, "to yonder window, that I might see how this brave game is like to go;—if I had but bow to shoot a shaft, or battle-axe to strike were it but a single blow for our deliverance! It is in vain—it is in vain; I am alike nerveless and weaponless!"

"Fret not thyself, noble knight," answered Rebecca; "the sounds have ceased of a sudden—it may be they join not battle."

"Thou knowest naught of it," said Wilfred impatiently. "This dead pause only shows that the men are at their posts on the walls, and expecting an instant attack. What we have heard was but the distant muttering of the storm—it will burst anon in all its fury. Could I but reach yonder window!"

"Thou wilt but injure thyself by the attempt, noble knight," replied his attendant. Observing his extreme solicitude, she firmly added, "I myself will stand at the lattice,(2) and describe to thee as I can what passes without."

"You must not—you shall not!" exclaimed Ivanhoe. "Each lattice, each aperture, will be soon a mark for the archers; some random shaft—"

"It shall be welcome," murmured Rebecca, as with firm pace she ascended two or three steps which led to the window of which they spoke.

"Rebecca! dear Rebecca!"exclaimed Ivanhoe, "this is no maiden's pastime—do not expose thyself to wounds and death, and render me for ever miserable for having given occasion; at least cover thyself with yonder ancient buckler, and show as little of thy person at the lattice as may be."

Following with wonderful promptitude the directions of Ivanhoe, and availing herself of the protection of the large ancient shield, which she placed against the lower part of the window, Rebecca, with tolerable security to herself, could witness part of what was passing without the castle, and report to Ivanhoe the preparations which the assailants were making for the storm. Indeed the situation which she thus obtained was peculiarly favourable for this purpose; because, being placed on an angle of the main building, Rebecca could not only see what passed beyond the precincts of the castle, but could also command a view of the outwork likely to be the first object of the meditated assault.

It was an exterior fortification of no great height or strength, intended to protect the postern(3) gate, through which Cedric had been recently dismissed by Front-de-Bœuf.(4) The castle moat(5) divided this species of barbican(6) from the rest of the fortress; so that, in case of its being taken, it was easy to cut off the communication with the main building by withdrawing the temporary bridge. In the outwork was a sally-port,(7) corresponding to the postern of the castle; and the whole was surrounded by a strong palisade.(8) Rebecca could observe, from the number of men placed for the defence of this post, that the besieged entertained apprehensions for its safety; and from the mustering of the assailants in a direction nearly opposite to the outwork, it seemed no less plain that it had been selected as a vulnerable point of attack.

These appearances she hastily communicated to Ivanhoe, and added, "The skirts of the wood seem lined with archers, although only a few are advanced from its dark shadow."

"Under what banner?" asked Ivanhoe.

"Under no ensign of war which I can observe," answered Rebecca.

"A singular novelty," muttered the knight, "to advance to storm such a castle without pennon or banner displayed!—Seest thou who they be who act as leaders?"

"A knight clad in sable armour is the most conspicuous," said the Jewess. "He alone is armed from head to heel, and seems to assume the direction of all around him."

"What device does he bear on his shield?" replied Ivanhoe.

"Something resembling a bar of iron and a padlock, painted blue on the black shield."

"A fetterlock and shacklebolt azure,"(9) said Ivanhoe. "I know not who may bear the device, but well I ween it might now be mine own. Canst thou not see the motto?"

"Scarce the device itself at this distance," replied Rebecca; "but when the sun glances fair upon his shield, it shows as I tell you."

"Seem there no other leaders?" exclaimed the anxious inquirer.

"None of mark and distinction that I can behold from this station," said Rebecca; "but, doubtless, the other side of the castle is also assailed. They appear even now preparing to advance……What a dreadful sight! Those who advance first bear huge shields, and defences made of plank; the others follow, bending their bows as they come on. They raise their bows!"……

Her description was here suddenly interrupted by the signal for assault, which was given by the blast of a shrill bugle, and at once answered by a flourish of the Norman trumpets from the battlements, which, mingled with the deep and hollow clang of the nakers (a species of kettledrum), retorted in notes of defiance the challenge of the enemy. The shouts of both parties augmented the fearful din, the assailants crying, "St. George for merry England!" and the Normans answering them with their battle-cries.

It was not, however, by clamour that the contest was to be decided, and the desperate efforts of the assailants were met by an equally vigorous defence on the part of the besieged. The archers, trained by their woodland pastimes to the most effective use of the long-bow, shot—to use the appropriate phrase of the time—so "wholly together," that no point at which a defender could show the least part of his person escaped their cloth-yard shafts.

By this heavy discharge, which continued as thick and sharp as hail, while, notwithstanding every arrow had its individual aim, they flew by scores together against each embrasure(10) and opening in the parapet,(11) as well as at every window where a defender either occasionally had post or might be suspected to be stationed—by this sustained discharge two or three of the garrison were slain, and several others wounded.

"And I must lie here like a bed-ridden monk!" exclaimed Ivanhoe, "while the game that gives me freedom or death is played out by the hands of others. Look from the window once again, kind maiden; but beware that you are not marked by the archers beneath. Look out once more, and tell me if they yet advance to the storm."

WORDS

animating, encouraging.

anxious, eager.

aperture, opening.

apprehensions, fears.

appropriate, proper.

assailed, attacked.

augmented, increased.

buckler, shield.

clamorous, noisy.

communication, connection.

conspicuous, prominent.

deliverance, freedom.

desperate, stupendous.

device, emblem.

distinction, particularity.

ensign, standard.

impatience, fretfulness.

instant, immediate.

interrupted, broken off.

meditated, intended.

novelty, new custom.

occasioned, caused.

peculiarly, singularly.

precincts, boundaries.

presaged, foretold.

promptitude, readiness.

random, chance.

resembling, like.

retorted, answered.

security, safety.

solicitude, anxiety.

sublimity, grandeur.

suspected, supposed.

temporary, provisional.

traversed, crossed.

tremendous, terrific.

vigorous, energetic.

vulnerable, weak.

QUESTIONS

Why was Ivanhoe unable to witness the assault? Who was tending him in prison? How was he made aware of what went on? What point was expected to be attacked first? What separated the barbican from the fortress? Who was the most conspicuous of the besiegers?

————————————————————

(1) Bartisan, a small overhanging turret projecting from the angle of a tower or wall.

(2) Lattice, the framework of laths or bars with which the window was filled.

(3) Postern gate—back or private gate [Lat. post,after.]

(4) Front-de-Bœuf: pronounce Frong-de-Buf.

(5) Moat, a trench surrounding a castle; often filled with water.

(6) Barbican, an outwork or detached fort, defending the entrance to a castle.

(7) Sally-port, a pert or gate through which the garrison made sallies, or sudden attacks on the besiegers.

(8) Palisade, a fence formed of stakes pointed at the top.

(9) A fetterlock and shacklebolt azure.—This is what Rebecca called "a bar of iron and a padlock painted blue," translated into the language of heraldry by Ivanhoe. Fetterlocks were fastened on the feet, shacklebolts on the wrists. A sure indicates that the device was painted blue; and it was on a black ground—field sable, as Ivanhoe afterwards expresses it.

(10) Embrasure loop-hole through which arrows were shot; new an opening in a wall through which cannon are fired.

(11) Parapet, the wall which screened the soldiers of the garrison from the besiegers; lit a breast-work; a work of earth or stone rising breast-high.

LESSON 46

THE SIEGE OF TORQUILSTONE (II)

WITH patient courage, strengthened by the interval which she had employed in mental devotion, Rebecca again took post at the lattice; sheltering herself, however, so as not to be visible from beneath.

"What dost thou see, Rebecca?" again demanded the wounded knight.

"Nothing but the cloud of arrows flying so thick as to dazzle mine eyes, and to hide the bowmen who shoot them."

"That cannot endure," said Ivanhoe. "If they press not right on to carry the castle by pure force of arms, the archery may avail but little against stone walls and bulwarks. Look for the Knight of the Fetterlock, fair Rebecca, and see how he bears himself; for as the leader is, so will his followers be."

"I see him not," said Rebecca.

"Foul craven!" exclaimed Ivanhoe; "does he blench(1) from the helm when the wind blows highest?"

"He blenches not! he blenches not!" said Rebecca; "I see him now. He leads a body of men close under the outer barrier of the barbican. They pull down the piles and palisades; they hew down the barriers with axes. His high black plume floats abroad over the throng, like a raven over the field of the slain. They have made a breach in the barriers—they rush in—they are thrust back! Front-de-Bœuf heads the defenders; I see his gigantic form above the press. They throng again to the breach, and the pass is disputed hand to hand, and man to man. It is like the meeting of two fierce tides—the conflict or two oceans moved by adverse winds!"

She turned her head from the lattice, as if unable longer to endure a sight so terrible.

"Look forth again, Rebecca," said Ivanhoe, mistaking the cause of her retiring; "the archery must in some degree have ceased, since they are now fighting hand to hand. Look again; there is now less danger."

Rebecca again looked forth, and almost immediately exclaimed, "Ah! Front-de-Bœuf and the Black Knight fight hand to hand in the breach, amid the roar of their followers, who watch the progress of the strife—Heaven strike with the cause of the oppressed and of the captive!" She then uttered a loud shriek, and exclaimed, "He is down!—he is down!"

"Who is down?" cried Ivanhoe; "tell me which has fallen."

"The Black Knight," answered Rebecca, faintly; then instantly shouted, with joyful eagerness—"But no!—but no!—he is on foot again, and fights as if there were twenty men's strength in his single arm. His sword is broken!—he snatches an axe from a yeoman—he presses Front-de-Bœuf with blow on blow. The giant stoops and totters like an oak under the steel of the woodman—he falls!—he falls!"

"Front-de-Bœuf?"exclaimed Ivanhoe.

"Front-de-Bœuf!" answered the Jewess. "His men rush to the rescue, headed by the haughty Templar—their united force compels the champion to pause—they drag Front-de-Bœuf within the walls."

"The assailants have won the barriers, have they not?" said Ivanhoe.

"They have!—they have!"exclaimed Rebecca; "and they press the besieged hard upon the outer wall. Some plant ladders, some swarm like bees, and endeavour to ascend on the shoulders of each other. Down go stones, beams, and trunks of trees upon their heads; and as fast as they bear the wounded to the rear, fresh men supply their places in the assault. Great God! hast thou given men thine own image that it should be thus cruelly defaced by the hands of their brethren?"

"Think not of that," said Ivanhoe; "this is no time for such thoughts. Who yield?—who push their way?"

"The ladders are thrown down," replied Rebecca, shuddering; "the soldiers lie grovelling under them like crushed reptiles—the besieged have the better."

"Ah!" exclaimed the knight; "do the false yeomen give way?"

"No!" exclaimed Rebecca; "they bear themselves right yeomanly. The Black Knight approaches the postern with his huge axe; the thundering blows which he deals,—you may hear them above all the din and shouts of the battle. Stones and beams are hailed down on the bold champion—he regards them no more than if they were thistle-down or feathers!"

"Ha!" said Ivanhoe, raising himself joyfully on his couch, "methought there was but one man in England(2) that might do such a deed!"

"The postern gateshakes," continued Rebecca; "it crashes—it is splintered by his blows—they rush in—the outwork is won! O God!—they hurl the defenders from the battlements—they throw them into the moat. O men, if ye be indeed men, spare them that can resist no longer!"

"The bridge—the bridge which communicates with the castle—have they won that pass?" exclaimed Ivanhoe.

"No," replied Rebecca; "the Templar has destroyed the plank on which they crossed. A few of the defenders have escaped with him into the castle—the shrieks and cries which you hear tell the fate of the others. Alas! I see it is even more difficult to look upon victory than upon battle."

"What do they now, maiden?" said Ivanhoe;"look forth yet again—this is no time to faint at bloodshed."

"It is over for the time," answered Rebecca. "Our friends strengthen themselves within the outwork which they have mastered; and it affords them so good a shelter from the foemen's shot, that the garrison only bestow a few bolts on it from time to time, as if rather to disquiet than effectually to injure them."

"Our friends," said Wilfred, "will surely not abandon an enterprise so gloriously begun and so happily attained. Oh, no! I will put my faith in the good knight whose axe hath rent heart-of-oak and bars of iron. Singular," he again muttered to himself, "if there be two who can do a deed of such derringdo!(3) A fetterlock and shackle-bolt on a field-sable—what may that mean?(4) Seest thou naught else, Rebecca, by which the Black Knight may be distinguished?"

"Nothing," said the Jewess; "all about him is black as the wing of the night raven. Nothing can I spy that can mark him further;—but having once seen him put forth his strength in battle, methinks I could know him again among a thousand warriors. He rushes to the fray as if he were summoned to a banquet. There is more than mere strength,—there seems as if the whole soul and spirit of the champion were given to every blow which he deals upon his enemies. God forgive him the sin of bloodshed!—it is fearful, yet magnificent, to behold how the arm and heart of one man can triumph over hundreds."

—SIR WALTER SCOTT(5)

WORDS

abandon, give up.

adverse, contrary.

barrier, fence.

bestow, deliver.

bulwarks, ramparts.

champion, hero.

defaced, disfigured.

destroyed, broken down.

difficult, trying.

disputed, contested.

disquiet, disturb.

distinguished, recognised.

eagerness, alacrity.

effectually, seriously.

endure, last.

enterprise, adventure.

gigantic, giant-like.

grovelling, prostrate.

joyfully, gladly.

magnificent, splendid.

mistaking, misunderstanding.

oppressed, afflicted.

sheltering, protecting.

shuddering, trembling.

splintered, shattered.

strengthen, fortify.

summoned, called.

yeomanly, bravely.

QUESTIONS

With whom did the Black Knight fight hand to hand in the breach made in the palisade? With what result? What advance did the besiegers then make? Who beat down the postern gate? What did Ivanhoe say when he heard of his valour? To whom did he refer? Why did not the besiegers reach the fortress? But what had they gained?

————————————————————

(1) Blench, become pale from fear; shrink. The meaning of Ivanhoe's question is"Does he shrink from guiding the ship when the storm is at its height, and there is most need of a strong hand?"

(2) .But one man in England.—Ivanhoe refers to King Richard I.

(3) Derringdo, desperate valour.

(4) What may that mean?—Ivanhoe here hints his belief that the Black Knight can be no other than King Richard himself, whose long imprisonment has plainly suggested the badge, or cognizance, on his shield.

(5) Sir Walter Scott, poet and novelist—born at Edinburgh in 1771—became a lawyer:chief poems, Lay of the Last Minstrel, Marmion, The Lady of the Lake, and The Lord of the Isles: author of the Waverley Novels: the above extract is from Ivanhoe, the most popular of his novels.—Lived at Abbotsford on the Tweed; died there in 1832.

LESSON 47

PENNSYLVANIA

IT was not till the year 1682 that the uneventful but quietly prosperous career of Pennsylvania(1) began. The Stuarts were again upon the throne of England. They had learned nothing from their exile; and now, with the hour of their final rejection at hand, they were as wickedly despotic as ever.

William Penn was the son of an admiral(2) who had gained victories for England, and enjoyed the favour of the royal family as well as of the eminent statesmen of his time. The highest honours of the State would in due time have come within the young man's reach, and the brightest hopes of his future were reasonably entertained by his friends.

To the dismay of all, Penn became a Quaker.(3) It was an unspeakable humiliation to the well-connected admiral. He turned his son out of doors, trusting that hunger would subdue his intractable spirit. After a time, however, he relented, and the youthful heretic was restored to favour. His father's influence could not shield him from persecution. Penn had suffered fine, and had lain in the Tower for his opinions.

Ere long the admiral died, and Penn succeeded to his possessions. It deeply grieved him that his brethren in the faith should endure such wrongs as were continually inflicted upon them. He could do nothing at home to mitigate the severities under which they groaned. Therefore he formed the great design of leading them forth to a new world. King Charles II. had owed to the admiral a sum of ￡16,000 of arrears, and this doubtful investment had descended from the father to the son. Penn offered to take payment in land, and the king readily bestowed upon him a vast region stretching westward from the river Delaware.(4)

Here Penn proposed to found a State free and self-governing. It was his noble ambition "to show men as free and as happy as they can be." He proclaimed to the people already settled in his new dominions that they should be governed by laws of their own making. "Whatever sober and free men can reasonably desire," he told them, "for the security and improvement of their own happiness, I shall heartily comply with." He was as good as his word. The people appointed representatives, by whom a Constitution was framed. Penn confirmed the arrangements which the people chose to adopt.

Penn dealt justly and kindly with the Indians, and they requited him with a reverential love such as they evinced to no other Englishman. The neighbouring colonies waged bloody wars with the Indians who lived around them—now inflicting defeats which were almost exterminating—now sustaining hideous massacres. Penn's Indians were his children and most loyal subjects. No drop of Quaker blood was ever shed by Indian hand in the Pennsylvanian territory.

Soon after Penn's arrival, he invited the chief men of the Indian tribes to a conference. The meeting took place beneath a huge elm-tree. The pathless forest has long ago given way to the houses and streets of Philadelphia,(5) but a marble monument points out to strangers the scene of this memorable interview. Penn, with a few companions, unarmed, and dressed according to the simple fashion of their sect, met the crowd of formidable savages.

They met, he assured them, as brothers "on the broad pathway of good faith and good will." No advantage was to be taken on either side. All was to be "openness and love." And Penn meant what he said. Strong in the power of truth and kindness, he bent the fierce savages of the Delaware to his will. They vowed "to live in love with William Penn and his children as long as the moon and the sun shall endure." They kept their vow. Long years after, they were known to recount to strangers, with deep emotion, the words which Penn had spoken to them under the old elm-tree.

The fame of Penn's settlement went abroad in all lands. Men wearied with the vulgar tyranny of kings heard gladly that the reign of freedom and tranquility was established on the banks of the Delaware. An asylum was opened "for the good and oppressed of every nation." Of these there was no lack. Pennsylvania had nothing to attract such "dissolute persons" as had laid the foundation of Virginia. But grave and God-fearing men from all the Protestant countries sought a home where they might live as conscience taught them.

The new colony grew apace. Its natural advantages were tempting. Penn reported it as "a good land, with plentiful springs, the air clear and fresh, and an immense quantity of wild-fowl and fish;—what Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be well contented with." During the first year, twenty-two vessels arrived, bringing two thousand persons. In three years Philadelphia was a town of six hundred houses. It was half a century from its foundation before New York attained equal dimensions.

When Penn, after a few years, revisited England, he was able truly to relate that "things went on sweetly with Friends in Pennsylvania; that they increased finely in outward things and in wisdom."

—ROBERT MACKENZIE

WORDS

asylum, refuge.

conference, interview.

contented, satisfied.

despotic, tyrannical.

dimensions, proportions.

dominions, territory.

eminent, distinguished.

exterminating, annihilating.

formidable, terrible.

hideous, dreadful.

humiliation, mortification.

improvement, advancement.

inflicted, imposed.

intractable, perverse.

investment, outlay.

memorable, celebrated.

mitigate, reduce.

proclaimed, announced.

prosperous, successful.

reasonably, warrantably.

recount, repeat.

requited, rewarded.

tempting, attractive.

tranquillity, peace.

uneventful, uniform.

QUESTIONS

In what year was Pennsylvania founded? Who was its founder? Why did his father quarrel with Penn? How did he get the land on which his State was founded? What did he proclaim to the people already settled there? How did he deal with the Indians? Where did he hold an interview with their chiefs? What did the latter vow? For whom was Pennsylvania an asylum? How many vessels arrived during the first year? How many persons? How soon did Philadelphia become a town of six hundred houses? How long was it before New York attained equal dimensions?

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(1) Pennsylvania, from Penn, and Lat. sylvanus, woody; from sylva, a wood.

(2) An admiral.—This was Admiral Sir William Penn. who commanded the English fleet at the taking of Jamaica from the Spaniards in 1655. He fought also in the great action in which the Dutch were defeated in 1665. He died in 1670.

(3) Quaker, a member of the Society of Friends, founded by George Fox about 1650. The name Quakers is said to have been given to them by an English judge whom Fox had admonished to "quake at the word of the Lord."

(4) River Delaware, flowing into Delaware Bay; which was named after Lord De la War, Governor of Virginia, who died on board ship at the mouth of the bay in 1617.

(5) Philadelphia, the third city of the United States in point of population. It was the capital or seat of the Congress till 1800. when Washington became the capital. The name—which originally belonged to Philadelphia in Lydia, one of the "seven churches" in Asia—means brotherly love. [Gr. plvilos, loving; adelphos, a brother.]

LESSON 48

THE SKY-LARK

BIRD of the wilderness,

Blithesome and cumberless,

Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea!

Emblem of happiness,

Blest is thy dwelling-place—

O to abide in the desert with thee!

Wild is thy lay and loud,

Far in the downy cloud;

Love gives it energy, love gave it birth.

Where, on thy dewy wing,

Where art thou journeying?

Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth.

O'er fell and fountain sheen,

O'er moor and mountain green,

O'er the red streamer that heralds the day;

Over the cloudlet dim,

Over the rainbow's rim,

Musical cherub, soar, singing, away!

Then, when the gloaming comes,

Low in the heather blooms

Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be!

Emblem of happiness,

Blest is thy dwelling-place—

O to abide in the desert with thee!

—JAMES HOGG(1)

WORDS

blithesome, sprightly.

cherub, angel.

cloudlet, little cloud.

cumberless, free from care.

emblem, token.

energy, strength.

fell, rocky hill.

gloaming, twilight.

heralds, announces.

journeying, travelling.

lea, meadow.

matin, morning song.

moorland, marshy ground.

sheen, bright.

wilderness, desert.

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(1) James Hogg, poet; born in Selkirkshire in 1770: he was a farmer, hence called the Ettrick Shepherd, but he was more successful as a poet; author of The Queen's Wake, containing the beautiful fairy ballad "Kilmeny;" wrote also songs and novels: the friend of Scott, Wilson, and Jeffrey. died in 1835.

LESSON 49

WEATHERING CAPE HORN

THE first introduction of my reader to the good ship Wales, whereby we pass to the Pacific, is as she is lying at the islands called Foul Weather Group, or the Falkland Islands.(1) Cape Horn(2) weather here begins, and the ship and her company put on their Cape Horn suit. This group of islands is so near the gate of the Pacific, though belonging to the Atlantic side, that an account of a ramble over the moss-covered rocks and penguin(3) roosts of the uninhabited land off which we now lie is no inappropriate introduction to the island world(4) we are just entering.

CAPS HORN

PENGUINS

Selecting a small indentation or bight in the cliff as a landing-place, what was our surprise to find what we had thought a facing of white stone to be innumerable penguins, standing erect, in the rank and file of battle array, upon the declivity of the rocks, and occupying at least two acres, in dense columns, away back to the moss and grass!……

To those who have never seen a picture of the penguin, it would be impossible to convey an idea by description of this odd amphibious(5) creature. It has the head, bill, and two web-feet of a bird, and stands erect on land, sometimes two and a half or three feet in height. Penguins have no wings, nor proper feathers, but a covering intermediate between fur and feather, and two fins or flippers like the seal. Their motion on land is by successive hops, in the most awkward manner conceivable. When going down a declivity, the centre of gravity is often thrown too far forward, and away they tumble, and scramble, and roll, till they get to the sea, in which they dive and swim with great celerity.

They are often seen singly, or two or three together, far out at sea. Their cry or bark is like the inarticulate human voice; and when all is clear and calm, and no object can be seen around the horizon, it will sometimes startle and appal one, sounding as it does, from the surface of the ocean, like the cry of a man in distress. Near the penguin quarter of this island were thousands of ducks sitting upon their eggs, which sailors and passengers destroyed with remorseless cruelty, shooting and knocking down the birds by hundreds in barbarous sport……

A month from the Falkland Islands, and this is the first day of smooth sea and warm sun we have enjoyed during all that time! Long and cold have been the days we have spent battling with the rough winds and mountainous seas off Cape Horn. Between south-west and south-east gales on the one side of the Cape, and north-west on the other, our course has been zig-zag and slow. Happily we have escaped injury, except the loss of a jib-boom,(6) and our ship remains tight in spite of all the straining.

We congratulate ourselves on having weathered the Cape in less time than it often takes, though it was more than is sometimes the fortune of the Cape Hern navigator. One of our seamen had twice before tried the passage, but without success; and after fifty-four days of most fatiguing warfare with contrary winds, his brig opened at the bow, and the crew were compelled to put about and run for Rio Janeiro,(7) where the damaged vessel and cargo were sold for the benefit of the underwriters,(8) and the voyage was abandoned.

A frigate was once fifty days off the Cape; yet it is not uncommon for vessels to make the Cape once, and after four or five weeks' sailing, to make it again. Hope is predominant that our tempestuous weather is over, and that a fortnight at the utmost will bring us to port. While the inmates of the cabin, like birds after a storm, are sunning themselves on deck, let those of my readers who purpose traversing with me the ISLAND WORLD take a leisurely survey of our first fortnight in the Pacific.

We little thought that doubling Cape Horn in summer would be so full of difficulty. Now we doubt whether it would be worse in mid-winter. It would seem as if the genii of storms ruled the realm. The ancients, had they known it, would have located the cave of Æolus(9) at the end of Tierra del Fuego,(10) in the side of one of those burning mountains. Auster(11) and Eurus, and Boreas and Euroclydon, and all the intermediate winds of the thirty-two points of the compass, seem to have arranged their forces so as most advantageously to dispute every inch of the way with the bold navigator.

Four other ships, which we caught sight of at different times, were contesting the passage in like manner with ourselves, through cold, and sleet, and opposing seas. All of us, we argued, cannot be baffled, and our own chance is as good as any. Patience held out with most. At every abatement of the gale, and interval of sunshine, the sailors would cheerfully hang up their sea-soaked clothes, joke over the perils of the storm, and equip themselves anew for reefing and tacking.(12)

It was truly pitiable, sometimes, at the hours for changing watches, to see the top of a sea break over the bow or quarter, and wet them all while pulling at the ropes; so that the watch just called must stay wet during their four hours of duty, and the watch going below must turn in dripping. A landsman could hardly help trembling for their safety, when they were ordered aloft to furl, while the ship was rolling so violently, and the wind blowing in such gusts of fury, that it seemed almost impossible for the to pmasts and yards to sustain the shocks.

For several days we were reduced to close-reefed fore and main topsails, the ship meantime rolling so tremendously that a man incurred no small risk of broken bones who should attempt to cross the deck, or stand for a moment anywhere without being firmly braced, or having a rope to hold by.

We did not get sight of the redoubtable Cape, but were driven off to the parallel of 60°, near the South Shetlands,(13) and afterwards made the land of Cape Desolation, on the western side of Tierra del Fuego. Discoverers have rightly named it, for we thought land had never seemed so bleak and desolate, snow lying between the hills and in the hollows of the mountains in this July of the South.

—CHEEVER

WORDS

abandoned, given up.

abatement, mitigation.

argued, reasoned.

arranged, disposed.

awkward, clumsy.

baffled, defeated.

celerity, quickness.

company, passengers.

conceivable, imaginable.

congratulate, compliment.

creature, animal.

declivity, slope.

desolate, lonely.

doubling, sailing round.

fatiguing, exhausting.

horizon, sky-line.

inappropriate, unsuitable.

inarticulate, indistinct.

incurred, ran.

indentation, bay.

innumerable, numberless.

intermediate, intervening.

leisurely, deliberate.

locāted, placed.

mountainous, billowy.

predominant, in the ascendant.

ramble, excursion.

redoubtable, formidable.

reefing, taking in sail.

remorseless, relentless.

tempestuous, stormy.

tremendously, frightfully.

QUESTIONS

What birds are found in large numbers on the Falkland Islands? On what element are penguins most at home? How do they move on land? What does their cry resemble?

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(1) Falkland Islands, a group of about two hundred small islands situated about three hundred miles from the eastern coast of Patagonia, in the south of South America, and the same distance from Tierra del Fuego. There is a population of over two thousand, consisting chiefly of British colonists from Buenos Ayres. Ships frequenting the south seas generally call at these settlements for fresh water and provisions.

(2) .Cape Horn, on an island south of Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost point of the New World.

(3) Penguin, a web-footed bird belonging to the Auk family. For description, see the third paragraph. The name has reference to the extreme fatness of the birds. [Lat. penguis, fat.]

(4) .Island world.—The South Pacific abounds in islands; from which circumstance the name Polynesia has been given to the region. [Gr. polys, many; nesos. an island.]

(5) .Amphibious, double-lived; capable of living both on land and in water. [Gr. amphi, both; bios, life.]

(6) Jib-boom, the spar which is run out from the extremity of the bowsprit, to stretch the jib-sail; which is so called because it jibs or shifts of itself with the wind. Boom is the same word as beam.

(7) Rio Janeiro (Reeo Janaro), the capital of Brazil, and the second largest and one of the most important cities in South America; situated on the eastern coast, on a magnificent bay.

(8) Underwriter, one who underwrites (subscribes) a policy of insurance on a ship, or on its cargo; hence an insurer.

(9) Æolus, the god or ruler of the winds. He had his abode in the islands to the north of Sicily, called the Lipari or Æolian Islands.

(10) Tierra del Fuego, a group of islands off the southern point of South America, from which it is separated by the Strait of Magellan. The name means,Land of Fire, and has reference to the volcanoes with which these islands abound.

(11) Auster, Eurus, Boreas, Euroclydon—classical names for the winds. Auster is the south wind; hence Australia. Eurus is the south-east wind. Boreas is the north wind; hence hyperborean, an inhabitant of the far north. Euroclydon is a tempestuous easterly wind which prevails in the Mediterranean Sea. By this wind St. Paul was shipwrecked on his voyage to Rome (Acts xxvii. 14). [Lat. Eurus, Gr. Euros, the south-east wind; kludon, a wave.]

(12) Tacking, changing the direction or tack in which the ship is sailing.The tack is properly the rope which tacks or fastens the lower corner of a square sail to the windward side, when sailing obliquely to the wind.

(13) South Shetlands, a group of islands about five hundred miles southeast of Cape Horn, not far from the Antarctic Circle.

LESSON 50

ON THE DOWNFALL OF POLAND

OH, sacred Truth! thy triumph ceased a while,

And Hope,(1) thy sister, ceased with thee to smile,

When leagued Oppression(2) poured to Northern wars

Her whiskered pandoors(3) and her fierce hussars;

Waved her dread standard to the breeze of morn

Pealed her loud drum, and twanged her trumpet born:

Tumultuous Horror brooded o'er her van;

Presaging wrath to Poland—and to man!

Warsaw's last champion(4) from her height surveyed

Wide o'er the fields a waste of ruin laid:

"O Heaven!" he cried, "my bleeding country save!

Is there no hand on high to shield the brave?

Yet, though Destruction sweep those lovely plains,

Rise, fellow-men! our country yet remains!

By that dread name we wave the sword on high!

And swear for her to live!—with her to die!"

He said; and on the rampart-heights arrayed

His trusty warriors,—few, but undismayed;

Firm-paced, and slow, a horrid front they form,

Still as the breeze, but dreadful as the storm;

Low, murmuring sounds along their banners fly,

"Revenge or death!"—the watchword and reply;

Then pealed the notes, omnipotent to charm,

And the loud tocsin(5) tolled their last alarm!

In vain, alas!—in vain, ye gallant few!

From rank to rank your volleyed thunder flew:—

Oh, bloodiest picture in the book of Time!

Sarmatia(6) fell, unwept, without a crime!

Found not a generous friend, a pitying foe,

Strength in her arms, nor mercy in her woe!

Dropped from her nerveless grasp the shattered spear,

Closed her bright eye, and curbed her high career:

Hope, for a season, bade the world farewell.

And Freedom shrieked—as KOSCIUSKO fell!

The sun went down, nor ceased the carnage there,—

Tumultuous Murder shook the midnight air;

On Prague's proud arch(7) the fires of Ruin glow,

His blood-dyed waters murmuring below;

The storm prevails—the rampart yields a way—

Bursts the wild cry of horror and dismay!

Hark! as the smouldering piles with thunder fall,

A thousand shrieks for hopeless mercy call!

Earth shook! red meteors flashed along the sky!

And conscious Nature shuddered at the cry!

Departed spirits of the mighty dead!

Ye that at Marathon(8) and Leuctra(9) bled!

Friends of the world! restore your swords to man,

Fight in his sacred cause, and lead the van!

Yet for Sarmatia's tears of blood atone,

And make her arm puissant as your own!

Oh! once again to Freedom's cause return

The patriot TELL(10)—the BRUCE(11) of Bannockburn!

—THOMAS CAMPBELL

WORDS

atone, make amends.

carnage, slaughter.

generous, kind.

hussars, cavalry.

leagued, confederated.

murmuring, whispering.

nerveless, feeble.

omnipotent, all-powerful.

patriot, lover of country.

pitying, compassionate.

puissant, powerful.

remains, abides.

restore, return.

shrieked, screamed.

shuddered, trembled.

smouldering, slowly burning.

surveyed, observed.

tumultuous, trubulent.

undismayed, fearless.

the whole, of his history, is now given up as mythical.

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(1) Hope.—This poem is from The Pleasures of Hope, Campbell's great work.

(2) Leagued Oppression.—In 1772, Poland having been greatly weakened by civil strife, Russia, Austria, and Prussia formed a league for its partition. They seized one-third of Poland. and divided it among them. Over the remainder, the real authority was in the hands of a Russian envoy, resident at Warsaw, the capital. In 1793 Russia and Prussia took advantage of the disturbed state of Europe to effect a further partition of Poland. The Poles rose in arms under Kosciusko, to recover their independence. After several successes they were defeated, and Kosciusko was taken prisoner. Warsaw was captured, and the patriots were massacred at the bridge of Praga. This led to the final partition of Poland in 1795. Campbell's poem was published in 1799. In 1832, Poland, as an Independent State, was abolished, but was re-established as an Independent Republic after the Great War.

(3) Pandoors.—Austrian light-armed infantry; so called from Pandour, a village in Hungary.

(4) Warsaw's last champion.—General Kosciusko, referred to in Note 2. On his accession, the Emperor Paul restored him to liberty, and handed him his sword; which Kosciusko declined, saying, "I have no more need of a sword, as I have no longer a country." He afterwards lived abroad—chiefly is France. He died in 1817.

(5) Tocsin, an alarm-bell.

(6) Sarmatia, ancient name for Poland.

(7) Prague's proud arch.—The bridge of Praga, a town east of Warsaw (not Prague in Bohemia), where the Polish patriots were cruelly massacred.

(8) Marathon, a village and plain, twenty-five miles from Athens, memorable for the defeat of the Persian hordes by the Greeks under Miltiades, B. C. 490.

(9) Leuctra, a village of Bœtia in Greece, where the Thebans, under Epaminondas, shattered the power of the Spartans, B.C. 371.

(10) Tell, the national hero of Switzerland; but, like that of King Arthur in England, much, if not

(11) Bruce.—Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, who delivered his country from the English yoke at the battle of Bannockburn, A.D. 1314.

LESSON 51

THE EYE (I)

IT is one of the prerogatives(1) of mam to have eyes. Many living creatures have none. The eyes which others—for example, the star-fishes—have, are mere sensitive points, dimly conscious of light and darkness, but not perceiving colours or distinguishing forms. The eyes of flies(2) are hard horny lanterns, which cannot be moved about like our restless eyes, but look always in the same direction; whilst spiders, having many more things to look after than one pair of such lanterns will suffice for, have eyes stuck all over their heads, and can watch a trapped gnat with one eye, and peer through a hole in their webs with another.

A FLY'S EYE(MAGNIFIED)

We are much better provided for than any of these creatures, although we have but two small orbs to see with. Think, first, how beautiful the human eye is, excelling in beauty the eye of every creature. The eyes of many of the lower animals are doubtless very beautiful. You must have admired the bold, fierce, bright eye of the eagle; the large, gentle, brown eye of the ox; the treacherous green eye of the cat, waxing and waning(3) like the moon, as the sun shines upon it or deserts it; the pert eye of the sparrow; the sly eye of the fox; the peering little bead of black enamel in the mouse's head; the gem-like eye which redeems the toad from ugliness;(4) and the intelligent, affectionate expression which looks out from the humanlike eye of the horse and the dog.

There are these and the eyes of many other animals full of beauty; there are none, indeed, which are not beautiful; but there is a glory which excelleth in the eye of man. We realize this fully only when we gaze into the faces of those we love. It is their eyes we look at when we are near them, and recall when we are far away. The face is a blank without the eye; and the eye seems to concentrate every feature in itself. It is the eye that smiles, not the lips; it is the eye that listens, not the ear; it that frowns, not the brow; it that mourns, not the voice. Every sense and every faculty seems to flow towards it, and find expression through it—nay, to be lost in it: for all must at times have felt as if the eye of another were not his, but he; as if it had not merely a life, but also a personality of its own; as if it were not only a living thing, but also a thinking being.

But apart from this source of beauty, in which man's eye must excel that of all other creatures as much as his spirit excels in endowments theirs; it is in itself, even when life has departed from it, and the soul no longer looks through its window, a beautiful and a very wonderful thing. Its beauty is, perhaps, most apparent in the eye of an infant, which, if you please, we shall suppose not dead, but only asleep with its eyes wide open. How large and round they are; how pure and pearly the white is, with but one blue vein or two marbling its surface; how beautiful the rainbow ring, opening its mottled circle wide to the light!

How sharply defined the pupil,(5) so black and yet so clear, that you look into it as into some deep, dark well, and see a little face look back at you, which you forget is your own, whilst you rejoice that the days are not yet come for those infant eyes when "they that look out of the windows shall be darkened"! And then, the soft pink curtains which we call eyelids, with their long silken fringes of eyelashes, and the unshed tears bathing and brightening all! How exquisite the whole! How precious in the sight of God must those little orbs be, when he has bestowed upon them so much beauty!

But apart altogether from that beauty which delights the painter, the human eye is a wondrous construction. Let us glance for a moment at its wonderfulness.

It is essentially a hollow globe, or small spherical chamber. There is no human chamber like it in form, unless we include among human dwelling-places the great hollow balls which surmount the Cathedral or Basilica Domes of St. Peter's.

THE HUMAN EYE

a. Cornea.

b. Aqueous humour.

c. Iris.

d. Pupil.

e. Crystalline lens.

f. Vitreous humour.

g. Retina.

h. Choroid.

i. Sclerotic coat.

j. Optic nerve.

The eye is such a ball. The larger part of it, which we do not see when we look in each other's faces, forms the white of the eye, and consists of a strong, thick, tough membrane, something like parchment, but more pliable. This forms the outer wall, as it were, of the chamber of the eye. It may be compared to the cup of an acorn; or to a still more familiar thing, an egg-cup; or to a round wine-glass with a narrow stem. It is strong, so that it cannot easily be injured; thick, so that light cannot pass through it; and round, so that it can be moved about in every direction, and let us see much better on all sides with a single pair of eyes than the spider can with its host of them.

In the front of the eye is a clear, transparent window,(6) exactly like the glass of a watch. If you look at a face sideways, you see it projecting with a bent surface like a bow-window, and may observe its perfect transparency. The eyelids, which I formerly described as curtains, may perhaps be better compared to a pair of outside shutters for this window, which are put up when we go to sleep, and taken down when we awake.

But these shutters are not useless, or merely ornamental, during the day. Every moment they are rising and falling; or, as we say, winking. We do this so unceasingly, that we forget that we do it at all. But the object of this unconscious winking is a very important one. An outside window soon gets soiled and dirty; and a careful shopkeeper cleans his windows every morning. But our eye-windows must never have so much as a speck or spot upon them; and the winking eyelid is the busy apprentice who, not once a day, but all the day, keeps the living glass clean: so that, after all, we are nearly as well off as the fishes, who bathe their eyes and wash their faces every moment.

Behind this ever-clean window, and at some distance from it, hangs that beautiful circular curtain which forms the coloured part of the eye, and in the centre of which is the pupil. It is named the iris,(7) which is only another name for the rainbow; for though we speak of eyes as simply blue, or gray, or black, because they have one prevailing tint, we cannot fail to notice that the ring of the eye is always variously mottled, and flecked or streaked with colours as the rainbow is.

This rainbow curtain, or iris, answers the same purpose which a Venetian blind does.(8) Like it, it can be opened and closed at intervals; and like it, it never is closed altogether. But it is a much more wonderful piece of mechanism than a Venetian blind, and it opens and closes in a different way.

There is nothing this iris so much resembles, both in shape and in mode of action, as that much-loved flower, the daisy.(9) The name signifies literally day's eye; the flower which opens its eye to the day, or when the day dawns. Shakespeare, who saw all analogies, referring to the similar action of the marigold,(10) in the morning song in Cymbeline,(11) tells how

"Winking Mary-buds begin

To ope their golden eyes."

The daisy and the iris agree in this, that their opening and closing are determined by their exposure to light or darkness: but they differ in this, that the daisy opens widest when the sun is at its height, and shuts altogether when the sun goes down; whilst the iris opens widest in utter darkness, and closes so as to make the pupil a mere black point when sunshine falls upon it.

If we wish to observe this in our own eyes, we need only close them for a little while before a looking-glass, so that the dropped eyelids may shut out the day, when, like shy night-birds, the living circles will stretch outwards; and the pupil of the eye, like a hole which the sun is melting in the ice, will quickly widen into a deep clear pool. If now we open our eyes, we see the rainbow-rings contract(12) as the light falls upon them, and the dark pupil rapidly narrow, like the well-head of a spring almost sealed by the frost.

But probably all have seen the movement I am describing in the eyes of a cat, where the change is more conspicuous than in our own eyes; and have noticed the broad iris spread out in twilight, till the look, usually so suspicious, softened into a mild glance; whilst when pussy is basking in the sun, as she dearly loves to do, she shows between her frequent winkings only a narrow slit for a pupil, like the chink of a shutter, or the space between the spars of a lattice-blind.

The endless motions of this living curtain, which, like the unresting sea, is ever changing its aspect, have for their object the regulation of the flow of light into the eye. When the permitted number of rays have passed through the guarded entrance, or pupil, they traverse certain crystal-like structures, which are now to be described.

WORDS

affectionate, loving.

analogies, comparisons.

apparent, manifest.

apprentice, assistant.

bestowed, expended.

circular, round.

compared, likened.

concentrate, bring to a focus.

conspicuous, obvious.

determined, regulated.

endowments, talents.

essentially, fundamentally.

example, instance.

excelling, surpassing.

exposure, subjection.

exquisite, perfect.

faculty, mental power.

familiar, well known.

intelligent, thoughtful.

literally, radically.

mechanism, machinery.

membrance, tissue.

mottled, variegated.

ornamental,decorative.

permitted, allowed.

personality, individuality.

pliable, easily bent.

precious, valuable.

prevailing, general.

probably, likely.

projecting, jutting out.

provided, furnished.

rapidly, quickly.

regulation, control.

restless, roving.

sensitive, susceptible.

spherical, globular.

surmount, rise above.

suspicious, distrustful.

traverse, cross.

treacherous, faithless.

unceasingly, constantly.

unresting, ever-moving.

QUESTIONS

What is peculiar in the eyes of flies and spiders? Mention some of the lower animals that have beautiful eyes. Why does the eye of man excel all these? When is its beauty most apparent? What part of it looks like a deep, dark well? What do you always see in it? What is the shape of the whole organ as it exists in the head? Of what does the larger part of it consist? What is there in front of the eye? What purposes do the eyelids serve? What is the iris? What purpose does it serve? What flower does it much resemble? With what great difference? How may we observe the contracting of the iris? In what animal are its changes most perceptible?

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(1) Prerogative, privilege, lit. right of voting before others. [Lat. pr.rogatious, asked before others (for a vote or opinion); from prœ, before; rogo, I ask.]

(2) The eyes of flies.—A fly's eye is composed of a great number of little eyes, so placed as to look in many different directions. In each of a fly's eyes there are four thousand of these smaller eyes!

(3) Waxing and waning—growing larger and smaller in apparent size. To wane is lit. to grow wan, pale, weak.

(4) Redeems the toad from ugliness.—Shakespeare, who extracted poetry from the commonest objects in nature, says:—

"Sweet are the uses of adversity,

Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,

Wears yet a precious jewel in his head."

(5) The pupil—the dark spot in the centre of the eye. So called from the "little face" which you see in it whenever you examine it [Lat. pupillus, a little boy.]

(6) Transparent window—called the cornea, being tough and horn-like. [Lat. cornu, horn.]

(7) The iris—the coloured ring which surrounds the pupil. and serves the purpose of a curtain. [Lat. iris. the rainbow.]

(8) Venetian blind—a window-blind, consisting of thin plates of wood set transversely in a frame, or hung in bands. The blind is closed by the plates overlapping one another.

(9) Daisy, lit. day's eye, a corruption of the Old Eng. dages edge. Chaucer says:—"That well by reason men call it may. The deisie, or else the eye of day."

(10) Marigold, the golden flower dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

(11) Cymbeline, one of Shakespeare's plays.

(12) The rainbow-rings contract.—This explains also why, if we pass suddenly from a light room into a dark one, we are at first blinded completely, but by-and-by begin to distinguish objects around us. We pause for a moment till the iris has adapted itself to the amount of light in the room. Similarly, if we return suddenly to the light room, we are bewildered by the amount of light which the enlarged pupil admits, and do not feel comfortable till the iris has again contracted itself.

LESSON 52

THE EYE (II)

BEHIND the iris is a lens,(1) as opticians call it, or magnifying-glass. We are most familiar with this portion of the eye as it occurs in fishes, looking in the recently-caught creature like a small ball of glass, and changing into what resembles a ball of chalk, when the fish is boiled. This lens is enclosed in a transparent covering, which is so united at its edges to the walls of the eye that it stretches like a piece of crystal between them; and in front of it, filling the space dividing the lens from the watch-glass-like window, is a clear, transparent liquid,(2) like water, in which the iris floats.

Further: the lens is set like the jewel-stone of a ring, in what looks, when seen detached, like a larger sphere of crystal; but which in reality is a translucent(3) liquid contained in an equally translucent membrane: so that the greater part of the eye is occupied with fluid; and the chamber, after all, which it most resembles is that of a diving-bell full of water.

Lastly: all the back part of the eye has spread over its inside surface, first a thin white membrane,(4) resembling cambric or tissue paper, and behind that a dark curtain;(5) so that it resembles a room with black cloth hung next to the wall, and a white muslin curtain spread over the cloth. The latter curtain, or retina, seen alone, is like a flower-cup, such as that of a white lily; and, like it, ends in a stem, which anatomists(6) name the optic nerve. The stem, in its turn, after passing through the black curtain, is planted in the brain, and is in living connection with it.

Altogether, then, our eye is a chamber shaped like a globe, having one large window, provided with shutters outside, and with a self-adjusting blind within. For the rest, it is filled with a glassy liquid, and has two wall papers, or curtains, one white and the other black.

How small this eye-chamber is we all know; but it is large enough. A single tent sufficed to lodge Napoleon and Nelson guided the fleets of England from one little cabin. And so it is with the eye: it is set apart for the reception of one guest, whose name is Light, but also Legion; and as the privileged entrant counsels, the great arms and limbs of the body are set in motion.

Within our eyes, at every instant, a picture of the outer world is painted by the pencil of the Sun, on the white curtain at the back of the eye; and when it has impressed us for a moment, the black curtain absorbs and blots out the picture, and the Sun paints a new one, which in its turn is blotted out; and so the process goes on all the day long.

What a strange thing this is! We speak of seeing things held before our eyes, as if the things themselves pressed in upon us, and thrust themselves into the presence of our spirits. But it is not so. You no more, any one of you, see my face at this moment, than you ever saw your own. You have looked at times into a mirror, and seen a something, beautiful or otherwise, which you have regarded as your face: yet it was but the reflection from a piece of glass you saw; and whether the glass dealt fairly with you or not you cannot tell; but this is certain, your own face you have never beheld.

And as little do you see mine. Some hundred portraits of me, no two the same, are at this moment hanging, one on the back wall of each of your eye-chambers. It is these portraits you see, not me. And I see none of you, but only certain likenesses, two for each of you, a right-eye portrait and a left-eye portrait, both very hasty and withal inaccurate sketches. And so it is with the whole visible world. It is far off from us when it seems nearest. Darkness abolishes it altogether. The mid-day sun but interprets it; and we know it not in the original, but only in translation.

Face to face we shall never meet this visible world, or gaze eye to eye upon it. We know only its picture, and cannot tell whether that is faithful or not; but it cannot be altogether faithless, and we must accept it, as we do the transmitted portraits of relatives we have never seen, or the sculptured heads of men who died ages before us. On those we gaze, not distrusting them, yet not altogether confiding in them; and we must treat the outward world in the same way.

What a strange interest thus attaches to that little darkened chamber of the eye! Into it the sun and the stars, the earth and the ocean, the glory and the terror of the universe, enter upon the wings of light, and demand audience of the soul. And from its mysterious abiding-place the soul comes forth, and in twilight they commune together. No one but HE who made them can gaze upon the unveiled majesty of created things. We could not look upon them and live; and therefore it is that here we see all things "through [or rather in] a glass darkly," and are permitted only to gaze upon their shadows in one small, dimly-lighted chamber……

The eye so triumphs over space, that it traverses in a moment the boundless ocean which stretches beyond our atmosphere, and takes home to itself stars which are millions of miles away; and so far is it from being fatigued by its flight, that, as the wise king(7) said, It "is not satisfied with seeing." Our only physical conception of limitless Infinity is derived from the longing of the eye to see further than the furthest star.

And its empire over time is scarcely less bounded. The future it cannot pierce; but our eyes are never lifted to the midnight heavens without being visited by light which left the stars from which it comes untold centuries ago; and suns which had burned out, æons(8) before Adam was created, are shown to us as the blazing orbs which they were in those immeasurably distant ages, by beams which have survived their source through all that time.

How far we can thus glance backwards along a ray of light, and literally gaze into the deepest recesses of time, we do not know; and as little can we tell how many ages will elapse after our sun's torch is quenched, before he shall be numbered among lost stars by dwellers in the sun most distant from us; yet assuredly it is through the eye that we acquire our most vivid conception of what Eternity, in the sense of unbeginning and unending time, may mean.

—GEORGE WILSON(9)

WORDS

absorbs, sucks in.

acquire, obtain.

assuredly, certainly.

atmosphere, air-ocean.

audience, hearing.

commune, converse.

conception, notion.

connection, communication.

crystal, fine glass.

detached, separated.

distrusting, doubting.

immeasurably, incal-culably.

impressed, engaged.

inaccurate, incorrect.

interprets, translates.

likenesses, portraits.

magnifying, enlarging.

mysterious, hidden.

occupied, filled.

privileged, favoured.

quenched, extinguished.

reception, admission.

regarded, considered.

resembles, looks like.

sculptured, carved.

survived. outlived.

transmitted, handed down.

QUESTIONS

What is behind the iris? In what is the lens set? What has the back part of the eye spread over it? What is the curtain called? What connects this with the brain? What is gong on every instant within our eyes? What becomes of that picture when we look at a new object? Does one person actually see another when he turns his eyes towards him? What then does he see? What, in like manner, do we know of the world? How does the eye triumph over space? What does Solomon say of it? How does it triumph over time? Of what mystery does it afford us our most vivid conception?

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(1) Lens, a piece of crystal or other transparent substance, convex (curved outwards) on one or both sides. The glasses of spectacles and of telescopes are lenses. Lenses are so called from their resemblance in shape to lentil seeds. This lens in the eye is called the crystalline lens.

(2) Transparent liquid, called the aqueous humour.

(3) Translucent, transmitting light. [Lat. trans, across; lux, lucis, light.] This liquid is called the vitreous humour, from its resemblance to melted glass. [Lat. vitrum, glass.]

(4) White membrane—the retina; so called from the net-work of nerves of which it is composed. [Lat. rete, a net.]

(5) Dark curtain—the jet-black surface of the choroid.

(6) Anatomists, persons skilled in anatomy, or the examination of the parts of the body by dissection.[Gr. ana, up; temno, I cut.]

(7) The wise king—Solomon. The quotation is from Eccles i. 8: "The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing."

(8) Æons, ages; incomprehensible periods of time [Gr aion, an age; eis aion, for ever and ever.]

(9) George Wilson, chemist and natural philosopher; born at Edinburgh in 1818; appointed Professor of Technology in Edinburgh University in 1855; author of The Five Gateways of Knowledge; died in 1859.

LESSON 53

THE SHIPWRECK

THERE were two fathers in this ghastly crew,

And with them their two sons, of whom the one

Was more robust and hardy to the view;

But he died early: and when he was gone,

His nearest messmate(1) told his sire, who threw

One glance on him, and said, "Heaven's will be done

I can do nothing;" and he saw him thrown

Into the deep, without a tear or groan.

The other father had a weaklier child,

Of a soft cheek, and aspect delicate;

But the boy bore up long, and with a mild

And patient spirit held aloof his fate:

Little he said, and now and then he smiled,

As if to win a part from off the weight

He saw increasing on his father's heart,

With the deep, deadly thought, that they must part.

And o'er him bent his sire, and never raised

His eyes from off his face, bat wiped the foam

From his pale lips, and ever on him gazed:

And when the wished-for shower at length was come

And the boy's eyes, with the dull film half glazed,

Brightened, and for a moment seemed to roam,

He squeezed from out a rag some drops of rain

Into his dying child's mouth;—but in vain!

The boy expired. The father held the clay,

And looked upon it long; and when at last

Death left no doubt, and the dead burden lay

Stiff on his heart, and pulse and hope were past,

He watched it wistfully until away

'Twas borne by the rude wave wherein 'twas cast;

Then he himself sank down all dumb and shivering,

And gave no sign of life, save his limbs quivering.

'Twas twilight, and the sunless day went down

Over the waste of waters; liker a veil,

Which, if withdrawn, would but disclose the frown

Of one whose hate is masked but to assail.

Thus to their hopeless eyes the night was shown,

And grimly darkled o'er their faces pale,

And the dim, desolate deep: twelve days had Fear

Been their familiar,(2) and now Death(3) was here.

Then rose from sea to sky the wild farewell—

Then shrieked the timid, and stood still the brave—

Then some leaped overboard with dreadful yell,

As eager to anticipate their grave;

And the sea yawned around her, like a hell,

And down she sucked with her the whirling wave,

Like one who grapples with his enemy,

And strives to strangle him before he die.

And first one universal shriek there rushed,

Louder than the loud ocean—like a crash

Of echoing thunder; and then all was hushed,

Save the wild wind and the remorseless dash

Of billows; but at intervals there gushed,

Accompanied by a convulsive splash,

A solitary shriek, the bubbling cry

Of some strong swimmer in his agony.

—LORD BYRON (1788-1824)

WORDS

anticipate, foretaste.

aspect, appearance.

assail, attack.

brightened, gleamed.

convulsive, spasmodic.

darkled, grew dark.

delicate, weakly.

disclose, reveal.

expired, died.

ghastly, hideous.

patient, enduring.

remorseless, pitiless.

robust, strong.

shivering, trembling.

squeezed, pressed.

universal, general.

wistfully, longingly.

yawned, gaped.

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(1) Messmate, a mate or companion. who eats at the same table with another. Mess is lit, something served or sent up. [Lat. missus; It. messa.]

(2) Familiar, a demon or evil spirit, who was supposed always to be within call, like a servant or attendant. [Lat. famulus, an attendant, a slave.]

(3) Death, like Fear in the preceding line, is personified.

LESSON 54

THE FIVE GREAT OCEANS(1)

THE ARCTIC OCEAN

A CIRCLE round the Earth at 1600 miles from the North Pole as a centre is called the Arctic Circle. All the land and sea within the Arctic Circle form what we call the North Frigid Zone. Very little is known regarding the region round the North Pole; but recent discoveries lead us to believe that it is surrounded by a vast open sea, forming the Arctic Ocean.

The lands around the Arctic Ocean form a vast treeless waste, exposed to the cold winds which sweep over it from the Polar Seas.

This dreary, desolate region, covers a space larger than the whole of Europe. It extends over the north or Europe, Asia, and America, round the globe,

In the Polar regions, the sun is one half of the year above and the other half below the horizon. There is but one long, dreary night, of six months. But the gloom of the Arctic winter is often relieved by the magnificent spectacle of the Aurora Borealis, which shines in these northern regions with a brilliancy unknown in other lands.

In Europe, the north of Norway is within the Arctic Circle; but here the climate is milder, owing to the influence of the warmer waters of the Atlantic, and of the prevailing south-westerly winds. Lapland and a small part of Russia are also within the Arctic Circle.

The north of Asia lies within the Arctic Circle. Here three mighty rivers—the Obi, the Lena, and the Yenisei—pour their waters into the Arctic Ocean. These rivers flow through the dreary plains of Northern Siberia; and, as they come from a warmer to a colder region, they become more and more clogged with ice as they approach the ocean. At last they overflow their banks, and convert the regions around them into a vast dismal swamp, making the northern part of Asia a barren, desolate waste. There is no pasture for cattle, as in Norway and Sweden, and even the hardiest grains cannot grow on these desolate shores.

The Arctic portion of North America is covered with snow and ice nearly the whole year. Here another of the giant rivers of the Earth (the Mackenzie River) discharges its waters into the Arctic Ocean, after a course of above 1200 miles.

In winter an awful silence reigns over this vast region, as scarcely a living thing remains when the Arctic summer has ended; but in spring enormous flights of birds come from the south, and find abundance of food in the lakes and rivers, and along the fish-teeming coasts. In some places these flocks of birds are so numerous, that they may be said to darken the sun when they fly, and to hide the sea when they swim. But as soon as the first frosts announce the approach of winter, nearly all the animals of these dreary regions hasten to the south.

The ARCTIC OCEAN forms a circle bounded by the northern coasts of Europe, Asia, and America. It is studded with islands, most of which lie along the northern coasts of America, and form a vast archipelago to the west or Greenland.

For more than three centuries, successive generations of brave and skilful navigators tried to discover a north-west passage to the Pacific through this region of ice. Of all the great enterprises of the world, not one has been so enthusiastically taken up, so ably and resolutely prosecuted, and so tardily accomplished. When at length the secret was won, the victor perished in the hour of triumph. The North-West Passage was discovered by Sir John Franklin in 1847, but not until the autumn of 1859 did the news reach England. Franklin died in 1847, and his gallant company of one hundred and thirty-four tried men all perished in those dark Arctic regions.

The largest island in the Arctic Ocean is Greenland. Its northern stores have never been reached, but enough of its coasts has been explored to show that it is an island about ten times the size of the British Isles. The west coast of Greenland is mountainous, and its valleys are blocked up with glaciers.

A glacier is a river of ice. Though it does not seem to move, yet it slowly forces its way down the valley till it reaches the sea. As it pushes its way further and further into the sea, the projecting part begins to float, and the rising tide breaks it off in huge fragments. These glacier fragments are the icebergs which are found floating in the Arctic seas. They are of various sizes. Some of them measure only a few yards; others are miles in circumference, and sometimes hundreds of feet high. One of the sublimest spectacles that can be seen in the Arctic seas is a fleet of icebergs lighted up with the glories of the setting sun.

Many of these icebergs, formed from the glaciers of Greenland, float far away into the Atlantic, where they slowly melt as they drift towards the south.

Besides the islands on the northern coasts of America. there are, further east, Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. Spitzbergen lies midway between Norway and the North Pole. Nova Zembla forms a group of islands lying to the north of Russia.

It is an interesting fact that at some parts the water of the Arctic Ocean is warmer below than at the surface. This is owing to the circumstance that the warmer waters of the Atlantic are constantly flowing in, while cold currents are constantly flowing out. At the surface intense cold prevails, while the water remains warm below. The severity of the Polar winter is thus unfelt beneath, and myriads of creatures find a secure retreat against the frost which reigns supreme above. They form the food of the whale, the walrus, and other creatures which abound in the Northern seas.

Though ice covers the sea for many hundreds of miles, there are always immense spaces of open water, where the whale, the walrus, and the seal are found. Without such open spaces these creatures could not exist; for they are warm-blooded animals, and constantly require to come to this surface to breathe.

THE ANTARCTIC OCEAN

A circle of 1600 miles round the South Pole as a centre is called the Antarctic Circle. All the land and sea within this circle form the South Frigid Zone. It is in extent exactly similar to the North Frigid Zone. The ocean within it is called the ANTARCTIC OCEAN. Very little is known about this part of the Earth's surface. It is a region of ice and snow.

Land has been discovered at various points, but it is even more desolate and barren than the lands of the Arctic regions. No human being, no land quadruped has been found; no plant of any kind, not even a moss or a lichen, has been seen—all is one dreary, uninhabitable waste. But though neither quadruped nor plant has been found on the land, there are innumerable sea-birds; and the whale, the dolphin, and the seal abound in the sea.

Many suppose that there is a vast continent in this part of the globe, occupying a large portion of the Antarctic regions. Sir James Ross, in an expedition to the Antarctic Ocean, made some interesting discoveries. He saw a lofty mountain-chain stretching away to the South Pole. It contained several volcanoes, one of which he called Mount Erebus, from the name of his ship. This mountain, towering up in a region of snow and ice, rose to a height of 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. It was seen only from a great distance, as an impenetrable barrier of ice prevented the ship from approaching the land.

THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

The ATLANTIC OCEAN lies between the Old World and the New. On the one side are Europe and Africa, on the other side North and South America. The waters of the Atlantic extend from Greenland to the southern extremities of Africa and South America, a distance of about 9000 miles. At the north it unites with the Arctic Ocean, between Norway and Greenland. At the south it joins the Pacific, the Indian, and the Antarctic Oceans.

The Atlantic Ocean exceeds all the other oceans in the number of its seas and gulfs.

PRINCIPAL SEAS—EAST

The principal Seas on the eastern side of the Atlantic are the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Mediterranean with the Black Sea.

1. The NORTH SEA is about 600 miles from north to south. Its width varies from 100 to 400 miles.

From the mouth of the Thames to Holland it is 100 miles wide, and in this part it is comparatively shallow, and beset with sand-banks. Near the mouth of the Thames are the celebrated Goodwin Sands, a dangerous range of shoals. Floating lights have long been fixed here, and some lofty beacons erected; still this part of the coast is the scene of numerous shipwrecks every year. It has been more fatal to life and property than any other part of the coast of England. Sand-banks also stretch all along the coast of Holland.

Between Scotland and Denmark the North Sea is 400 miles wide. Between Scotland and Norway, it is 300 miles wide, and of great depth near Norway.

The parts of the Continent opposite Britain are:—

The principal Seaports on the Continent, opposite Britain, are:—

In ancient times the North Sea was the scene of the exploits of the Scandinavian sea-kings, and across its waters sailed the various tribes that successively landed on the coasts of Britain and settled in the British Islands after the breaking up of the Roman Empire.

The Angles came from the south of Denmark, and the Saxons from Northern Germany, about A. D. 449. The Danes came from Denmark, A. D. 787.

These tribes gradually drove back the original Celtic inhabitants; whose descendants, however, to this day occupy a considerable portion of the British Islands. The inhabitants of Wales, Ireland, and the Highlands of Scotland, are chiefly of Celtic origin.

At a later period (A. D. 1066), the Normans—who, like the Danes, were originally Norsemen—came from the north of France across the English Channel, and conquered England.

2. The BALTIC SEA lies between the Baltic States and Sweden. It is a long narrow sea with several branches. Its northern half is called the Gulf of Bothnia. Its other branches are the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga.

It is mostly very shallow, and subject to severe storms. A number of large rivers flow into it, and make its waters comparatively fresh.

The Countries on the shores of the Baltic are:—ESTHONIA, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, EAST PRUSSIA, DENMARK, and SWEDEN. A large trade is carried on between Britain and these countries. The chief articles received from them are timber, wheat, flax, hemp, tallow, and hides.

The entrance to the Baltic from the North Sea is called the Skager Rack on the one side of Jutland, and the Cattegat on the other.

3. The MEDITERRANEAN SEA is, in some respects, the most interesting sea in the world. From the earliest days to the present time its shores have been the scene of many of the greatest events of history. It was the great highway of commerce among the civilized nations of ancient times. On its coasts lay ancient GREECE, ITALY, CARTHAGE, EGYPT, PHOENICIA, and PALESTINE.

The entrance to the Mediterranean from the Atlantic is by the Strait of Gibraltar, 11 miles wide at its narrowest part. From this point to the coast of Syria the Mediterranean is nearly 2500 miles long.

The heat on the shores of the Mediterranean is very great, and the evaporation over so large a surface of water land-locked on all sides is enormous. Though many large rivers flow into it, they are not sufficient to make up the loss caused by evaporation. A strong current therefore is found to flow into it from the Atlantic at the Strait of Gibraltar, which is only partially reduced by an under-current outwards at the same place. The Mediterranean is almost a "tideless sea;" but at some places the tide rises several inches.

The principal branches of the Mediterranean are, the Adriatic Sea, between Italy and Yugo-Slavia; and the Archipelago or Ægea Sea, between Greece and Asia Minor. The eastern portion of the Mediterranean is called the Levant. On the south of France is the Gulf of Lions, and at the north of Italy is the Gulf of Genoa.

The principal Rivers which flow into the Mediterranean are the Rhone, from France; the Po, from Italy; and the Nile, from Egypt. Besides these, the waters of the Danube, the Dnieper, and the Don, come to the Mediterranean from the Black Sea by the Sea of Marmora.

The Countries on the shores of the Mediterranean are:—

Syria and Palestine form the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.

The principal Islands in the Mediterranean are, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, and Cyprus. Besides these, there is a large number of smaller islands; one of which, Malta, to the south of Sicily, belongs to Britain. It lies about midway between Gibraltar and Egypt.

The Mediterranean is separated from the Red Sea by the narrow Isthmus of Suez. A great ship-canal across the isthmus was, after ten years of labour, constructed by a French engineer named Lesseps. The waters of the two seas are united, and ships can now sail from Europe to India, China, Australia, &c., without having to pass either round the south of Africa or round Cape Horn.

4. The BLACK SEA lies between Russia and Turkey-in-Asia. It is connected with the Mediterranean by the Bosphorus, Sea of Marmora, and the Dardanelles.

On the north of the Black Sea is the Crimea, a peninsula of Russia, famous for the siege of Sebastopol, the chief city of the Crimea, and, at the time of the war (1854-56), a great naval station of Russia.

At the entrance to the Black Sea is the Golden Horn, on which stands the city of Constantinople, the former capital of the Turkish Empire.

Three great Rivers flow into the Black Sea: the Danube, through Austria, Hungary, Yugo-Slavia, Romania, and Bulgaria; and the Dnieper and the Don (into the Sea of Azov), from Russia.

The Countries on the shores of the Black Sea are:—RUSSIA, ROMANIA, BULGARIA, TURKEY, ARMENIA, and GEORGIA.

Large quantities of wheat, grown in the south of Russia and in the countries of the Danube, are exported by way of the Black Sea.

PRINCIPAL SEAS—WEST

The principal Seas on the western side of the Atlantic are Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, Hudson Bay, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.

1. DAVIS STRAIT and BAFFIN BAY (named after two great English navigators, who discovered them) lie between Greenland and the northern coasts of America. Through these seas nearly all the expeditions to the Polar6 regions have passed. Baffin Bay is now the principal resort of the whaling ships in the North Atlantic.

By Smith Sound, to the north of Baffin Bay, many explorers attempted to reach the Pole. Here, in 1854, were discovered the shores of an open sea free of ice, stretching away to the Pole. By the same route the Pole itself was reached by Commander Peary in 1909.

2. HUDSON BAY is named from the celebrated Henry Hudson, one of the boldest and most successful of the early English navigators. It was discovered by him in 1609, and hero that brave seaman perished. A mutiny broke out among his men, and he and several sick sailors were put into a small boat and cast adrift. The carpenter of the ship alone refused to remain with the mutineers, nobly preferring to share the fate of his brave commander. The boat was never seen or heard of more.

Hudson Bay forms a vast inland sea in the very heart of British America. Its shores are covered with ice for the greater part of the year. The principal entrance from the Atlantic is called Hudson Strait.

3. The GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE is one of the most important inlets on the coasts of America. It is a wide bay lying between the Island of Newfoundland and Canada. At its western extremity is the mouth of the River St. Lawrence, the great river of Canada. During summer, steamers and vessels of all kinds are constantly crossing the gulf on their way to Quebec and Montreal, or from the St. Lawrence to Europe. In winter, owing to the ice, the navigation is closed. The fisheries in the Gulf of St. Lawrence are very extensive and valuable.

On the coast, to the south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is a long narrow inlet called the Bay of Fundy, remarkable for the great height and violence of its tides. These usually rise to a height of sixty or seventy feet, and are caused by the vast flow of water from the Atlantic forcing itself into so narrow a channel.

4. The GULF OF MEXICO lies between Mexico and the United States. It is an immense sea, nearly 1000 miles long, and about 500 miles broad.

Into it flow the waters of the Mississippi, and many other smaller rivers from the United States and Mexico.

It gives its name to the celebrated Gulf Stream, the most remarkable ocean current in the world.

The Gulf Stream is a current of warm water which flows into the Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico. Its water, heated under the burning sun of the tropics, first flows from the Atlantic along the northern shores of South America. It then enters the Caribbean Sea, and from it flows into the Gulf of Mexico: hence the name Gulf Stream. There, hemmed in, it sweeps round the gulf and rushes with great force through the Strait of Florida back into the Atlantic.

Its course is so well marked, that at some places the bow of a ship may be in the Gulf Stream and the rest of the vessel out of it. This has been shown by noticing the difference between the temperature of the water at the bow of the vessel and that amidships. From Florida it flows northward to Newfoundland, gradually increasing in width. From Newfoundland its waters spread over the surface of the colder waters of the Atlantic, one branch turning southward, and another eastward. The southern branch encircles a great space called the Sargasso Sea, which is covered for hundreds of miles with thick sea-weed. The eastern branch slowly crosses the Atlantic to the shores of Europe.

The air over the Gulf Stream is loaded with warmth and moisture, and makes the climate of the British Islands much milder than it otherwise would be. On the opposite side of the Atlantic lies the coast of Labrador—a region of ice and snow. Were it not for the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, the harbours and rivers of Britain would be blocked up with ice for a great part of the year. The influence of the Gulf Stream is felt as far as the north of Norway, where it mingles with the icy waters of the Polar Seas.

5. The CARIBBEAN SEA lies south of the Gulf of Mexico, and is connected with it. The two together form the great opening between North and South America.

BED OF THE ATLANTIC

The depths of the Atlantic have been sounded and surveyed by the British and the American navies, so that we now know, to a considerable extent, the character of its bed or bottom. Its greatest depth is about six miles. One result of these measurements is the certain knowledge we now possess that the bed of the ocean, like the land, is diversified by mountains and valleys, hills, table-lands, and plains.

Between Newfoundland and Ireland the bed of the Atlantic is remarkably level. Here, in the still waters at the bottom, lie the Atlantic Cables, by which messages are ever flashing across the ocean from one hemisphere to another.

The Atlantic contains few Islands compared with the vast number in the Pacific Ocean. The principal islands in the Atlantic are Iceland, the British Islands, Newfoundland, and the West India Islands.

The Countries which lie opposite each other on the two sides of the Atlantic are:—

South America extends further south than Africa, so that there is no land opposite Patagonia on its eastern side.

The Atlantic is the great highway of commerce. On its waters are constantly sailing the ships of all the maritime nations of the Earth.

To the coasts of Greenland and Labrador ships sail to hunt the whaleand the seal; and they return laden with oil, whalebone, and sealskin.

From Canada and the other British provinces ships cross the Atlantic with timber, wheat, flour, furs, and other productions.

From the United States come cotton, wheat, tobacco, rice, flour, & c.

From the West Indies we get sugar, coffee, pepper, & c.

From Honduras we get mahogany and other valuable woods, and dyes.

From Brazil we get coffee, india-rubber, hides, silver, and diamonds.

From the coast of Africa we get ivory, palm-oil, wool, and gums.

It is also by the Atlantic that ships come laden with cotton from India, tea and silk from China, wool and gold from Australia.

In a voyage from England to India, China, or Australia, ships sail down the Atlantic, then round Africa by the Cape of Good Hope, and across the Indian Ocean. This is one route, though most of the traffic now passes through the Suez Canal; but ships can also reach Australia by sailing to the west and passing through the Panama Canal. For sailing ships the route by the Cape of Good Hope was generally preferred, as in this region the winds blow chiefly from the west. But in the voyage from Australia it was usual to return by Cape Horn. It thus appears that a ship going from Britain to Australia by the Cape of Good Hope, and returning by Cape Horn, made a voyage round the world. The first voyage round the world was made by Magellan, a Portuguese navigator, in 1519—1521.

THE PACIFIC OCEAN

The PACIFIC is the largest of all the oceans. It is larger than the whole land surface of the globe, so that all the continents and islands of the world could lie within it.

The Pacific also forms one-half of the water-surface of the Earth, all the other oceans together being only about equal in extent to this great ocean. Its length from north to south is about 9000 miles. Its greatest breadth (from South America to China) is about 12,000 miles.

At the north, a very narrow channel, called Behring Strait, connects it with the Arctic Ocean. At the south, a vast expanse of water extends from Cape Horn to Australia.

In the middle of the Pacific lie thousands of Islands, of all forms and sizes, known by the general name of Polynesia, a word signifying "many islands." These islands, with some lying equally to the Indian and the Pacific Ocean, but assigned to the larger ocean, the Pacific, form part of the sixth division of the Earth's surface, called OCEANIA.

The Counties on the two sides of the Pacific are:—

THE INDIAN OCEAN

The INDIAN OCEAN extends from Africa to Australia, and is bounded on the north by India and Arabia. It is about 6000 miles long and 6000 mires broad. At the south its waters unite with those of the Antarctic Ocean.

Its two principal branches are, the Bay of Bengal, to the east of India; and the Arabian Sea, with its two arms, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

The Indian Ocean is one of the regions of the globe frequently visited by cyclones, or circular hurricanes. These storms (in the Chinese seas called typhoons) are often very destructive to ships.

The principal Islands in the Indian Ocean are: Madagascar, near Africa; Ceylon, to the south of India; Sumatra and Java, and a large chain of islands, in the Eastern Archipelago.

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(1) These lessons in descriptive geography, of a kind not to be met with in ordinary school-books, will be found interesting as reading lessons, and equally valuable as lessons in useful knowledge.

LESSON 55

HEALTH OF THE BODY

THE human body is a machine, or system of "works," more delicately constructed than a watch, more complicated and wonderful than the most powerful steam-engine.

The "works" of the body are organs and tissues—as the heart, the stomach, the lungs, the arteries, the muscles, the nerves, the skin—each of which has a distinct function or duty to perform. When all the parts of the bodily machine are in good working order, the body is in a state of HEALTH (Old Eng. hael, whole).

A state of health is necessary, not only to the comfort and activity of the body, but also to the comfort and activity of the mind. It is therefore of the greatest importance that we should take every means in our power to promote bodily health.

The chief means within our power of keeping the body in a healthy state are attention to food, cleanliness, clothing, ventilation, (air and light,) exercise, and rest.

FOOD

Food keeps the body in health by making it warm, and by forming the material of which every part of the bodily frame is made.

If you read the lesson called "Living Stoves," you will see that our food is really the fuel of the bodily machine, just as coal is of the steam-engine;and that its end is combustion, and the production of animal heat. Food, therefore, is necessary to make warmth.

But, in the act of burning, the body wastes, by throwing off its worn-out particles. So does the stove of an engine; but there is this great difference between them—that while the engine-stove must be repaired or renewed by man, the body is self-repairing. It is replacing the worn-out tissues as fast as they are consumed. The blood is simply bone and muscle and brain in a fluid state, and each draws from it the substance required to renew itself. Food is therefore necessary to form the body.

Fool must be nourishing; that is, it must be blood-making. If the body does not get a sufficient amount of blood-making food, it cannot last. A furnace fire would not last long if you fed it with nothing but bricks or iron.

Mixed food is best. The blood consists of different element. Some of these elements are more abundant in vegetable, others in animal food. Of ordinary animal food, beef and mutton are the most nourishing, and are as easily digested as any other. In both respects, old flesh is preferable to young—beef to veal, and mutton to lamb.

Bread and porridge, as well as rice and barley, are vegetable food. They are generally classed with farinaceous or starchy foods, which are very important, as they supply the principal elements which are burned within the animal system. Stale bread digests more easily than new, and brown bread is more wholesome than white.

Whilst food is being cooked, it is often deprived of its saline and mineral elements, which are as necessary to animal life as its other constituents. These elements should be supplied in the form of uncooked food, as milk, ripe fruits, such vegetables as can be eaten raw, fresh water, and common salt.

Food should be thoroughly chewed before being swallowed. This makes it digest more easily, and lightens the work of the stomach. The peculiar uneasiness in the stomach known as indigestion is frequently caused by the food having been bolted when imperfectly chewed. Even soft food, which does not require much chewing—as bread, rice, and con-flour—should be retained in the mouth for some time, to allow the saliva to mix with it, whereby its starchy matter is turned into sugar, and the work of the stomach is greatly lightened.

Three meals a day are usually enough; but more important than the number of meals are the intervals between them. The process of digestion requires rest for the whole body; but it especially requires that the organs of digestion should not be disturbed during the operation. The food is changed while in the stomach into a new substance. If when it is half changed you mix fresh food with it, confusion will necessarily arise. It is as if you were to mix fresh rags with the soft pulp which is ready to be made into paper. The time which food requires for its proper digestion varies, with the nature of the food, from two to four hours. No food of any kind should be taken within two hours after a meal; and the interval between regular meals should be four hours at least. Supper should be taken two hours before going to sleep, that the stomach, as well as the other parts of the body, may have rest while we are asleep. At the same time, we should not fast too long; and we should observe regularity in the times at which we take our meals.

QUESTIONS

What is the human body? What are its "works"? Name some of them. When is the body in a state of health? Why is this state so important? By what means may it be secured? How does food keep the body in health? What does the consumption of food produce? With what other machine may the body in this respect be compared? What great difference is there between them? What food is best? Of what elements is food deprived by cooking? How may these be supplied? How should food be prepared for the stomach? What is the use of the saliva? How many meals a day are enough? What is more important than the number of meals? Why should the body rest between meals? Why is it bad to eat between meals? Why should we sup two hours before going to sleep?

CLEANLINESS

Cleanliness—that is, keeping the whole skin of the body pure and fresh—is a great source of health. The skin, like the internal organs of the body, has work to do, and it cannot do its work unless it is kept clean.

The skin is one means of getting rid of impure, refuse matter from the blood. For this purpose it is supplied with two or three millions of small tubes, called pores, through which it sweats out the superfluous moisture. These pores also regulate the temperature of the body. When the body gets over-heated, from violent exercise or exposure to fire, it is flooded with perspiration from these pores, and so is cooled down.

The skin, besides, is kept soft and smooth by a kind of oily matter secreted in small cells over its surface.

Now, if the pores and the oil-cells become blocked up with dirt, they cannot perform their functions. In that case, either the skin itself will become diseased, or the blood will be injured by being forced to retain its impurities; or, it may be, some other organ (as the kidneys) will have to do the work of the skin besides its own, and serious disease may follow.

Washing the skin is therefore indispensable to health. A complete bath should be taken, or at least the whole body should be well sponged, every day. The face and hands, which are most exposed, should be washed three or four times a day.

Sea-bathing is the healthiest kind of washing, as it combines fresh air and vigorous exercise with its other benefits. It is a safe rule never to bathe till at least two hours after a meal. It is unsafe to go into the water when cold, or to remain in it after you begin to feel chilled.

QUESTIONS

What is the chief function or work of the skin? How do the pores regulate the temperature of the body? How is the skin kept soft? What will be the consequence if the skin is not kept clean? What is therefore indispensable to health? What is the healthiest kind of washing? What rules are to be observed in connection with sea-bathing?

CLOTHING

That the skin may properly discharge its functions, it must not only be kept clean; it must also be protected from cold as well as from heat by clothing. Clothes keep us warm by keeping in our own heat, rather than by communicating heat to us. The less clothing the body wears, the more quickly does it consume its fuel (food), and the more food does it require. Warm clothing is therefore an economizer of food. It is necessary to maintain the natural temperature of the body; for when that is reduced, the blood is driven inwards to the internal organs, which are thereby oppressed, and the health is injured. This is why we feel it necessary to put on warmer clothing at the setting in of the cold season of the year.

That is the warmest clothing which is the worst conductor of heat; hence down is warmer than wool, cotton than linen, fine cloth than coarse, light-coloured fabric than dark.(1) Loose garments are warmer than tight-fitting ones, because the air which the former enclose is a bad conductor of heat.

We require clothing in summer, and in hot climates, to protect the skin from the heat of the sun. Those clothes are the best for this purpose which reflect or throw off external heat most. Thus, white or light-coloured clothing is worn in summer, because it is a bad absorbent of heat. Under-clothing should be put off each night, and entirely changed once or twice a week.

Clothing should be made so as on the one hand not to restrain or cramp the action of any of the organs of the body, and so as not to expose them unduly to cold or moisture on the other.

Tightening the waist, whether by wearing stays or corsets, or by any other means, prevents full breathing, compresses the liver, and drives the blood to the extremities, besides giving the body an unnatural and ungraceful form.

Tight neck-ties and collars worn by men are equally injurious. They check the flow of blood to the head, and may bring on apoplexy.

Head-dresses should be light and airy, and should not press upon the veins of the head so as to obstruct the circulation. Baldness, so prevalent among men, is said to result in many cases from wearing heavy and tight-fitting hats. The fashion once prevailing amongst women of padding the natural hair, and overloading the head with ornaments, was injurious in many ways.

The custom of exposing the legs of children, especially of infants, to cold, is a fruitful source of disease and death. Exposing the chest and shoulders of older persons in cold weather and in cold climates is equally dangerous.

QUESTIONS

What is the purpose served by clothing? How do clothes keep us warm? How is warm clothing an economizer of food? What is the effect of allowing the natural temperature of the body to be reduced? Which is the warmest clothing? Give examples. Why are loose clothes warmer than tight-fitting ones? Why is clothing required in hot weather? What clothes are best for this purpose? What should be attended to in the making of clothes? What are the effects of tightening the waist? Why are tight neck-ties injurious? What often results from wearing heavy and tight-fitting hats? What is a frequent source of discase in the case of children?

VENTILATION

Fresh air is as necessary to life and health as wholesome food. In fact air is food, inasmuch as our material food would be useless without air. It is the oxygen in the air we breathe, uniting with the carbon in the blood, that fits our food for wanning and nourishing the body. Every time we draw air in, our lungs deprive the air of a certain amount of oxygen. Every time we send breath out, our lungs supply the place of that oxygen by a corresponding amount of carbonic acid. Now, carbonic acid acts as a poison; and breath is therefore simply more or less poisoned air. If instead of inhaling fresh air we inhale breath, we not only deprive the blood of the oxygen which is necessary to enable it to warm and support the body, but we positively poison the blood; and if we continue this process, sooner or later disease and death will ensue.

Yet nothing is more common than for crowds of people to remain together, in churches and other public places, for hours after the air has been polluted by the breathing of the assembled people. The consequence is that many people faint from the effects of the heated and poisoned air; and if they were to be forcibly confined there for a few hours longer, many would certainly die.

The injury which is thus done suddenly and evidently, is done gradually, but not less surely, to people who spend their days in hot, crowded workshops, and their nights in small, close dwellings. Physicians tell us that such diseases as consumption and scrofula are due far more to poisoned air, breathed in our houses and factories, than to a cold or changeable climate.

All places in which people assemble in large numbers—as schools, workshops, churches, lecture-halls, and theatres—should be well ventilated; that is, should be supplied with the means of carrying off the breathed air, and of letting in a copious supply of fresh air. It is imperfect ventilation, or the total want of it, that so often makes people sleepy in church, and children listless in school.

Ventilation is no less necessary in small rooms occupied by a few persons. There also the air will, in course of time, become polluted, unless fresh supplies of oxygen are constantly being admitted. One man may be confined in a room so small and close, that in a short time he may be poisoned by his own breath!

Perhaps more injury is done from want of ventilation in bed-rooms than in any other places. They are kept closed for so many hours at a time, and people think it necessary to make them so completely airtight, that the occupants are generally dependent for the whole night upon the air that fills the room when they enter and close it. Long before morning, the sleepers are breathing their own or each other's breath over and over again. No wonder that crowded sleeping-rooms have so close and offensive a smell in the morning! Let any one of their occupants go into the fresh air for five minutes, and then return to the room in which he has spent the night, and he will in many cases be shocked if not stifled by the air on which he has been living for hours!

The air may be contaminated by other means besides the carbonic acid emitted from the lungs. The stone-cutter may inhale minute particles of stone; the iron-grinder may inhale metallic particles; the cotton-spinner, particles of cotton; and these settling on the lungs, often produce disease and death.

But the poisonous particles given off by putrefying animal and vegetable matters cause the most dangerous pollution of the air we breathe. They often produce the most fatal and destructive diseases; and such matters should never be allowed to accumulate near dwelling-houses. If they cannot be carried off by drainage, (which is the best remedy,) they should be continually disinfected with carbolic acid, or chloride of lime. There has hardly ever been an outbreak of typhoid fever in any locality which could not be traced to the diffusion of this kind of poison in the air; so true is this, that the fever referred to is now popularly called drain-fever.

The air is also frequently the medium of carrying disease-poison from a sick person to those who are well. It is thus that small-pox, scarlet fever, and other "catching diseases," often spread in a community. It is the duty of those who have charge of the patients in such cases to take every means to prevent the spread of the poison from the sick persons to those who are well. "It is," says Dr. Lankester, "a common practice, much to be reprehended, to send children to school from families where small-pox, scarlet fever, measles, and hooping cough are prevailing; thus spreading the poison amongst those who have not been previously attacked."

Houses should be built so as to admit plenty of light as well as of fresh air. The former is not less necessary than the latter to a healthy condition of body. Just as plants, when deprived of light, become white in their stalks and leaves, so man becomes pale and unhealthy when he lives under ground. Light acts as a stimulus to the nervous system, quickens the mind, and promotes the activity of the whole body. It helps, therefore, to keep off disease; and it is a fact that consumption is often the result of living in rooms from which the light of the sun is excluded.

QUESTIONS

Why may air be considered food? What happens every time we draw in air? What do we send out to take the place of the oxygen? What is breath? What poisons it? What is the effect of inhaling breath? Where is this done very often? Where is the same injury done by degrees? What diseases result from that? How is this to be prevented? What effects of bad ventilation are often seen? Where is most injury done from want of ventilation? Why is this? What takes place long before morning? In what other ways may the air be contaminated? What causes the most dangerous pollution of the air we breathe? How should decaying animal and vegetable matter be carried off? What diseases result from it? In what way does the air often spread disease? What should those who have the charge of patients do? What practice, in this connection, does Dr. Lankester strongly condemn? What, besides air, should be admitted into our houses? Why? What is the effect of absence of light upon plants? And upon man? How does light act upon the body? What does it help to keep off? What disease in particular?

EXERCISE AND REST

The muscles grow and gain strength by being used. Exercise is therefore necessary to their healthy condition; and not to their healthy condition only, but to that of all the organs of the body. Muscular exercise accelerates the circulation of the blood; increases the healthy action of the heart, the lungs, and the skin; invigorates the nerves; stimulates the appetite; improves the powers of digestion, and carries healthful energy wherever the blood penetrates.

Care should be taken that the exercise we practise calls into play not one set only, but the whole of the muscles. Swimming is on this account the most healthful of all exercises. This cannot always be indulged in; but no one need be at a loss for invigorating exercises. Boys can run and leap, if they cannot play cricket or foot-ball; men can walk, if they cannot row or ride on horseback.

Systematic exercises, as gymnastics, are very useful; but boys are apt to attempt feats that are dangerous, and to over-tax their energies. Young people should therefore always be superintended, while engaging in them, by an experienced person who can estimate their strength. Competition in games is most injurious, as it almost inevitably taxes the strength beyond the powers of the system, and too often causes permanent injury to the health. It is a good rule that one should never engage in any game to the extent of producing painful or continued exhaustion.

No exercise is more interesting, or more useful in quickening both mind and body, than military drill. It would be an excellent thing, both for master and scholars, if, two or three times a week, half an hour were taken from books and given to drill in the open air, under the master's leadership.

The muscles require rest as well as exercise. In this they differ from the heart and the lungs. These are always in motion, even when we are asleep; but the muscles, and the nervous system which governs the muscles, cannot work unless they have periodical seasons of total rest, during which all their functions are suspended. This rest we call sleep. We may rest the muscles to some extent while we are awake; but so long as we are awake, the brain and the nervous system, of which the brain is the seat, are at work. These latter cannot rest unless we are thrown into the state of unconsciousness called sleep.

A man usually requires to sleep eight hours out of the twenty-four. Persons whose employment does not involve much anxiety or thinking might thrive with less; but they generally take more. On the other hand, those whose brains are most active during the day, and who therefore require most rest, often obtain or allow themselves least sleep at night; but such persons are never long-lived. A young person, while growing, needs more sleep than a man; and an infant spends half its time in sleep;—which one poet calls "nature's soft nurse;" and another, "tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep."

Too much sleep makes us dull, as too little exercise makes us lazy, converting our muscle into fat. Too little sleep, however, is much more injurious. A man who is forcibly kept awake will erelong become insane or will die.

QUESTIONS

Why does the body require exercise? What is its effect on the blood and the organs of the body? What is to be aimed at in the exercise we take? What exercise is, for this reason, the most healthful? What other exercises are recommended for boys? What for men? How may gymnastics be abused? What precaution should be taken against this? Why is competition in games injurious? What exercise is recommended for masters and scholars? Wherein do the muscles and the brain differ from the heart and the lungs? What is the total rest of the former called? How much sleep does a man usually require? What persons require most rest? What do young persons need? What have poets called sleep? What is the effect of too much sleep? and of too little?

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(1) Dr. Lankester says that the people of Europe and America dress in dark-coloured clothes both in summer and in winter from motives of economy, not of comfort. It is a question of the cost of soap and washing.

LESSON 56

THE AMAZON

STARTING from Lima, the capital of Peru, and crossing the Andes in a north-easterly direction for one hundred and twenty miles, the traveller reaches the famous silver mines of Pasco, the most elevated city in the world. Close beside it, in the very heart of the Cordilleras,(1) there is a little lake,(2) nearly 14,000 feet above the sea-level, and just below the limit of perpetual snow. To this little lake belongs the honour of giving birth to the mighty Amazon,(3) the king of rivers.

At first a comparatively small stream, it flows in a series of cataracts and rapids, through rocky valleys, northwards, till it reaches the frontier of Ecuador, at a distance of eight hundred miles from its source. From this point the eye of the traveller may range, in imagination, over a vast valley clothed with impenetrable forests, stretching eastwards to the far distant Atlantic. Behind him, on the west, tower the lofty peaks of the Cordilleras; on his left, in a northerly direction, appear the highlands of Venezuela and Guiana; while to the south rise the sierras(4) and table-lands of Brazil. In the valley before him more than half of Europe might be contained; and the tributaries alone of the mighty stream which drains it, exceed in bulk of water all the European rivers put together. The length of the main river, with its windings, is not less than four thousand miles.

The valley of the Amazon is divided into an upper and a lower basin by the Rio Negro.(5) The region of the Upper Amazon, as the great river is called above that boundary line, is a magnificent wilderness, where civilized man as yet has scarcely obtained a footing. Though the atmosphere, from the absence of regular winds, is stagnant and sultry, the climate is wonderfully healthy; and the rich alluvial soil produces vegetation even more luxuriant than on the lower river. The Upper Amazon is navigable at all seasons by large steamers for upwards of fourteen hundred miles above the Rio Negro; but during the rainy season the navigation is dangerous, as the tearing current, one or two miles in width, bears along a continuous line of up rooted trees, and often undermines the banks, which fall into the river with a terrific crash.

The chief feature of the Lower Amazon is its vast expanse of smooth water, of a pale yellowish colour, often bearing on its bosom detached islets of floating vegetation. Sometimes the timid stag takes refuge upon one of these treacherous islands, when pursued by the fierce jaguar;(6) and the hunter and his prey, thus entrapped, are carried out to sea together. At morn and even, flocks of parrots and yellow macaws(7) fly backwards and forwards, uttering their hoarse cries; while all night long the screams of gulls and terns sweep over the sandy banks, where they make their home. Now and then, dolphins and sea-cows show their backs above water, as they glide up the stream. Huge alligators, with open jaws, are basking in the sun on the banks, or leisurely swimming across the river.

The Rio Negro, the largest northern tributary of the Amazon, has a course not much inferior to that of the Danube, the greatest river of Central Europe. Rising in the highlands of New Granada, and traversing the llanos(8) of Venezuela, it has already, before reaching the Amazon, flowed over fifteen hundred miles. As one of its tributaries is an offshoot from the upper waters of the Orinoco, a complete circuit is established, uniting the basins of two mighty rivers in one vast system of interior navigation.

About sixty miles below the mouth of the Rio Negro, the gigantic Madeira—the largest southern affluent of the Amazon—unites its milky waters with the turbid stream of the main river. The whole length of this tributary, from the centre of Bolivia, where it has its source, is nearly as great as that of the Amazon itself; but owing to the occurrence of falls, it is not navigable for large vessels for more than five hundred miles above its mouth.

Thus enriched by vassal tributaries on the right hand and on the left—each a river in itself—this monarch of waters flows on between its low, forest-clad banks, till, four hundred miles from its mouth, it reaches the Strait of Obydos, where it is narrowed to two thousand paces. Through this channel its waters rush with a force so irresistible as to have defied all efforts to fathom its depths, and with a volume sufficient to fill all the streams in Europe, and swell them to overflowing. Before it reaches the Atlantic its vast flood is fifty miles wide; and, in mid-channel, the opposite banks are entirely lost to view. Indeed, it resembles an ocean-current, or a constantly-rolling Baltic, rather than an inland river.

At its mouth a fierce struggle takes place between the giant river rolling down and the tide(9) flowing up. Twice every day they strive for the mastery; and in the meeting of the enormous masses of water a ridge of surf and foam is raised to a height of 180 feet! Victory may be said to be fairly divided between them; for while the tide makes its way nearly five hundred miles up the river, the influence of the latter is felt three hundred miles out at sea. Hence the seaman approaching the shores of South America, when still out of sight of land, may lower his bucket, and draw up the fresh waters which have issued, it may be weeks before, from the rocky sides of the Andes!

So uniform is the level, in the plain of the Upper Amazon especially, that many of its tributaries are interlaced with it and with one another by a net-work of mazy channels, or water-paths,(10) with the intricate navigation of which the natives alone are acquainted. So narrow are these water-paths in many places, that the branches of the lofty trees meet overhead, and form a canopy, which, for miles together, shelters the traveller in his canoe from the noon-day sun. Here and there, a glimpse of the sky may be obtained through the thick foliage; while birds of gay plumage flit to and fro enjoying the cool shade, or sit on the branches trimming their feathers, and uttering strange and varied cries.

Sometimes the water-path broadens into pools and lakes, filled mostly by the overflowing of the main river during the rainy season. These pools swarm with a great variety of fishes, with many kinds of turtles and alligators, with electric eels, and other curious water-creatures. Waterfowl and other aquatic birds dwell on their banks; while on the surface of their placid waters float the wide-spreading leaves and magnificent blossoms of the Victoria Regia,(11) and other lilies and water-plants.

The inland navigation of the Amazon and its tributaries available for commerce extends to no less than fifty thousand miles. Flowing, however, through a region very scantily peopled by indolent natives and not very active colonists, there are fewer vessels upon its waters in a year than may be seen on the bosom of the Mississippi every hour of the day.

Yet there is no nobler field of enterprise in the world than the great valley of the Amazon—none which is richer in natural resources, or which holds out a more certain reward to energy and perseverance. You have only to look at the map to see that, with the exception of Chili and Patagonia, every country in South America is brought, directly or indirectly, within the range of its interior navigation.

THE VICTORIA REGIA

So varied and so abundant are the products of this wide region, that it might well become the garden and the store-house of the world. There is scarcely one either of the necessaries or of the luxuries of life which, if all other sources of supply were cut off, might not be obtained from the valley of the Amazon in sufficient abundance to supply the wants of the whole habitable globe. The supply of flesh, fish, and fowl, of every description, is simply unlimited. There is plenty of coffee and cocoa and sugar; of maize and rice; of cotton and tobacco; of bananas and grapes; of spices, drugs, and dyes; of silver and gold; of every variety of fancy-wood for the finest cabinet-work, and of timber for building houses and ships.

Yet this prolific region remains still unused, and in great measure unexplored. Here, if anywhere, is a field in which modern enterprise and enlightenment may achieve the grandest results.

WORDS

abundant, plentiful.

acquainted, familiar.

alluvial, deposited.

approaching, going near.

available, practicable.

cataracts, torrents.

circuit, circular course.

civilized, refined.

colonists, settlers.

commerce, trade.

continuous, unbroken.

detached, separated.

direction, course.

enlightenment, intelligence.

enormous, vast.

enterprise, adventure.

entrapped, caught.

established, formed.

expanse, breadth.

foliage, leafage.

frontier, border.

habitable, fit for man.

impenetrable, dense.

indolent, lazy.

influence, effect.

interior, inland.

interlaced, interwoven.

intricate, involved.

irresistible, overwhelming.

leisurely, slowly.

narrowed, contracted.

navigation, water transport.

occurrence, interposition.

overflowing, flooding.

perpetual, constant.

products, productions.

prolific, fruitful.

resources, supplies.

stagnant, standing.

tributaries, affluents.

turbid, muddy.

unexplored, not searched.

uniform, regular.

QUESTIONS

Where has the Amazon its source? How far from Lima? What is the character of its higher waters? Give some idea of the great size of the valley, and of the volume volume of its water? Whit is the length of the river? What is the region above the Rio Negro called? What is the character of the Upper Amazon? What makes its navigation dangerous? What is the chief feature of the Lower Amazon? What connection has the Rio Negro with the Orinoco? What is the largest southern tributary or the Amazon? What is the Strait of Obydos? What width does the river attain before it reaches the Atlantic? What takes place at its mouth? How far up the river does the tide extend? How far out at sea are the waters of the river perceptible? What causes the net-work of water-paths in the Upper Amazon? What is remarkable about them? What is the extent of the inland navigation of the Amazon? Why is so little use made of it? What to its varied products at it for becoming? Mention some of these products.

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(1) Cordillerass, the Spanish name for the Andes (the full name being Cordillera de los Andes), the magnificent chain of mountains stretching down the western side of South America.

(2) Little lake, called Lauricocha.

(3) Amazon.—This name was given to the river (otherwise called the Maranon) by Orellana, a Portuguese adventurer, who was the first European to follow its course (1521). It is said that Orellana, noticing some women bearing arms on the banks of the river, called it the Amazon, and the country Amazonia, after the Amazons, a fabled race of female warriors in Asia Minor.

(4) Sierras, mountain ridged resembling the edge of a saw. [Span sierra, from Lat. serra, a saw.]

(5) Rio Negro—that is, Black River—a common name for rivers in Spanish America. The water of these rivers is of a dark coffee colour, like moss water; which, under the shade of the trees, appears black.

(6) Jaguar, the leopard of America. It feeds on deer, monkeys, birds, and fishes, approaching its prey very stealthily, and pouncing upon it suddenly.

(7) Macaw, a large and very showy bird, closely allied to the parrot.

(8) Llanos, extensive open plains.

(9) The tide.—The tide ascends the Amazon, headed by a bore (see p. 149) 12 or 15 feet in height; called by the natives pororocca, in imitation of the roar which it makes in crossing shallows. In high tides it devastates islands,and sometimes even sweeps away their foundations.

(10) Water-paths, called igarapes.

(11) Victoria Regia.—This magnificent water-lily was first brought to England in 1855 by Sir Robert Schomburgk, a distinguished botanist, who named it after Queen Victoria.

LESSON 57

THE PACIFIC OCEAN (I)

WHEN the astonishing sagacity and enterprise of the Genoese(1) had discovered the confines of a new world across the trackless Atlantic, it was without hesitation concluded, not only by himself, but by all Europe, that the new land formed the extreme eastern shore of Asia. Hence the name of Indies was erroneously given to those islands—a mistake which has been perpetuated even to the present time.

A ware of the round form of the Earth, the geographers of that age could well conceive the possibility of reaching India by a westerly course; but, ignorant of the magnitude of the globe, they had formed a very inadequate idea of its position, being totally unaware of the vast continent, and still vaster ocean, which separated Asia from the Atlantic. But as, impelled by an insatiable thirst for gold, the unprincipled Spaniards pushed their career of robbery and murder further and further into the continent, they began to hear tidings of a boundless sea, which stretched away to the south and west, beyond the horizon of the setting sun.

Balboa,(2) one of the reckless spirits who sought fortune and fame at all hazards in the newly-found regions, boldly determined to seek the sea of which the Indians spoke. At the head of a little band of men, guided by a Mexican, he succeeded, after severe privations and imminent dangers, in crossing the isthmus that connects the northern and southern portions of the continent.

They had arrived at the foot of a hill, from the top of which the Indian assured him he would obtain a sight of the wished-for sea, when, in the enthusiasm of the moment, leaving his companions behind, the Spanish chief ran to the summit, and beheld a limitless ocean sleeping in its immensity at his feet! With the spurious piety common to the times—a piety that could consist with the grossest injustice, the blackest perjury, and the most barbarous cruelty—he knelt down and gave thanks aloud to God for such a termination of his toils. Then, having descended the cliffs to the shore of the ocean, he bathed in its mighty waters, taking possession of it by the name of the Great South Sea, on behalf of the King of Spain.

This was in the year 1513; but it was not till seven years afterwards that its surface was ruffled by a European keel. Then Magalhaens, or Magellan, a Portuguese navigator of great ability; in the service of Spain, having run down the coast of South America, discovered the straits(3) which have since borne his name. Through these he sailed. and emerging from then on the 28th November 1520, was the first to launch out upon the broad bosom of the South Sea.

For three months and twenty days he sailed across it, during which long period its surface was never ruffled by a storm; and from this circumstance he gave to the ocean the appellation of the "Pacific,"(4) which it still retains. The immediate vicinity of the straits, however, has been considered peculiarly subject to tempests; while the almost continual prevalence of westerly winds, combined with the severity of the climate, has always given a character of difficulty and hazard to the passage from the one ocean to the other.

A remarkable feature in the Pacific Ocean, and one that distinguishes it from every other sea, is the vast assemblage of small islands with which it is crowded, particularly in the portion situated between the tropics.(5) For about three thousand miles from the coast of South America, the sea is almost entirely free from islands; but thence to the great isles of India, an extensive belt of ocean, nearly five thousand miles in length, and fifteen hundred in breadth, is so studded with them as almost to be one continuous archipelago.(6)

The term "Polynesia,"(7) by which this division of the globe is now distinguished, is compounded of two Greek words signifying many islands. Very few of these gems of the ocean are more than a few miles in extent, though Tahiti,(8) and some in the more western groups, are of rather larger dimensions; while Hawaii,(9) the largest island in Polynesia, is about the size of Yorkshire.

The isles, which in such a vast number thus stud the bosom of t he Pacific, are of three distinct forms—the coral, the crystal, and the volcanic. Of these, the first formation greatly predominates; but the largest islands are of the last description; of the crystal formation but few specimens are known.

Imagine a belt of land in the wide ocean, not more than half a mile in breadth, but extending in an irregular curve to the length of ten or twenty miles or more; the height above the water not more than a yard or two at most, but clothed with a mass of the richest and most verdant vegetation. Here and there, above the general bed of luxuriant foliage, rises a grove of cocoa-nut trees, waving their feathery plumes high in the air, and gracefully bending their tall and slender stems to the breathing of the pleasant trade-wind.

The grove is bordered by a narrow beach on each side, of the most glittering whiteness, contrasting with the beautiful azure waters by which it is environed. From end to end of the curved isle stretches, in a straight line, forming, as it were, the cord of the bow, a narrow beach, of the same snowy whiteness, almost level with the sea at the lowest tide, enclosing a semicircular space of water between it and the island, called the lagoon.(10)

Over this line of beach, which occupies the leeward side,(11) the curve being to windward, the sea is breaking with sublime majesty. When the long unbroken swell of the ocean, hitherto unbridled through a course of thousands of miles, is met by this rampart, the huge billows, rearing themselves upwards many yards above its level, and bending their foaming crests, "form a graceful liquid arch, glittering in the rays of a tropical sun as if studded with brilliants.(12) But, before the eyes of the spectator can follow the splendid aqueous gallery which they appear to have reared, with loud and hollow roar they fall, in magnificent desolation, and spread the gigantic fabric in froth and spray upon the horizontal and gently broken surface."

Contrasting strongly with the tumult and confusion of the hoary billows without, the water within the lagoon exhibits the serene placidity of a mill-pond. Extending downwards to a depth varying from a few feet to fifty fathoms, the waters possess the lively green hue common to soundings on a white or yellow ground. The surface, unruffled by a wave, reflects with accurate distinctness the mast of the canoe that sleeps upon its bosom, and the tufts of the cocoa-nut plumes that rise from the beach above it.

Such is a coral island; and if its appearance is one of singular loveliness, as all who have seen it testify, its structure, on examination, is found to be no less interesting and wonderful. The beach of white sand, which opposes the whole force of the ocean, is found to be the summit of a rock which rises abruptly from an unknown depth, like a perpendicular wall. The whole of this rampart, as far as our senses can take cognizance of it, is composed of living coral! and the same substance forms the foundation of the curved and more elevated side which is smiling in the luxuriance and beauty of tropical vegetation. The elevation of the coral to the surface is not always abruptly perpendicular; sometimes reefs of varying depths extend to a considerable distance, in the form of successive platforms or terraces.

WORDS

appellation, name.

aqueous. watery.

assemblage, collection.

astonishing, marvellous.

cognizance, knowledge.

compounded, made up.

confines, borders.

desolation, loneliness.

emerging, issuing.

enthusiasm, excitement.

environed, surrounded.

extending, stretching.

extensive. wide.

gracefully, elegantly.

horizontal, level.

immensity, vastness.

imminent, threatening.

inadequate, insufficient.

insatiable, unquenchable.

interesting, attractive.

luxuriant, exuberant.

navigator, sailor.

perjury, faithlessness.

perpendicular, vertical.

perpetuated, continued.

placidity, quietness.

platforms, terraces.

predominates, preponderates.

privations, straits.

remarkable, striking.

sagacity, penetration.

semicircular, half-circular.

spurious, mock.

sublime, imposing.

trackless, pathless.

QUESTIONS

What did the earliest discoverer of the western continent suppose it to be? To what mistake has this given rise? Who was the European discoverer of the Pacific Ocean? In what year did he discover it? Who first sailed over it? Why did he call it "Pacific"? What feature distinguishes it from every other sea? What name is given to the island sea? What does "Polynesia" mean? What is the formation of most of these islands? What is the usual shape of a coral island? What stretches from end to end of the curve? What is the water between it and the island called?

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(1) The Genoese, Christopher Columbus, who was a native of Genoa.

(2) Balboa, Vasco Nunes de, a native of Castile in Spain, was one of the earliest to explore the West Indies and Central America. He settled on the coast of Darien, where he founded a town. In 1513 he crossed the isthmus and discovered the Pacific Ocean. The governor sent out by the Spanish king grew jealous of Balboa's abilities, and caused him to be beheaded in 1517.

(3) The straits.—The Straits of Magellan, between South America and the island of Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire)at its southern extremity.

(4) Pacific, tranquil; lit. peace-making. [Lat. pax, pacis, peace; facio, I make.]

(5) Between the tropics, within the torrid zone. the limit of which on the north is the tropic of Cancer, and on the south the tropic of Capricorn. The tropics [Gr. trepo, I turn] are the parallels drawn through the points in the ecliptic at which the sun appears to turn in its course.

(6) Archipelago, a sea filled with small islands, like the Ægean Sea, to which the name was first applied; lit. the chief sea. [Gr. archos, chief; pelagos, sea.]

(7) Polynesia, from Gr. polys, many; nesos, an island.

(8) Tahiti, the chief of the society Islands.

(9) Hawaii (Hawiee or Owhyhee), the chief of the Sandwich Islands, in the North Pacific. Here Captain Cook was killed by the natives in 1779.

(10) Lagoon, a shallow lake; the lake within a coral reef. [It. and Sp. Laguna, a marah: Lat. lacuna, a ditch; from lacus, a lake: Gr. lakkos, a pit or hole.]

(11) Leeward side, the side towards which the wind blows, as the windward is the part from which it blows. [Eng. lee, a sheltered place; Old Eng. hleow, shelter.]

(12) Brilliants, diamonds cut so as to make them glitter or twinkle. [Fr. briller, to twinkle.]

LESSON 58

THE PACIFIC OCEAN (II)

IN these regions may be seen islands in every stage of their formation: "some presenting little more than a point or summit of a branching coralline pyramid, at a depth scarcely discernible through the transparent waters; others spreading, like submarine gardens or shrubberies, beneath the surface, or presenting here and there a little bank of broken coral and sand, over which the rolling wave occasionally breaks." Others, again, exist in the more advanced state that I have just described, the main bank sufficiently elevated to be permanently protected from the waves, and already clothed with verdure, and the lagoon enclosed by the narrow bulwark of the coral reef.

Though the rampart thus reared is sufficient to preserve the inner waters in a peaceful and mirror-like calmness, it must not be supposed that all access to them from the sea is excluded. It almost invariably happens that in the line of reef one or more openings occur, which, though sometimes narrow and intricate, so as scarcely to allow the passage of a native canoe, are not unfrequently of sufficient width and depth to permit the free ingress of large ships.

The advantage to man of these openings is very great. Without them, the islands might smile invitingly, but in vain,— no access could be obtained to them by shipping, through the tremendous surf by which their shores are lashed; but by these entrances the lovely lagoons are converted into the most quiet, safe, and commodious havens imaginable, where ships may lie and water and refresh their crews in security, though the tempest howl without.

It is scarcely less beneficent provision, that the position of the openings is in most cases indicated so as to be visible at a great distance. Had there been merely an opening in the coral rock, it could not have been detected from the sea, except by the diminution of the foaming surf just at that spot,—a circumstance that could scarcely be visible unless the observer were opposite the aperture. In general, however, there is on each side of the passage a little islet, raised on the points of the reef, which, being commonly tufted with cocoa-nut trees, is perceptible as far off as the island itself, and forms a most convenient landmark.

Notwithstanding that the highest point of these narrow islets is rarely more than a yard above the tide, it is a remarkable fact that fresh water is frequently found in them. It is probable that the coral rock acts as a filter, allowing the sea water to percolate(1) through its porous substance, but excluding all the saline particles held in solution.(2)

A stranger is forcibly struck with the remarkable fearlessness which the natives of these islands have of the sea. They appear almost as amphibious(3) as seals, sporting about in the deep sea for many hours, sometimes for nearly a whole day together! No sooner does a ship approach a large island than the inhabitants swim off to welcome her; and long before she begins to take in sail she is surrounded by human beings of both sexes, apparently as much at home in the ocean as the fishes themselves. The children are taken to the water when but a day or two old; and many are able to swim as soon as they are able to walk. In coasting along the shore it is a rare thing to pass a group of cottages, at any hour of the day, without seeing one or more bands of children joyously playing in the sea.

The natives have several games which are played in the water, and which are followed with exceeding avidity, not only by children, but by the adult population.

One of these is the fastening of a long board on a sort of stage, where the rocks are abrupt, in such a manner that it shall project far over the water; then they chase one another along the board, each in turn leaping from the end into the sea. They are also fond of diving from the yardarm or bowsprit of a ship.

But the most favourite pastime of all, and one in which all classes and ages, and both sexes, engage with peculiar delight, is swimming in the surf. Mr. Ellis has seen some of the greatest chiefs, between fifty and sixty years of age, large and corpulent men, engage in this game with as much interest as children.

A board, six feet long and one foot wide, slightly thinner at the edges than at the middle, is prepared for this amusement, stained and polished, and preserved with great care by being constantly oiled and hung up in their dwellings. With this in his hand, which he calls the wave-sliding board, each native repairs to the reef, particularly when the sea is running high and the surf is dashing in with more than ordinary violence, as on such occasions the pleasure is the greater.

They choose a place where the rocks are twenty or thirty feet under water, and shelve for a quarter of a mile or more out to sea. The waves break at this distance, and the whole space between it and the shore is one mass of boiling foam. Each person now swims out to sea, pushing his board before him, diving under the waves as they curl and break, until he has arrived outside the rocks.

He now lays himself flat on his breast along his board, and waits the approach of a huge billow. When it comes, he adroitly balances himself on its summit, and, paddling with his hands, is borne on the crest of the advancing wave, amidst the foam and spray, until within a yard or two of the shore or rocks. Then, when a stranger expects to see him the next moment dashed to death, he slides off his board, and, catching it by the middle, dives seaward under the wave, and comes up behind, laughing and whooping, again to swim out as before.

The utmost skill is required, in coming in, to keep the position on the top of the wave; for if the board get too far forward the swimmer will be overturned and thrown upon the beach, and if it fall behind he will be buried beneath the succeeding wave: yet some of the natives are so expert as to sit, and even to stand upright, upon their board, while it is thus riding in the foam!

—P. H. GOSSE

WORDS

adroitly, cleverly.

adult, grown up.

amusement, pastime.

aperture, opening.

avidity, eagerness.

beneficent, bountiful.

bulwark, ram part.

commodious, roomy.

coralline, made of coral.

corpulent, stout.

diminution, lessening.

discernible, perceptible.

favourite, popular.

imaginable, conceivable.

inhabitants, denizens.

invariably, uniformly.

joyously, merrily.

paddling, rowing.

permanently, lastingly.

pyramid, cone.

required, needed.

substance, material.

succeeding, following.

surrounded, thronged.

tremendous, terrific.

violence, fury.

whooping, yelling.

QUESTIONS

In what different stages of formation may coral islands be seen in the Pacific? What means of access is there generally to the lagoons? How is the opening in most cases indicated? What peculiarity of the natives most strikes a stranger? What is their favourite pastime? What apparatus do they use for it? Describe the game. What danger attends it?

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(1) Percolate, to filter or strain. [Lat. per-colare, to strain through]

(2) In solution,—vis. by the sea water.

(3) Amphibious, capable of living both on land and in water. (Gr amphi. both; bios, life.)

LESSON 59

THE HIMALAYAH (I)

NORTHWARD of the great plain of India, and along its whole extent, towers the sublime mountain region of the Himalayah, ascending gradually till it terminates in a long range of summits wrapped in perpetual snow. There may be traced, for the space of 1000 miles, a continuous line 20,000 feet above the sea; from which, as a base, detached peaks ascend to the additional height of 8000 or 9000 feet. The inhabitant of the burning plain contemplates, not without wonder, this long array of white pinnacles, forming the boundary of the distant horizon. In this progressive ascent, Nature assumes a continually changing aspect; and hence it will be necessary to view in succession the different stages through which she passes.

The Himalayah range, where it touches on the champaign(1) country, is almost everywhere girt with a peculiar belt or border, called the Tarryai. This term is applied to a plain about twenty miles broad, upon which the waters from the higher regions are poured down in such profusion that the river-beds are unable to contain them. They accordingly overflow, and convert the ground into a species of swamp; which, acted on by the burning rays of a tropical sun, throws up an excessively rank vegetation, whereby the earth is choked rather than covered.

The soil concealed beneath a mass of dark and disma foliage, while long grass and prickly shrubs shoot up so densely and so close as to form an almost impenetrable barrier. It is still more awfully guarded by the pestilential vapours(2) exhaling from those dark recesses, which make it, at certain seasons, a region of death. Beneath these melancholy shades, too, the elephant, the tiger, and other wild animals prowl unmolested; while the few human beings who occupy the vicinity present a meagre, dwarfish, and most sickly aspect.

On emerging from this dark and deadly plain, and beginning to ascend the lower mountain-stages, the visitor enjoys a much more pleasing scene. He passes now though smiling and fruitful valleys, overhung by the most romantic steeps, and covered to a great extent with the noblest forests. Amid trees similar to those which spread their majestic foliage on the banks of the Ganges, various species of the more hardy oak and the pine begin to appear. The prospects obtained from commanding points in these regions—consisting in a foreground of smiling and cultured vales, hills behind crowned with natural plantations, steeper and loftier ranges beyond, and in the distance the snow-clad tops of the highest mountain-chain—form a combination of the most sublime and enchanting scenery.

The Himalayah, as it ascends above the picturesque slopes which diversify its lower border, assumes a much bolder and severer aspect. The lofty ridge, the deep valley, the dashing torrent, produce a resemblance to the most elevated portions of the Highlands of Scotland; and Scottish officers, accordingly, who have happened to serve in that remote province, have fancied themselves wandering amid the romantic glens of their native country.

Generally speaking, the character of this mountain-chain is rugged and stern; its ridges rise behind each other in awful array, but they enclose no rural scenes, nor present any gentle undulations. Their steep sides, sometimes wooded, sometimes presenting vast faces of naked rock, dip down abruptly, forming dark chasms and ravines, at the bottom of which there is only room for the torrent to force its way through rude fragments fallen from the cliffs above.

In consequence of this peculiar structure, these loftier regions of the Himalayah do not present that tranquil grandeur, and those picturesque views, which render the mountain scenery of Europe so enchanting. They are rugged, gloomy, and monotonous. The mighty summits overhang no soft, pastoral valleys, nor wave with varied foliage, nor are reflected in the bosom of still and transparent lakes. The traveller, hemmed in between their steep precipices, sees only the dark grandeur of the chasm through which he winds.

Sometimes, however, on reaching a clear point, he finds himself in possession of a prospect bearing a character of the most awful sublimity. A spot raised almost to an immeasurable height above the plain beneath, proves only the base whence seven or eight successive ranges rise towards heaven, and terminate at length in a line of snowy pinnacles.

Mr. Royle, in his work on the botany of the Himalayah, divides that region, in respect to vegetation, into three zones or belts.

The first he considers as rising to the height of 5000 feet. The general temperature is here lowered, as usual, in proportion to the elevation, yet without the disappearance, to the extent that might be expected, of tropical plants. The southern exposure, the intense force of the sun's rays during the hot season, and the tropical rains(3) falling in undiminished abundance, enable these to be brought to almost equal maturity with those in the upper part of the central plain.

In Nepaul,(4) and other favourable situations, rice as a summer. and wheat as a winter crop, form the regular course of cultivation. But some of the more delicate plants are unable to bear exposure to the keen atmosphere and the nightly breezes; among which are the choicest of fruits, the mango and the pine-apple. At the same time, in the colder season, on elevated peaks, the plants of Europe and other temperate climates are seen springing side by side with those of the tropics. Snow is scarcely ever observed on this lower stage of the mountain territory.

The second belt is considered as reaching to the height of 9000 feet. Snow here falls constantly in winter, often to a great depth, but melts in early spring. Although the vegetation becomes more and more that of the temperate zone, yet the causes already stated enable tropical plants to climb beyond their natural height, and to mingle with those of a very different clime. In sheltered, well-watered valleys, crops of rice are still successfully raised, while wheat grows on the heights above. But though the herbaceous plants(5) are able to mount thus high, it is otherwise with trees, exposed to every vicissitude of the seasons. The palms and other Indian species are seen no longer, and the foliage appears exclusively European.

The third and most elevated belt reaches from the border of the latter to the summit of the Himalayah. The climate here is that of the more northern part of Europe and America, terminating in the perpetual snows of the arctic world. These, even in the lower districts, do not melt till May or June, when the extreme cold of winter is suddenly succeeded by the most intense heat. The rays of the sun, indeed, beat fiercely and painfully, even when the atmosphere is so little affected by them that the thermometer stands many degrees below the freezing point! and hence the traveller is scorched amidst almost unbearable cold—extremes which always prove distressing, and sometimes fatal.

The territory called Bhotan,(6) constituting the most elevated portion, has the severity of the climate aggravated by its rocky surface, so that not above one-sixteenth part of it is fit for cultivation. Yet even here, under circumstances not at all favourable, vegetation displays a luxuriance which could little be expected at so great a height. Buck-wheat and barley are generally raised with success. At 12,000 feet, Captain Webb saw the finest grain; and at 11,680, he observed forests of oak, and beds of strawberries and currants in full blossom!

The pasturage, in consequence probably of copious moisture, combined with the power of the sun's rays, grows with a luxuriance almost unequalled. A productive field, however, is occasionally ruined by the descent of glaciers, or beds of snow, which do not melt for several years.

Notwithstanding the shattered and rocky aspect of those precipices, they are covered with vast masses of hanging wood. Amidst the wilds, tall and majestic forests of pine, larch, spruce, and silver fir, sometimes even of cypress and cedar, grow, flourish, and decay; for there are no means of conveying the timber to any spot where it might be subservient to human use or ornament.

With these trees are intermingled numerous bushes loaded with the fruits which form the luxury of the northern regions of Europe; gooseberry, raspberry, strawberry—all unknown to the plains below. In sheltered spots, the wild rose, the lily of the valley, cowslip, dandelion, and various other flowers, are seen bursting through the green carpet. The trees and rocks in the higher districts are richly clothed with moss and lichen— the vegetation of the countries bordering on the arctic circle.

WORDS

aggravated, intensified.

arctic, north-polar.

ascending, rising.

contemplates, regards.

continuous, unbroken.

cultured, cultivated.

disappearance, absence.

distressing, painful.

enchanting, captivating.

excessively, extremely.

exclusively, entirely.

exhaling, arising.

fiercely, violently.

fragments, pieces.

glaciers, ice rivers.

immeasurable, immense.

impenetrable, not to be pierced.

intermingled, mixed.

melancholy, gloomy.

monotonous, same.

pasturage, herbage.

pinnacles, peaks.

plantations, forests.

profusion, abundance.

progressive, gradual.

resemblance, likeness.

romantic, picturesque.

sheltered, protested.

subservient, contriblitary.

suddenly, abruptly.

temperate, cool.

terminates, finishes.

territory, region.

thermometer, heatmeasurer.

tranquil, calm.

unbearable, insufferable.

undiminished, not lessened.

undulations, irregularities.

unmolested, undisturbed.

vegetation, plant-life.

vicissitude, change.

QUESTIONS

What is the height of the continuous line of the Himalayah? To what height above that do some of the peaks rise? What is the Tarryai? What are its dangers? What is the nature of the country immediately above that? To what is the bolder scenery still higher up compared? Into how many zones, as to vegetation, has the Himalayah been divided? What are their limits? What is remarkable in the vegetation of the first zone? What is the character of that of the second zone? How are tropical plants able to grow in those elevated regions? To what extremes is the traveller often exposed in the third zone? Why is the pasturage so luxuriant there? What European fruits and flowers are found there?

————————————————————

(1) Champaign, open; level. [Fr. champ, Lat. campus, a plain]

(2) Pestilential vapours—vapours causing pestilence and disease; noxious gases.

(3) Tropical rains.—In tropical countries the annual rain-fall is three times greater than in the temperate zones. This is due to the fact that evaporation, which causes rain, increases with the temperature. Over the greater part of India, the year consists of three seasons: the hot season, from March to June; the rainy season, from June to October; and the temperate season, from October to March. The rain of the second season is brought to India by the south-west monsoon, which blows from Africa to Asia (owing to the greater heat of the latter)from April to October.

(4) Nepaul, an independent country on the southern slope of the Himalayah, and north of Oudh and the basin of the Ganges.

(5) Herbaceous plants—plants with a soft or succulent stem, not a woody stalk.

(6) Bhotan, an independent state in Northern India, east of Nepaul.

LESSON 60

THE HIMALAYAH (II)

THE animal world in this higher region undergoes a change equally striking with the vegetable. The elephant and the tiger, kings of the forests beneath, disappear, or are very seldom seen. Depredations are chiefly committed by the wild cat, the bear, and the hog. The chamois bounds from rock to rock, and the forests are filled with deer of various species; of which the most rare and precious is that producing the musk.(1) It is found only in the loftiest heights, amid rocks which the human foot scarcely dares to tread. The most intense cold is so essential to its life. that the young, on being brought down to a warm situation, usually perish in a few days.

THE MUSK-DEER

The forests, at all the more moderate elevations, are filled with flocks of such fowls as are elsewhere domesticated, here running about wild, tempting the pursuit of the sportsman; but, as they very seldom take wing, they are with difficulty reached by the gun. The peacock displays his glittering plumage only on the lower hills. The sovereign eagle is seldom descried amid the cliffs, which are inhabited by kites, hawks, and others of the minor predatory birds. Partridges and pheasants are numerous, and of various species; the latter are even seen flying amid the snows at a great elevation.

The domestic animals, fed by the natives on their rich pastures, are the common black cattle of India, combined with the yak(2) of Thibet. Sheep and goats are also reared in large numbers, not only for the ordinary purposes of food and clothing, but for the conveyance of merchandise, which they alone are fitted to transport over the steep mountain-passes. Besides the common sheep, there is another breed, powerful and long-legged, and able to bear more than double the burden of the former.

The most elevated part of this stupendous range is that to the north of Bengal, along the heads of the Gogra, the Ganges, and the Jumna, and westward as far as the Sutlej. Above fifty peaks rise about 20,000 feet; and Kinchinjunga, 28,180 feet; Karakoram, 28,278 feet; and Everest, 29,000 feet, are the highest known points of the globe.

Notwithstanding the gloomy aspect of these mountain scenes, there are a few places in which they open out into smiling plains of considerable extent. The valleys of Nepaul, indeed, besides being very narrow, belong rather to the region of the lower hills. Considerably higher is found the Rama Serai, or the Happy Valley, where little eminences, villages, and richly-cultivated fields, combine to form a delightful scene. The most extensive opening, however, takes place at its western extremity, where these great ridges enclose the little kingdom of Cashmere, which, beyond any other spot on Earth, seems to merit the appellation of a terrestrial paradise.

THE YAK

The passes which extend across this tremendous ridge into Thibet are of extreme and peculiar difficulty. From the structure of the mountains, the roads must generally be carried nearly over their summits, rising sometimes as high as 20,000 feet! They are, in most cases, formed by a precarious track along the alpine torrent, which dashes in an unbroken sheet of foam, through dark ravines bordered by precipitous mountain walls ascending above the clouds.

Down the perpendicular faces of these stupendous avenues descend almost continual showers of stony fragments, broken off from the cliffs above. Occasionally, large portions of rock are detached, and roll down in heaps, effacing every path which has been formed beneath, filling the beds of the rivers, and converting them into cataracts. The whole side of a mountain has been seen thus parted, and spread in fragments at its base. Trees, torn up and precipitated into the abyss, lie stretched with their branches on the earth and their roots turned up to the sky. Yet through these tremendous passes, and across all these mighty obstructions, the daring industry of man has contrived to form tracks,—narrow, indeed, as well as perilous, but such as to enable Thibet and India to exchange commodities.

In proceeding along these stupendous heights, the traveller occasionally experiences a distressing sensation. The atmosphere, rarefied(3) to excess, becomes nearly unfit for supporting respiration. The action of the lungs being impeded, the slightest fatigue overpowers him; he stops at every three or four steps, gasping for breath; the skin is painful, and blood bursts from the lips.

The natives, who are also seized with these symptoms,(4) without being able to divine the physical cause, ascribe them to bis, or bish; meaning air poisoned, as they imagine, by the deleterious odour of certain flowers. A little observation would have shown them that the flowers in these regions have scarcely any scent; while it is in the most elevated tracts, where all vegetation has ceased, that the feelings in question become most oppressive.

Amid these awful scenes there are two spots peculiarly sacred and sublime; those, namely, where the Jumna and the Ganges, the two rivers which give grandeur and fertility to the plain of Hindustan, burst from beneath the eternal snows. No mortal foot has yet ascended to their highest springs, situated in the most elevated recesses of the mountains. There they issue forth as torrents, amid broken masses of granite, to force their way through the deep glens of the middle Himalayah.

—HUGH MURRAY

WORDS

abyss, depths.

appellation, name.

avenues, passes.

conveyance, transport.

deleterious, poisonous.

depredations, plunder.

domesticated, tamed.

elevated, lofty.

eminences, heights.

experiences, encounters.

fertility, fruitfulness.

gloomy, sombre.

inhabited, occupied.

intense, severe.

merchandise, goods.

obstructions, hindrances.

oppressive, painful.

paradise, Eden.

plumage, feathers.

precarious, dangerous.

precipitated, hurled.

precipitous, steep.

predatory, preying.

producing, yielding.

respiration, breathing.

stupendous, tremendous.

terrestrial, earthly.

undergoes, suffers.

QUESTIONS

What animals disappear as we reach the higher region? What are the chief animals found there? What is remarkable about the musk-deer? What birds are found there? What domestic animals are reared by the natives? What are the highest peaks in the range? What is the height of Everest? What is the character of Cashmere? What is the nature of the passes across the Himalayah ridge? What makes travelling by them very dangerous? What painful sensation does the traveller often feel in the higher altitudes? To what do the natives ascribe this? To what is it really owing? What are the two spots which are peculiarly sacred and sublime?

————————————————————

(1) Musk, a substance with a very powerful odour, agreeable only when moderated by mixture with other perfumes. It is obtained from the male of a deer called the musk-deer.

(2) Yak, the Tartar-ox; so called from its peculiar grunt when roused .It has been domesticated, and is very useful as a beast of burden and a source of food. The milk of the female yak is very rich, and its flesh is delicious. It is somewhat like the bison in appearance, but is more hairy.

(3) Rarefied, made thinner, expanded by its particles becoming more and more separated.

(4) Symptoms, signs or indications of disease; lit. things occurring or falling together. [Gr. syn, together; pipto, I fall, or happen.]

LESSON 61

LONDON AND ITS FOOD

IF, early on a summer morning, before the smoke of countless fires had narrowed the horizon(1) of the metropolis,(2) a spectator were to ascend to the top of St. Paul's, and take his stand upon the balcony that with gilded rail flashes like a fringe of fire on the summit of the dome, he would see sleeping beneath his feet the greatest camp of men upon which the sun has ever risen. As far as he could distinguish by the morning light, he would behold stretched before him the mighty map of the metropolis; and could he ascend still higher, he would note the stream of life overflowing the brim of hills which enclose the basin in which it stands.

In the space swept by his vision would lie the congregated habitations of two and three-quarter millions of his species,—but how vain are figures to convey an idea of so vast a multitude! If Norway, stretching from the Frozen Ocean down to its southern extremity in the North Sea, were to summon all its people to one vast conclave, they would number little more than half the souls within the London bills of mortality! Switzerland, in her thousand valleys, could not muster such an army; and even busy Holland, within her mast-thronged harbours, humming cities, and populous plains, could barely overmatch the close-packed millions within sound of the great bell at his feet.

As the spectator gazed upon this extraordinary prospect, the first stir of the awakening city would gradually steal upon his ear. The rumbling of wheels, the clang of hammers, the clear call of the human voice, all deepening by degrees into a confused hum, would proclaim that the mighty city was once more rousing to the labour of the day; and the blue columns of smoke climbing up to heaven would intimate that the morning meal was at hand.

At such a moment the thought would naturally arise in his mind,—In what manner is such an assemblage victualled? By what complicated wheels does all the machinery move by which two and three-quarter millions of human beings sit down to their meals day by day, as regularly and quietly as though they only formed a snug little party at Lovegrove's(3) on a summer afternoon?

As thus he mused respecting the means by which the supply and demand of so vast a multitude are brought to agree, so that every one is enabled to procure exactly what he wants, at the exact time, without loss to himself or injury to the community, thin lines of steam, sharply marked for the moment, as they advanced one after another from the horizon and converged towards him, would indicate the arrival of the great commissariat(4) trains, stored with produce from all parts of these isles and from the adjacent continent. Could his eye distinguish in addition the fine thread of that far-spreading web(5) which makes London the most sensitive spot on the Earth, he would be enabled to take in at a glance the two agents—Steam and Electricity—which keep the balance true between the wants and the supply of London.

The inadequacy of figures to convey a clear impression to the mind of the series of units of which the sums are composed, renders it impossible to give more than a faint idea of the enormous supplies of food required to victual the capital for a single year. But the conception may be somewhat assisted by varying the process. Country journals now and then astonish their readers by calculations to show how many times the steel pens manufactured in England would form a chain around their own little town, or how many thousand miles the matches of their local factory would extend if laid in a straight line from the centre of their market-place. Let us try our hand on the same sort of picture, and endeavour to fill the eye with a prospect that would satisfy the appetite of the far-famed Dragon of Wantley(6) himself.

If we fix upon Hyde Park as our exhibition-ground, and pile together all the barrels of beer consumed in London in a single year, they would form a thousand columns not far short of a mile in perpendicular height.

Let us imagine ourselves on the top of this tower, and we shall have a look-out worthy of the feast we are about to summon to our feet.

Herefrom we discover the Great Northern Road, stretching far away into the length and breadth of the land. Lo! as we look, a mighty herd of oxen, with loud bellowing, is beheld approaching from the north. For miles and miles the mass of horns is conspicuous winding along the road, ten abreast; and even thus, the last animal of the herd would be seventy-two miles away, and the drover goading his shrinking flank considerably beyond Peterborough.

On the other side of the park, as the clouds of dust clear away, we see the Great Western Road, as far as the eye can reach, thronged with a bleating mass of wool; and the shepherd at the end of the flock (ten abreast), and the dog that is worrying the last sheep, are just leaving the environs of Bristol, one hundred and twenty-one miles from our beer-built tower.

Along Piccadilly, Regent Street, the Strand, Fleet Street, Cheapside, and the eastward Mile End Road line, for seven and a half miles, street and causeway are thronged with calves (still ten abreast); and in the great parallel thorough-fares of Bayswater Road, Oxford Street, and Holborn, we see nothing for nine long miles but a slow-pacing, deep-grunting herd of swine.

As we watch this moving mass approaching from all points of the horizon, the air suddenly becomes dark—a black pall(7) seems drawn over the sky—it is the great flock of birds (game, poultry, and wild-fowl) that are come up to be killed. As they fly wing to wing, and tail to beak, they form a square whose superficies is not much less than the whole enclosed portion of St. James's Park, or fifty-one acres. No sooner does this huge flight clear away than we behold the park at our feet covered with hares and rabbits. Feeding two thousand abreast, they extend from the marble arch to the round pond in Kensington Gardens—at least a mile.

Let us now pile up all the half-quartern(8) loaves consumed in the metropolis in the year, and we shall find they form a pyramid(9) which measures two hundred square feet at its base, and rises into the air a height of one thousand two hundred and ninety-three feet, or nearly three times that of St. Paul's.

Turning now to ward the sound of rushing waters, we find that the seven companies are filling the mains(10) for the day. If they were allowed to flow into the area of the adjacent St. James's Park, they would in the course of the twenty-four hours flood its entire space with a depth of thirty inches of water, and the whole annual supply would be quite sufficient to submerge the City part of London (one mile square) ninety feet.

Of the fish we confess we are able to say nothing: when numbers mount to billions, the calculations become too trying to our patience. We have little doubt, however, that they would be quite sufficient to make the Serpentine one solid mass.

Of ham and bacon, again, preserved meats, and all the countless comestibles,(11) we have taken no account; and, in truth, they are little more to the great mass than the ducks and geese were to Sancho Panza's(12) celebrated mess—"the skimmings of the pot."

The railways having poured this enormous amount of food into the metropolis, as the main arteries(13) feed the human body, it is distributed by the various dealers into every quarter of the town: first into the wholesale markets, or great centres; then into the sub-centres, or retail-shops; and lastly into the moving centres or barrows of the hawkers. By this means nourishment is poured into every corner of the town, and the community at large is supplied as effectually as are the countless tissues of the human body by the infinitely divided net-work of capillary(14) vessels. These food distributors amount to about 100,000. Among them are no less than 7000 grocers, nearly 10,000 bakers, and 7000 butchers.

—DR. WYNTER

London, as a city, is in its arrangements and regulations perhaps the most complete in the world. All seems in the most perfect order,—everything in its place, like the brooms, brushes, dusting-cloths of a perfect housekeeper; and for that prime virtue, cleanliness, it is, perhaps, more remarkable than any other. Even the air of London is sweet, save in a few localities. The atmosphere is often, indeed, thick with mingled smoke and fog, but the sense of smell is rarely offended; and this is the best evidence of an all-pervading cleanliness. As a remarkable example of arrangement, nothing can be conceived more complete in all its parts than the management of the Post Office department in London. Several times every day throughout London there is a delivery of letters, newspapers, and parcels; and notes, often scarce bigger than the wax that seals them, are conveyed with exactness and rapidity to and from every street, lane, and alley of the vast metropolis.

WORDS

adjacent, neighbouring.

appetite, hunger.

arrangements, plans.

balcony, gallery.

calculations, estimates.

celebrated, famous.

cleanliness, purity.

community, public.

complicated, involved.

conception, idea.

conclave, meeting.

congregated, assembled.

conspicuous, prominent.

consumned, swallowed.

countless, numberless.

department, section.

distributed, dealt.

effectually, thoroughly.

environs, outskirts.

exactness, accuracy.

extraordinary, unusual.

habitations, dwellings.

inadequacy, incompetency.

infinitely, endlessly.

localities, districts.

management, administration.

mortality, death-rate.

nourishment, sustenance.

patience, endurance.

perpendicular, vertical.

poultry, domestic fowl.

proclaim, announce.

rapidity, speed.

regulations, rules.

respecting, reagrding.

sensitive, susceptible.

submerge, overflow.

sufficient, enough.

superficies, surface.

thoroughfares, streets.

victualled, supplied with food.

QUESTIONS

What is the population of London? Illustrate its extent by comparison with Norway. With Switzerland. With Holland. What are the two agents which keep the balance true between the wants of London in the matter of food, and the supply? If all the barrels of beer consumed in London in a year were piled together, what would they form? How far would the oxen stretch, ten abreast? And the sheep? And the calves? And the swine? What area would the birds cover? And the hares and rabbits? Of what size would a pyramid of the loaves consumed in a year be? Give an idea of the annual water supply. How is this food distributed in London?

————————————————————

(1) Horizon, the utmost bound of our view, where earth and sky seem to meet. The smoke narrows the horizon, because it limits the view.

(2) Metropolis, the chief city in a country; lit. the mother-city. [Gr. meter, mother; polis, city.]

(3) At Lovegroves.—The reference is to a fashionable hotel at Greenwich, kept by a person of that name.

(4) Commissariat, food-supplying. Properly, the commissariat is that department of an army to which is committed the charge of supplying it with provisions.

(5) Far-spreading web.—The web referred to is formed of the telegraphic wires which extend from London to all parts of the civilized world.

(6) Dragon of Wantley.—Described, in the old ballad which bears his name, as a greedy monster that consumed animals wholesale, and even houses and forests.

(7) Pall, the cloth which covers the coffin at a funeral.

(8) Half-quartern, two-pound. A quartern is quarter of a peck, which is the fourth part of a bushel.

(9) Pyramid, a solid figure, with triangular sides, meeting in a point at the top.

(10) Mains, the chief water-pipes.

(11) Comestibles, eatables; lit. things eaten along with more substantial food. [Lat. con, together; edo, I eat.]

(12) Sancho Panza, the "good squire" of Don Quixote, the hero of the Spanish romance which bears his name, written by Cervantes, who died in 1616. Sancho was originally a labourer, whom the knight enticed from his employment and family to enter his service. The "mess" referred to was on the occasion of the wedding of Camacho the Rich. (See Don Quixote, part II., ch xx.)

(13) Arteries, the tubes that convey the blood from the heart to all parts of the body. Those which convey the blood back to the heart are called veins.

(14) Capillary vessels—the minute hair-like tubes in which the arteries terminate and the veins begin. [Lat. capillus, a hair; from caput, the head.]

LESSON 62

THE WATERS OF THE GLOBE

WATER is one of the most widely diffused bodies in nature, about three-fourths of the surface of the globe being covered by it. The benevolence of the Creator is manifest in the wide diffusion of this element. It is indispensable both to the animal and to the vegetable worlds. It serves invaluable purposes in the arts and manufactures; in the form of rivers, lakes, and seas, it becomes a medium of intercourse among the nations of the Earth. To the vast reservoir of water in the ocean, moreover, we are indebted for the clouds, which carry moisture from the sea and let it down upon the parched and thirsty earth in refreshing rain.

There is a river in the sky a hundred times larger than the Amazon or the Mississippi;(1) and not only one, but many. These rivers come to us in the spring rains, the summer showers, the nightly dews, and the winter snows. The water which thus falls from the sky every year would cover the earth, if it were level like a field, to the depth of fully five feet.

All the waters of our mighty rivers and lakes were once clouds, and the clouds are but vapour lifted into the sky from the sea by the secret engineering of the sun. The winds, by the flapping of their mighty wings, drive the vapour over the land to the hills, and the mountains, and the thirsty fields; and there the clouds pour their blessings on the farms, and pastures, and orchards, and the dusty roads and the wayside grass, bringing greenness and gladness everywhere.

The sea is in the sparkling dew-drop, and it falls in the summer shower. It makes the grass grow and the flowers unfold their gay banners—red, white and blue. It ripens the peach and the apple, and loads the fields with the yellow harvest. It spins our thread and weaves our cloth. It is harnessed to mighty engines, and does more work than thousands of men and horses. It saws our timber, lifts our coal from the bowels of the earth, and steams in the iron horse. The sea clothes and cools us, and carries us and works for us. All the water in our rivers, lakes, fountains, in the dew, fog, snow, sleet, and rain, comes alike from the sea.

From whatever source water is procured, whether from ocean, river, lake, or spring, it is always the same. It is true that water from the sea has a different taste from that of rain or river water; but the difference does not lie in the water, but in the substances dissolved in it.

Water is composed of two gases, oxygen and hydrogen, in the proportion of eight parts of oxygen to one of hydrogen, by weight.(2) It is one of the most marvellous facts in the natural world, that though hydrogen is highly inflammable, and oxygen is a supporter of combustion, both combined form an element destructive to fire.

Pure water is destitute of colour, taste, and smell. It seldom, however, occurs in this state, but usually contains various ingredients,(3) derived either from the atmosphere or from the earth. Rain water is the purest that can be obtained, except by distillation.(4)

The waters of the globe are divided into fresh and salt. The fresh water includes all streams and rivers, and nearly all the springs and the greater number of the lakes, on the Earth's surface. They are called fresh, because they contain no amount of saline matter unfitting them for use. It is supposed that the lakes of North America contain more than half of all the fresh water on the face of the globe.

Salt water is that which Fills the vast basin of the ocean, besides numerous lakes and springs. It forms much the larger portion of the liquid element. The proportion of saline matter which the ocean contains is about three and a half per cent.(5) Supposing the sea to have a mean depth of one thousand feet, it has been calculated that the amount of common salt it contains is equal to five times the mass of the Alps, or about one-third less than that of the Himalayah Mountains!

Near the equator and towards the poles the ocean is less salt than in other parts. This is probably owing to the abundant rains at the equator, and to the melting of the ice in in the polar regions.

The saline ingredients render sea water much heavier than fresh water, and, consequently,(6) better adapted for navigation. Fresh water freezes at the temperature of 32 degrees; salt water, at that of 28½ degrees. The healthfulness of the ocean is partly ascribed to its constant motion, which prevents its waters from becoming stagnant and corrupt.

WORDS

ascribed, attributed.

benevolence, bountifulness.

consequently, therefore.

destructive, ruinous.

difference, diversity.

dissolved, decomposed.

engineering, contrivance.

greenness, verdure.

harnessed, yoked.

healthfulness, salubrity.

includes, comprises.

indebted, obliged.

indispensable, essential.

inflammable, combustible.

intercourse, communication.

marvellous, wonderful.

medium, channel.

moisture, water.

procured, obtained.

proportion, ratio.

refreshing, reviving.

reservoir, store.

QUESTIONS

What proportion of the surface of the globe is covered by water? What important purposes does it serve? What amount of water falls upon the earth in a year? Whence does all the water of the globe come? How is it diffused over the land? Of what is water composed? In what proportions? What is the purest water that can be obtained in nature? What does the fresh water include? What are the North American lakes said to contain? What proportion of saline matter does the sea contain? Where is the ocean least salt? Why is sea water better adapted for navigation than fresh? To what is the healthfulness of the ocean partly ascribed?

————————————————————

(1) The Amazon or the Mississippi—the greatest rivers of South and North America respectively.

(2) By weight.—But by volume, water contains twice as much hydrogen as oxygen.

(3) Ingredients, elements; constituent parts. [Lat. in, into; gradior. I go, enter.]

(4) Distillation, converting water into steam by heat, and the steam again into water by cold. Steam is evaporated water; distilled water is condensed steam.

(5) Three and a half per cent.—In every 100 parts of salt water, 3½ parts are salt, and 96½ parts are water. Much of the salt used with our food is obtained from sea water by evaporation.

(6) Consequently; both because its buoyant power is greater, and because it is less easily frozen.

LESSON 63

THE OCEAN

WHO ever gazed upon the broad sea without emotion; Whether seen in stern majesty, hoary with the tempest, rolling its giant waves upon the rocks, and dashing with resistless fury some gallant bark on an iron-bound coast; or sleeping beneath the silver moon, its broad bosom broken but by a gentle ripple, just enough to reflect a long line of light—a path of silver upon a pavement of sapphire;(1)—who has looked upon the sea without feeling that it has power "to stir the soul with thoughts profound"?

Perhaps there is no earthly object—not even the cloud-cleaving mountains of an alpine country—so sublime as the sea in its severe and naked simplicity. Standing on some promontory whence the eye roams far out upon the unbounded ocean, the soul expands, and we conceive a nobler idea of the majesty of that God who "holdeth the waters in the hollow of his hand." He has set bars and doors, and said, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."

—GOSSZ

Roll on, thou deep and dark-blue ocean—roll!

Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain:

Man marks the earth with ruin—his control

Stops with the shore;—upon the watery plain

The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain

A shadow of man's ravage, save his own,

When, for a moment, like a drop of rain,

He sinks into thy depths, with bubbling groan,

Without a grave, unknelled,(2) uncoffined, and unknown.

The armaments which thunder-strike the walls

Of rock-built cities, bidding nations quake,

And monarchs tremble in their capitals;

The oak leviathans,(3) whose huge ribs make

Their clay creator the vain title take

Of lord of thee, and arbiter of war;—

These are thy toys, and, as the snowy flake,

They melt into thy yeast of waves, which mar

Alike the Armada's(4) pride and spoils of Trafalgar.(5)

Thy shores are empires, changed in all save thee.

Assyria,(6) Greece, Rome, Carthage(7)—what are they?

Thy waters wasted them while they were free,

And many a tyrant since: their shores obey

The stranger, slave, or savage: their decay

Has dried up realms to deserts. Not so thou:

Unchangeable save to thy wild waves' play,

Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow—

Such as Creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now.

Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form

Glasses(8) itself in tempests; in all time—

Calm or convulsed—in breeze, or gale, or storm

Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime

Dark-heaving,—boundless, endless, and sublime—

The image of Eternity!

—BYRON(9)

WORDS

alpine, mountainous.

arbiter, umpire.

armaments, fleets.

control, jurisdiction.

convulsed, agitated.

emotion, intense feeling.

eternity, endless duration.

glorious, splendid.

monarchs, sovereigns.

pavement, floor.

profound, deep.

promontory, headland.

ravage, devastation.

remain, survive.

resistless, irresistible.

tremble, quake.

tyrant, despot.

unchangeable, immutable.

————————————————————

(1) Sapphire, a precious stone, properly of a blue colour (for stones of other colours are also called sapphires); next in hardness to the diamond.

(2) Unknelled, having no knell or funeral bell tolled.

(3) Oak leviathans—ships of the largest size; so called after the huge sea-animal described in the Book of Job (ch. xli.). So Campbell says, in the Battle of the Baltic—

"Like leviathans afloat

Lay their bulwarks on the brine."

(4) The Armada—the Spanish Armada, a great fleet sent against England by Philip II. of Spain in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Defeated 1588.

(5) Trafalgar, the great naval battle in which Nelson defeated the French and Spanish fleets, and in which he was killed. October 21, 1805.

(6) Assyria, a country in Asia, between Mesopotamia and Media, the seat of the most ancient monareny in the world. Nineveh, its capital, was razed to the ground when Assyria became a Median province, B. C. 605.

(7) Carthage, a great republic in the north of Africa, which disputed with Rome the sovereignty of the world. The Romans triumphed in the end, and burned the city of Carthage, B. C. 146.

(8) Glasses, reflects, as in a glass or mirror.

(9) Byron, George Gordon, Lord Byron, poet, born 1788. Chief works: Child Harold's Pilgrimage, The Giaour, The Corsair, Manfred; (a drama), &c. Died in 1824 at Missolonghi in Greece, where he had gone to support the cause of Greek independence.

LESSON 64

THE VISION OF MIRZA

WHEN I was at Grand Cairo I picked up several Oriental manuscripts, which I have still by me. Among others, I met with one entitled "The Visions of Mirza," which I have read over with great pleasure. I intend to give it to the public when I have no other entertainment for them; and shall begin with the first vision, which I have translated word for word as follows:—

"On the fifth lay of the moon, which, according to the custom of my forefathers, I always keep holy, after having washed myself and offered up my morning devotions, I ascended the high hills of Bagdat,(1) in order to pass the rest of the day in meditation and prayer. As I was here airing myself on the tops of the mountains, I fell into a profound contemplation on the vanity of human life; and passing from one thought to another, 'Surely,' said I, 'man is but a shadow, and life a dream.'

"Whilst I was thus musing, I cast mine eyes towards the summit of a rock that was not far from me, where I discovered one in the habit of a shepherd, with a little musical instrument in his hand. As I looked upon him. he applied it to his lips and began to play upon it. The sound of it was exceeding sweet, and wrought into a variety of tunes that were inexpressibly melodious, and altogether different from anything I had ever heard. They put me in mind of those heavenly airs that are played to the departed souls of good men upon their first arrival in Paradise, to wear out the impressions of their last agonies, and qualify them for the pleasures of that happy place. My heart melted away in secret raptures.

"I had often been told that the rock before me was the haunt of a Genius,(2) and that several who had passed by it had been entertained with music; but I had never heard that the musician had before made himself visible. When, by those transporting airs which he played, he had raised my thoughts to taste the pleasures of his conversation, I looked upon him like one astonished. Thereupon he beckoned to me, and directed me by the waving of his hand to approach the place where he sat.

"I drew near with that reverence which is due to a superior nature; and as my heart was entirely subdued by the captivating strains I had heard, I fell down at his feet and wept. The Genius smiled upon me with a look of compassion and affability that familiarized him to my imagination, and at once dispelled all the fears and apprehensions with which I approached him. He lifted me from the ground, and taking me by the hand, 'Mirza,' said he, 'I have heard thee in thy soliloquies;(3) follow me.'

"He then led me to the highest pinnacle of the rock, and placing me on the top of it, 'Cast thine eyes eastward,' said he, 'and tell me what thou seest.' 'I see,' said I, 'a huge valley, and a prodigious tide of water rolling through it.' 'The valley that thou seest,' said he, 'is the Vale of the Misery; and the tide of water that thou seest is part of the great tide of Eternity.' 'What is the reason,' said I, 'that the tide I see rises out of a thick mist at the one end, and again loses itself in a thick mist at the other?' 'What thou seest,' said he, 'is that portion of Eternity which is called Time, measured out by the sun, and reaching from the beginning of the world to its consummation.

"'Examine now,' continued he, 'this sea that is bounded with darkness at both ends, and tell me what thou discoverest in it.' 'I see a bridge,' said I, 'standing in the midst of the tide.' 'The bridge thou seest,' said he, 'is Human Life; consider it attentively.' Upon a more leisurely survey of it, I found that it consisted of threescore and ten entire arches,(4) with several broken arches, which, added to those that were entire, made up the number to about one hundred. As I was counting the arches, the Genius told me that this bridge had consisted at first of a thousand arches, but that a great flood had swept away the rest, and left the bridge in the ruinous condition in which I now beheld it.

"'But tell me further,' said he, 'what thou discoverest on it?' 'I see multitudes of people passing over it,' said I, 'and a black cloud hanging on each end of it.' As I looked more attentively, I saw several of the passengers dropping through the bridge into the great tide that flowed underneath it; and, upon further examination, perceived that there were innumerable trap-doors(5) that lay concealed in the bridge, which the passengers no sooner trod upon than they fell through them into the tide, and immediately disappeared.

"These hidden pit-falls were set very thick at the entrance of the bridge, so that throngs of people no sooner broke through the cloud than many of them fell into them. They grew thinner towards the middle, but multiplied and lay closer together towards the end of the arches that were entire.

"There were, indeed, some persons, but their number was very small, that continued a kind of hobbling march on the broken arches; but they fell through one after another, being quite tired and spent with so long a walk.

"I passed some time in the contemplation of this wonderful structure and the great variety of objects which it present. My heart was filled with a deep melancholy to see several dropping unexpectedly, in the midst of mirth and jollity, and catching at everything that stood by them, to save themselves.

"Some were looking up towards the heavens in a thoughtful posture, and in the midst of a speculation stumbled, and fell out of sight. Multitudes were very busy in the pursuit of bubbles that glittered in their eyes and danced before them; but often when they thought themselves within the reach of them, their footing failed, and down they sank.

"In this confusion of objects, I observed many with scimitars in their hands,(6) who ran to and fro upon the bridge, thrusting several persons on trap-doors which did not seem to lie in their way, and which they might have escaped had they not been thus forced upon them.

"The Genius, seeing me indulge myself on this melancholy prospect, told me I had dwelt long enough upon it.

Take thine eyes off the bridge,' said he, 'and tell me if thou yet seest anything thou dost not comprehend?' Upon looking up, 'What mean,' said I, 'those great flights of birds that are perpetually hovering about the bridge, and settling upon it from time to time? I see vultures, harpies,(7) ravens, cormorants, and, among many other feathered creatures, several little winged boys, that perch in great numbers upon the middle arches.' 'These,' said the Genius, 'are Envy, Avarice, Superstition, Despair, Love, with the like cares and passions that infest human life.'

"I here fetched a deep sigh. 'Alas,' said I, 'man was made in vain! How is he given away to misery and mortality, tortured in life, and swallowed up in death!'

"The Genius, being moved with compassion towards me, bade me quit so uncomfortable a prospect. 'Look no more, said he, 'on man in the first stage of his existence, in his setting out for Eternity; but cast thine eye on that thick mist into which the tide bears the several generations of mortals that fall into it.'

"I directed my sight as I was ordered and (whether or no the good Genius strengthened it with any supernatural force, or dissipated part of the mist that was before too thick for the eye to penetrate, I know not, but) I saw the valley opening at the further end, and spreading forth into an immense ocean, that had a huge rock of adamant running through the midst of it, and dividing it into two equal parts.

"The clouds still rested on one half of it, insomuch that I could discover nothing in it; but the other(8) appeared to me a vast ocean planted with innumerable islands, that were covered with fruits and flowers, and interwoven with a thousand little shining seas that ran among them. I could see persons dressed in glorious habits, with garlands upon their heads, passing among the trees, lying down by the sides of fountains, or resting on beds of flowers; and I could hear a confused harmony of singing birds, falling waters, human voices, and musical instruments.

"Gladness grew in me upon the discovery of so delightful a scene. I wished for the wings of an eagle that I might fly away to those happy seats; but the Genius told me there was no passage to them except through the gates of Death, which I saw opening every moment upon the bridge.

"'The islands,' said he, 'that lie so fresh and green before thee, and with which the whole face of the ocean appears spotted as far as thou canst see, are more in number than the sands on the sea-shore. There are myriads(9) of islands behind those which thou here discoverest, reaching further than thine eye, or even thine imagination, can extend itself. These are the mansions of good men after death, who, according to the degree and kinds of virtue in which they excelled, are distributed among these several islands, which abound with pleasures of different kinds and degrees, suitable to the relishes and perfections of those who are settled in them. Every island is a paradise accommodated to its respective inhabitants. Are not these, O Mirza! habitations worth contending for? Does life appear miserable, that gives thee opportunities of earning such a reward? Is death to be feared, that will convey thee to so happy an existence? Think not man was made in vain, who has such an eternity reserved for him.'

"I gazed with inexpressible pleasure on these happy islands. At length I said, 'Show me now, I beseech thee, the secrets that lie hid under those dark clouds which cover the ocean on the other side of the rock of adamant.'

"The Genius making me no answer, I turned about to address myself to him a second time, but I found that he had left me. I then turned again to the vision which I had been so long contemplating; but instead of the rolling tide, the arched bridge, and the happy islands, I saw nothing but the long, hollow valley of Bagdat, with oxen, sheep, and camels grazing upon the sides of it."

—JOSEPH ADDISON(10)

WORDS

accommodated, adapted.

adamant, diamond.

affability, courtesy.

attentively, closely.

avarice, greed.

beckoned, motioned.

comprehend, understand.

concealed, hidden.

consummation, completion.

contemplation, meditation.

contending, striving.

conversation, discourse.

delightful, charming.

despair, hopelessness.

devotions, prayers.

discovered, descried.

dispelled, dissipated.

entertainment, amusement.

envy, jealousy.

garlands, wreaths.

imagination, fancy.

inexpressibly, unutterably.

interwoven, interlaced.

manuscripts, writings.

melancholy, sadness; sad.

melodious, sweet.

multiplied, increased.

multitudes, crowds.

oriental, eastern.

passengers, travellers.

prodigious, enormous.

raptures, transports.

relishes, tastes.

speculation, train of thought.

structure, erection.

subdued, charmed.

supernatural, miraculous.

superstition, fanaticism.

threescore, sixty.

transporting, captivating.

uncomfortable, disagreeable.

unexpectedly, suddenly.

QUESTIONS

What does this story profess to be? Where did the vision appear to Mirza? For what purpose had he gone there? On what was he reflecting? Who appeared to him? By what did he captivate him? Where did the Genius lead him? What did he show him? What did the valley represent? And the tide of water? Why was the tide enclosed between thick mists? What stood in the midst of the tide? What did the bridge represent? How many arches had it? Of how many had it at one time consisted? To what is this an allusion? What lay concealed in the bridge? Where were they set most thickly? What does this represent? How are very old persons represented in the vision? How, sudden deaths? How, the devastations of war? What was the meaning of the flights of birds about the bridge? How was the region of Eternity divided? Which part was Mirza not allowed to see? Of what did the other consist? what did the Genius say the islands were? What lessons was Mirza to draw from what he had seen?

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(1) Bagdat, a town and division of Mesopotamia, or Al Jezira, a province of Aslatic Turkey. The town is on the river Tigris. It was the seat of the Saracen Empire (that of the Eastern Mohammedans) from the eighth to the thirteenth century. It was long a bone of contention between the Persians and the Turks; but it was finally taken by the latter in 1638.

(2) A Genius, a supernatural being a spirit.

(3) Soliloquies, speeches addressed to oneself; spoken meditations.

(4) Threescore and ten entire arches—The arches represent the years of man's average life. The broken arches are the extensions of life which occasionally take place. The "thousand arches" refer to the great age of the antediluvians.

(5) Trap-doors and pit-falls are the diseases and accidents which beset man, especially in infancy.

(6) With scimitars in their hands.—An allusion to the premature deaths caused by war. The scimitar, here put as the emblem of bloodshed, is a short Turkish sword with a curved blade.

(7) Harpy, a fabulous monster, half woman and half bird. The name is also applied to the crested eagle of Mexico.

(8) The other.—That is, Heaven. The "immense ocean" is Eternity, divided by a "rock of adamant" (that is, of impenetrable hardness) into a region of bliss and a region of woe. The latter was concealed by dark clouds, through which the eye of Mirza was not allowed to penetrate.

(9) Myriads, innumerable multitudes. [Gr. murios, numberless; pl. murioi. ten thousand.]

(10) Joseph Addison, essayist and poet born in Wiltshire in 1672; studied at Oxford; wrote The Campaign, a poem celebrating Marlborough's victory of Blenheim (1704); contributed essays to the Tatter, Spectator, and Guardian, on which his fame rests,—the above is one of his papers in the Spectator; wrote Cate (a tragedy) in 1713; became Secretary of State in 1717; died at Holland House in 1719.

LESSON 65

A PSALM OF LIFE

TELL me not, in mournful numbers,(1)

Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act that each to-morrow

Find us further than to-day.

Art is long,(2) and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act—act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime;

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time,—

Footprints that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labour and to wait.

—H. W. LONGFELLOW(3)

WORDS

achieving, accomplishing.

bivouac, campaign.

destined, appointed.

earnest, serious.

enjoyment, pleasure.

fleeting, transient.

footprints, traces.

forlorn, desolate.

goal, end.

mournful, doleful.

muffled. dull.

pursuing, striving.

remind, suggest to.

slumbers, sleeps.

sublime, noble.

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(1) Numbers—verse or poetry; so called because it requires regularity in the number of syllables and of accents in each line.

(2) Art is long, &c.—An adaptation of an ancient aphorism: Ars longa, vita brevis—"Art is long, life is short." Chaucer has the same idea in "The lyfe so short, the craft so long to lerne."

(3) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet; born in Maine in 1807; in 1835 appointed Professor of Modern Languages and Belles Lettres in Harvard College, Cambridge, United States. Chief works: Voices of the Night, The Golden Legend, Evangeline, and Hiawatha; has also written prose tales and essays, as Hyperion. Kavanagh, &c.

LESSON 66

THE TIDE-WAVE IN THE BAY OF FUNDY

THE tide-wave that sweeps to the north-east, along the Atlantic coast of the United States, entering the funnel-like mouth of the Bay of Fundy, becomes compressed and elevated as the sides of the bay gradually approach each other. In the narrower parts, the water runs at the rate of six or seven miles an hour, and the vertical rise of the tide amounts to sixty feet or more! At some points these tides, to an unaccustomed spectator, have rather the aspect of some rare convulsion of nature than of an ordinary daily occurrence.

At low tide, wide flats of brown mud are seen to extend for miles, as if the sea had altogether retired from its bed; and the distant channel appears as a mere strip of muddy water. At the commencement of flood, a slight ripple is seen to break over the edge of the flats. It rushes swiftly forward, and, covering the lower flats almost instantaneously, gains rapidly on the higher swells of mud, which appear as if they were being dissolved in the turbid waters.

At the same time the torrent of red water enters all the channels, creeks, and estuaries;(1) surging, whirling, and foaming, and often having in its front a white, breaking wave, or "bore,"(2) which runs steadily forward, meeting and swallowing up the remains of the ebb still trickling down the channels. The mud flats are soon covered; and then, as the stranger sees the water gaining with noiseless and steady rapidity on the steep sides of banks and cliffs, a sense of insecurity creeps over him, as if no limit could be set to the advancing deluge. In a little time, however, he sees that the fiat,(3) "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further," has been issued to the great bay tide: its retreat commences, and the waters rush back as rapidly as they entered.

FOOT-PRINTS OF ANIMALS ON A SLAB OF STONE

Much interest attaches to the marine sediment of the Bay of Fundy, from the great breadth of it laid bare at low tide, and the facilities which it in consequence affords for the study of sun-cracks, impressions of rain-drops, foot-prints of animals, and other appearances which we find imitated on many ancient rocks. The genuineness of these ancient traces, as well as their mode of preservation, can be illustrated and proved only by the study of modern deposits. We quote a summary of facts of this kind from a paper on Rain-prints by Sir Charles Lyell, who was the first to direct attention to these phenomena as exhibited in the Bay of Fundy.

"The sediment with which the waters are charged is extremely fine, being derived from the destruction of cliffs of red sandstone and shale, belonging chiefly to the coal measures.(4) On the borders of even the smallest estuaries communicating with a bay in which the tides rise sixty feet and upwards, large areas are laid dry for nearly a fortnight, between the spring and the neap tides;(5) and the mud is then baked in summer by a hot sun, so that it becomes solidified and traversed by cracks. Portions of the hardened mud may then be taken up and removed without injury.

"On examining the edges of each slab, we observe numerous layers, formed by successive tides, usually very thin—sometimes only one-tenth of an inch thick; of unequal thickness. however, because, according to Dr. Webster, the night-tides, rising a foot higher than the day-tides, throw down more sediment.

"When a shower of rain falls, the highest portion of the mud-covered flat is usually too hard to receive any impressions; while that recently uncovered by the tide, near the water's edge, is too soft. Between these areas a space occurs almost as smooth and even as a looking-glass, on which every drop forms a cavity of circular or oval form. If the shower be transient these pits retain their shape permanently. being dried by the sun, and being then too firm to be effaced by the action of the succeeding tide, which deposits upon them a new layer of mud. Hence we find, on splitting open a slab an inch or more thick, on the upper surface of which the marks of recent rain occur, that an inferior layer, deposited perhaps ten or fourteen tides previously, exhibits on its under surface perfect casts of rain-prints which stand out in relief, the moulds of the same being seen in the layer below."

FOOT-PRINTS OF BIRDS ON A SLAB OF STONE

After mentioning that a continuous shower of rain obliterates the more regular impressions, and produces merely a blistered surface, Sir Charles adds:—

"On some of the specimens there are seen the winding tubular tracks of worms, which have been bored just beneath the surface. Sometimes the worms have dived, and then reappeared. Occasionally the same mud is traversed by the foot-prints of birds, and of musk-rats, minks,(6) dogs, sheep, and cats. The leaves also of elm, maple, and oak trees have been scattered by the winds over the soft mud, and, having been buried under the deposits of succeeding tides, are found on dividing the layers. When the leaves themselves are removed, very faithful impressions, not only of their outline, but of their minutest veins, are left imprinted on the clay."

We have here a perfect instance, in a modern deposit, of appearances which we notice in some of the most ancient rocks; and it is only by such minute studies of existing nature that we can hope to interpret those older appearances. In some very ancient rocks we have impressions of rain-marks quite similar to those which occur in the alluvial mud of the Bay of Fundy. In those old rocks, also, and especially in the coal formation, we find surfaces netted with sun-cracks precisely like those on the dried surfaces of the modern mud flats, and faithful casts of these taken by the beds next deposited.

A striking geological fact connected with the marshes, is the presence beneath them of stumps of trees still rooted in the soil, and other indications which prove that much, if not the whole of this marine deposit, rests on what once was upland soil supporting forest trees; and that, by some change of level, these ancient forests had been submerged and buried under the tidal deposits.

— From DAWSON'S Acadian Geology

WORDS

cavity, hollow.

commencement, beginning.

compressed, narrowed.

convulsion, commotion.

estuaries, firths.

examining, inspecting.

genuineness, authenticity.

impressions, copies.

Indications, symptoms.

insecurity, danger.

instantaneously, immediately.

interpret, explain.

minutest, finest.

obliterates, effaces.

occasionally, sometimes.

permanently, lastingly.

phenomena, appearances.

preservation, protection.

recently, lately.

retreat, retirement.

sediment, deposit.

solidified, hardened.

specimens, examples.

swallowing, absorbing.

transient, passing.

unaccustomed, unfamiliar.

QUESTIONS

To what does the vertical rise of the tide in the Bay of Fundy amount? What appearance does the coast present at low-tide? What has the torrent of red water often in its front? What does the stranger feel as he sees its advance? For what does the sediment in the Bay of Fundy afford facilities? What do these appearances illustrate? Why is the sediment extremely fine? At what time are large areas of it exposed to the sun? What portion of it is best adapted for receiving impressions? Of what did Lyell find casts between the layers? Of what are these perfect instances? What is inferred from the presence of stumps of trees rooted in the soil?

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(1) Estuaries, mouths of rivers, where the current meets the tide: so called from the surging or boiling caused by their meeting. [Lat. æstuare, to boil; from æstus, burning.]

(2) Bore, the flow of the tide in a single large wave up funnel-shaped estuaries, such as the Bristol Channel in England. [Norse, baara, a wave; bæra, to surge.]

(3) Fiat, decree; solemn command; lit. Let it be done. [Lat. flat.]

(4) Coal measures.—In geology, this term includes the beds of sandstone and shale (slaty rock) between which the coal lies, as well as the coal beds.

(5) Spring and neap tides.—Springtides are the highest tides, being the result of the combined influence of the sun and the moon. They are so called, because in them the water springs on rises beyond its usual level. Neap-tides are the lowest tides, and are the result of the modification by the sun of the moon's influence. Neap means scanty. [Old Eng. nep]

(6) Mink, a small carnivorous animal of the weasel kind; valued for its fur.

LESSON 67

COAL

WHO can sum up the benefits we derive from coal? It warms and lights our dwellings, cooks our food, illuminates our streets. Coal develops and sustains the force which propels the locomotive along the railway and the ship across the sea; works the printing press, wields the hammer, lifts the weight, draws the load, moves the machinery, grinds the corn, spins the cotton, weaves the cloth, pumps the mine, deepens the river, covers the land with a network of railways, forges the electric wire, and, submerging the ocean telegraph, "will put a girdle round about the Earth in forty minutes."(1) Who shall set bounds to the power of Coal, Iron, and Steam?

The economical and industrial importance of the union of coal and iron(2) in the British Isles cannot be over-estimated. To the abundance of these minerals in the deposits of the coal formation are owing the increase and prosperity of the British people, their wide-spread mercantile enterprise, their rapid intercourse with all parts of the world, their boundless territories abroad, their opulence and influence at home.

From its proximity to a mere patch of the English coal measures—a detached portion not exceeding the area of one of the larger Scottish lakes—Birmingham has risen to the rank of the first iron manufacturing town in the world. Manchester and Glasgow have equally derived their manufacturing and commercial importance from being placed each in the centre of a great coal basin.

The vegetable origin of coal is no longer a matter of doubt. The leaves of ferns, reeds, and other plants, are frequently found between layers of shale or slaty clay, beautifully perfect, but converted into coal. And in many kinds of coal, by means of very thin sections, and by the employment of the microscope, the cells of a vegetable structure become visible; thus affording us a distinct proof that coal is really a vegetable substance, and produced by vegetable decay.

The coal plants flourished in the widely extended forests of the primeval world; and as they fell and decayed, they left their remains imbedded in sandstone and shales,(3) accumulating in lakes and the deltas(4) and estuaries of rivers, to become transformed into coal in the lapse of ages, by the united influences of heat and pressure.

The trunks of the trees, being covered with water, were kept from contact with the air, and gradually decayed, until they were converted into a blackish-brown substance resembling peat, but which still retained more or less of the fibrous structure of wood. The decomposed mass became gradually covered with a deposit of sediment, the great pressure of which, when accumulated into beds of clay or sand of some thickness, gave to this substance the hardness and density of a true mineral. It thus became stored up for future employment in the service of man.

The trees which grew in the swamps and forests of the coal period derived their carbonaceous(5) substance from carbonic acid gas and water, existing in the soil and floating in invisible currents in the air. They imbibed the gas by their fronds, leaves, and roots; and separating the solid carbon from the oxygen gas with which it was combined, they appropriated the former for the purposes of their nourishment and growth, and restored the latter to the atmosphere. But the plant can only decompose carbonic acid and water with the aid of the light and heat of the sun—the process ceases in the dark.

In helping the plant to appropriate and deposit carbon in its tissues, the sun parted with so much of its light and beat, which became latent(6) in the vegetable. This long dormant light and heat are set free by the process of combustion.

When the Yule log(7) is laid on the blazing hearth of the baron's hall, and the fagots are piled on the peasant's fire, they shed upon the radiant faces of the festive circle light and heat which were borrowed from the sun while the seed sprang into a sapling, and at length became a goodly tree, a century or two old.

But the coal glowing in the cheerful fires of our town dwellings, and diffusing light by means of the gas-pipes of our streets, is composed of vegetables in which are stored up, in another form, light and heat originally derived from the sunshine of distant ages. In the grate we liberate this ancient heat for our comfort; in the gasometer we take advantage of the light for our convenience; in our boilers and engines we convert the latent heat into mechanical force.(8)

IDEAL VIEW OF A MARSHY FOREST OF THE COAL PERIOD

"Wood fires," says a distinguished philosopher, "give us heat and light which have been got from the sun a few years ago. Our coal fires and gas lamps bring out, for our present comfort, heat and light of the primeval sun, which have lain dormant beneath seas and mountains for countless ages."

—Sketches in Natural History—ELLIS'S Chemistry.

WORDS

accumulating, gathering.

appropriated, adopted.

composed, made up.

decomposed, decayed.

develops, evolves.

dormant, sleeping.

economical, wealthsaving.

employment, use.

flourished, grew.

gasometer, gas-measurer.

illuminates, lights.

imbibed, drank in.

industrial, pertaining to the arts.

liberate, set free.

locomotive, steam-carriage.

opulence, wealth.

over-estimated, exaggerated.

prosperity, success.

proximity, nearness.

radiant, glowing.

submerging, sinking.

QUESTIONS

Mention some of the great things done by means of coal. What other mineral is generally found near coal? Mention great cities which owe their importance to coal. What is the origin of coal? How is this proved? How have the coal plants been transformed into coal? Whence did they derive their carbonaceous properties? What are latent or dormant in coal? Whence were they derived? When do they again become active?

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(1) Will put a girdle, &c.—The boast of Puck, the gentle spirit in Shakespeare's Midsummer-Night's Dream, Act II, Scene 1.

(2) Coal and iron.—Not only do the British Isles contain both coal and iron, but the greatest iron mines occur in the neighbourhood of the most abundant coal measures, and also of the limestone which is so important in iron manufacture. The distribution of the coal fields in a country at once indicates the seats of manufacturing industry. On the other hand, mineral wealth without coal makes the working of the minerals difficult and expensive. Thus the copper ore of Cornwall has to be sent to Swansea in Wales to be smelted.

(3) Sandstone and shales.—The beds of coal are interposed between those of a yellow or reddish sandstone and those of a dark brown shale or slaty rock; and the term coal measures in geology includes all three.

(4) Delta, a tract of land found at the mouth of some rivers; so called from its resemblance to the Greek letter delta (△).

(5) Carbonaceous, consisting of carbon, which is the essential part of charcoal.[Lat. carbo, coal.]

(6) Latent, concealed; inactive. The term here refers to the fact that the power of the sun's rays can be stored up by vegetables for any length of time. When coal is burned, this stored power is developed in the active form of light and heat.

(7) Yule log, the large log of wood formerly put on the hearth on Christmas eve, to form the basis of the fire. Yule was the general name for the Christmas festival among the Scandinavians. [Old Norse, jol, the feast.] In Old Eng. Geola was the winter solstice, and the months of December and January were called Fore-Yule and After-Yule respectively.

(8) Mechanical force.—Thus George Stephenson said that his locomotives were driven by bottled sunbeams. This is the actual fact. The sunbeams leave, as it were, unburned waste products. These unburned bodies make up the tissues of the plants, and can be burned again for our use and comfort.

LESSON 68

THE AIR-OCEAN

ENVELOPING this solid globe of ours are two oceans—one partial, the other universal. There is the ocean of water, which has settled down into all the depressions of the Earth's surface, leaving dry above it all the high lands—as mountain-ranges, continents, and islands; and there is an ocean of air, which inwraps the whole in one transparent mantle. Through the bosom of that ocean, like fishes with their fins and whales with their flippers, birds and other winged creatures swim; whilst, like crabs and many shellfish, man and other mammalia(1) creep about at the bottom of this aërial sea.

The air-ocean, which everywhere surrounds the Earth, and feeds and nourishes it, is even more simple, more grand, and more majestic than the "world of waters"—more varied and changeful in its moods of storm and calm, of ebb and flow, of brightness and gloom. The atmosphere is, indeed, a wonderful thing—a most perfect example of the economy of nature. Deprived of air, no animal would live, no plant would grow, no flame would burn, no light would be diffused. The air, too, is the sole medium of sound. Without it, mountains might fall, but it would be in perfect silence—neither whisper nor thunder would ever be heard.

The atmosphere is supposed to become inappreciable at the height of between forty and fifty miles from the Earth.

A philosopher of the East, with a richness of imagery truly Oriental, thus describes it:—"It surrounds us on all sides, yet we see it not; it presses on us with a load of fifteen pounds on every square inch of surface of our bodies, or from seventy to one hundred tons on us in all, yet we do not so much as feel its weight.(2) Softer than the softest down, more impalpable than the finest gossamer, it leaves the cobweb undisturbed, and scarcely stirs the slightest flower that feeds on the dew it supplies; yet it bears the fleets of nations on its wings around the world, and crushes the most refractory substances with its weight.

"When the air is in motion, its force is sufficient to level the most stately forests and stable buildings with the earth; to raise the waters of the ocean into ridges like mountains, and dash the strongest ships to pieces like toys. It warms and cools by turns the Earth, and the living creatures that inhabit it. It draws up vapours from the sea and the land, retains them dissolved in itself, or suspended in cisterns of clouds, and drops them down again, as rain or dew, when they are required. It bends the rays of the sun from their path, to give us the twilight of evening and of dawn; it disperses and refracts their various tints to beautify the approach and the retreat of the orb of day.

"But for the atmosphere, sunshine would fail us at once; and, on the other hand, at once remove us from midnight darkness to the blaze of noon. We should have no twilight to soften end beautify the landscape, no clouds to shade us from the scorching heat; but the bald Earth, as it revolved on its axis, would turn its tanned and weakened front to the full and unmitigated(3) rays of the lord of day. It affords the gas which vivifies and warms our frames, and receives into itself that which has been polluted by use and is thrown off as noxious. It feeds the flame of life exactly as it does that of the fire;—it is in both cases consumed, and affords the food of consumption; in both cases it becomes combined with charcoal, which requires it for combustion, and which is removed by it when this is over."

"It is only the girdling, encircling air," says another philosopher, "flowing above and around all, that 'makes the whole world kin.' The carbonic acid with which today our breathing fills the air, to-morrow seeks its way round the world. The date-trees that grow around the falls of the Nile will drink it in by their leaves; the cedars of Lebanon will take of it to add to their stature; the cocoa-nuts of Tahiti(4) will grow rapidly upon it; and the palms and bananas of Japan will change it into flowers.

The oxygen that we are breathing was distilled for us some short time ago by the magnolias(5) of the Susquehanna,(6) and the great trees that skirt the Orinoco and the Amazon;(7)— the giant rhododendrons(8) of the Himalayah contributed to it, and the roses and myrtles of Cashmere, the cinnamon-trees of Ceylon, and the forest, older than the Flood, buried deep in the heart of Africa. The rain we see descending was thawed for us out of the icebergs which have watched the polar star for ages; and the lotus lilies(9) have sucked up from the Nile, and exhaled as vapour, snows that rested on the summits of the Alps.

"The atmosphere, which forms the outer surface of the habitable world, is a vast reservoir, into which the supply of food designed for living creatures is thrown; or, in one word, it is itself the food, in its simple form, of all living creatures. The animal grinds down the fibre and the tissue of the plant, and the nutritious store that has been laid up within its cells, and converts these into the substance of which its own organs are composed. The plant acquires the organs and nutritious store, thus yielded up as food to the animal, from the air surrounding it.

"But animals are furnished with the means of locomotion and of seizure: they can approach their food, and lay hold of and swallow it. Plants must wait till their food comes to them. No solid particles find access to their frames. The restless ambient air, which rushes past them, loaded(10) with the carbon, the hydrogen, the oxygen, the water, everything they need in the shape of supplies, is constantly at hand to minister to their wants; not only to afford them food in due season, but in the shape and fashion in which alone it can avail them."

There is no employment more ennobling to man and his intellect than to trace the evidences of design and purpose in the Creator, which are visible in all parts of the creation. Hence, to him who studies the physical relations of earth, sea, and air, the atmosphere is something more than a shoreless ocean, at the bottom of which he creeps along.

It is an envelope or covering for dispersing light and heat over the surface of the Earth; it is a sewer,(11) into which, with every breath we draw, we cast vast quantities of dead animal matter; it is a laboratory for purification, in which that matter is recompounded and wrought again into wholesome and healthful shapes; it is a machine for pumping up all the rivers from the sea, and conveying the waters from their fountains in the ocean to their sources in the mountains; it is an inexhaustible magazine, marvellously adapted for benign and beneficent purposes.

—MAURY

WORDS

ambient, surrounding.

beautify, adorn.

benign, kindly.

breathing, inhaling.

changeful, fickle.

depressions, cavities.

deprived, destitute.

diffused, shed abroad.

distilled, liberated.

economy, systematic arrangement.

employment, occupation.

ennobling, elevating.

enveloping, surrounding.

exhaled, breathed out.

gossamer, film.

impalpable, intangible.

inexhaustible, exhaustless.

intellect, mind.

laboratory, chemists room.

locomotion, changing place.

mantle, garment.

minister, attend.

noxious, hurtful.

nutritious, nourishing.

polluted, poisoned.

purification, cleansing.

refractory, stubborn.

remove, transport.

reservoir, magazine.

retains, holds.

transparent, clear.

vivifies, enlivens.

QUESTIONS

Name the two oceans which envelop the globs. What effects would follow if the globe were deprived of air? With what weight does it press upon our bodies? What is its force able to do when it is in motion? How does twilight depend upon it? How does it "make the whole world kin"? Of what is the atmosphere a vast reservoir? Wherein do plants differ from animals is regard to food? How does the air minister to plants? Why may the atmosphere be compared to a sewer? Why to a laboratory? Why to a pumping-machine?

————————————————————

(1) Mammalia, animals that suckle their young. [Lat. mam'ma, the breast.]

(2) We do not feel its weight—because its pressure is exerted equally in every direction.

(3) Unmitigated, unreduced; not softened or lessened. [Lat. un, not; mitigo, I make mild, from mitis, mild.]

(4) Tahiti, one of the Society Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean.

(5) Magnolia, a species of flowering tree (to which the tulip-tree belongs), native of North America. [Called after Magnol, a French botanist, who died in 1715.]

(6) Susquehanna, a river in the United States, flowing into Chesapeake Bay.

(7) Orinoco and Amazon, great rivers of South America.

(8) Rhododendron, an evergreen shrub with large rose-like flowers. [Gr. rhedodendron, rose-tree.]

(9) Lotus lilies—herbs growing plentifully in the Nile, and venerated by the ancient Egyptians. Their fruit is gathered by the poor, and used as food.

(10) Loaded, &c.—Four-fifths of the bulk of the atmosphere are nitrogen, the remaining fifth being chiefly oxygen, with a little carbon and watery vapour.

(11) Sewer (su'er), a drain.

LESSON 69

UNWRITTEN HISTORY, AND HOW TO READ IT

IT cannot be discovered in what age of the world Britain first became a scene of human habitation. There is nothing in all history, no written record of any kind, to yield us any information concerning the original possessors of the land.

But the history of the early Britons, though it was never written, may be read. A curious history it is; and the way in which the materials of it have been gathered and put together is a fine example of the triumphs of patient thought. The historian of other periods finds his materials in books, in written records and documents. The materials for the history of this period have been found on waste moors and in deep mosses, in caves and on hill, under ancient burial mounds and cairns,(1) by the margins of rivers and on the beds of drained lochs.

Here, for instance, is an ancient boat, found a few years since on the south bank of the Clyde, when excavations were being made for the purpose of enlarging the harbour of Glasgow. It is of oak, not planked or built, but hewn out of the trunk of a single tree. The hollow has been made with fire, as the marks still show. Within it, when it was discovered, there lay an axe-head of stone.

Now, that fire-hollowed boat and stone axe tell their story as plainly as a printed book. The savage on the shores of the Pacific cuts a groove in the bark round the root of the tree of which he intends to form his canoe. Into this groove he puts burning embers till it is charred to some depth. Next he deepens the groove by hewing out the charred wood with his stone hatchet. Then he applies the fire again; and so on, until, by the alternate use of fire and axe, the tree is brought to the ground. By the same process it is hollowed out, and shaped into a canoe. The ancient boat-maker of the Clyde had used exactly such a method of forming his little vessel. The stone axe, brought to light after untold ages, bears mute but expressive witness that its owner was a savage.

The axe with which the ancient Briton hollowed his canoe, served him also as a weapon in battle. Under a large cairn, on a moor in the south of Scotland, a stone coffin of very rude workmanship was found. It contained the skeleton of a man of uncommon size. One of the arms had been almost severed from the shoulder. A fragment of very hard stone was sticking in the shattered bone. That blow had been struck with a stone axe. When the victor, after the fight, looked at his bloody weapon, he saw that a splinter had broken from its edge. Thousands of years passed, the cairn of the dead was opened, and that splinter was found in the bone of the once mighty arm which the axe had all but hewn away. What a curious tale to be told by a single splinter of stone!

STONE AXES

On yonder lea field the ploughman turns over the grassy sward. At the furrow's end, as he breathes his horses for a moment and looks at his work, his eye is caught by some object sticking in the upturned mould. He picks it up. It is a barbed arrow-head, neatly chipped out of yellow flint. How came it there? It is no elf-arrow, shot by the fairies. It was once, when tied to a reed with a sinew or a strip of skin, an arrow in the quiver of an ancient British savage hunting the deer.

There are spots where the flint arrow-heads have been found in such numbers as to show that the barbarian tribes had met there in battle. Spear-heads, too, and knives of flint, have been dug up from time to time in various parts. The ancient race who employed such weapons must have existed before the use of iron, or any other metal, was known.

That period when the rude inhabitants of a country were ignorant of metals, and formed their tools and weapons of stone, is called the Stone Period.

Had this ancient race any ides of religion and a future state? We shall see. Here is an earthen mound, heaped over the grave of some chief. When dug into, it is found to contain a rude stone coffin. In the coffin with the skeleton are flint arrow-heads, a spear-head, also of flint, and perhaps the stone head of a battle-axe, the wooden portions of these weapons having long since mouldered away.

Now we know that the savage expects to go after death to the happy hunting-grounds, and to follow again the warpath. His implements of war and the chase are therefore buried with him, that he may start up fully equipped in the new state of being. His favourite horse or dog, and perhaps his favourite attendants, are laid beside his grave, that at his rising he may appear in a manner fitting his rank. The contents of the burial-mound unmistakably proclaim that the men of long-forgotten ages had the same rude idea of a future state which the Red Indian(2) still has.

In all probability, this ancient race occupied the country, with unchanging habits and with little or no progress, for many centuries. At length, however, the elements of a great change were introduced: the savage tribes became acquainted with the use of metals.

The introduction of metals is the first great stage in the history of civilization. Armed with an axe of metal, instead of the old axe of stone, the savage can go into the forest and cut down trees at will. He can split them, and hew them into planks. He needs not now to pile up overlapping blocks of stone to roof in his dark, underground abode. He can make a far more convenient dwelling of rough, axe-hewn boards.

He needs not now to hollow out a log-canoe, for his new tools have given him the power of building boats of plank. He can now increase the size of his little vessel, and thus make further and bolder ventures out to sea. The trees nearest his village fall first by his axe; but, year by year, he cuts his way deeper into the forest. The clearings extend, and the soil, which will be corn-land by-and-by, is laid open. He now can form a variety of tools suited to a variety of purposes. New wants are created with the increased facility of meeting them. In a word, with the introduction of metal among a savage race, stationary till then, the march of improvement has begun.

The discovery of copper, silver, and gold, naturally takes place before the discovery of iron. The smelting of iron is an art much too difficult for the savage to master, till he has been long familiar with the working of the softer and easier metals. Accordingly, we find that the earliest metallic implements used in Britain were not of iron, but of bronze. Copper and tin are soft metals; but if a portion of tin is mixed with copper, the result is bronze, a metal harder than either of the two of which it is composed. Tools and weapons made of this metal are a great advance upon those made of stone or flint. Bronze, however, is but a poor substitute for iron and steel, and we maybe very sure that the people who made use of bronze tools knew nothing of iron.

That period during which the ancient inhabitants of a country, ignorant as yet of iron, made use of bronze tools and weapons, is called the Bronze Period.(3)

Let us again suppose ourselves present at the opening of an ancient British tomb. It is under a cairn heaped on the top of a hill which overlooks a wide tract of moorland. The stone coffin is very short—not over four feet in length. From the position of the bones, the body has evidently been placed in a sitting or folded posture. There are cups or bowls of pottery, one or more. There is a bronze sword, but it has been broken in two before it was laid beside its owner in his long rest. And what is that which glitters among the warrior's dust? It is an ornament of gold—a bracelet or a collar—which he had worn.

The skeleton of a dog is found beside the coffin; for the warrior knew hunting-craft by lake and wood, and loved to pursue his game with hound and bow. So they laid his four-footed favourite, which had licked his hand and followed his halloo, in his long home beside him.

Now observe the cup or bowl, which has contained drink or food—friendship's last gift to the dead. This cup is very different from the unshapely hand-made and sundried pottery of the Stone Period. It has been rounded on a wheel. It is made of fine baked clay, and is neatly ornamented with a simple pattern. There has been progress, then, in the mechanical arts since the ruder and older time.

Let the broken sword next tell its story. The last honour paid to the buried warrior was to break his sword and lay it beside him, ere his companions-in-arms piled over him the memorial cairn. The warrior of the Stone Period was buried with axe, lance, and bow, in barbarian anticipation of warfare beyond the grave; but the warrior of the Bronze Period was laid in his narrow bed with his broken sword, in token of warfare accomplished and of expected rest. This speaks in no obscure language of some better and higher ideas which this ancient race had acquired.

—J. MACKENZIE

WORDS

accomplished, completed.

acquainted, familiar.

acquired, obtained.

alternate, by turns.

anticipation, expectation.

attendants, followers.

barbarian, savage.

civilization, refinement.

contained, held.

convenient, suitable.

curious, strange.

discovered, ascertained.

documents, papers.

employed, used.

equipped, furnished.

evidently, apparently.

excavations, cuttings.

expressive, emphatic.

facility, ease.

hollowed, scooped.

implements, instruments.

improvement, advancement.

information, knowledge.

mechanical, manufacturing.

mouldered, wasted.

obscure, dark.

observe, notice.

pattern, device.

ploughman, husbandman.

posture, position.

probability, likelihood.

quiver, arrow-case.

shattered, broken.

skeleton, bones of the body.

splinter, fragment.

stationary, standing still.

substitute, exchange.

uncommon, unusual.

unmistakably, clearly.

workmanship, execution.

QUESTIONS

Where are the materials for unwritten history found? How had the ancient boat found near Glasgow been hollowed out? What was found within it? For what purpose had the axe been used? Where is the same plan followed still? To what, then does the axe bear witness? For what other purpose did the axe serve the ancient Briton? How can yon show this? What other stone implements have been found? What is that period of history called? What shows that the ancient Britons believed in a future state? What is the first great stage in the history of civilization? What work does the introduction of metals enable the savage to improve? What metals are first discovered? Why? What is the period therefore called? How is bronze made? What is its character, compared with copper and tin? What are often found within coffins of the Bronze Period? What difference is observed in the cup, as compared with that of the Stone Period? What story does the broken sword tell?

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(1) Cairn, a heap of stones piled over a tomb, or on the scone of some memorable event.

(2)  Red Indian.—The original inhabitants of America were called Indians, because when Columbus discovered the islands belonging to the Western Continent he believed that he had reached the East Indies. They are called Red, from their red or copper-coloured skins.

(3) The Bronze Period.—The ancient Britons probably learned the art of working in metals from the Tyrians and Carthaginians, who are known to have visited the coast of Cornwall, for supplies of tin, many years before the Christian era.

LESSON 1

THE GREAT SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR

1779-1782

GIBRALTAR①fell into the hands of the English in 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession②—the war in which Marlborough gained so much glory for the English arms. Admiral Sir George Rooke had been sent to the Mediterranean, to watch the French and Spanish fleets. For a long time he was unable to accomplish anything of importance; but, learning that Gibraltar was very poorly garrisoned, he suddenly attacked and captured it, and hoisted the English flag on its Signal Station.

That flag is the only one that has ever floated there since the 23rd of July 1704. Time after time have the Spaniards tried to recover this "key of the Mediterranean;" but every effort has been repulsed most gallantly, and often with tremendous loss to the enemy.

The last attempt they made was the most gigantic and determined of all; and its successful resistance by the English garrison forms one of the most heroic incidents in the annals of modern warfare. It occurred during the struggle which severed from England her North American colonies.③ France recognized the United States as an independent power in 1778, and a war with England was the consequence. In the following year Spain joined France, and Gibraltar was immediately blockaded.

The siege which followed lasted three years. Every appliance which experience could suggest, or skill could devise, was brought into requisition. Never before had such tremendous armaments, by sea and by land, been brought against any fortress. Yet the garrison held out bravely; and twice their friends outside—once by Admiral Darby, and once by Rodney—succeeded in sending them reinforcements and supplies.

Early in 1781, there was a terrific bombardment of the place; but so effectual was the shelter afforded by the casemates,④ or bomb-proof vaults, that the garrison lost only seventy men. In November of the same year, General Elliot, who conducted the defence, headed a midnight sortie, which annihilated the entire line of the enemy's works. Their floating batteries were at the same time destroyed with red-hot balls. That one night cost the Spaniards two millions sterling!

But the final effort was made in 1782, when the Duke de Crillon, flushed with his success in capturing Minorca, took the command of the besiegers. He had under him upwards of 30,000 of the best troops of France and Spain, and his heavy guns amounted to the then unprecedented number of one hundred and seventy. The combined fleets numbered forty-seven sail of the line, with ten great floating batteries—the contrivance of a French engineer, and deemed invincible, —and frigates, gun-boats, mortar-boats and small craft without number. The besieged numbered only 7000 men with eighty guns.

The siege attracted the interest of the whole civilized world. Two French princes joined the besiegers' camp, to witness the fall of the place. "Is it taken?" was the first question asked each morning by the King of Spain. "Not yet; but it will be soon," said his courtiers: and still Elliot's guns thundered defiance from the Rock.

At length, on the morning of the 13th of September, the grand and decisive attack commenced. The ten battering-ships bore down in admirable order to their several stations. The Admiral, in a two-decker, moored about nine hundred yards off the King's Bastion.⑤ The other vessels took their places in a masterly manner, the most distant being eleven hundred or twelve hundred yards from the garrison. Under shelter of the walls, furnaces for heating shot had been lighted; and, from the instant the ships dropped into position, a continuous fire of red-hot balls was directed upon them by the garrison.

In little more than ten minutes, continues Drinkwater, the enemy were completely moored, and their cannonade then became tremendous. The showers of shot and shell which were directed from their land-batteries and battering-ships, on the one hand, and, on the other, the incessant fire from the various works of the garrison, exhibited a scene of which neither the pen nor the pencil can furnish a competent idea. It is sufficient to say that upwards of four hundred pieces of the heaviest artillery were playing at the same moment—a power of ordnance which up till that time had scarcely been employed in any siege since the invention of those wonderful engines of destruction.

VIEW OF GIBRALTAR

After some hours' cannonade, the battering-ships were found to be no less formidable than they had been represented. Our heaviest shells often rebounded from their tops, whilst the thirty-two pound shot seemed incapable of making any visible impression upon their hulls. Frequently we flattered ourselves that they were on fire; but no sooner did any smoke appear, than, with the most persevering intrepidity, men were observed applying water from their engines within, to those places whence the smoke issued.

Though vexatiously annoyed from the isthmus,⑥ our artillery directed their sole attention to the battering-ships, the furious and spirited opposition of which served to excite our people to more animated exertions. A fire more tremendous, if possible, than ever, was therefore directed upon them from the garrison. Incessant showers of hot balls, carcasses,⑦ and shells of every species, flew from all quarters; yet, for some hours, the attack and defence were so equally maintained as scarcely to indicate any appearance of superiority on either side. The wonderful construction of the ships seemed to bid defiance to the powers of the heaviest ordnance.

In the afternoon, however, the face of things began to change considerably. The smoke which had been observed to issue from the upper part of the flag-ship appeared to prevail, notwithstanding the constant application of water; and the Admiral's second was perceived to be in the same condition.

As night came on, the flames fairly gained the ascendant. The confusion which reigned on board of these vessels soon communicated itself to the whole line. The fire of the battering-ships gradually slackened: that of the garrison, on the contrary, seemed to become more animated and tremendous.

It was kept up during the entire night. At one in the morning, two of the ships were entirely a prey to the flames. It was not long before the others also caught fire, either from the operation of the red-hot balls, or, as the Spaniards afterwards alleged, because they set them on fire themselves, when they had lost all hope of saving them. It was then that trouble and despair broke out in all their violence. Every moment the Spaniards made signals of distress, and fired off rockets to implore assistance.

All their boats were immediately sent off, and surrounded the floating gun-ships, in order to save their crews—an operation executed with extreme intrepidity, in spite of perils of every sort. Not only was it necessary for the men to brave the artillery of the besieged: they had also to expose themselves to almost inevitable burning in approaching the flaming vessels. Never, perhaps, did a spectacle more horrible—more deplorable—present itself to the eyes of men. The profound darkness that covered the earth and the sea intensified, by contrast, the lurid flames; and the shrieks of the victims were distinctly heard by the garrison, in the intervals of their cannonade.

A fresh incident arose to interrupt the succour carried to them, and to redouble the terror and confusion. Captain Curtis, a sailor as daring as he was skilful, suddenly advanced with his gun-boats, which had been constructed to confront those of the Spaniards, and each of which carried in front an eighteen or twenty-four pounder. Their fire at water-level rendered them exceedingly formidable; and they were disposed by Captain Curtis so as to take the line of floating batteries in flank.

From that moment the position of the Spaniards became terribly critical. The boats no longer dared to approach them, but were constrained to abandon those enormous machines, so lately the objects of their admiration, to the flames, and their companions in arms to the mercy of an enraged enemy. Several of them were seen to founder. Others only escaped by forced rowing. A few sought shelter by the land during the night; but, on the appearance of daylight, they were easily captured by the English.

Then was witnessed, in all its horrors, a scene, the most harrowing features of which had hitherto remained concealed. In the midst of the flames appeared unhappy wretches, who, with lond shrieks, implored compassion, or precipitated themselves into the waves. Some, on the point of drowning, clung with weakened grasp to the sides of the burning vessels, or floated at hazard on fragments which they chanced to encounter, and, in the agony of desperation, convulsively implored the compassion of their victors.

Touched by this deplorable spectacle, the English listened to humanity alone, and ceased their fire, to occupy themselves solely with the rescue of their enemies; a proceeding the more generous on their part, as they thereby exposed themselves to the most imminent hazard. Captain Curtis, in particular, covered himself with glory, by prodigally risking his own life to save those of his fellow-creatures. Some of his own men were wounded in this honourable enterprise; others were killed; and he himself narrowly escaped from partaking the fate of a ship which blew up at the moment when he was about to board her. More than four hundred of the enemy's troops were rescued by this intrepid sailor from certain death!

SUBTERRANEAN GALLERY, EXCAVATED OUT OF THE SOLID ROCK

The greater number of the famous battering-ships were either blown up or burnt. The Spanish Admiral quitted his flag-ship a little before midnight, as did also D'Arcon, the French engineer, that on board of which he had embarked to witness the triumph of his contrivances.

Meanwhile, the most intense anxiety as to the fate of Gibraltar prevailed in England. Admiral Howe had sailed from Portsmouth with a convoy containing fresh troops and provisions, and a fleet of thirty-four sail of the line. Relieved by the news of Elliot's brilliant victory, which he received off the coast of Portugal, he steered direct for the Straits, and succeeded in bringing the whole of his transports to their destination, even in presence of the enemy's fleets. Thus Gibraltar was saved, and the continuance of the blockade till the peace (Jan. 20, 1783) was little more than a form.

WORDS

accomplish, perform.

annihilated, destroyed.

anxiety, solicitude.

appliance, contrivance.

armaments, forces.

blockaded, invested.

brilliant, splendid.

cannonade, sustained fire.

capturing, seizing.

competent, adequate.

continuance, prolongation.

contrivances, inventions.

convulsively, spasmodically.

decisive, final.

defiance, contempt for an enemy.

destination, haven.

destruction, devastation.

enterprise, exploit.

executed, performed.

formidable, dangerous.

gigantic, stupendous.

imminent, threatening.

importance, moment.

incapable, unable.

incessant, ceaseless.

inevitable, unavoidable.

intensified, made greater.

interrupt, hinder.

intrepidity, daring.

invincible, invulnerable.

ordnance, cannon.

precipitated, cast.

prodigally, generously.

recognized, acknowledged.

reinforcements, fresh troops.

repulsed, driven back.

requisition, operation.

resistance, defeat.

slackened, declined.

sortie, sally.

tremendous, overwhelming.

unprecedented, unparalleled.

NOTES

① Gibraltar.—Gibraltar is not so much a rocky fortress as a fortified mountain, with a town on one of its spurs. It occupies a remarkable tongue of land in the south of Spain, with which it is connected by a narrow neck of flat and neutral ground. The length of the peninsula from north to south is under three miles; its breadth nowhere exceeds three quarters of a mile. The north front of the rock rises perpendicularly from the neutral ground, and stretches across from sea to sea, with the exception of a narrow passage at the western side.

The mountain is continued in one unbroken ridge down the eastern side of the promontory. On the Mediterranean shore its rocky sides are steep and inaccessible, rising in some parts to 1400 feet above the sea-level. On its western side, the mountain shelves down by a series of terraces to the Bay of Gibraltar, a wide and deep inlet at the eastern extremity of the Straits. The town of Gibraltar is situated at the north-western corner of the peninsula, and forms the focus of the extensive system of defensive works, which cover the whole western side of the promontory from shore to summit.

The view of Gibraltar in the text is taken from a point on the northern shore of the bay. The spectator is looking towards the south-east. The precipitous rock on the left is the northern peak of the mountain, overlooking the neutral ground. Its summit (Rock Mortar) is 1350 feet in height. The most distant peak is Sugar-loaf Point (1440 feet); the intermediate one is the Signal Station (1270 feet). The King's Bastion, which is in the middle of the town, forms the extreme right of the picture.

② The War of the Spanish Succession.—The object of this war was to prevent the union of the crowns of France and Spain. England therefore supported the claim of Charles, the Archduke of Austria, in opposition to Philip of Anjou.

③ North American Colonies.—Now the United States of America.

④ Case'mates.—The defences of Gibraltar were greatly strengthened soon after this siege—between 1786 and 1789. Where the slope was too steep to admit of external forts, subterranean galleries were excavated in the solid rock. These galleries, which are chiefly on the north and north-west, are several thousand yards in length, and are pierced at intervals of ten paces by large embrasures, through which huge guns point their black muzzles. At the time of the siege the Rock mounted only eighty guns. It is said that now upwards of a thousand of the most powerful guns are placed in battery.

⑤ The King's Bastion.—The central point in the defences of the town, on the sea level. There General Elliot stood during the hottest of the enemy's fire.

⑥ From the isth'mus.—The Spaniards had a formidable line of works on the north side of the isthmus, or neutral ground, which connects Gibraltar with Spain.

⑦ Carcasses, oval bomb-shells filled with combustibles.

QUESTIONS

When and how did Gibraltar fall into the hands of the English? When did the Spaniards make the most determined effort to recover it? How long did the siege last? How often during that time was the garrison succoured? What was done in 1781? When was the final effort made? Who took the command of the besiegers? How many men had he? To what did the combined fleets amount? What was the strength of the garrison in men and in guns? What is the date of the decisive attack? Upon what had the besiegers placed most reliance? What proved the great strength of these ships? How were they at length destroyed? What movement compelled the Spaniards to abandon them? What humane service did Curtis afterwards render? Who brought fresh troops and provisions from England to the garrison? When did the blockade finally terminate?

LESSON 2

BATTLE OF CORUNA AND DEATH OF MOORE

January 17, 1809

As the troops approached Coruna,① the General's looks were directed towards the harbour; but an open expanse of water painfully convinced him that to Fortune, at least, he was no way beholden: contrary winds still detained the fleet at Vigo,② and the last consuming exertion made by the army was rendered fruitless! The men were put into quarters, and their leader awaited the progress of events.

Three divisions occupied the town and suburbs of Coruña, and the reserve was posted near the neighbouring village of El Burgo. For twelve days these hardy soldiers had covered the retreat; during which time they had traversed eighty miles of road in two marches, passed several nights under arms in the snow of the mountains, and been seven times engaged with the enemy. They now assembled at the outposts, having fewer men missing from the ranks than any other division in the army.

The town of Coruna, although sufficiently strong to oblige an enemy to break ground before it, was weakly fortified, and to the southward was commanded by some heights close to the walls. Sir John Moore therefore caused the land front to be strengthened, and occupied the citadel, but disarmed the sea face of the works.

The late arrival of the transports, the increasing force of the enemy, and the disadvantageous nature of the ground, had greatly augmented the difficulty and danger of the embarkation; and several general officers now proposed to the commander-in-chief that he should negotiate for leave to retire to his ships upon terms. Moore's high spirit and clear judgment revolted at the idea, and he rejected the degrading advice without hesitation.

All the encumbrances of the army were shipped in the night of the 15th and morning of the 16th, and everything was prepared to withdraw the fighting men as soon as the darkness would permit them to move without being perceived. The precautions taken would, without doubt, have insured the success of that difficult operation; but a more glorious event was destined to give a melancholy but graceful termination to the campaign. About two o'clock in the afternoon a general movement along the French line gave notice of an approaching battle……

Sir John Moore, while earnestly watching the result of the fight, was struck on the left breast by a cannon shot. The shock threw him from his horse with violence; but he rose again in a sitting posture, his countenance unchanged, and his steadfast eye still fixed upon the regiments engaged in his front, no sigh betraying a sensation of pain. In a few moments, when he was satisfied that the troops were gaining ground, his countenance brightened, and he suffered himself to be taken to the rear.

Then was seen the dreadful nature of his hurt. The shoulder was shattered to pieces; the arm was hanging by a piece of skin; the ribs over the heart were broken and bared of flesh; and the muscles of the breast were torn into long strips, which were interlaced by their recoil from the dragging of the shot. As the soldiers placed him in a blanket, his sword got entangled, and the hilt entered the wound. Captain Hardinge,③ a staff officer who was near, attempted to take it off; but the dying man stopped him, saying, "It is as well as it is. I had rather it should go out of the field with me;" —and in that manner, so becoming to a soldier, Moore was borne from the fight.

Sir John Hope, upon whom the command of the army now devolved, resolved to pursue the original plan of embarking during the night. This operation was effected without delay. The arrangements were so complete that neither confusion nor difficulty occurred. The piquets, kindling a number of fires, covered the retreat of the columns; and being themselves withdrawn at daybreak, were embarked under the protection of General Hill's④ brigade, which was posted near the ramparts of the town. This done, Hill's brigade embarked from the citadel; while General Beresford,⑤ with a rear guard, kept possession of that work until the 18th, when, the wounded being all put on board, his troops likewise embarked. The inhabitants faithfully maintained the town against the French, and the fleet sailed for England.

From the spot where he fell, Sir John Moore had been carried to the town by a party of soldiers. His blood flowed fast, and the torture of his wound was great; yet such was the unshaken firmness of his mind, that those about him, judging from the resolution of his countenance that his hurt was not mortal, expressed a hope of his recovery. Hearing this, he looked steadfastly at the injury for a moment, and then said, "No; I feel that to be impossible." Several times he caused his attendants to stop and turn him round, that he might behold the field of battle; and when the firing indicated the advance of the British, he discovered his satisfaction, and permitted the bearers to proceed.

Being brought to his lodging, the surgeons examined his wound; but there was no hope. The pain increased, and he spoke with great difficulty. At intervals he asked if the French were beaten; and addressing his old friend, Colonel Anderson, he said, "You know that I always wished to die this way." Again he asked if the enemy were defeated; and, being told that they were, observed, "It is a great satisfaction to me to know that we have beaten the French." His countenance continued firm and his thoughts clear. Once only, when he spoke of his mother, he became agitated; but he often inquired after the safety of his friends and the officers of his staff; and he did not, even in that moment, forget to recommend those whose merit had given them claims to promotion.

His strength failed fast, and life was nearly extinct, when, with an almost unsubdued spirit, he exclaimed, "I hope the people of England will be satisfied! I hope my country will do me justice!" A few minutes afterwards he died; and his corpse, wrapped in a military cloak, was interred by the officers of his staff in the citadel of Coruna. The guns of the enemy paid his funeral honours; and Soult, with a noble feeling of respect for his valour, raised a monument to his memory.

Thus ended the career of Sir John Moore, a man whose uncommon capacity was sustained by the purest virtue, and governed by a disinterested patriotism, more in keeping with the primitive than with the luxurious age of a great nation. He maintained the right with a vehemence bordering upon fierceness; and every important transaction in which he was engaged increased his reputation for talent, and confirmed his character as a stern enemy to vice, a steadfast friend to merit—a just and faithful servant of his country.

—SIR W. NAPIER

WORDS

agitated, moved.

approached, neared.

attempted, endeavoured.

augmented, increased.

capacity, ability.

citadel, fortress.

consuming, exhausting.

convinced, satisfied.

defeated, beaten.

devolved, fell.

disadvantageous, unfavourable.

discovered, exhibited.

disinterested, unselfish.

embarking, going aboard.

encumbrances, baggage.

interlaced, entangled.

interred, buried.

melancholy, sad.

precautions, measures.

promotion, advancement.

protection, cover.

reputation, fame.

resolution, firmness.

resolved, determined.

steadfast, firm.

sufficiently, adequately.

transaction, business.

traversed, crossed.

violence, force.

NOTES

① Coruna, a sea-port of Galicia, in the northwest of Spain, with a fine harhour and bay. The Battle of Coruña was fought on January 17th, 1809, to cover and secure the embarkation of the British troops. Sir John Moore, the commander-in-chief in Spain, had learned, when in the heart of Leon, that Napoleon was master of Madrid. There was no course open to him but to retreat towards the shore of Galicia. This retreat was effected with consummate skill, in the face of the greatest obstacles—an inclement season, a poor country, and with the enemy constantly pressing on the rear.

② Vigo, a bay and sea-port in the south of Galicia, by sea fully 120 miles distant from Coruña.

③ Captain Hardinge, afterwards Sir Henry Hardinge, who, as Governor-General of India, annexed the Punjab to the British dominions, and was made Viscount Hardinge of Lahore. He died in 1856.

④ General Hill, afterwards Sir Rowland, and Viscount Hill, was commander-in-chief from 1828 till his death in 1842.

⑤ General Ber'esford, afterwards Baron, and Viscount Beresford. He defeated Soult at Albuera, and greatly distinguished himself at Vitoria. He carried the heights of Toulouse in 1814. He was governor of Woolwich Academy till his death in 1854.

QUESTIONS

When was the Battle of Coruña fought? Who was the British commander-in-chief? Why was it necessary to fight the battle? What proposal of some of his officers did he reject? How was he wounded? What was the result of the engagement? When did the embarkation take place? In whom did Moore show much interest in his later moments? What were his last words? What was his character?

LESSON 3

THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE

Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,

As his corpse to the ramparts we hurried;

Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot

O'er the grave where our hero we buried.

We buried him darkly at dead of night,

The sods with our bayonets turning;

By the struggling moonbeam's misty light,

And the lantern dimly burning.

No useless coffin enclosed his breast,

Not in sheet nor in shroud we wound him;

But he lay like a warrior taking his rest

With his martial cloak around him.

Few and short were the prayers we said,

And we spoke not a word of sorrow

But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead,

And we bitterly thought of the morrow.

We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed,

And smoothed down his lonely pillow,

That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head,

And we far away on the billow!

Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone,

And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him;

But little he'll reck if they let him sleep on

In the grave where a Briton has laid him!

But half of our heavy task was done

When the clock struck the hour for retiring;

And we heard the distant and random gun

That the foe was sullenly firing.

Slowly and sadly we laid him down,

From the field of his fame fresh and gory:

We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone—

But we left him alone with his glory.

—CHARLES WOLFE (1791-1823).

LESSON 4

THE BED OF THE ATLANTIC

(To be read before a Map)

IF the waters of the Atlantic could be drawn off, so as to expose to view the great trough which separates the Old World from the New, a scene would present itself of the grandest and most imposing character. The very ribs of the solid Earth, and the foundations of the hills, destitute of the garniture of vegetation, would be brought to light. We should have unrolled before us a vast panorama of mountains and valleys, of tablelands and plains, of deep gorges and lofty peaks, rivalling in grandeur and in variety the continents of the upper world.

Comparatively little is yet known of the bed of the South Atlantic; but the basin of the North Atlantic has been extensively surveyed by the English and American Navies. Let us suppose this vast basin to be emptied of its waters; and, with the aid of the charts which have been constructed, let us in imagination traverse these deep places of the Earth and learn what we can of their secrets. Remembering that what we have to explore is really a vast system of table-lands, mountains, and valleys, let us first endeavour to grasp its broad outstanding features.

In the northern part of the basin there stretches across the Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland a great submarine plain, known in recent years as Telegraph Plateau.① About one hundred miles from the coast of Ireland this plateau, rising as a broad terrace, reaches to within a hundred fathoms of the surface of the ocean. On this terrace stand the British Islands, the climate of which is materially affected by their being thus removed from the influence of the colder waters in the depths of the Atlantic. About midway between these islands and Iceland, it has been found that icy cold water is constantly flowing towards the Equator, at a considerable depth beneath the surface, to supply the place of the warm surface-water moving northward from the Equator. At the depth of three-quarters of a mile, the temperature of this great polar current is two degrees below the freezing point. The British terrace raises these isles out of this cold stream, and thus none but the warmer upper waters flow around the British coasts.

From the middle of Telegraph Plateau an immense submarine continent, nearly as extensive as South America, stretches first southward and then towards the west, occupying the whole central area of the North Atlantic basin.

On either side of this central continent there is a broad and deep valley. These valleys converge as they go southward, and meet in mid-ocean between the Cape Verd and the West India Islands. Of these valleys, the western is much deeper than the eastern. Its deepest parts are found midway between the Bermudas and the Azores, and off the island of Porto Rico, where the sounding-line has been carried deeper than anywhere else in the ocean. It is the deepest part of the Atlantic.

Could we transport ourselves to that point, we should stand on what is perhaps the very lowest part of the Earth's crust. We should be at least five miles below the ordinary level of the sea, surrounded on all sides by great mountains. On the north the Bermudas would be seen as lofty mountain-peaks, rising half as high again as the summits of the Alps or the Andes. On the north-east we should see the Azores as the culminating points of the central continent. Pico, their highest point, would appear, from the general level, as a mountain 400 feet higher than Mont Blanc;② but from our imaginary standpoint in the lowest depths of the Atlantic, it would be six and a half miles in height—a mile higher than the highest peak of the Himalaya, the loftiest mountain on the globe.

Each of these great ocean valleys rises in a series of terraces to the sides of the Old and New Worlds respectively. The course of the western valley, which lies off the United States and the West India Islands, has been traced as far south as to the Equator. The terraces of the eastern valley rise from the depths of the ocean to the western coasts of Europe and Africa. Off the coast of Africa they rise into a series of lofty and rugged summits, which we call Madeira, the Cape Verd, and the Canary Isles; and the whole system culminates in the Peak of Teneriffe in the last-named group. That peak is two miles and one-third above the level of the sea. The lowest point yet sounded in the bed of the Atlantic is five miles and a third below that level. The whole mountain system of the Atlantic basin, therefore, extends to upwards of seven miles in vertical height, or higher than any of the mountains of the globe are above the level of the sea.

By bringing up specimens from the depth of the Atlantic, and studying them under the microscope, it has been ascertained that the bed of the ocean is covered with very minute shells, which lie on the bottom as lightly as gossamer. The microscope has not detected a single particle of sand or gravel among these little mites of shells. This fact proves that quiet reigns in the depths of the sea: that as in the air ocean there is a region of perpetual calm, "above the clouds;" so in the ocean of waters there is a region where perpetual calm prevails, beneath the troubled waves. There is not motion enough to abrade these very delicate organisms, nor current enough to sweep them about, or to mix with them a grain of the finest sand.

It may be that the myriads of animalcules③ which make the sea glow with life are secreting from it solid matter which is destined to fill up the cavities below. They furnish the atoms of which mountains are formed and plains are spread out. Our marl-beds, the clay in our river-bottoms, large portions of many of the great basins of the Earth, even flinty rocks, are composed of the remains of just such minute animals as those which have been fished up from a depth of three miles below the sea-level. These creatures, therefore, when living, may have been preparing the ingredients for the fruitful soil of a land that some earthquake or upheaval, in ages far away in the future, may yet raise up from the bottom of the sea for the use of man.

WORDS

ascertained, found.

cavities, hollow places.

converge, draw near to each other.

culminating, crowning.

destined, appointed.

detected, discovered.

garniture, embellishment.

gossamer, cobweb.

ingredients, elements.

organisms, structures.

panorama, comprehensive view.

perpetual, constant.

separates, keeps apart.

submarine, under the sea.

summits, peaks.

surveyed, examined.

temperature, degree of heat.

transport, convey.

NOTES

① Telegraph Plateau.—So called because on it were laid the submarine telegraph cables between Ireland and America in 1865 and 1866. Many other cables now follow the same route.

② Higher than Mont Blanc.—This is the illustration used by Professor Wyville Thompson, in his work entitled The Depths of the Sea. But Arnold Guyot says that the level of the Atlantic bed appears to be more uniform than has hitherto been supposed, "extensive plains and huge table-lands being its predominating features."

③ Animal'cules, very small animals. It was at one time supposed that there was no animal life at the bottom of the deep sea,—that those little animals whose remains are found there lived only near the surface of the ocean. Recent investigations have shown this to be a mistake. Life has been found at a depth of three miles, and is now believed to exist even in the deepest parts.

QUESTIONS

Of what does the bed of the ocean consist? What part of the Atlantic has been surveyed? By whom? What plain stretches across the northern part of the basin? On what do the British Isles stand? What effect has this on their climate? Why? What extends southward from the middle of Telegraph Plateau? What is there on either side of the central continent? Where is the deepest part of the Atlantic? If we could stand there, how far should we be below the sea-level? By what should we be surrounded? What would the Bermudas appear to be? And the Azores? Where does the whole Atlantic mountain system culminate? What is its extent in vertical height? With what is the bed of the ocean covered? What shows that quiet reigns in the depths of the sea? Of what are the animalcules found in the bed of the ocean the elements?

LESSON 5

BINGEN ON THE RHINE

A SOLDIER of the Legion lay dying in Algiers;①

There was lack of woman's nursing, there was dearth of woman's tears;

But a comrade stood beside him, while his life-blood ebbed away,

And bent, with pitying glances, to hear what he might say.

The dying soldier faltered, as he took that comrade's hand,

And he said: "I never more shall see my own, my native land:

Take a message and a token to some distant friends of mine;

For I was bora at Bingen②—at Bingen on the Rhine.

"Tell my brothers and companions, when they meet and crowd around,

To hear my mournful story, in the pleasant vineyard ground,

That we fought the battle bravely; and when the day was done,

Full many a corse lay ghastly pale beneath the setting sun.

And amidst the dead and dying were some grown old in wars—

The death-wound on their gallant breasts, the last of many scars;

But some were young, and suddenly beheld life's morn decline;

And one had come from Bingen—fair Bingen on the Rhine.

"Tell my mother that her other sons shall comfort her old age,

And I was aye a truant bird, that thought his home a cage;

For my father was a soldier, and, even as a child,

My heart leaped forth to hear him tell of struggles fierce and wild;

And when he died, and left us to divide his scanty hoard,

I let them take whate'er they would, but kept my father's sword;

And with boyish love I hung it where the bright light used to shine,

On the cottage-wall at Bingen—calm Bingen on the Rhine!

"Tell my sister not to weep for me, and sob with drooping head,

When the troops are marching home again, with glad and gallant tread;

But to look upon them proudly, with a calm and steadfast eye,

For her brother was a soldier too, and not afraid to die.

And if a comrade seek her love, then ask her in my name

To listen to him kindly, without regret or shame;

And to hang the old sword in its place (my father's sword and mine),

For the honour of old Bingen—dear Bingen on the Rhine!

"There's another—not a sister: in the happy days gone by,

You'd have known her by the merriment that sparkled in her eye;

Too innocent for coquetry—too fond for idle scorning!—

O friend, I fear the lightest heart makes sometimes heaviest mourning!

Tell her the last night of my life (for ere this moon be risen

My body will be out of pain—my soul be out of prison)

I dreamed I stood with her, and saw the yellow sunlight shine

On the vine-clad hills of Bingen—fair Bingen on the Rhine

"I saw the blue Rhine sweep along; I heard, or seemed to hear,

The German songs we used to sing in chorus sweet and clear;

And down the pleasant river, and up the slanting hill,

That echoing chorus sounded, through the evening calm and still;

And her glad blue eyes were on me, as we passed with friendly talk

Down many a path beloved of yore, and well-remembered walk;

And her little hand lay lightly, confidingly in mine;—

But we'll meet no more at Bingen—loved Bingen on the Rhine!"

His voice grew faint and hoarser; his grasp was childish weak;

His eyes put on a dying look; he sighed, and ceased to speak:

His comrade bent to lift him, but the spark of life had fled;

The soldier of the Legion in a foreign land—was dead!

And the soft moon rose up slowly, and calmly she looked down

On the red sand of the battle-field, with bloody corses strown;

Yea, calmly on that dreadful scene her pale light seemed to shine,

As it shone on distant Bingen—fair Bingen on the Rhine!

—CAROLINE NORTON

WORDS

comfort, soothe.

comrade, companion.

confidingly, trustfully.

coquetry, flirtation.

decline, fall away.

faltered, trembled.

foreign, distant.

merriment, happiness.

mournful, sad.

scanty, meagre.

steadfast, unwavering.

truant, wandering.

NOTES

① Algiers, on the northern coast of Africa.

② Bingen, a town in Hesse-Darmstadt (Germany). But the spirit of the poem is independent of place or time. It gives expression, in a very touching way, to the dying thoughts of a soldier stricken down in a foreign land, far away from friends and home.

LESSON 6

THE CLOUD

I BRING fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,

From the seas and the streams;

I bear light shade for the leaves when laid

In their noonday dreams.

From my wings are shaken the dews that waken

The sweet buds① every one,

When rocked to rest on their Mother's breast,

As she dances about the Sun.

I wield the flail of the lashing hail,

And whiten the green plains under;

And then again I dissolve it in rain,

And laugh as I pass in thunder.

I sift the snow on the mountains below,

And their great pines groan aghast;

And all the night 'tis my pillow white,

While I sleep in the arms of the blast.

Sublime on the towers of my skiey bowers

Lightning my pilot sits;

In a cavern under is fettered the Thunder—

It struggles and howls at fits:

Over earth and ocean, with gentle motion,

This pilot is guiding me,

Lured by the love of the Genii② that move

In the depths of the purple sea;

Over the rills, and the crags, and the hills.

Over the lakes and the plains,

Wherever he dream, under mountain or stream.

The Spirit he loves remains;

And I all the while bask in heaven's blue smile,

Whilst he is dissolving in rains.

The sanguine③ Sunrise, with his meteor eyes.

And his burning plumes outspread,

Leaps on the back of my sailing rack,④

When the morning-star shines dead, —

As on the jag of a mountain crag,

Which an earthquake rocks and swings.

An eagle alit⑤ one moment may sit

In the light of its golden wings.

And when Sunset may breathe, from the lit sea beneath,

Its ardours of rest and of love,

And the crimson pall of eve may fall

From the depth of heaven above, —

With wings folded I rest, on mine airy nest,

As still as a brooding dove.

That orbëd maiden with white fire laden,

Whom mortals call the Moon,

Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor,

By the midnight breezes strewn;

And wherever the beat of her unseen feet,

Which only the angels hear,

May have broken the woof⑥ of my tent's thin roof,

The stars peep behind her and peer;

And I laugh to see them whirl and flee,

Like a swarm of golden bees,

When I widen the rent in my wind-built tent, —

Till the calm rivers, lakes, and seas,

Like strips of the sky fallen through me on high,

Are each paved with the moon and these.

I bind the Sun's throne with a burning zone,

And the Moon's with a girdle of pearl;

The volcanoes are dim, and the stars reel and swim,

When the Whirlwinds my banner unfurl.

From cape to cape, with a bridge-like shape,

Over a torrent sea,

Sunbeam-proof, I hang like a roof;

The mountains its columns be.

The triumphal arch through which I march

With hurricane, fire, and snow,

When the Powers of the air are chained to my chair,

Is the million-coloured bow;

The Sphere-fire above, its soft colours wove,

While the moist Earth was laughing below.

I am the daughter of Earth and Water,⑦

And the nursling of the Sky:

I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;

I change, but I cannot die.

For after the rain—when with never a stain

The pavilion of heaven is bare,

And the winds and sunbeams, with their convex gleams,

Build up the blue dome of air—

I silently laugh at my own cenotaph,⑧

And out of the caverns of rain,

Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb,

I arise and unbuild it again.

— P. B. SHELLEY

WORDS

ardours, fervours.

dissolve, melt.

earthquake, a convulsion of the earth.

glimmering, flickering.

guiding, conducting.

hurricane, tempest.

lashing, scourging.

meteor, flashing.

mortals, human beings.

nursling, child.

pavilion, canopy.

sublime, imposing.

thirsting, parched.

unfurl, unfold.

volcanoes, burning mountains.

whirlwinds, violent blasts.

NOTES

① Buds.—In nearly every instance in which this poem is quoted, "birds" is printed for "buds" in this line. It is hard to understand how the "dews" could waken the "birds." Shelley certainly wrote "buds;" and the "mother" on whose breast they are rocked to rest is of course the Earth.

② Genii, spirits; supernatural beings Genii is the plural of the Latin genius, the guardian deity of a person or place.

③ Sanguine, blood-red [from Lat. san-blood]. This is its literal meaning. But the word is now generally used in its secondary sense, of ardent, hopeful.

④ Rack, thin or broken clouds, drifting across the sky.

⑤ As…. an eagle alit.—The Sunrise is compared to a restless eagle settling for a moment on a mountain crag; the Sunset to a brooding dove quietly folding her wings to rest.

⑥ The woof, the cross threads in a web. The threads that extend lengthwise are called the warp.

⑦ Daughter of the Earth and Water.—A poetical description of the physical origin of clouds, which are condensed vapours drawn from the surface of the land and the sea by the heat of the sun.

⑧ Cenotaph, a memorial built to one who is buried elsewhere; lit. an empty tomb. The poet fancifully calls the blue dome of heaven the cloud's cenotaph, because the clear sky is a sign that the cloud is buried out of sight. So, also, the cloud is said to "unbuild" her cenotaph when she reäppears, and conceals the blue sky.

LESSON 7

THE TRIAL BY COMBAT (I)

REBECCA the Jewess, when condemned to death for sorcery by the Grand Master of the Order of Knights Templars,①challenged the privilege of "Trial by Combat," in proof of her innocence. Her challenge was accepted, and Sir Brian, a valiant Templar, was named the champion of the holy Order.

Rebecca had difficulty in finding a messenger who would undertake to carry a letter to her father, Isaac of York; at last Higg, the son of Snell, a poor cripple whom she had befriended, volunteered his services.

"I am but a maimed man," he said, "but that I can at all stir is owing to her charitable aid. —I will do thine errand," he added, turning to Rebecca, "as well as a crippled object can. —Alas! when I boasted of thy charity, I little thought that I was leading thee into danger."

"God," said Rebecca, "is the Disposer of all. He can turn back the captivity of Judah even by the weakest instrument. Seek out Isaac of York—here is that will pay for horse and man—let him have this scroll. Farewell! —Life and death are in thy haste."

Within a quarter of a mile from the gate of the Preceptory②the peasant met two riders, whom, by their dress and yellow caps, he knew to be Jews; and, on approaching more nearly, he discovered that one of them was his ancient employer, Isaac of York. The other was the Rabbi Ben Samuel; and both had approached as near to the Preceptory as they dared, on hearing that the Grand Master had summoned a chapter, or meeting of the Order, for the trial of a sorceress.

"How now, brother?" said Ben Samuel, interrupting his harangue to look towards Isaac, who had but glanced at the scroll which Higg offered, when, uttering a deep groan, he fell from his mule like a dying man, and lay for a minute insensible.

The Rabbi now dismounted in great alarm, and hastily applied the remedies which his art suggested for the recovery of his companion. He had even taken from his pocket a cupping apparatus,③ and was about to use it, when the object of his solicitude suddenly revived; but it was to dash his cap from his head, and to throw dust on his gray hairs. The physician was at first inclined to ascribe this sudden and violent emotion to the effects of insanity; and, adhering to his original purpose, began once again to handle his implements. But Isaac soon convinced him of his error.

"Child of my sorrow," he said, "well shouldst thou be called Benoni, instead of Rebecca! Why should thy death bring down my gray hairs to the grave?"

"Brother," said the Rabbi, in great surprise, "I trust that the child of thy house yet liveth?"

"She liveth," answered Isaac, "but she is captive unto those men of Be'lial,④ and they will wreak their cruelty upon her, sparing her neither for her youth nor her comely favour. Oh, she was as a crown of green palms to my gray locks; and she must wither in a night, like the gourd of Jonah!⑤ Child of my love! child of my old age! —O Rebecca, daughter of Rachel, the darkness of the shadow of death hath encompassed thee."

"Yet read the scroll," said the Rabbi; "peradventure it maybe that we may yet find out a way of deliverance."

"Do thou read, brother," answered Isaac, "for mine eyes areas fountains of water."

The physician read, but in their native language, the following words: —

"To ISAAC, the son of Adoni'kam, whom the Gentiles call ISAAC of YORK, peace and the blessing of the promise be multiplied unto thee.

"My father, I am as one doomed to die for that which my soul knoweth not-even for the crime of witchcraft. My father, if a strong man can be found to do battle for my cause with sword and spear, according to the custom of the Nazarenes,⑥ and that within the lists of Tem'plestowe, on the third day from this time, peradventure our fathers' God will give him strength to defend the innocent, and her who hath none to help her. But if this may not be, let the virgins of our people mourn for me as for one cast off, and for the hart that is stricken by the hunter, and for the flower which is cut down by the scythe of the mower. Wherefore, look now what thou doest, and whether there be any rescue.

"One Nazarene warrior might, indeed, bear arms in my behalf, even Wilfred, son of Ced'ric, whom the Gentiles call I'vanhoe. But he may not yet endure the weight of his armour. Nevertheless, send the tidings unto him, my father; for he hath favour among the strong men of his people, and as he was our companion in the house of bondage, he may find some one to do battle for my sake. And say unto him, even unto him, even unto Wilfred, the son of Cedric, that if Rebecca live, or if Rebecca die, she liveth or dieth wholly free of the guilt she is charged withal.

"And if it be the will of God that thou shalt be deprived of thy daughter, do not thou tarry, old man, in this land of bloodshed and cruelty; but betake thyself to Cordo'va,⑦ where thy brother liveth in safety, under the shadow of the throne,even of the throne of Boab'dil the Sar'acen: for less cruel are the cruelties of the Moors unto the race of Jacob than the cruelties of the Nazarenes of England."

Isaac listened with tolerable composure while Ben Samuel read the letter, and then again resumed the gestures and exclamations of Oriental sorrow, tearing his garments, besprinkling his head with dust, and ejaculating, "My daughter! my daughter!"

"Yet," said the Rabbi, "take courage, for this grief availeth nothing. Seek out this Wilfred, the son of Cedric. It may behe will help thee with counsel or with strength; for the youth hath favour in the eyes of Richard, called of the Nazarenes the Lion-Heart, and the tidings that he hath returned are constant in the land. It may be that he may obtain his letter, and his signet, commanding these men of blood, who take their name from the Temple, to the dishonour thereof, that they proceed not in their purposed wickedness."

"I will seek him out," said Isaac; "for he is a good youth, and hath compassion for the exile of Jacob. But he cannot bear his armour, and what other Christian shall do battle for the oppressed of Zion?"

—SIR W. SCOTT

WORDS

availeth, profiteth.

bondage, slavery.

challenged, claimed.

companion, associate.

compassion, pity.

cruelties, atrocities.

deliverance, release.

deprived, bereft.

discovered, found.

dishonour, shame.

ejaculating, exclaiming.

employer, master.

encompassed, surrounded.

gestures, actions.

harangue, speech.

implements, apparatus.

insanity, delirium.

insensible, unconscious.

multiplied, increased.

peradventure, perchance.

physician, healer.

privilege, right.

remedies, restoratives.

solicitude, anxiety.

sorcery, witchcraft.

summoned, called.

volunteered, offered freely.

NOTES

1 Knights Templars, an order of knighthood established for the protection of pilgrims to Jerusalem, 1118A. D. They took their name from the Temple.

2 Preceptory.—Heads of the several colleges of the Order, over whom the Grand Master was supreme, were called Preceptors; and the place where they met was called the Preceptory.

3 Cupping apparatus, a cup-shaped vessel of glass used for blood-letting. The surgeon draws blood with it by exhausting the air in the cup.

4 Men of Belial. —In the Bible wicked and profligate men are called "children of Belial." (See Judges, xx. 13.) Belial signifles "worthlessness."

5 Gourd of Jonah.—The gourd which sheltered the prophet Jonah at Nineveh withered in a night. (See Jonah, iv. 6-10.)

6 Nazarenes, Christians; so called by the Jews because they were followers of Jesus of Nazareth.

7 Cordova, an ancient Moorish town on the Guadalquivir, in Andalusia in Spain, famous for its leather, hence called cordovan and cordwain. A cordwainer is a worker in cordovan—a shoemaker.

QUESTIONS

What privilege did Rebecca claim when she had been condemned? Who was named the champion of the Temple? Who at last volunteered to carry her letter? Where did he meet Isaac? What effect had the perusal of Rebecca's letter upon the latter? Who accompanied him? Whose help did Rebecca ask him to obtain?

LESSON 8

THE TRIAL BY COMBAT (II)

OUR scene now returns to the exterior of the Castle, or Precep'tory, of Tem'plestowe, about the hour when the bloody die was to be cast for the life or death of Rebecca. A throne was erected for the Grand Master at the east end of the tilt-yard, surrounded with seats of distinction for the Preceptors and Knights of the Order.

At the opposite end of the lists was a pile of fagots, so arranged around a stake, deeply fixed in the ground, as to leave a space for the victim whom they were destined to consume, to enter within the fatal circle in order to be chained to the stake by the fetters which hung ready for the purpose.

The unfortunate Rebecca was conducted to a black chair placed near the pile. On her first glance at the terrible spot where preparations were making for a death alike dismaying to the mind and painful to the body, she was observed to shudder and shut her eyes—praying internally, doubtless, for her lips moved though no speech was heard. In the space of a minute she opened her eyes, looked fixedly on the pile, as if to familiarize her mind with the object, and then slowly and naturally turned away her head.

It was the general belief that no one could or would appear for a Jewess accused of sorcery; and the knights whispered to each other that it was time to declare the pledge of Rebecca forfeited. At that instant a knight, urging his horse to speed, appeared on the plain advancing towards the lists. A hundred voices exclaimed, "A champion! a champion!" And despite the prejudices of the multitude, they shouted unanimously as the knight rode into the tilt-yard.

The second glance, however, served to destroy the hope that his timely arrival had excited. His horse, urged for many miles to its utmost speed, appeared to reel from fatigue; and the rider, however undauntedly he presented himself in the lists, either from weakness, from weariness, or from both combined, seemed scarce able to support himself in the saddle.

To the summons of the herald, who demanded his rank, his name and purpose, the stranger knight answered readily and boldly, "I am a good knight and noble, come hither to uphold with lance and sword the just and lawful quarrel of this damsel, Rebecca, daughter of Isaac of York; to maintain the doom pronounced against her to be false and truthless, and to defy Sir Brian the Templar as a traitor, murderer, and liar; as I will prove in this field with my body against his, by the aid of God, and of Saint George,① the good knight."

"The stranger must first show," said a Templar, "that he is a good knight, and of honourable lineage. The Temple sendeth not forth her champions against nameless men."

"My name," said the knight, raising his helmet, "is better known, my lineage more pure, than thine own. I am Wilfred of Ivanhoe."

"I will not fight with thee at present," said the Templar, in a changed and hollow voice. "Get thy wounds healed, purvey thee a better horse, and it may be I will hold it worth my while to scourge out of thee this boyish spirit of bravado."

"Ha! proud Templar," said Ivanhoe, "hast thou forgotten that twice thou didst fall before this lance? Remember the lists at A'cre—remember the passage of arms at Ash'by—remember thy proud vaunt in the halls of Roth'erwood, and the gage of your gold chain against my reliquary,② that thou wouldst do battle with Wilfred of Ivanhoe, and recover the honour thou hadst lost! By that reliquary, and the holy relic it contains, I will proclaim thee, Templar, a coward in every Court in Europe—unless thou do battle without further delay."

TILT-YARD

Sir Brian turned his countenance irresolutely towards Rebecca, and then exclaimed, looking fiercely at Ivanhoe, "Dog of a Saxon! take thy lance, and prepare for the death thou hast drawn upon thee!"

"Does the Grand Master allow me the combat?" said Ivanhoe.

"I may not deny what thou hast challenged," said the Grand Master, "provided the maiden accept thee as her champion. Yet I would thou wert in better plight to do battle. An enemy of our Order hast thou ever been, yet would I have thee honourably met withal."

"Thus—thus as I am, and not otherwise," said Ivanhoe; "it is the judgment of God—to his keeping I commend myself.—Rebecca," said he, riding up to the fatal chair, "dost thou accept of me for thy champion?"

"I do," she said, "I do,"—fluttered by an emotion which the fear of death had been unable to produce—"I do accept thee as the champion whom Heaven hath sent me. Yet, no—no; thy wounds are uncured. Meet not that proud man—why shouldst thou perish also?"

But Ivanhoe was already at his post; he had closed his visor③ and assumed his lance. Sir Brian did the same; and his esquire remarked, as he clasped his visor, that his face—which had, notwithstanding the variety of emotions by which he had been agitated, continued during the whole morning of an ashy paleness—had now become suddenly very much flushed.

The Grand Master, who held in his hand the gage of battle, Rebecca's glove, now threw it into the lists. The trumpets sounded, and the knights charged each other in full career. The weary horse of Ivanhoe, and its no less exhausted rider, went down, as all had expected, before the well-aimed lance and vigorous steed of the Templar. This issue of the combat all had foreseen; but although the spear of Ivanhoe, in comparison, did but touch the shield of Sir Brian, that champion, to the astonishment of all who beheld it, reeled in his saddle, lost his stirrup, and fell in the lists!

Ivanhoe, extricating himself from his fallen horse, was soon on foot, hastening to mend his fortune with his sword; but his antagonist arose not. Wilfred, placing his foot on his breast, and the sword's point to his throat, commanded him to yield him, or die on the spot. The Templar returned no answer.

"Slay him not, Sir Knight," cried the Grand Master "unshriven and unabsolved—kill not body and soul! We acknowledge him vanquished."

He descended into the lists, and commanded them to unhelm the conquered champion. His eyes were closed—the dark red flush was still on his brow. As they looked on him in astonishment, the eyes opened—but they were fixed and glazed. The flush passed from his brow, and gave way to the pallid hue of death. Unscathed by the lance of his enemy, he had died a victim to the violence of his own contending passions.

"This is indeed the judgment of God," said the Grand Master, looking upwards— "Fiat voluntas tua!"④

When the first moments of surprise were over, Wilfred of Ivanhoe demanded of the Grand Master, as judge of the field, if he had manfully and rightfully done his duty in the combat?

"Manfully and rightfully hath it been done," said the Grand Master; "I pronounce the maiden free and guiltless. The arms and the body of the deceased knight are at the will of the victor."

"I will not despoil him of his weapons," said the Knight of Ivanhoe, "nor condemn his corpse to shame. God's arm, no human hand, hath this day struck him down. But let his obsequies be private, as becomes those of a man who died in an unjust quarrel. —And for the maiden—"

He was interrupted by the clatter of horses' feet, advancing in such numbers, and so rapidly, as to shake the ground before them; and the Black Knight galloped into the lists. He was followed by a numerous band of men-at-arms, and several knights in complete armour.

"I am too late," he said, looking around him. "I had doomed Sir Brian for mine own property. —Ivanhoe, was this well, to take on thee such a venture, and thou scarce able to keep thy saddle?"

"Heaven, my liege," answered Ivanhoe, "hath taken this proud man for its victim. He was not to be honoured in dying as your will had designed."

"Peace be with him," said Richard,⑤looking steadfastly on the corpse, "if it may be so—he was a gallant knight, and has died in his steel harness full knightly."

During the tumult Rebecca saw and heard nothing: she was locked in the arms of her aged father, giddy, and almost senseless, with the rapid change of circumstances around her. But one word from Isaac at length recalled her scattered feelings.

"Let us go," he said, "my dear daughter, my recovered treasure—let us go to throw ourselves at the feet of the good youth."

"Not so," said Rebecca; "oh no—no—no; —I must not at this moment dare to speak to him. Alas! I should say more than—No, my father; let us instantly leave this evil place."

Isaac, yielding to her entreaties, then conducted her from the lists, and by means of a horse which he had provided, transported her safely to the house of the Rabbi Nathan.

—SIR WALTER SCOTT

WORDS

antagonist, opponent.

astonishment, surprise.

bravado, boastfulness.

champion, defender.

commend, intrust.

consume, destroy.

demanded, asked.

designed, intended.

destined, appointed.

dismaying, appalling.

distinction, honour.

entreaties, solicitations.

exhausted, wearied.

extricating, disengaging.

familiarize, accustom.

fluttered, agitated.

forfeited, sacrificed.

honourably, worthily.

internally, mentally.

interrupted, checked.

irresolutely, unsteadily.

lineage, descent.

notwithstanding, in spite of.

obsequies, funeral rites.

prejudices, predilections.

proclaim, denounce.

pronounced, proclaimed.

purvey, provide.

transported, conveyed.

unabsolved, unpardoned.

unanimously, with one accord.

undauntedly, valiantly.

unfortunate, luckless.

unscathed, uninjured.

unshriven, not confessed.

vanquished, defeated.

venture, hazard.

vigorous, powerful.

NOTES

① Saint George, the patron saint of English chivalry, represented in the Order of the Garter. The badge of the Order represents St. George performing the feat of killing the dragon.

② Reliquary, a casket for holding relics, or memorials of saints. [Lat. reliquice; from relinquo, I leave behind.]

③ Viser, the front part of a helmet, made of bars, or perforated, to enable the wearer to see. [Lat visus, seen.]

④ Fiat voluntas tua, "Thy will be done,"—part of the Latin version of the Lord's Prayer.

⑤ Richard.—The Black Knight was King Richard of the Lion Heart himself.

QUESTIONS

Where was the combat to take place? Where was the Grand Master's position? What was at the opposite end of the lists? What was the general belief? Who at last appeared? Why did the Templar at first decline to fight with him? What fear did Rebecca express? What was the result of the encounter of the knights. What befell the Templar immediately afterwards? What had killed him? What verdict did the Grand Master now give regarding Rebecca? Who presently arrived on the scene? Why was the Black Knight disappointed? Who was this Black Knight? Who had embraced Rebecca? What did he ask her to do? What did she reply?

LESSON 9

DAMASCUS AND LONDON (I)

DAMASCUS is one of the greatest and most truly oriental cities in the world; let us, therefore, for our amusement and instruction, compare it in its general external features with London. In this way we may, perhaps, be able to get a clear idea of an oriental city.

From the dome of St. Paul's you behold London lying around, like a wide, waving, endless sea of slates, tiles, houses, churches, spires and monuments of all kinds. The eye is relieved with the heights and the hollows, the great and the little, the lowly lanes and the heaven-pointing spires.

In Damascus the scene is very different: there is much less variety; no spires, but multitudes of domes upon the mosques,① and baths surmounted by little minarets.② The houses are all flat-roofed, and the hue of the whole is a dim ash colour. A stillness like that of the dead reigns over the whole scene; and the city, surrounded with its celebrated evergreen gardens, suggests the idea of a ship sailing away through an ocean of verdure. Dun walls, flat roofs, domes and minarets, the stillness of death and the verdure of paradise, make up the elements of this most charming oriental scene. Tradition tells that Moham'med refused to enter the city, saying, "As there is only one paradise allotted to man, I shall reserve mine for the future world."

London and most large western cities are very often surmounted by clouds of smoke, owing to the coldness of the climate and the great consumption of coal. The sky over Damascus appears as bright and serene as elsewhere. For the greater part of the year the climate renders little or no fire necessary; and the little that is used is not from coal, but from wood or charcoal. The rooms have neither chimneys nor fire-places, and, except for the preparation of the supper, fire is rarely required during the course of the day. Hence the oriental city is not encircled with a graceful wreath of smoke, to remind you either of an ungenial clime or of the progress of mechanical genius.

But approach the city. All seems very still and quiet. Is it an enchanted capital, whose inhabitants have been turned into stone or brass? No; but the streets are not paved; there are no wheel-carriages of any kind; the shoes, more like foot-gloves than shoes, have no nails; no cotton-mills lift up their voice in the streets; —all those noisy triumphs of mechanical genius, in the way of forging, spinning, weaving, beetling, which are so frequent among us, are unknown in Damascus. The Easterns hold on their old course steadily, and yield to no seductions of novelty: the water-pump was invented in Alexandria, but the Alexandrians still prefer the ancient well and bucket.

But if the ear is not saluted with the roar and turbulence of mills, forges, and mechanical operations, Damascus has its own peculiar sounds, not less various and interesting in their way. The streets are filled with innumerable dogs, lean, lazy, and hungry-like; mules, donkeys, camels, dromedaries, meet and mingle in those narrow streets, and impress both the eye and the ear of the traveller with a pure and perfect idea of Orientalism.

British cities spread out, as it were indefinitely, into the country, in the way of parks, gardens, summer-houses, gentlemen's seats, and smiling villages. It is not so in the East. The city is within the walls, and all without is garden as at Damascus, or desert as at Jerusalem. Single houses are, in any country, the proof of the supremacy of law as well as of the respectability and independence of labour. Life and property have not attained perfect security in the East: a pistol, or rather a musket, was presented at my breast, within half a mile of Damascus, in broad daylight!

These noble gardens have no inhabitants; nor do any fine cottages, tasteful houses, or princely palaces, adorn this fertile region. Within the city you are safe; —without are dogs,③ insecurity of property, and the liability of being shot. The whole population, therefore, live either in cities or in villages, except in such regions as Beirout, where European influence and power prevail. There, you have gardens and single houses, much after the English fashion.

But place a Damascene④ at Charing Cross, or at Cheapside, and what do you think would amaze him most? The number of vehicles, undoubtedly. He would say, "When will this stream of cars, cabs, coaches, carriages, omnibuses of every shape and size, have an end? Are the people mad? Can they not take their time?"

But had the oriental nations of antiquity no wheel-carriages? They had; the Jews and the Egyptians had them, the Greeks and the Romans had them, and perhaps they may exist in some parts of the East to the present time. Here in Damascus there are none. The streets are not formed for them. The horses are trained only for riding. There are no common, levelled, and well-ordered public roads. Our fathers used no coaches;⑤they preferred the more manly exercise of horsemanship, and yielded the soft, effeminate luxury of the coach to the ladies. But in London there are now about nine hundred omnibuses, each of which takes about ￡1000 annually. Such is the present state of coaching with us. How different is Damascus! and how different must the aspect of the streets appear!

With us, the city is laid out in streets, squares, crescents, royal circuses, and similar devices of beauty and regularity. This is the case particularly in the "west-ends" and newer parts of our cities and towns. There is nothing of this in Damascus, or in any of the eastern cities that I have seen: squares, crescents, and circuses are unknown. The streets are extremely irregular, crooked, winding, and narrow; which seems to arise out of the anxiety to find a protection from the sun.

In the narrower streets, where the houses are high, the sun's rays are effectually excluded; and in the wider ones, where this is not attainable, the numerous windings and angles afford salient points where the passenger may for a moment or two enjoy the shade. This may appear trifling, but I have often found the heat of the solar rays so intense and unendurable that even the sun-burnt Bedouins,⑥ the children of the desert, were glad of the least passing shade, the least momentary shelter, from the intolerable heat.

In the bazaars of Damascus, on the contrary, the streets or avenues are laid out with the greatest regularity, and are as straight as possible. In the heat of the day these are nearly deserted; business is at a stand; the merchant is reclining with pipe in mouth, in a state of semi-somnolence, in which the influence of opium or the odour of the redolent weed has carried the fertile imagination into the regions of celestial ease.

In an eastern city you have no prospect. With us you can see a considerable way along the streets. In Damascus you feel absolutely isolated; the streets are so narrow and crooked that at the most you can rarely see a perch before you, and nothing that does meet the eye in the way of buildings has the least attraction. Irregularity in style and clumsiness of execution, combined with the absence of fine doors, all windows, everything in the shape of fronts, railings, ornaments, &c., make the impression in that respect very disagreeable.

In our streets, we are pleased with large houses, fine rows of large windows, tastefully arranged doors and entrances;—everything seems to convey the idea of order, attention, cleanliness combined with the possession of wealth and the consciousness that it is our own. We conceal nothing, for we have no motive for concealment. Our house is our palace, and though the winds may whistle through our dilapidated halls, the Queen herself dare not enter without our permission. Freedom has increased our property, and our wealth has enhanced the value of our freedom. Our temptation is not to concealment, but to ostentation and unnecessary display.

This tendency or temptation among us stands in connection with our character as a highly civilized and commercial nation. Great transactions cannot be carried on without credit, and credit is necessarily based on the belief of wealth; so that very often, where there may be little real property, it may be most desirable that there should be the appearance of it……

The mean, low door in Damascus, tells you of tyranny, concealment, and the want of confidence in public justice. Misery without and splendour within, is a principle which befits a land where paper is just paper, whatever name it bears; where gold is the only circulating medium; where a man's own house is his bank; and where the suspicion of being rich may make him a prey to the rapacity of the government.

On the contrary, the noble streets, squares, crescents, &c., of our modern cities, are clear indications, not only of great wealth and power, but also of something far dearer and nobler—namely, that confidence in one another, formed by myriads of concurring circumstances, of which Christianity is one of the mightiest, and out of which flow most of the blessings of European civilization and free political institutions.

But what is the use of that stone by the door-post? These stones are the steps from which ladies mount their donkeys, mules, and horses. Nor should you think this strange. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Paris presented these mounting-stones at all the angles of the streets, and at other convenient places. At Frankfort on the Main, there was a certain gate at which these conveniences were prepared for the emperor and the magnates of the German Diet;⑦ and I have no doubt that, in the days of feudalism⑧ and knightly glory, London was not behind its neighbours in this respect.

—REV. DR. GRAHAM

WORDS

absolutely, wholly.

allotted, assigned.

attainable, procurable.

celebrated, renowned.

celestial, heavenly.

circumstances, events.

concealment, secrecy.

concurring, agreeing.

confidence, trust.

consciousness, knowledge.

consumption, employment.

disagreeable, unpleasant.

effectually, successfully.

effeminate, womanish.

enchanted, bewitched.

encircled, encompassed.

enhanced, increased.

external, outward.

extremely, very.

indefinitely, without bounds.

intolerable, insufferable.

isolated, alone.

levelled, smoothed.

liability, danger.

momentary, temporary.

myriads, hosts.

oriental, eastern.

preparation, cooking.

protection, covering.

reclining, resting.

redolent, fragrant.

relieved, gratified.

respectability, estimation.

seductions, allurements.

semi-somnolence, being half-asleep.

supremacy, authority.

suspicion, surmise.

tendency, inclination.

turbulence, tumult.

vehicles, carriages.

verdure, greenness.

NOTES

① Mosque, a Mohammedan place of worship.

② Minarets, tall and slender turrets, surrounded with balconies, from which the people are summoned to prayer.

③ Without are dogs, that is, robbers; rapacious fellows.

④ Damascene, a native of Damascus; also applied to Damascus plums, and contracted into Damsons.

⑤ Our fathers used no coaches.—Whirlicotes were used in England in 1398, for the mother of Richard II. used one in fleeing from the rebellious people. They were afterwards disused, as effeminate and unnational, until, in 1580, the Earl of Arundell introduced the spring-coach from Germany or France, which speedily became popular with the nobility. In 1601 they were forbidden by Parliament, as effeminate; yet, in defiance of all legislation, they were common enough in the city of London in 1605. In the year 1625 hackney coaches were established and licensed; and in 1778 the number of coaches in England was 23,000 which paid ￡117,000 duty. The origin of the easy suspension or spring, coach is ascribed to Hungary; and the post-chaise we owe to France.

⑥ Bedouins, a tribe of wandering Arabs, dwelling in tents, and scattered over Arabia and parts of Africa. The word means "dwellers in the desert."

⑦ German Diet, the meetings of the princes who formed the confederation of the German Empire. The Diet was so called because its sittings were continued from day to day. [Lat. dies, a day.] The last Diet met at Frankfort in 1866. The Parliament of the new German Republic meets at Berlin.

⑧ Feudalism, the system of government under which lands were held by a vassal from a superior, on condition of the former rendering military service to the latter.

QUESTIONS

What contrast to London does Damascus present, in respect of its buildings? What, in respect of its atmosphere? What is the cause of the great stillness in the eastern city? Why are there no country-houses around Damascus? What are these the proof of in any country? What would most strike a Damascene in the streets of London? Why are the streets in eastern cities made narrow and crooked? What effect has this upon the prospect? What are fine houses and streets proof of in a commercial nation? What do the mean low doors in Damascus indicate? For what purpose are stones set up at the door-posts?

LESSON 10

DAMASCUS AND LONDON (II)

OUR cities are filled and ornamented with hotels, coffee-houses, hospitals, work-houses, prisons, and similar conspicuous buildings. Generally speaking, there are none of these in the East. Hospitals and institutions for the sick and the poor were the offspring of Christianity, and are, I am inclined to think, peculiar to Christian lands.

There are few prisons in the East, and these are very wretched. Imprisonment as a punishment is little practised, and is altogether unsuited to the Mohammedan law and mode of thinking. Life is not so sacred as with us. It is urged that if a man deserves to be confined as a dangerous member of society, he deserves to die; society will never miss him, and some expense will be spared: "Off with his head;①—so much for Buckingham."

Hence in Damascus, and in the East generally, people are not liable to the reproach which is sometimes brought against us—that the best house in the county is the jail. Besides, in the East, punishment follows crime instantaneously. The judge, the mufti,② the prisoner, and the executioner, are all in the court at the same time. As soon as the sentence is delivered, the back is made bare, the donkey is ready (for perjury, in Damascus, the man rides through the city with his face to the tail), or the head falls, according to the crime, in the presence of all the people. Awful severity, and the rapidity of lightning, are the principles of their laws; nor do they deem it necessary to make the exact and minute distinctions of crime that we do. The object is to prevent crime, and this is most effectually done by the principle of terror and the certainty of immediate punishment.

A certain baker in Constantinople used false weights in selling his bread: the Sultan ordered him to be roasted alive in his own oven, and afterwards boasted that this one act of severity had effectually prevented all similar crimes. Here you see the principle of government in the East;—it is nothing but terror and religious fanaticism.

As to coffee-houses, there are plenty of them in Damascus; but they can hardly be called houses, much less palaces: they are open courts with fountains of water, sheltered from the sun; and in many cases they have little stools, some six inches high, on which, if you do not prefer the ground, you can rest while you enjoy your sherbet, coffee, and tobacco. Pipes, nargilies,③ ices, eau sucre,④ sherbet, and fruits of all kinds, are in abundance, and of the lowest possible price.

These cafés are very quiet: there is no excitement, no reading of newspapers, no discussion of politics and religion; no fiery demagogue or popular orator to mislead the people; no Attic⑤ wit provokes a smile, and no bold repartee calls forth applauding laughter on the other side. But yet they have their own amusements, and they play earnestly at games both of chance and of skill. The traveller tells his escapes and dangers to an admiring little circle; the story-teller repeats one of the "Thousand and One Nights"⑥ to a wondering audience; and if memory fails, the imagination, fertile as an oriental spring, supplies its boundless stores.

We have in the East great khans,⑦ but they bear little relation to our hotels. Ring, eat, and pay, is not the law in the East. They have no bells in Damascus, nor even the silver call or whistle which our grandmothers used in England. Bells in churches and in houses are alike an abomination to the Moslems; and the Maronites⑧ alone, by permission of the Government, have a right to use them.

The Khan in Damascus is a large circular building surmounted by a noble dome, in which the great merchants have their goods and wares of all kinds; and in which the traveller can find a resting-place for himself and his camels, and be supplied with water from the central fountain;—but there are no tables spread for the travellers, and no beds ready made for the weary pilgrims: you must find your dinner as you best can, make your own bed, and when you rise, take it up, and walk. The Khan is, however, a very noble building, and excites not a little astonishment among the Orientals.

In European cities your attention is arrested by bookshops, pictures, placards, caricatures, &c.; now in Damascus we have nothing of the sort. Among the Jews you may find a few miserable stalls, from which you may pick up a copy of the Talmud,⑨ or some old rabbinical prayer-book.(10) The sheikh⑪ who sold me the Koran, ⑫ laid his hand upon his neck, and told me to be silent, for were it known that he had done so, he might lose his head. In the schools they are taught only to read the Koran, and to master the simplest elements of arithmetic and writing.

Men of letters there are at present none, and the highest of their sciences is the knowledge of grammar. When I lived in Damascus, some wit (the first thing of the kind known) uttered a pun or squib reflecting on the corpulency of the pasha, and he was banished for it! The old observation of the caliph, as he fired the Alexandrian library, ⑬ holds true in the East still—"If the books agree with the Koran, they are useless; if they oppose it, they are pernicious; and in both cases they are unnecessary."

"But has not Damascus one hundred thousand inhabitants?" says the traveller. "Where are their newspapers, spreading light and knowledge through a portion of the sixty millions who use the noble Arabic language? Take me to the office of some Oriental Sun, Times, Globe, or Morning Chronicle"

There is no such thing. Even in Constantinople there is only one newspaper, and the one half of it is in Turkish, and the other in French! Tyranny and superstition, like two monstrous mill-stones, rest upon and compress the energies of the oriental nations; even Greece, the fountain of science and literary and mental activity, was for a time blotted from the rank of nations, and the inquisitive character of its people all but annihilated by the stern rule of the Turks. ⑭……

But there is another great difference between the general appearance of London and of Damascus, namely, in the eastern city you see not the bright, joyous countenance of woman—she is deeply veiled. In Egypt she is enveloped from head to foot in a dark, and in Syria in a white sheet, which effectually obliterates all traces of shape, absolutely equalizes to the eye all ranks, ages, and conditions, and suggests to the beholder the idea of a company of ghosts……

Conceive now how ludicrous the streets of London would appear, if green, white, black, and gray turbans moved indiscriminately, instead of the present hats; and if all the ladies, walking or on donkeys, instead of the present varieties of showy dress, beautiful bonnets, and smiling faces, presented only the appearance of headless ghosts clothed in white!

As to the general motion and life, the difference is immense between Damascus and a western city. Let us glance for a moment at two streets, and compare them: —

1. In Damascus there is more openness and publicity. The tradesmen of every kind work in the open bazaars; many of the merchants and artisans dine in public—that is, eat their bread and oil, bread and honey, or bread and grapes, in the street where they work. All are smoking, without exception, in the intervals of business. Some are engaged in reading the Koran, swinging their bodies to and fro in the most earnest and violent manner. Some are sleeping calmly, with the long pipe in their mouth! There a butcher is killing a sheep, surrounded by a circle of hungry, expectant dogs. Yonder is a company engaged at a game of skill. Everything is done in the open air, and nothing seems to be concealed but the ladies.

2. In the eastern city there is much more quiet. Their manners are sober, formal, and stately; arising partly, I believe, from the famous and universal dogma of obedience. There is, indeed, hardly any other law. The subject, the wife, the son, the slave obeys: to hear is to obey. This principle of unhesitating, unquestioning obedience leads to quiet. There is no contradiction. There is nothing to talk about. There is nothing like politics. There is no public opinion, of course; for that is based upon private opinion, and determined, resolute will. This extraordinary quiet and solemnity of demeanour may arise partly, also, from a sense of danger. Every man has arms, and has the right both of wearing and of using them: and no man makes a journey, be it only to a neighbouring village, without sword and pistols. Now this tends to quiet, earnest, solemn manners. If a scuffle takes place, it is not a black eye or a bloody face that is the result, but the certain death of some of the parties; and hence they are taught the principle of self-restraint and moral control……

3. The Arabs, and Orientals in general, sit much more than we do. The tradesmen all sit at their work: the smith, the carpenter, and the merchant, the butcher, the joiner, and the spice-monger, sit quietly and transact their business. They sit as tailors do, cross-legged, but with their feet doubled in beneath them. They sit on their feet, and maintain that such is the most natural and easy position! They seem to have no pleasure in motion: no man goes out to take a walk; no man moves for the sake of exercise. They go out, as they say, to smell the air, by some spreading tree or fountain of water. And yet they are capable of enduring great and long-continued labour. Abu Mausur travelled with us nearly forty days, during which we rode at the rate of from six to eighteen hours a day; and yet, though never upon a horse, he was always with us at the requisite time and place. He performed the journey on foot, and was rarely far behind.

Take, then, these things together, and you will easily perceive that in the city of Damascus everything is still and calm as the unclouded sky and the balmy air. The hoof of the camel falls noiselessly on the unpaved street; the sheep-skin foot-gloves of the Damascenes make no sound; and all the movements, both of men and of animals, are slow and solemn.

—REV. DR. GRAHAM

WORDS

abomination, object of disgust.

amusements, entertainments.

annihilated, extinguished.

applauding, approving.

astonishment, wonder.

corpulency, fatness.

demeanour, deportment.

distinction, discrimination.

dogma, maxim law.

effectually, thoroughly.

enduring, undergoing.

engaged, occupied.

excitement, stir.

expectant, waiting.

hospitals, infirmaries.

inclined, disposed.

indiscriminately, confusedly.

inquisitive, prying.

instantaneously, immediately.

ludicrous, ridiculous.

obliterates, destroys.

perjury, false swearing.

permission, sanction.

pernicious, mischievous.

principle, rule.

reflecting, animadverting.

reproach, censure.

sheltered, protected.

similar, of the same nature.

solemnity, gravity.

superstition, fanaticism.

transact, discharge.

unsuited, inappropriate.

NOTES

① "Off with his head;—so much for Buckingham."—This now famous line occurs in an altered version of the play of Richard III., by Colley Cibber, a dramatist of the time of George I. In Shakespeare's Richard III. the order, "Off with his head," is given by Glo'ster with reference to Hastings.

② Mufti, a Mohammedan high-priest.

③ Nargilies, tobacco pipes constructed so as to make the smoke pass through scented water

④ Eau sucre, sugared water.

⑤ Attic, elegant; pure; characteristic of Attica in Greece, or of Athens its capital.

⑥ "Thousand and One Nights."—A famous collection of Arabian tales, called "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments," translated into French in 1704, and since into most modern languages.

⑦ Khan, a caravansary, or eastern inn.

⑧ Maronites, a sect of Christians in the district of Mount Lebanon. (See lesson on Mount Lebanon, Note 6.)

⑨ Talmud, the book containing the ancient Jewish oral or unwritten law and traditions. It was compiled by the scribes, between the sixth and third centuries B. C.

⑩ Rabbinical prayer-book, a prayer-book in the later Hebrew tongue, prepared after the Christian era by the Jewish doctors, or Rabbins.

⑪ Sheikh, a man of eminence and position amongst the Arabs; lit a venerable old man, or chief.

⑫ Koran, the sacred book of the Mohammedans; written by Mohammed, with the aid of two or three associates, in 610, and declared by him to have been revealed to him by the angel Gabriel during twenty-three years.

⑬ Alexandrian Library.—The great library of Alexandria (Egypt) was burned by the Caliph Omar in 640 A. D. The saying here ascribed to him is denied by Mohammedans. The MSS. in the library supplied the public baths of Alexandria with fuel for six months!

⑭ The Turks.—Greece was subject to the Turks from 1540 till 1822, when the Greeks rose in arms and proclaimed their independence. After a five-years' struggle they succeeded in securing it, and it was guaranteed by the Treaty of London, to which Great Britain, Russia, and France were parties, in 1827.

QUESTIONS

Of what public buildings are eastern cities generally destitute? Why are there few prisons in the East? What is the object of their penal system? How do they attain it? Describe the appearance of a Damascus coffeehouse. What is a khan? What are the children taught in the schools? How is the absence of newspapers to be explained? How do women go about in Damascus? In comparing two streets, one in London, the other in Damascus, what three points of difference would be most noticeable?

LESSON 11

BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR,① AND DEATH OF NELSON (I)

October 21, 1805

EARLY on the morning of September 14th, Nelson reached Portsmouth, and having despatched his business on shore, endeavoured to elude the populace by taking a by-way to the beach; but a crowd collected in his train, pressing forward to obtain a sight of his face. Many were in tears, and many knelt before him and blessed him as he passed.

England has had many heroes, but never one who so entirely possessed the love of his fellow-countrymen as Nelson. All men knew that his heart was as humane as it was fearless; that there was not in his nature the slightest alloy of selfishness or cupidity, but that, with perfect and entire devotion, he served his country with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength: and therefore they loved him as truly and as fervently as he loved England.

They pressed upon the parapet to gaze after him when his barge pushed off; and he returned their cheers by waving his hat. The sentinels, who endeavoured to prevent them from trespassing upon this ground, were wedged among the crowd; and an officer, who (not very prudently, upon such an occasion) ordered them to drive the people down with their bayonets, was compelled speedily to retreat; for the people would not be debarred from gazing till the last moment upon the hero—the darling hero of England!……

At daybreak, the combined fleets were distinctly seen from the Victory's deck, formed in a close line of battle ahead, on the starboard tack, about twelve miles to leeward, and standing to the south. Our fleet consisted of twenty-seven sail of the line and four frigates; theirs, of thirty-three and seven large frigates. Their superiority was greater in size and weight of metal than in numbers. They had four thousand troops onboard; and the best riflemen that could be procured, many of them Tyrolese,② were dispersed over the ships.

Soon after daylight Nelson came upon deck. The 21st of October was a festival in his family, because on that day his uncle, Captain Suckling,③ in the Dreadnought, with two other line-of-battle ships, had beaten off a French squadron of four sail of the line and three frigates. Nelson, with that sort of superstition from which few persons are entirely exempt, had more than once expressed his persuasion that this was to be the day of his battle also; and he was well pleased at seeing his prediction about to be verified.

The wind was now from the west,—light breezes, with a long, heavy swell. Signal was made to bear down upon the enemy in two lines; and the fleet set all sail. Collingwood,(b) in the Royal Sovereign, led the lee line④ of thirteen ships; the Victory led the weather line of fourteen. Having seen that all was as it should be, Nelson retired to his cabin, and wrote the following prayer:—

"May the great God, whom I worship, grant to my country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory; and may no misconduct in any one tarnish it; and may humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the British fleet! For myself individually, I commit my life to Him that made me; and may His blessing alight on my endeavours for serving my country faithfully. To Him I resign myself, and the just cause which is intrusted to me to defend. Amen, amen, amen."

Blackwood went on board the Victory about six. Nelson, certain of a triumphant issue to the day, asked him what he should consider as a victory. The officer answered, that, considering the handsome way in which battle was offered by the enemy, their apparent determination for a fair trial of strength, and the situation of the land, he thought it would be a glorious result if fourteen were captured. He replied, "I shall not be satisfied with fewer than twenty!"

Soon afterwards he asked him if he did not think there was a signal wanting. Captain Blackwood made answer, that he thought the whole fleet seemed very clearly to understand what they were about. These words were scarcely spoken before that signal was made which will be remembered as long as the language, or even the memory of England, shall endure—Nelson's last signal: "ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN TO DO HIS DUTY!" It was received throughout the fleet with a shout of answering acclamation, made sublime by the spirit which it breathed and the feeling which it expressed. "Now," said Lord Nelson, "I can do no more. We must trust to the Great Disposer of all events, and the justice of our cause. I thank God for this great opportunity of doing my duty."

He wore that day, as usual, his admiral's frock-coat, bearing on the left breast four stars of the different orders with which he was invested. Ornaments which rendered him so conspicuous a mark for the enemy, were beheld with ominous apprehensions by his officers. It was known that there were riflemen on board the French ships, and it could not be doubted that his life would be particularly aimed at.

They communicated their fears to each other; and the surgeon, Mr. Beatty, spoke to the chaplain, Dr. Scott, and to Mr. Scott the public secretary, desiring that some person would entreat him to change his dress, or cover the stars; but they knew that such a request would highly displease him. "In honour I gained them," he had said when such a thing had been hinted to him formerly, "and in honour I will die with them."

Nelson's column was steered about two points more to the north than Collingwood's, in order to cut off the enemy's escape into Cadiz; the lee line, therefore, was first engaged. "See!" cried Nelson, pointing to the Royal Sovereign, as she steered right for the centre of the enemy's line, cut through it astern of the Santa Anna three-decker, and engaged her at the muzzle of her guns on the starboard side,⑤ "see how that noble fellow, Collingwood, carries his ship into action!" Collingwood, delighted at being first in the heat of the fire, and knowing the feelings of his commander and old friend, turned to his captain and exclaimed, "Rotherham,⑥ what would Nelson give to be here!"

The enemy continued to fire one gun at a time at the Victory, till they saw that a shot had passed through her main-top-gallant sail; then they opened their broadsides, aiming chiefly at her rigging, in the hope of disabling her before she could close with them. Nelson, as usual, had hoisted several flags, lest one should be shot away. The enemy showed no colours till late in the action, when they began to feel the necessity of having them to strike! For this reason the Santissima Trinidad, Nelson's old acquaintance, as he used to call her, was distinguishable only by her four decks; and to the bow of this opponent he ordered the Victory to be steered.

Meantime an incessant raking fire was kept up upon the Victory. The Admiral's secretary was one of the first who fell: he was killed by a cannon-shot while conversing with Hardy.⑦ Captain Adair of the marines, with the help of a sailor, endeavoured to remove the body from Nelson's sight, who had a great regard for Mr. Scott; but he anxiously asked, "Is that poor Scott that's gone?" and being informed that it was indeed so, exclaimed, "Poor fellow!" Presently a double-headed shot struck a party of marines, who were drawn up on the poop,⑧ and killed eight of them; upon which Nelson immediately desired Captain Adair to disperse his men round the ship, that they might not suffer so much from being together.

A few minutes afterwards, a shot struck the fore-brace bits⑨ on the quarter-deck, and passed between Nelson and Hardy, a splinter from the bit tearing off Hardy's buckle and bruising his foot. Both stopped, and looked anxiously at each other; each supposed the other to be wounded. Nelson then smiled and said, "This is too warm work, Hardy, to last long."

The Victory had not yet returned a single gun; fifty of her men had been by this time killed or wounded, and her main-top-mast shot away, with all her studding-sails⑩ and her booms.(11) Nelson declared that in all his battles he had seen nothing which surpassed the cool courage of his crew on this occasion. At four minutes after twelve she opened her fire from both sides of her deck.

It was not possible to break the enemy's line without running on board one of their ships. Hardy informed him of this, and asked him which he would prefer. Nelson replied, "Take your choice, Hardy; it does not signify much." The master was ordered to put the helm to port,(12) and the Victory ran on board the Redoubtable, just as her tiller-ropes(13) were shot away. The French ship received her with a broadside, then instantly let down her lower deck ports, for fear of being boarded through them, and never afterwards fired a great gun during the action.

—SOUTHEY

WORDS

anxiously, concernedly.

apprehensions, fears.

bayonets, spears or swords fixed on guns.

communicated, conveyed.

conspicuous, prominent.

declared, asserted.

despatched, concluded.

determination, resolution.

dispersed, scattered.

distinguishable, recognizable.

engaged, in action.

entirely, completely.

entreat, beseech.

exempt, free.

fervently, warmly.

humane, merciful.

incessant, unceasing.

invested, decorated.

necessity, need.

ominous, boding evil.

persuasion, conviction.

prediction, prophecy.

predominant, over-ruling.

prudently, discreetly.

splinter, chip.

superiority, ascendency.

surpassed, excelled.

tarnish, sully.

triumphant, victorious.

understand, comprehend.

NOTES

① Battle Of Trafalgar-Important because the destruction of the French fleet removed the danger of invasion.

② Tyrolese, natives of the Tyrol, an Alpine province of Austria, and famous as marksmen with the rifle before it became the usual military small arm. The Tyrol was conquered by France in 1805, and annexed to Bavaria; but it revolted in 1809, and was restored to Austria at the peace.

③ Captain Suckling, Nelson's maternal uncle, on board of whose ship he had first entered the service, in his twelfth year.

④ The lee line, the line on the side opposite to that from which the wind blows; in this case the line nearest the land. The other side-that nearest the wind-is called the weather line.

⑤ The starboard side, the side on the right hand of the steersman. The left hand side is the larboard (lower-board) or port.

⑥ Collingwood and Rotherham.—"Both these brave officers, perhaps, at this moment thought of Nelson with gratitude for a circumstance which had occurred on the preceding day. Admiral Collingwood, with some of the captains, having gone on board the Victory to receive instructions, Nelson inquired of him where his captain was, and was told in reply that they were not upon good terms with each other, 'Terms!' said Nelson; 'good terms with each other!' Immediately he sent a boat for Captain Rotherham; led him, as soon as he arrived, to Collingwood, and saying, 'Look, yonder are the enemy!' bade them shake hands like Englishmen."—Southey.

⑦ Hardy (afterwards Sir Thomas), Nelson's flag-captain on board the Victory. He died in 1839.

⑧ The poop, a raised part of the deck towards the stern.

⑨ The brace bits, two upright pins or pieces of timber round which the braces (yard-arm ropes) are fastened.

⑩ Studding-sails, sails set outside of principal or square sails.

⑪Booms, long poles or beams, used to extend the bottom of sails.

⑫To port, to the left hand side. (See 5.)

⑬Tiller-ropes.—The tiller is the bar or lever used to turn the rudder; and the tiller-ropes connect the tiller with the steering-wheel.

QUESTIONS

What was peculiar in the feeling of Englishmen towards Nelson? How was this shown at his last departure? What presentiment had Nelson regarding the day of the battle? Who commanded the lee line? What did Nelson do when all was ready? What was his last signal? How did Nelson make himself conspicuous? Why did none of his officers request him to avoid this? Who began the attack? To what vessel did Nelson order the Victory to be steered? How had she suffered before she opened her guns? Why was the Redoubtable attacked? With what effect?

LESSON 12

BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, AND DEATH OF NELSON (II)

IT had been part of Nelson's prayer that the British fleet might be distinguished by humanity in the victory which he expected. Setting an example himself, he twice gave orders to cease firing on the Redoubtable, supposing that she had struck because her guns were silent; for, as she carried no flag, there was no means of instantly ascertaining the fact. From this ship, which he had thus twice spared, he received his death. A ball fired from her mizzen-top,① which, in the then situation of the two vessels, was not more than fifteen yards from that part of the deck where he was standing, struck the epaulet on his left shoulder, about a quarter after one, just in the heat of the action. He fell upon his face on the spot which was covered with his poor secretary's blood.

Hardy, who was a few steps from him, turning round, saw three men raising him up. "They have done for me at last, Hardy," said he. "I hope not," cried Hardy. "Yes," he replied; "my back-bone is shot through." Yet even now, not for a moment losing his presence of mind, he observed, as they were carrying him down the ladder, that the tiller-ropes, which had been shot away, were not yet replaced, and ordered that new ones should be rove② immediately; then, that he might not be seen by the crew, he took out his handkerchief and covered his face and his stars! Had he but concealed those badges of honour from the enemy, England, perhaps, would not have had cause to receive with sorrow the news of the Battle of Trafalgar.

The cockpit③ was crowded with wounded and dying men, over whose bodies he was with some difficulty conveyed, and laid upon a pallet in the midshipmen's berth. It was soon perceived, upon examination, that the wound was mortal. This, however, was concealed from all except Captain Hardy, the chaplain, and the medical attendants. He himself being certain, from the sensation in his back, and the gush of blood he felt momently within his breast, that no human care could avail him, insisted that the surgeon should leave him and attend to those to whom he might be useful; "for," said he, "you can do nothing for me." All that could be done was to fan him with paper, and frequently to give him lemonade to alleviate his intense thirst.

He was in great pain, and expressed much anxiety for the event of the action, which now began to declare itself. As often as a ship struck, the crew of the Victory hurrahed; and at each hurrah a visible expression of joy gleamed in the eyes and marked the countenance of the dying hero. But he became impatient to see Hardy; and as that officer, though often sent for, could not leave the deck, Nelson feared that some fatal cause prevented him, and repeatedly cried, "Will no one bring Hardy to me? He must be killed! he is surely dead!"

An hour and ten minutes elapsed from the time when Nelson received his wound, before Hardy could come to him. They shook hands in silence, Hardy in vain struggling to suppress the feelings of that most painful and yet sublime moment. "Well, Hardy," said Nelson, "how goes the day with us?" "Very well," replied Hardy: "ten ships have struck; but five of the van have tacked, and show an intention to bear down upon the Victory . I have called two or three of our fresh ships round, and have no doubt of giving them a drubbing."—"I hope," said Nelson, "none of our ships have struck?" Hardy answered, "There is no fear of that."

Then, and not till then, Nelson spoke of himself. "I am a dead man, Hardy," said he. "I am going fast; it will be all over with me soon." Hardy observed that he hoped Mr. Beatty could yet hold out some prospect of life. "Oh, no," he replied; "it is impossible. My back is shot through. Beatty will tell you so." Hardy then once more shook hands with him, and with a heart almost bursting, hastened upon deck.

By this time all feeling below the breast was gone, and Nelson having made the surgeon ascertain this, said to him, "You know I am gone. I know it. I feel something rising in my breast," putting his hand on his left side, "which tells me so." When Beatty inquired whether his pain was very great, he replied, "So great, that I wish I were dead. Yet," he added, in a lower voice, "one would like to live a little longer too!"

Captain Hardy, some fifty minutes after he had left the cockpit, returned, and again taking the hand of his dying friend and commander, congratulated him on having gained a complete victory. How many of the enemy were taken he did not know, as it was impossible to perceive them distinctly, but fourteen or fifteen at least. "That's well," said Nelson; "but I bargained for twenty." And then, in a stronger voice, he said, "Anchor, Hardy, anchor." Hardy thereupon hinted that Admiral Collingwood would take upon himself the direction of affairs. "Not while I live, Hardy," said the dying Nelson, ineffectually endeavouring to raise himself from the bed; "do you anchor." His previous orders for preparing to anchor had shown how clearly he foresaw the necessity of this.

Presently calling Hardy back, he said to him in a low voice, "Don't throw me overboard;" and he desired that he might be buried beside his parents, unless it should please the King④ to order otherwise. Then reverting to private feelings,—"Kiss me, Hardy," said he. Hardy knelt down and kissed his cheek; and Nelson said, "Now I am satisfied. Thank God, I have done my duty!" Hardy stood over him in silence for a moment or two, then knelt again and kissed his forehead. "Who is that?" said Nelson; and being informed, he replied, "God bless you, Hardy." And Hardy then left him for ever.

Nelson now desired to be turned upon his right side, and said, "I wish I had not left the deck, for I shall soon be gone." Death was, indeed, rapidly approaching. His articulation became difficult, but he was distinctly heard to say, "Thank God, I have done my duty!" These words he repeatedly pronounced, and they were the last words which he uttered. He expired at thirty minutes after four, three hours and a quarter after he had received his wound.

Within quarter of an hour after Nelson was wounded, above fifty of the Victory's men fell by the enemy's musketry. They, however, on their part were not idle; and it was not long before there were only two Frenchmen left alive in the mizzen-top of the Redoubtable. One of them was the man who had given the fatal wound. He did not live to boast of what he had done. An old quartermaster had seen him fire, and easily recognized him, because he wore a glazed cocked hat and a white frock. This quartermaster and two midshipmen, Mr. Collingwood and Mr. Pollard, were the only persons left in the Victory's poop. The two midshipmen kept firing at the top, and he supplied them with cartridges.

One of the Frenchmen, attempting to make his escape down the rigging, was shot by Mr. Pollard, and fell on the poop. But the old quartermaster, as he called out, "That's he—that's he," and pointed to the other, who was coming forward to fire again, received a shot in his mouth, and fell dead. Both the midshipmen then fired at the same time, and the fellow dropped in the top. When they took possession of the prize, they went into the mizzen-top and found him dead, with one ball through his head and another through his breast.

The total British loss in the Battle of Trafalgar amounted to one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven men. Twenty of the enemy's ships struck, but it was not possible to anchor the fleet, as Nelson had enjoined. A gale came on from the southwest: some of the prizes went down, some went on shore; one effected its escape into Cadiz, others were destroyed; four only were saved, and those by the greatest exertions.

The death of Nelson was felt in England as something more than a public calamity: men started at the intelligence, and turned pale, as if they had heard of the loss of a dear friend. An object of our admiration and affection, of our pride and of our hopes, was suddenly taken from us; and it seemed as if we had never till then known how deeply we loved and reverenced him. What the country had lost in its great naval hero—the greatest of our own and of all former times—was scarcely taken into the account of grief.

So perfectly, indeed, had he performed his part, that the maritime war, after the Battle of Trafalgar, was considered at an end. The fleets of the enemy were not merely defeated—they were destroyed: new navies must be built, and a new race of seamen reared for them, before the possibility of their invading our shores⑤ could again be contemplated.

It was not, therefore, from any selfish reflection upon the magnitude of our loss that we mourned for him: the general sorrow was of a higher character. The people of England grieved that funeral ceremonies, and public monuments, and posthumous rewards, were all that they could now bestow upon him whom the King, the Legislature, and the Nation would have alike delighted to honour; whom every tongue would have blessed—whose presence in every village through which he might have passed would have awakened the church bells, have given schoolboys a holiday, have drawn children from their sports to gaze upon him, and "old men from the chimney corner" to look upon Nelson ere they died.

The victory of Trafalgar was celebrated, indeed, with the usual forms of rejoicing, but they were without joy; for such already was the glory of the British Navy, through Nelson's surpassing genius, that it scarcely seemed to receive any addition from the most signal victory that ever was achieved upon the seas. The destruction of this mighty fleet, by which all the maritime schemes of France were totally frustrated, hardly appeared to add to our security or strength; for while Nelson was alive to watch the combined squadrons of the enemy, we felt ourselves as secure as now when they were no longer in existence.

The most triumphant death is that of the martyr; the most awful, that of the martyred patriot; the most splendid, that of the hero in the hour of victory; and if the chariot and the horses of fire⑥ had been vouchsafed for Nelson's translation, he could scarcely have departed in a brighter blaze of glory. He has left us, not, indeed, a mantle of inspiration, but a name and an example which are at this hour inspiring thousands of the youth of England—a name which is our pride, and an example which will continue to be our shield and our strength. Thus it is that the spirits of the great and the wise continue to live and to act after them.

—SOUTHEY

WORDS

achieved, gained.

alleviate, assuage.

articulation, utterance.

ascertaining, determining.

calamity, disaster.

celebrated, signalized.

congratulated, complimented.

contemplated, meditated.

conveyed, carried.

distinguished, characterized.

elapsed, transpired.

enjoined, advised.

epaulet, shoulder-badge.

expected, anticipated.

frustrated, baffled.

hand-kerchief, a cloth of silk or linen.

hastened, hurried.

impatient, eager.

ineffectually, unsuccessfully.

inspiration, divine influence.

intelligence, news.

legislature, parliament.

momently, continually.

musketry, small guns.

prevented, detained.

prospect, hope.

recognized, identified.

replaced, renewed.

reverenced, revered.

reverting, returning.

satisfied, contented.

sublime, grand.

vouchsafed, granted.

NOTES

① Mizzeu-top, a platform at the top of the lower mizzen-mast-the aftermost mast in a ship.

② Reve, drawn through the blocks so as to connect the rudder with the steering-wheel. To reeve a rope, is to pass it through any block or ring-bolt. It is probably connected with reef, to reduce a sail—which is done by passing the reef-points or ropes through eyelets. The word reef properly belongs to the row of short ropes themselves, which, as they hang on the sail, have the appearance of the teeth of a rake or comb. Reef as applied to a ridge of rocks, embodies the same idea.

③ The cockpit, a room under the lower gun-deck, in which the wounded are dressed.

④ Unless it should please the King.—He was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, on 9th January 1806.

⑤ Invading our shores.—Napoleon's plans for striking a swift and deadly blow at England, had been completed before the end of 1804. A great army—"the Army of England"—had been assembled at Boulogne; but it was necessary to have command of the Channel before this host could be transferred across it. With this view, he had ordered the combined fleets of France and Spain to sweep the Channel; but their complete destruction at Trafalgar frustrated Napoleon's design, and the "Army of England" was at once marched against Austria.

⑥ The chariot and the horses of fire.—A reference to the translation of the prophet Elijah, as described in 2 Kings ii. 11.

QUESTIONS

How did Nelson give an example of humanity? How was this ill requited? Where was Nelson struck? Why did he tell the surgeon to attend to the others in the cockpit? Whom did he become impatient to see? What news of the battle did Hardy bring him? What wishes did he express regarding his burial? What were his last words? What was the fate of the man who had shot him? How many of the enemy's ships struck? What was the great result or the victory? Why was it celebrated without joy?

LESSON 13

ROUND THE WORLD

To be read before a Map of the World

A VOYAGE round the world can be made only through the Southern Seas; for though there exists a north-west passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, it is so obstructed with ice as to be practically useless. Vessels leaving the coast of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick sail south-eastward to the Cape of Good Hope, cross the Indian Ocean to Australia and New Zealand, and continue their course through successive groups of sunny isles till they reach Cape Horn and re-enter the Atlantic, and sail homeward to some Canadian port. The reverse course may be followed. A vessel from Halifax or St. John may sail down past the West Indies and the South American coast, double Cape Horn, and thence cross the Pacific to China, Ceylon, the Cape of Good Hope, and homeward through the Atlantic. Such ocean voyages are tedious, being liable to long delays on account of calms and storms.

The tourist who wishes in these days to make the tour of the world under the most advantageous circumstances usually starts from London, the throbbing centre not of the British Empire only, but of the whole world; the largest, the wealthiest, the most influential of cities. The route is partly by sea, partly by land. Swift steamers, and swifter railway trains, contribute to make the journey rapid, safe, and delightful. Early in the nineteenth century, vessels sailing between England and Canada often had to battle with waves and winds for fifty or sixty days; to-day, by the Canadian Pacific route, the traveller can go round the world in sixty days.

In a few hours after the tourist has left London by rail he will arrive at Liverpool, one of the greatest seaports in the world. Its population exceeds three-quarters of a million. Its docks cover six hundred acres, and its wharfs extend nearly forty miles. Steamers of every size, and from every land, arrive here with their cargoes, and carry afar the products of British industry.

Swift Canadian "liners" are ready to bear the traveller in winter to Halifax, in summer to Halifax or Quebec. Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, is a city of nearly 60,000 inhabitants. It is beautifully situated on the west side of the harbour, and is so strongly fortified as to merit the name of the "Gibraltar of America." The harbour is one of the finest in the world-safe whatever wind blows, accessible to steamers of the largest tonnage at all states of the tides. Halifax harbour, and the sheltered "basin" which extends landward beyond it, would easily afford safe anchorage to all the ships of the British navy.

From Halifax the tourist may proceed to Montreal by the Canadian Pacific Railway① route by way of St. John, or he may proceed by the Intercolonial Railway② to Quebec and thence to Montreal. The route from Halifax to St. John affords interesting glimpses of the Bay of Fundy, whose tides are among the wonders of the world, alternately rising and falling from sixty to seventy feet. The railway crosses extensive "marshes," and skirts "dike-lands" which, in the eighteenth century, were owned by the French "Acadians."

St. John is the "commercial capital of New Brunswick, and is a thriving, well-built city of 47,000 inhabitants. In its immediate "vicinity the St. John River pours its waters into the Bay of Fundy. At low tide the noble river rushes through a narrow gorge and leaps into the bay with a fall of perhaps thirty feet When the tide returns full and strong the fall is reversed: the Bay of Fundy pours its turbid waters into the basin of the river. From St. John to Montreal the route lies largely through an uncultivated country.

By taking the Intercolonial Railway from Halifax to Quebec, the tourist sees such progressive towns as Truro and Amherst in Nova Scotia, and Moncton and Campbellton in New Brunswick. Scenery of the most delightful description will be enjoyed along the Baie Chaleur, the Restigouche River, the Metapedia valley, and at length along the majestic St. Lawrence. In the province of Quebec he sees hamlets and towns reminding him of France as it was in the seventeenth century.

The city of Quebec presents peculiar attractions—new and old, French and English, past and present gracefully blending together. No city in America is more picturesquely situated, or presents a greater variety of natural and historic attractions. Cape Diamond is seen from afar as it frowns upon the low-lying portion of the city between it and the great river. The St. Lawrence as it sweeps past the Cape abates its swiftness and expands into a placid harbour, guarded by the Isle of Orleans. The city now extends from the river brink away up beyond the old walls to the famous Plains of Abraham, where Wolfe and Montcalm fought the battle which placed Canada under the British flag. The old walls and gates of the city are in as good repair as in the days of struggle and war happily long gone by.

Views of singular beauty may be enjoyed from Dufferin Terrace and other points in Quebec. The Falls of Montmorenci may be seen eight miles below the city—unquestionably the most beautiful falls in America. From this port enormous quantities of lumber and timber are shipped every season to Great Britain and other countries.

The tourist may proceed from Quebec to Montreal, a distance of 172 miles, by one of the great St. Lawrence steamers, or by either of two railways.

Montreal lies outspread between the river and the towering heights of "Mount Royal." From this "mountain" behind the city the tourist may enjoy one of the finest views imaginable. At his feet, on the flanks of the hill, are stately palaces, the residences of the merchant princes of Montreal. The fair city extends for miles before him. In the distance he sees the spreading river spanned by Victoria Bridge, over two miles in length. A few miles above is the airy modern structure of the Lachine Bridge, which also spans the river. The foreground is occupied by churches, colleges, convents, the tall chimneys of factories and grain elevators, long streets of handsome dwellings, quays and wharfs crowded with steamers, railway trains and canal boats bringing from the west the products of the wheat-fields of Manitoba and Ontario, huge warehouses filled with merchandise for whole provinces.

The country traversed abounds with scenes of deep historic interest, covering a period of more than two centuries. Here planned and struggled Jacques Cartier, Champlain, Wolfe, and Montcalm, and many others, and here are the battlefields of two great and gallant nations who strove during a hundred years for the possession of a continent. There are also traces of a more recent struggle, when Canadians sprang to arms to repel invaders from the powerful Republic to the south of them. Happily "Peace hath her victories no Less renowned than war," and the people of Canada have conquered for themselves and for the travel and traffic of two continents a highway from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In this magnificent achievement, the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, an inestimable boon was conferred on those who desire a safe, rapid, and comfortable journey "round the world."

The pioneers who explored Canada thought the St. Lawrence would lead them to China, and that the river above Montreal was the gateway of that country. Hence the name "La Chine." The forecast of those men was in a sense realize, the shortest route to China being by Montreal and "La Chine."

The Ottawa pours its dark waters into the clear flood of the St. Lawrence, partly above the city and partly below it. Montreal is thus built upon an island; and near the centre of the island rises the "mountain" which lends to the fair city so much of its loveliness. A journey of three or four hours takes the traveller from Montreal to Ottawa, the capital of the Canadian Dominion. Here the Chaudiere Falls will attract attention and admiration. A group of elegant and substantial public buildings adorns the city, and indicates where the legislature of the Dominion sits, and where the Executive Government transacts the public business of the country.

From Ottawa westward the route lies through a famous "timber" country, with no charms for the farmer, but rich in lakes and streams, and abounding with fish and game. At the head of Lake Nipissing is North Bay Junction, where passengers from Toronto join the transcontinental trains. At Sudbury and other points along the line, very valuable mineral deposits have been discovered. Nickel has been found in quantities unequalled in any other part of the world. Iron, silver, and other minerals are also abundant.

For two hundred miles the road skirts the north shore of Lake Superior, that vast fresh-water sea whose cool breezes refresh the traveller in the hottest days of summer. It required skill, courage, and ample financial resources to build a railway through a territory so rocky, so mountainous, so barren. The mineral wealth of this belt will, it is hoped, amply repay the country for the cost and risk it has incurred. Besides, a railway connecting the western provinces with the older portion of the Dominion is essential to its national existence.

Thunder Bay, at the head of Lake Superior, presents very bold and beautiful scenery. Fort William and Port Arthur, in the vicinity, are the headquarters of an important lake traffic energetically prosecuted during the summer. Immense elevators receive millions of bushels of grain to be transferred to steamers and borne down the lakes, the canals, the St. Lawrence, and at last perhaps across the Atlantic to supply the markets of the British Isles.

A little over four hundred miles westward from Port Arthur stands the young and handsome prairie city Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, and the chief centre of trade for the great Canadian West. In 1871 Fort Garry, a trading-post of the Hudson's Bay Company, and the humble dwellings of a score of half-breeds, occupied the site of this busy and well-governed city of 180,000 inhabitants. Here the Assiniboine and the Red River of the north unite their turbid waters and hasten through the fertile plain to Lake Winnipeg.

We are now in the prairie-land, seemingly level and boundless as a sea. In summer it is richly clad in verdure, brightened with the gayest wild flowers. In winter it is covered with snow, but not to such depth as to prevent herds of buffaloes and cattle in the ranches from feeding on the frozen grasses. Only in the coldest weather do the herds on the ranches require to be sheltered or fed in barn or storehouse.

The settler's plough has transformed many a league of North-West prairie into the finest wheat-fields in the world. The process of settlement is going on with increasing rapidity. Hamlets, villages, and towns are rising where the conditions are favourable. The church and the school-house, unfailing signs of religion and civilization, appear at frequent intervals. There are many "junctions" where branch railways start from the main line, in order to render available for settlement millions of acres, fertile, well-watered, richly wooded, inviting the husbandman with the promise of abundant harvests.

A railway ride through nine hundred miles of prairie enables the tourist to see towns like Brandon, Regina, and Calgary, and many smaller ones, which have rapidly become important as centres of commerce, and the growth of which indicates the steady development of the surrounding country. Calgary is the centre of vast "ranching" enterprises, the place of the vanished buffalo being taken by immense herds of cattle intended for far-distant markets. The westward horizon seems closed against further advance, guarded by the snow-crested bastions of the Rocky Mountains. But the swift-flowing Bow River furnishes a key to the very heart of the mountains. The railway track keeps close to the river, which in fact digged out for it this "gap" and the whole pass long ages ago.③ We glance at the Kananaskis Falls, which are a prelude of wonders to come. Banff National Park has numerous attractions to induce the tourist to take a few days for the study of these majestic mountains at close quarters. As you fill eye, mind, heart, and imagination with these mountain forms and mountain masses, you feel overwhelmed with their grandeur. The six hundred miles from Calgary to Vancouver form beyond comparison the most striking and wonderful railway ride that can be enjoyed in going round the world—rushing torrents, silvery cascades falling thousands of feet down steep mountain sides; mighty rivers hurrying to the sea; slumbering lakes reflecting snowy summits; deep and dark gorges torn by raving waterfalls; beetling precipices; forests of stately pines in quiet valleys; mountain sides ploughed and scarred by avalanches; leagues of slumbering glaciers slowly grinding their way down the rocky slopes; four vast ranges to be crossed—the Rockies, the Selkirks, the Gold and the Coast ranges, each with peculiar features of grandeur and beauty, of loveliness and terror. The road follows the Fraser River along its wild cañon for several hours. Nowhere else is such a sight or such a series of sights to be witnessed—the mighty river rushing with headlong haste, and bearing on its seething bosom all the wreckage borne by the swollen torrents from the impending cliffs overhead; the train winding its way into tunnels, out of tunnels, along the face of the solid rock, over bridges that span nameless cataracts. Even in midsummer the Fraser is full-flooded, angry, furious; and it seems a wonderful achievement of human science to wrest from its banks a safe highway for the "iron horse."

The terminus on the Pacific Coast is Vancouver City, which sprang into existence in consequence of the building of the railway. Its population is now nearly 120,000, and is growing rapidly. Here the tourist embarks on one of the splendid steamers provided by the Canadian Pacific Railway for travel and trade across the Pacific Ocean. The steamers call at Victoria, the handsome capital of British Columbia. This city, of over 80,000 inhabitants, is on Vancouver Island, and is sixty miles distant from Vancouver City. Near Victoria is the town of Esquimalt, where there is a large dry dock, and where the British Pacific squadron usually makes its headquarters. From Vancouver to Yokohama, the chief commercial city of Japan, it is now a sail of ten days. From Japan to Shanghai, in China, a distance of 1,047 miles, is the next stage of the journey. From this port the steamer proceeds to Hong-Kong, where the Canadian Pacific Company hand over their tourists to the Peninsular and Oriental Company. The next stage in the voyage is Singapore, about five days from Hong-Kong. Then come Penang and Ceylon, Calcutta and Bombay. The Arabian Sea is crossed to Aden, through the Red Sea, through the Suez Canal, across the Mediterranean to Brindisi or Trieste, overland through Italy and France, and across the Strait of Dover to England; or by water through the Strait of Gibraltar, and up through the Atlantic to some British port. The tour may, of course, be prolonged indefinitely for rest, for pleasure, for business, or for study. Attractions abound on every hand. Happily, the modern "grand tour" is becoming more popular and more practicable every passing year.④

WORDS

accessible, can be approached.

achievement, exploit.

advantageous, profitable.

alternately, by turns.

avalanches, failing masses of snow and ice.

canon (canyon), deep gorge made by a rapid river.

cataract, waterfall.

circumstances, surroundings.

commercial, trading.

contribute, aid.

double, sail round.

dry dock, artificial basin in which ships are repaired.

elevators, buildings for storage of grain.

energetically, actively.

enormous, vast.

essential, necessary.

financial, relating to money.

glaciers, fields of ice on mountains; ice rivers.

half-breeds, descendants from white fathers and Indian mothers.

husbandman, farmer.

imagination, fancy.

industry, labour.

inestimable, very valuable.

junctions, points where railways meet.

majestic, grand.

obstructed, hindered.

picturesquely, strikingly.

precipices, steep declivities.

prosecuted, followed.

rapidity, swiftness.

residences, dwellings.

reversed, turned back.

substantial, firm; strong.

tonnage, capacity.

transcontinental, crossing the continent.

transferred, passed.

transformed, changed.

turbid, muddy.

vicinity, neighbourhood.

NOTES

① The Canadian Pacific Railway extends from St. John, New Brunswick, to Vancouver City, a distance of 3,387 miles. Its trains run over the Intercolonial Railway from Halifax to St. John, making the route across the continent 3,662 miles.

② The Intercolonial Railway connects Halifax and St. John with Quebec. The road now extends eastward to Sydney, Cape Breton. It includes 1,100 miles of railway: with the Prince Edward Island road, the total mileage is 1,377. This line now forms part of the great Canadian National Hallway system.

③ The passes through which the Canadian Pacific Railway reaches the Pacific are very much lower than those through which any other railway has crossed the mountain barriers. At the same time the scenery is much finer. The Canadian Pacific Railway has no "great American desert" to traverse, as is the case with other transcontinental lines. Instead of sandy wastes there are fertile prairies.

④ The distances "round the world" are as follows:—London to Liverpool 201 miles; Liverpool to Halifax, 2,480; balifax to St. John, 275; St. John to Montreal, 481; Montreal to Winnipeg, 1,424; Winnipeg to Vancouver City, 1,482; Vancouver to Yokohama, 4,283; Yokohama to Hong-Kong, 1,857; Hong-Kong to Colombo, 3,696; Colombo to Port Said, 3,488; Port Said to London, 3,501: in all, 22, 568 miles.

QUESTIONS

How must a voyage round the world be made? How long does it usually occupy? By what route may the journey be made in sixty days of continuous travel? Where does the tourist begin his journey? At what city in Canada does he arrive in winter? What city is first reached by the St. Lawrence route in summer? Arriving at Halifax, what is the next maritime city reached? How far is Montreal from Halifax? From St. John? What rivers surround Montreal? On what river is the city of Ottawa built? What notable buildings are in Ottawa? What metals are found in large quantity along the railway route from Ottawa to Lake Superior? What towns are built near Thunder Bay? What business gives chief employment to therail way and to steamers at this point? What is the chief city in Manitoba? What rivers unite their waters here? What is the principal industry in the province of Manitoba and in the North-West? Through what mountain range does the railway pass? What famous cañon does the road traverse? At what city does the tourist take a steamer in order to cross the Pacific? Name the ports the tourist must visit before arriving at London. Give the principal distances.

LESSON 14

NATURE

BEAUTIFUL are the heralds

That stand at Nature's door,①

Crying, "O traveller, enter in,

And taste the Master's store!"

"Enter," they cry, "to a kingly feast,

Where all may venture near; —

A million beauties for the eye,

And music for the ear:

"Only, before thou enterest in,

Upon the threshold fall,

And pay the tribute of thy praise

'To Him who gives thee all.'"

So some kneel down, and enter

With reverent step and slow;

And calm airs fraught with precious scent

Breathe round them as they go:

Gently they pass 'mid sight and sound

And the sunshine round them sleeping,

To where the angels Faith and Love

The inner gates are keeping.

Then backward rolls the wondrous screen

That hides the secret place,

Where the God of Nature veils himself

In the brighter realms of Grace:

But they who have not bent the knee

Will smile at this my story;

For, though they enter the temple gates,

They know not the inner glory.

—W. E. LITTLEWOOD

WORDS

fraught, laden.

heralds, proclaimers.

realms, regions; kingdoms.

reverent, humble.

screen, curtain.

threshold, entrance.

tribute, meed; homage.

venture, dare to come.

wondrous, wonderful.

NOTES

① Nature's door.—In this poem Nature is represented as a great temple, full of God's wondrous works, with an inner "secret place" veiling the wonders of His grace and love to man. All may enter the outer temple; but only those who kneel reverently at the threshold, and acknowledge God, the maker of these wonders, as the Father of their spirits, are permitted to see the "inner glory."

LESSON 15

THE TROPICAL WORLD (I)

THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

THE tropical regions, more than any other part of the world, are suggestive of magnificence—of luxuriant vegetation and diversified animal life; yet they embrace but a small portion comparatively of the land of the globe. While the greater part of the North Temperate Zone is occupied by land, the floods of ocean roll over much the larger portion of the equatorial regions; for both torrid America and Africa appear as mere islands in a vast expanse of sea. This superabundance of water is one of the great provisions which Nature has made for mitigating the heat of the vertical sun. To this cause the Tropics are indebted for those copious rains and periodic winds and constant ocean currents, which endow them with such an amazing variety of climate. The Indian Archipelago, the Peninsula of Malacca, the Antilles, and Central America, are all undoubtedly indebted to the waters which bathe their coasts for a more temperate climate than they would have had if they had been grouped together in one vast continent.

Another cause of the varieties of tropical climate is to be found in varied elevation of surface. Thus the high situation of many tropical lands moderates the effects of equatorial heat, and endows them with a climate similar to that of the temperate, or even of the cold regions of the globe. The Andes and the Himalaya, the most stupendous mountain-chains of the world, raise their snow-clad summits either within the tropics or immediately beyond their verge, and must be considered as ordained by Providence to counteract the effects of the vertical sunbeams over a vast extent of land. In Western Tropical America, in Asia, and in Africa, there are immense countries rising like terraces thousands of feet above the level of the ocean, and reminding the European traveler of his distant northern home by their productions and their cool temperature. Thus, by means of a few simple physical and geological causes acting and reäcting upon each other on a magnificent scale, Nature has bestowed a wonderful variety of climate upon the tropical regions, producing a no less wonderful diversity of plants and of animals.

Embracing the broad base of South America, the tropical regions bring before us the wide-spreading llanos of Venezue'la and New Grana'da; the majestic Andes, rising through every zone of vegetation to an Arctic region of perpetual snow; and the high table-lands of Peru and Bolivia, where the llama, the alpaca, and the vicuna have their home. The frosts of winter and an eternal spring are nowhere found in closer proximity than in the Peruvian highlands: for deep valleys cleave the windy Puna, as these lofty table-lands are called; and when the traveller, benumbed by the cold blasts of the mountain-plains, descends into the sheltered gorges, he almost suddenly finds himself transported from a northern climate to a terrestrial paradise.

Situated at a height where the enervating power of the tropical sun is not felt, and where at the same time the air is not too rarefied, these pleasant mountain vales, protected by their rocky walls against the gusts of the puna, enjoy all the advantages of a genial sky. Here the astonished European sees himself surrounded by the rich corn-fields, the green lucern-meadows,① and the well-known fruit trees of his distant home; so that he might almost fancy that some friendly enchanter had transported him to his native country, but for the cactuses②and the agaves③ on the mountain-slopes by day, and the constellations of another hemisphere in the heavens by night.

There are regions in this remarkable country where the traveller may leave the snow-roofed puna hut in the morning, and before sunset pluck pine-apples and bananas on the cultivated margin of the primeval forest; where in the morning the stunted grasses and arid lichens of the naked plain remind him of the Arctic regions, and where he may repose at night under the fronds of gigantic palms.

Descending to the Pacific sea-bord, we come upon the desolate Peruvian sand-coast, where the eye seldom sees anything but fine drift-sand and sterile heaps of stone; and where for miles and miles the traveller meets no traces of vegetation, nor finds one drop of water. But when we pass to the other side of the Andes, how marvellous the contrast!④ On the one side, an arid, waterless, treeless waste; on the other, the luxuriant valley of the Amazon, the giant of rivers, which has made a broad course for itself through vast savannas and stupendous forests!

The Amazon has its cradle high up among the peaks of the Andes, where the condor, the vulture of America, builds its nest. So vast is the basin of that great river, that all Western Europe could be placed in it without touching its boundaries! It is entirely situated in the Tropics, on both sides of the Equator, and receives over its whole extent the most abundant rains.

The swelling of the river, after the rainy season,⑤ is gigantic as itself. In some parts the water rises above forty feet; and travellers have even seen trees whose trunks bore marks of the previous inundation fifty feet above the height of the stream during the dry season. Then for miles and miles the swelling giant inundates his low banks, and, majestic at all times, becomes terrible in his grandeur when rolling his angry torrents through the wilderness. The largest forest-trees tremble under the pressure of the waters. Huge trunks, uprooted and carried away by the stream, bear witness to its power. Fishes and alligators now swim where a short while ago the jaguar lay in wait for its prey; and only a few birds, perching on the highest tree-tops, remain to witness the tumult which disturbs the silence of the woods.

When at length the river retires within its usual limits, new islands have been formed in its bed, while others have been swept away; and in many places the banks, undermined by the floods, threaten to crush the passing boat by their fall, —a misfortune which not seldom happens, particularly when, along with the loosened banks, high trees fall headlong into the river.

The magical beauty of tropical vegetation reveals itself in all its glory to the traveller who steers his boat through the solitary mazes of the Amazon. Here the forest forms a canopy over his head; there it opens, allowing the sunshine to disclose the secrets of the wilderness; while on either side the eye penetrates through beautiful vistas into the depths of the woods. Sometimes, on a higher spot of ground, a clump of trees forms an island worthy of Eden. A chaos of bush-ropes⑥ and creepers flings its garlands of gay flowers over the forest, and fills the air with the sweetest odours. Numerous birds, rivalling in beauty of colour the flowers of these hanging gardens, animate the banks of the lagoon; gaudy macaws⑦ perch on the loftiest trees; humming-birds dart with lightning speed from flower to flower-now hovering for an instant before you, as if to allow you to admire their surpassing beauty—now vanishing again with the rapidity of thought. But, as if to remind one that death is not banished from this scene of Paradise, a dark-robed vulture screeches through the woods; or an alligator, like a black log of wood or a sombre rock, rests on the dormant waters.

VEGETATION IN THE TROPICS

In these boundless forests the monkeys form much the greater part of the mammalian inhabitants; for each species, though often confined within narrow limits, generally consists of a large number of individuals. The various arboreous fruits which the savage population of these immeasurable wilds is unable to turn to advantage, fall chiefly to their share; many of them also live upon insects. They are never seen in the open savannas, as they never touch the ground unless compelled by the greatest necessity. The trees of the forests furnish them with all the food they require; it is only in the woods that they feel "at home," and secure against the attacks of mightier animals: why then should they quit them for less congenial haunts?

For their perpetual wanderings from branch to branch, Nature has bountifully endowed many of them, not only with robust and muscular limbs and large hands, whose moist palms facilitate the seizure of a bough, but in many cases also with a prehensile tail, which may deservedly be called a fifth hand, and is hardly less wonderful in its structure than the proboscis of the elephant Covered with short hair, and completely bare underneath towards the end, this admirable organ rolls around the boughs as though it were a supple finger, and is at the same time so muscular that the monkey frequently swings by it from a branch, like the pendulum of a clock. Scarce has he grasped a bough with his long arms, when immediately coiling his fifth hand round the branch, he springs on to the next; and secure from a fall, he hurries so rapidly through the crowns of the highest trees that the sportsman's bullet has scarce time to reach him in his flight.

Of the beasts of prey that frequent these vast woods, the jaguar is the most formidable, resembling the panther by his spotted skin, but almost equalling the Bengal tiger in size and power. He roams about at all times of the day, swims overbroad rivers, and even in the water proves a most dangerous foe; for when driven to extremities he frequently turns against the boat which contains his assailants, and forces them to seek their safety by jumping overboard. Many an Indian, while wandering through thinly peopled districts, where swampy thickets alternate with open grass plains, has been torn to pieces by the jaguar; and in many a lonely plantation the inhabitants hardly venture to leave their enclosures after sunset, for fear of his attacks. Far from being afraid of man, this ferocious animal springs upon him when alone; and when pressed by hunger he will even venture during the day-time into the mountain villages to seek his prey.

The dreadful storms which burst suddenly over the Amazonre call to memory the tornadoes of the ocean. The howlings of the monkeys, the shrill tones of the mews, and the visible terror of all animals, first announce the approaching conflict of the elements. The crowns of the palms rustle and bend, while as yet no breeze is perceptible on the surface of the stream; but a hollow murmur in the air precedes the black clouds ascending from the horizon, like grim warriors ready for battle.

And now the old forest groans under the shock of the hurricane; a night-like darkness veils the face of nature; and, while torrents of rain descend amid uninterrupted sheets of lightning and terrific peals of thunder, the river rises and falls in waves of a dangerous height. Then it requires greats kill to preserve the boat from sinking; but the Indian pilots steer with so masterly a hand, and understand so well the first symptoms of the storm, that it seldom takes them by surprise, or renders them victims of its fury.

A majestic uniformity is the character of European woods, which often consist of only one species of tree; but in the tropical forests an immense variety of families strive for existence, and even in a small space one tree scarcely ever resembles its neighbour. Even at a distance this difference becomes apparent in the irregular outlines of the forest, as here a dome-shaped crown, there a pointed pyramid, rises above the broad flat masses of green, in ever-varying succession. On approaching, differences of colour are added to irregularities of form; for while our forests are destitute of the ornament of flowers, many tropical trees have large blossoms, mixing in thick bunches with the leaves, and often entirely overpowering the verdure of the foliage by their gaudy tints. Thus splendid white, yellow, and red-coloured crowns are mingled with those of darker or more humble hue. When at length, on entering the forest, the single leaves become distinguishable, even the last traces of harmony disappear. Here they are delicately feathered, there lobed: here narrow, there broad: here pointed, there obtuse: here lustrous and fleshy, as if in the full luxuriance of youth; there dark and arid, as if decayed with age. As the wind plays with the foliage, it appears now silvery, now dark green-now of a lively, now of a sombre hue.

Variety of vegetation is characteristic of all tropical countries, but nowhere are the varieties so wonderfully brought togetheras on the Mexican plateaux. There the vegetation rises in successive zones from the base of the mountains to heights unparalleled in any other part of the world. It is literally true that the inhabitants, without leaving their native land, may view the vegetable forms of every country on the globe, and pluck nearly every fruit that is found between the Equator and the Arctic Circle.

WORDS

arboreous, produced on trees.

assailants, pursuers.

astonished, surprised.

benumbed, stupefied.

congenial, suitable.

constellations, star-groups.

desolate, barren.

distinguishable, recognizable.

diversified, varied.

dormant, sleeping.

elevation, altitude.

enervating, weakening.

facilitate, make easy.

ferocious, fierce.

formidable, terrible.

gigantic, colossal.

inundation, flood.

irregularities, diversities.

lobed, having rounded divisions.

lustrous, shining.

luxuriant, abundant.

magnificent, grand.

majestic, grand.

mammalian, of the order of suck-givers.

marvellous, wonderful.

misfortune, accident.

mitigating, moderating.

obtuse, having a broad point.

penetrates, pierces.

perceptible, apparent.

perpetual, everlasting.

prehensile, adapted for seizing.

primeval, original.

proboscis, trunk.

proximity, nearness.

rivalling, emulating.

savannas, meadows.

solitary, lonely.

stupendous, enormous.

superabundance, excess.

tumult, comiuotion.

undoubtedly, certainly.

uniformity, sameness.

uninterrupted, unbroken.

verdure, greenness.

NOTES

① Lucern-meadows, meadows covered with lucern, a leguminous (pea-like) plant cultivated by farmers for fodder.

② Cactus, a well known tropical plant, having a thick fleshy stem, generally covered with spines and destitute of leaves. Several kinds bear beautiful flowers. The cochineal insect, highly valued for the dye which is made of it, feeds on a species of cactus, (Pl. cacti, orcactuses.)

③ Agave, the American aloe, a handsome flowering plant. Its flower stem is often twenty or thirty feet in height. It rises from the centre of the plant like a flag pole, and the flowers form a circle, like the lights of a candelabra, around its upper end.

④ How marvellous the contrast.—In general, within the Tropics, the eastern coasts and the eastern slopes of mountains are better watered than lands with a western exposure. This is owing to the influence of the trade winds; the most striking example of which is afforded by South America. The Atlantic trades cross that continent as east winds laden with moisture; but so completely are they drained of their moisture by the cooling Influences of the Andes, that while the eastern gorges of these mountains are clothed with perpetual verdure, their western slopes are almost uniformly and constantly arid.

⑤ The rainy season.—Tropical countries have either one or two "rainy seasons" in the year; those in the vicinity of the Tropics have one, those near the Equator have two, depending on the influence of the Sun

⑥ Bush-ropes, vegetable-cables; the tendrils and fibres of creeping plants twisted together like ropes and extended like festoons from tree to tree.

⑦ Macaw, a large and strong bird of the parrot family, distinguished by having a tail longer than its body, and a bill hooked at the point.

QUESTIONS

Of what are the tropical regions suggestive? Wherein do they differ from the north temperate zone? What effect has this on their climate? Mention another cause of the varieties of tropical climate. Give examples of its operation. In what do these diversities produce corresponding variety? What are the great physical features of tropical America? What constitute the Puna? For what are these regions chiefly remarkable? What is the nature of the Peruvian sea-bord What contrast do the two sides of the Andes present? To what is this due? To what height does the Amazon rise after the rainy season? What changes are observed after It has fallen again? Where is the beauty of tropical vegetation seen to greatest advantage? Mention birds that are seen there. What mammals are most numerous in these forests? What is the monkey's fifth hand? What does it enable him to do? What is the most formidable beast of prey in the Brazilian forests? What do the storms of the Amazon recall to memory? Mention some of their striking features. Wherein do tropical woods chiefly differ from European ones? What produces their differences of colour? Where is variety of vegetation most strikingly exhibited? How is this variety illustrated?

LESSON 16

MAN AND THE INDUSTRIAL ARTS

As industrial creatures, we often look like wretched copyists of animals far beneath us in the scale of organization; and we seem to confess as much by the names which we give them. The mason-wasp, the carpenter-bee, the mining caterpillars, the quarrying sea-slugs, execute their work in a way which we cannot rival or excel. The bird is an exquisite architect; the beaver a most skilful bridge-builder; the silk-worm the most beautiful of weavers; the spider the best of net-makers. Each is a perfect craftsman, and each has his tools always at hand.

Those wise creatures, I believe, have minds like our own, to the extent that they have minds, and are not mere living machines, swayed by a blind instinct; but their most wonderful works imply neither invention, contrivance, nor volition, but only a placid, pleasant, easily rendered obedience to instincts which reign without rivals, and justify their despotic rule by the infallible happiness which they secure. It has cost none of these ingenious artists any intellectual effort to learn its craft, for God gave it to each perfect in the beginning; and, within the circle to which they apply, the rules which guide their work are infallible, and know no variation.

To those creatures, however, the Author of all has given, not only infallible rudes for their work, but unfaltering faith in them. Labour is for them not a doubt, but a certainty. Duty is the same thing as happiness. They never grow weary of life, and death never surprises them; and they are less to be likened to us than to perfect self-repairing machines, which swiftly raise our admiration from themselves to Him who made and who sustains them.

We are industrial for other reasons, and in a different way. Our working instincts are very few; our faith in them still more feeble; and our physical wants far greater than those of any other creature. Indeed, the one half of the Industrial Arts are the result of our being born without clothes; the other half,of our being born without tools.

I do not propose to offer you a catalogue of the arts which our unclothedness compels us to foster. The shivering savage in the colder countries robs the seal and the bear, the buffalo and the deer, of the one mantle which Nature has given them. The wild huntsman, by a swift but simple transmutation, becomes the clothier, the tailor, the tanner, the currier, the leather-dresser, the glover, the saddler, the shoemaker, the tent-maker. And the tent-maker, the arch-architect① of one of the great schools of architecture, becomes quickly a house-builder, building with snow where better material is not to be had; and a ship-builder, constructing, out of a few wooden ribs and stretched animal skins, canoes which, as sad experience has shown, may survive where English ships of oak② have gone to destruction.

Again: the unchilled savage of the warmer regions seeks a covering, not from the cold, but from the sun which smites him by day, and the moon which smites him by night. The palm, the banana, the soft-barked trees, the broad-leaved sedges and long-fibred grasses are spoiled by him, as the beasts of the field are by his colder brother. He becomes a sower, a reaper, a spinner, a weaver, a baker, a brewer, a distiller, a dyer, a carpenter; and whilst he is these, he bends the pliant stems of his tropical forests into roof-trees and rafters, and clothes them with leaves, and makes for himself a tabernacle of boughs, and so is the arch-architect of a second great school of architecture; and, by-and-by, his twisted branches and interlaced leaves grow into Grecian columns③ with Corinthian acanthus capitals,④ and Gothic pillars,⑤ with petrified plants⑥ and stony flowers gracefully curling round them.

Once more: in those temperate regions where large animals and trees do not greatly abound, turfs, or mud, or clay, or stones, or all together, can be fashioned into that outermost garment which we call a house, and which we most familiarly connect with the notion of architecture.

It is not, however, his cultivation either of the arts which have been named, or of others, that makes man peculiar as an industrial animal;—it is the mode in which he practises them. The first step he takes towards remedying his nakedness and helplessness, is in a direction in which no other creature has led the way, and none has followed his example. He lays hold of that most powerful of all weapons of peace or war, Fire, from which every other animal, unless when fortified by man's presence, flees in terror; and with it alone not only clothes himself, but lays the foundation of a hundred arts.

Man may be defined as the only animal that can strike alight,—the solitary creature that knows how to kindle a fire. This is a very fragmentary definition of the "Paragon⑦ of animals," but it is enough to make him the conqueror of all the rest. The most degraded savage has discovered how to rub two sticks together, or whirl the point of one in a socket in the other till the wood is kindled. And civilized man, as much as his savage brother, is a fire-worshipper in his practical doings. The great conquering peoples of the world have been those who knew best how to deal with fire. The most wealthy of the active nations are those which dwell in countries richly provided with fuel. No inventions have changed the entire world more than steam and gunpowder. We are what we are, largely because we are the ministers and masters of Fire.

Clothe-less creatures by birth, we are also tool-less ones. Every other animal is by nature fully equipped and caparisoned for its work; its tools are ready for use, and it is ready to use them. We have first to invent our tools, then to fashion them, and then to learn how to handle them. Two-thirds at least of our industrial doings are thus preliminary. Before two rags can be sewed together, we require a needle, which embodies the inventiveness of a hundred ingenious brains; and a hand, which only a hundred botchings and failures have, in the lapse of years, taught to use the instrument with skill.

It is so with all the crafts, and they are inseparably dependent one on another. The mason waits on the carpenter for his mallet, and the carpenter on the smith for his saw; the smith on the smelter for his iron, and the smelter on the miner for his ore. Each, moreover, needs the help of all the others;—the carpenter the smith, as much as the smith the carpenter; and both the mason, as much as the mason both. This helplessness of the single craftsman is altogether peculiar to the human artist. The lower animals are all poly artists,⑧ amongst whom there are no degrees of skill; and they have never heard of such a doctrine as that of the division of labour.

The industrialness, then, of man, is carried out in a way quite peculiar to himself, and singularly illustrative of his combined weakness and greatness. The most helpless, physically, of animals, and yet the one with the greatest number of pressing appetites and desires, he has no working instincts (at least after infancy) to secure the gratification of his most pressing wants, and no tools which such instincts can work by. He is compelled, therefore, to fall back upon the powers of his reason and understanding, and make his intellect serve him instead of a crowd of instinctive impulses, and his intellect-guided hand instead of an apparatus of tools. Before that hand, armed with the tools which it has fashioned, and that intellect, which marks man as made in the image of God, the instincts and weapons of the entire animal creation are as nothing. He reigns, by right of conquest, as indisputably as by right of inheritance, the king of this world.

—GEORGE WILSON

WORDS

apparatus, collection.

caparisoned, harnessed.

catalogue, list.

constructing, fashioning.

craftsman, skilled worker.

defined described.

despotic, tyrannical.

execute, perform.

fragmentary, imperfect.

gracefully, elegantly.

gratification, indulgence.

illustrative, expository.

indisputably, unquestionably.

industrial, manufacturing.

infallible, incapable of error.

inheritance, descent.

inseparably, indissolubly.

inventiveness, ingenuity.

organization, animal life.

preliminary, preparatory.

provided, supplied.

remedying, correcting.

sustains, supports.

tabernacle, dwelling-place.

temperate, mild.

transmutation, alteration.

unfaltering, unhesitating.

volition, exercise of will.

NOTES

① Arch-architect.—An example of how a word loses its primary meaning in composition. Architect means, literally, chief-builder; but as its secondary meaning is merely designer of buildings, in order to convey the idea of preëminence the prefix requires to be repeated; so arch-architect means chief designer, or originator.

② Where English ships of oak.—For example, the ships of Sir John Franklin's expedition lost in the north polar seas.

③ Grecian columns.—The three great orders of Grecian architecture are the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian. The columns in the three orders are readily distinguishable by the ornaments peculiar to their capitals; but they differ essentially in their proportions.

④ Corinthian acanthus capitals.—The capital of the Corinthian column is highly ornamented, usually with leaves of the acanthus, or herb bear's—foot.

⑤ Gothic pillars.—The Gothic style of architecture became prevalent in the twelfth century; but its rise dates from the ninth. Its great peculiarity is the pointed arch, whence it is sometimes called the pointed style.

⑥ Petrified plants.—The expression is not to be taken in its literal sense, of plants converted into stone, as in the case of fossils. It means simply plants carved in the stone pillars.

⑦ Paragon, a model or pattern, implying superiority or excellence. The quotation is from Hamlet, Act ii, Scene 2.

⑧ Polyartists, performers of many kinds, or parts of work, at the same time. Thus the same bee markets, makes bee-bread, honey and wax, builds store-houses, &c.

QUESTIONS

What is the great difference between man and the lower animals, as Industrial workers? Of what two deficiencies are man's industrial arts the result? What arts result from his unclothedness? What is it, more than the arts themselves, that makes man peculiar as an industrial animal? How, in this respect, may man be defined? Show how two-thirds of all our industrial doings are preliminary. Show how the crafts are thus inseparably dependent on one another. How does man's industrial-ness illustrate his combined weakness and greatness?

LESSON 17

SOMEBODY'S DARLING①

INTO a ward of the white-washed halls,

Where the dead and dying lay,

Wounded by bayonets,② shells, and balls,

Somebody's Darling was borne one day—

Somebody's Darling, so young and so brave,

Wearing yet on his pale sweet face,

Soon to be hid by the dust of the grave,

The lingering light of his boyhood's grace.

Matted and damp are the curls of gold.

Kissing the snow of that fair young brow;

Pale are the lips of delicate mould—

Somebody's Darling is dying now.

Back from his beautiful blue-veined brow

Brush all the wandering waves of gold;

Cross his hands on his bosom now—

Somebody's Darling is still and cold.

Kiss him once for Somebody's sake,

Murmur a prayer soft and low;

One bright curl from its fair mates take—

They were Somebody's pride, you know:

Somebody's hand had rested there;

Was it a mother's, soft and white?

And have the lips of a sister fair

Been baptized in the waves of light?

God knows best. He has Somebody's love;

Somebody's heart enshrined him there;

Somebody wafted his name above

Night and morn on the wings of prayer.

Somebody wept when he marched away,

Looking so handsome, brave, and grand;

Somebody's kiss on his forehead lay,

Somebody clung to his parting hand.

Somebody's waiting and watching for him—

Yearning to hold him again to her heart;

And there he lies, with his blue eyes dim,

And the smiling, childlike lips apart.

Tenderly bury the fair young dead,

Pausing to drop on his grave a tear;

Carve on the wooden slab at his head, —

"Somebody's Darling slumbers here"

—MRS. LACOSTE

WORDS

delicate, refined.

enshrined, cherished.

handsome, graceful.

lingering, lagging.

matted, twisted together.

murmur, whisper.

pausing, waiting.

slumbers, sleeps.

tenderly, gently.

wafted, floated.

wandering, straggling.

yearning, longing.

NOTES

① Somebody's Darling.—This poem, suggested by an incident in the American Civil War (1861-65), draws a touching picture of a scene only too common in warfare, though seldom realized except by those whom it nearly concerns. A young soldier is badly wounded and taken prisoner on the field of battle. He is carried into the surgeons' ward to have his wounds tended. He gradually sinks and dies, leaving no trace of name, or home, or friend. He is laid in a nameless grave; while those whose darling he is deplore his absence in uncertainty of his real fate, knowing not whether to mourn or to long for him.

② Bayonet, a spear fixed on the end of a gun: so called from Bayonne in France, where the arm was first made.

LESSON 18

THE TROPICAL WORLD (II)

THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE

OWING to the absence of inlets, gulfs, and great estuaries, Africa has been the last of the continents to yield to the advances of civilization. Its interior is therefore less known than any other part of the tropical world, excepting perhaps the centre of Australia; but what is known of it shows that it is not destitute of those grand and varied features which characterize the western tropics. Tropical Africa extends from the middle of the Sahara in the north to the plains of the Bushmen in the south. Chief among the natural features of this wide area are the great lakes lying across the Equator, which most probably constitute the highest sources of the Nile. The Nile itself, which rivals the Amazon in the length of its course, is a tropical river; and it is one of the wonders of the world. Three other great rivers belong to tropical Africa;—the Niger in the north; the Congo in the west; and in the south the Zambeze, on which is the highest waterfall in the world.①

The interior of Africa—so far from being a desolate waste, as was at one time supposed—is a well watered and fertile region, and is remarkable for the extraordinary dimensions both of its vegetable and of its animal life. The chief of its vegetable wonders is the baobab-tree, which has been well called the elephant of the vegetable world. One baobab has been seen whose trunk was thirty feet in diameter and ninety-five in circumference. As these trees are generally hollow, they are frequently made use of as dwellings or stables; and Dr. Livingstone mentions one in which twenty or thirty men could lie down and sleep as in a hut! There are also gigantic sycamores, under whose branches the negroes pitch their huts; while picturesque-looking mangroves② are found flinging the shores of the sea and the mouths of rivers.

THE MANGROVE

To the presence of mangrove trees must be attributed, in part at least, the unhealthy character of the estuaries of African rivers. From the roots, when left bare by the tide, a sickly odour arises; and the vicinity of a mangrove forest is always exposed to the deadly malaria. "The shore," says Kingsley, describing a mangrove forest, "sank suddenly into a low line of mangrove wood, backed by primeval forest. The loathsome floor of liquid mud lay bare beneath. Upon the endless web of inter-arching roots great purple crabs were crawling up and down. The black bank of dingy leathern leaves above; the endless labyrinth of stones and withes (for every bough had lowered its own living cord, to take fresh hold of the foul soil below); the web of roots, which stretched far away inland; —all seemed one horrid, complicated trap for the voyager: there was no opening, no relief—nothing but the dark ring of mangroves, and here and there an isolated group of large and small, parents and children, bending and spreading, as if in hideous haste to choke out air and sky. Wailing sadly, sad-coloured mangrove-hens ran off across the mud into the dreary dark. The hoarse night-raven, hid among the roots, startled the voyager with a sudden shout, and then all was again silent as the grave."

In the rivers of Africa the terrible crocodile takes the place held by the alligator③ in America, There also we encounter the hippopotamus④ and the still more frightful rhinoceros.⑤Herds of elephants may be seen winding through the open plains, swimming across the rivers in majestic lines and with elevated trunks, or bathing in the shallow lakes for coolness or protection against insects. The antelope (of which Africa is the special nursery), the giraffe, the buffalo, the zebra, are all found in abundance in the plains of southern and central Africa, from Orange river in the south to the Senegal and Nubia in the north.

The African desert produces only a few plants and animals; but it stamps them all with its own peculiar mark. From the tawny Bedouin to the worm scarcely distinguishable in the sand, it gives all its creatures the same dress—the same colour, which might justly be called the colour of the desert. It is the pale grayish-yellow tint which belongs as well to the gazelle as to the small lark of the sandy wastes. Among the birds there are no doubt many modifications of this general rule, and the deviations increase as the desert gradually merges into the more fertile steppes, but even here its characteristic mark is not to be mistaken.

When we consider the scanty vegetation of the Sahara, we cannot wonder that animal life is but sparingly scattered over its surface. The lion, so frequently misnamed "The king of the desert," only shows himself on its borders. As lions cannot exist without flesh and water, they avoid the sandy desert. In fact, they never leave the wooded mountains of the Atlas, or the fruitful plains of the Soudan, to wander far into the Sahara. There snakes and scorpions are the only dangerous animals to be met with.

According to the seasons, animal life fluctuates in the Sahara from north to south. In winter and spring, when heavy rains, falling on its northern borders, provide wide districts, thoroughly parched by the summer heat, with the water and pasturage needed for the herds, the nomadic tribes wander farther into the desert with their camels, horses, sheep, and goats, and retreat again to the coast-lands as the sun gains power. At that time of the year the wild animals—the lion, the gazelle, and the antelope—also wander farther to the south, which then provides them, each according to its taste, with the nourishment which the dry summer is unable to bestow. The ostrich, too, which during the summer ranged farther to the north, then retreats to the south; for hot and sandy plains are the paradise in which this singular bird delights to roam.

Though Arabia possesses some districts of remarkable fertility, which enjoy almost perpetual verdure, yet the greater part of that vast peninsula consists of burning deserts lying under a sky rarely traversed by a cloud, and stretching into boundless plains, where the eye meets nothing but the uniform horizon of a wild and dreary waste. These naked deserts are encircled, and sometimes intersected, by barren mountains, which run in almost continuous ridges and in different directions from the borders of Palestine to the shores of the Indian Ocean. Their summits tower up into rugged and insulated peaks, but their flinty bosoms supply no humidity to nourish the soil; they concentrate no clouds to screen the parched earth from the withering influence of a tropical sky.

Were it not for the wadys—verdant valleys lying here and there among the hills—and the various wells or watering stations supplied by periodical rains, the greater portion of Arabia must have remained unpeopled, and uninhabitable. In a country like this, where whole years occasionally pass away without a refreshing shower, the possession of a spring is not unfrequently the most valuable property of a tribe. There are large tracts, however, where the luxury of water, as it may well be called, is unknown, and where the desert extends for many a day's journey without affording the traveller the welcome sight of a single well.

Although the high steppes of central Asia are probably the genuine and original country of the horse, yet in Arabia that generous animal attains the highest degree of spirit and swiftness. The tender familiarity with which the horses are treated trains them to habits of gentleness and attachment. When not employed in war or in travelling they loiter about the tents, often going over numbers of children lying on the ground, and carefully picking their steps lest they should hurt them. They are accustomed only to walk and to gallop. Their sensations are not blunted by the incessant abuse of the spur and the whip. Their powers are reserved for the movement of flight and pursuit, and no sooner do they feel the touch of the hand and the stirrup than they dart away with the swiftness of the wind; but if their friend be dismounted in the rapid career, they instantly stop till he has recovered his seat.

In the sands of Arabia the camel is a sacred and precious gift. That strong and patient beast of burden not only supplies the wandering Arab with the greater part of his simple wants: it serves also to secure his immemorial independence by placing the desert between the enemy and himself. Thus the Bedouin has ever been indomitable; and while in other parts of the world we find that the possession of an animal—the sable, the sea-otter—has entailed the curse of slavery upon whole nations, the dromedary in Arabia appears as the instrument of lasting freedom.

As the lion reigns in Africa, so the tiger is lord and master of the Indian jungles. He is a splendid animal—elegantly striped with black on a white and golden ground; graceful in every movement—but of a most sanguinary and cruel nature. The lengthened body resting on short legs, lacks the proud bearing of the lion; while the naked head, the wildly rolling eye, the scarlet tongue constantly lolling from the jaws, and the whole expression of the tiger's physiognomy, indicate an insatiable thirst for blood, a pitiless ferocity, which he wreaks indiscriminately on every living thing that comes within his grasp. In the bamboo jungle on the banks of pools and rivers, he waits for the approaching herd; there he seeks his prey, or rather multiplies his murders, for he often leaves the nylghau⑥still writhing in the agony of death, to throw himself upon new victims, whose bodies he rends with his claws, and then plunges his head into the gaping wound, to absorb in deep and luxurious draughts the blood whose fountains he has just laid open.

Nothing can be more delightful than the aspect of a Javanese⑦ savanna, to which clumps of noble trees, planted by Nature's hand, impart a park-like character; yet, even during the daytime, the traveller rarely ventures to cross these beautiful wilds without being accompanied by a numerous retinue. The horses frequently stand still, trembling all over, when their road leads them along some denser patch of the jungle, rising like an island from the grassy plain; for their acute scent informs them that a tiger lies concealed in the thicket but a few paces from their path.

Both the panther and the leopard⑧ are widely diffused through the tropical regions of the Old World, being natives of Africa, Persia, China, India, and many of the Indian islands; so that they have a much more extensive range than either the tiger or the lion. The manner in which they seize their prey, lurking near the sides of woods, and darting forward with a sudden spring, resembles that of the tiger; and the chase of the panther is said to be more dangerous than that of the lion, as it easily climbs the trees and pursues its enemy upon the branches.

On turning to the wilds of northern Australia, new aspects of savage life rise before our view. With new plants and new animals, a new variety of the human race makes its appearance, differing from the Malayan⑨ in figure, in physiognomy, in language, and in many of its customs and manners. Though this race occupies one of the lowest grades in the scale of humanity, it still offers many points of interest to the observer, and claims our attention both by its qualities and its defects.

When hunting the kangaroo, the native Australian rivals in energy and perseverance, in skill and keenness of eye, the Red Indian tracking the wild animals of the Brazilian forest. His glance roves from side to side, in a vigilant, uneasy manner. As soon as he sees a kangaroo, he checks his pace and stands immovable, like one transfixed; while his wives, who are at some distance behind him, fall to the ground as if they had been shot. Looking about a hundred yards to the right of the native, you will see a kangaroo erect upon its hind legs and supported by its tail; it is reared to its utmost height, so that its head is between five and six feet above the ground; its short fore-paws hang by its sides, its ears are pointed: it is listening as carefully as the native; and you see a little head peering out from the pouch,⑩ to inquire what has alarmed its mother. The native moves not: you cannot tell whether it is a human being or the charred trunk of a burned tree which is before you, and for several minutes the whole group preserve their relative position. At length the kangaroo becomes reässured, drops upon its forepaws, gives an awkward leap or two, and goes on feeding.

Meantime the native advances stealthily and by slow stages, with his arm raised in the attitude of throwing his spear, until he is within reach of his prey. At last the whistling spear penetrates the devoted animal: then the wood rings with shouts; women and children all join pell-mell in the chase. After a time the exhausted animal turns on its pursuers, places its back against a tree, and prepares to seize and rend any one who may approach too near. The wily native keeps clear of its murderous embrace, and kills it by throwing spears into its breast from the distance of a few yards.

As the land within the tropics is remarkable for the greatness of its physical aspects, so the tropical oceans are preëminent for the violence of their storms. In the Indian and Chinese Seas these convulsions of nature generally take place at the change of the monsoons; in the West Indies, at the beginning and at the end of the rainy seasons. The tornado which devastated the Island of Guadeloupe⑪ in July 1846, blew down buildings constructed of solid stone, and tore the guns of a battery from their carriages. Another, which raged some years ago in the Mauritius,⑫ demolished a church and drove thirty-two vessels on the strand. A few days later, a fleet of crippled vessels, the victims of the recent hurricane, might have been seen making their way into the harbour of Port Louis—some dismasted, others kept afloat with difficulty, firing guns of distress or giving other signs of their helpless condition.

Such are the terrible effects of the tornadoes and cyclones of the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans; but the storms of the misnamed Pacific are no less furious, and frequently overwhelm the coral islands and palm-groves of Polynesia with destruction. A hurricane which, in April 1845, burst over Pitcairn Island,⑬ washed all the fertile mould from the rocks, and, uprooting three hundred cocoa-nut trees, cast them into the sea. Every fishing-boat on the island was destroyed, and thousands of fruit-bearing bananas were swept away.

Though the tropical storms are thus frequently a scourge, they are often productive of no less signal benefits. Many a murderous epidemic has suddenly ceased after one of these natural convulsions; and myriads of insects, the destroyers of the planter's hopes, are swept away by the fierce tornado. Besides, if the equatorial hurricanes are much more furious than our storms, a more luxurious vegetation effaces their vestiges in a shorter time. Thus Nature teaches us that a preponderance of good is frequently concealed behind the paroxysms of her apparently unbridled rage.

—Adapted from HARTWIG

WORDS

antelope, a ruminant animal.

awkward, clumsy.

characterize, distinguish.

circumference, measurement around.

complicated, involved.

concentrate, attract.

constitute, form.

cyclones, rotatory storms.

devastated, desolated.

diameter, measurement through.

dismounted, unhorsed.

distinguishable, discernible.

elevated, held aloft.

encounter, meet with.

epidemic, infectious disease.

estuaries, river-mouths.

exhausted, tired-out.

familiarity, friendliness.

fertility, fruitfulness.

fluctnates, moves about.

gazelle, a kind of antelope.

humanity, the human race.

hurricane, violent storm.

immemorial, long-established.

indomitable, not to be subdued.

insulated, solitary.

intersected, traversed.

luxury, dainty.

malaria, poisonous air.

modifications, limitations.

myriads, immense numbers.

nomadic, wandering.

nourishment, sustenance.

paroxysms, convulsions.

penetrates, pierces.

perpetual, unbroken.

perseverance, persistence.

physiognomy, cast of countenance.

preponderance, excess.

retinue, convoy.

sanguinary, blood-thirsty.

sensations, feelings.

steppes, plains.

tornadoes, whirling tempests.

transfixed, pierced through.

writhing, making contortions.

NOTES

① The highest waterfall in the world.—The Victoria Falls, on the Zambeze. The river, there more than a mile wide, rushes over a precipice 310 feet high, and then flows on for 30 miles in a rocky channel only 60 feet broad.

② Mangroves.—The peculiarity of the mangrove tree, which is found in America as well as in Africa, is that its seeds germinate on the branches, and when the shoots are considerably grown they fall off and take root in the mud. As the young tree grows up, it sends out fresh roots from its trunk and lower branches The tree at last seems to be supported by a network of roots, or complicated series of arches, in the midst of which crabs, aquatic birds and insects take up their abode.

③ Crocodile…… alligator.—The crocodile differs from the alligator in having webbed feet. In both, the upper part of the body is protected by horny armour-plates. Both grow to the length of 16 or 18 feet.

④ Hippopotamus, a huge thick-skinned (pachydermatous) animal, inferior only to the elephant in size. The name means "river-horse." It is supposed to be the be'hemoth described in Job xi. It walks at the bottom of the water, raising its head occasionally above the surface for respiration. Its thick hide is bullet-proof. It has two short tusks, very hard and very white. It is harmless until attacked.

⑤ Rhinoceros, another huge pachyderm, of nearly the same size as the hippopotamus. But while the latter has tusks coming out of the jaw, the rhinoceros has a horny protuberance from two to three feet in length on the top of its snout.

⑥ Nylghau, an animal of the antelope family. Its body, horns, and tail resemble those of the bull; its head, neck, and legs those of the deer

⑦ Javanese, belonging to the island of Java, one of the Sunda group in the East Indies.

⑧ Panther…… leop'ard.—Both animals are now believed to belong to the same family. They differ only in this, that the leopard has small spots, thickly set, while those of the panther are large and open Leopard means lion-panther.

⑨ Malayan, or brown race, characterized by narrow head, and black, stiff hair. It includes the natives of Malacca, Malaysia, Polynesia, and New Zealand.

⑩ The pouch.—The kangaroo belongs to the order of pouched animals (marsupials); so called because they carry their young in an external pouch.

⑪ Guadeloupe, one of the West Indian Islands, south of Antigua.

⑫ The Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. Port Louis is its capital.

⑬ Pitcairn Island, a solitary island in the South Pacific, scarcely five miles in circumference. It is 1200 miles south-east of Tahiti. There the mutineers of the Bounty first settled in 1789.

QUESTIONS

Why is so little known of the interior of Africa? What are the limits of tropical Africa? What are its chief natural features? Name its four great rivers. What great waterfall is on the Zambeze? What is the chief vegetable wonder of tropical Africa? For what are these trees sometimes used? Name the chief animals found in that region. What is remarkable about the plants and animals of the desert? Where has the lion his home? What are the only dangerous animals met with in the Sahara? What causes animal life to fluctuate in the desert? What is the character of most of Arabia? What alone saves it from being uninhabitable? What two animals do we associate with Arabia? What is the original country of the horse? How does the camel secure the freedom of the Arab tribes? What animal is lord of the Indian jungles? How does the tiger multiply his murders? Where are the panther and the leopard found? Wherein do these animals differ? What animal is characteristic of Australia? How do the natives hunt it? For what are the tropical oceans remarkable? What are the circular storms in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans called? Mention instances of great storms in the different oceans. In what way are these storms often beneficial?

LESSON 19

THE SONG OF THE SHIRT

WITH fingers weary and worn, with eyelids heavy and red, a woman sat in unwomanly rags, plying her needle and thread—Stitch! stitch! stitch! in poverty, hunger, and dirt; and still with a voice of dolorous pitch she sang the "Song of the Shirt!"

"Work! work! work! while the cock is crowing aloof! and work! work! work! till the stars shine through the roof! It's oh, to be a slave along with the barbarous Turk, where woman has never a soul to save, if this is Christian work!

"Work! work! work! till the brain begins to swim; work! work! work! till the eyes are heavy and dim! Seam, and gusset, and band; band, and gusset, and seam; till over the buttons I fall asleep, and sew them on in a dream. O men, with sisters dear! O men, with mothers and wives! it is not linen you're wearing out, but human creatures' lives. Stitch! stitch! stitch! in poverty, hunger, and dirt; sewing at once, with a double thread, a shroud as well as a shirt.

"But why do I talk of Death? that phantom of grisly bone; I hardly fear his terrible shape, it seems so like my own. It seems so like my own, because of the fasts I keep; O God, that bread should be so dear, and flesh and blood so cheap!

"Work! work! work! My labour never flags; and what are its wages? A bed of straw, a crust of bread—and rags. That shattered roof and this naked floor, a table, a broken chair, and a wall so blank, my shadow I thank for sometimes falling there.

"Work! work! work! from weary chime to chime; work! work! work! as prisoners work for crime. Band, and gusset, and seam; seam, and gusset, and band; till the heart is sick, and the brain benumbed, as well as the weary hand.

"Work! work! work! in the dull December light; and work! work! work! when the weather is warm and bright, while underneath the eaves the brooding swallows cling, as if to show their sunny backs, and twit me with the spring.

"Oh, but to breathe the breath of the cowslip and primrose sweet, with the sky above my head, and the grass beneath my feet; for only one short hour to feel as I used to feel, before I knew the woes of want, and the walk that costs a meal! Oh, but for one short hour! a respite however brief! No blessed leisure for love or hope, but only time for grief ! A little weeping would ease my heart; but in their briny bed my tears must stop, for every drop hinders needle and thread."

With fingers weary and worn, with eyelids heavy and red, a woman sat in unwomanly rags, plying her needle and thread—Stitch! stitch! stitch! in poverty, hunger, and dirt; and still with a voice of dolorous pitch—would that its tone could reach the rich! —she sang this "Song of the Shirt!"

—THOMAS HOOD

WORDS

barbarous, uncivilized.

benumbed, stupefied.

brooding, rearing young.

dolorous, sorrowful.

gusset, insertion.

hunger, craving for food.

labour, work.

leisure, spare time.

phantom, spectre.

plying, working busily.

poverty, indigence.

respite, pause.

shadow, reflection.

shattered, broken.

terrible, horrible.

LESSON 20

LAND AND SEA BREEZES

THE inhabitants of the sea-shore in tropical① countries wait every morning with impatience for the coming of the sea breeze. It usually sets in about ten o'clock. Then the sultry heat of the oppressive morning is dissipated, and there is a delightful freshness in the air, which seems to give new life to all for their daily labours. About sunset there is again another calm. The sea breeze is now over, and in a short time the land breeze sets in. This alternation of the land and sea breezes—a wind from the sea by day, and from the land by night—is so regular, in troopical countries, that it is looked for by the people with as much confidence as the rising and setting of the sun.

In extra-tropical② countries, especially those on the polar side of the trade-winds,③ these breezes blow only in summer and autumn; for then only is the heat of the sun sufficiently intense to produce the requisite degree of atmospherical rarefaction④ over the land. This depends in a measure, also, on the character of the land upon which the sea breeze blows; for when the surface is arid, and the soil barren, the heating power of the sun is exerted with most effect. In such cases the sea breeze amounts to a gale of wind.

In the summer of the southern hemisphere the sea breeze is more powerfully developed at Valparaiso⑤ than at any other place to which my services afloat have led me. Here regularly in the afternoon, at this season, the sea breeze blows furiously: pebbles are torn up from the walks and whirled about the streets; people seek shelter; business is interrupted, and all communication from the shipping to the shore is cut off. Suddenly the winds and the sea, as if they had again heard the voice of rebuke, are hushed, and there in a great calm.

The lull that follows is delightful. The sky is without a cloud; the atmosphere is transparency itself; the Andes⑥ seem to draw near; the climate, always mild and soft, becomes now doubly sweet by the contrast. The evening invites abroad, and the population sally forth—the ladies in ball costume, for now there is not wind enough to disarrange the lightest curl.

In the southern summer this change takes place day after day with the utmost regularity; and yet the calm always seems to surprise one, and to come before one has had time to realize that the furious sea wind could so soon be hushed. Presently the stars begin to peep out; timidly at first, as if to see whether the elements here below have ceased their strife, and whether the scene on Earth be such as they, from their bright spheres aloft, may shed their sweet influences upon.

Alone in the night-watch, after the sea breeze had sunk to rest, I have stood on the deck under those beautiful skies, gazing, admiring, rapt. I have seen there, above the horizon at the same time, and shining with a splendour unknown to northern latitudes, every star of the first magnitude—save only six—that is contained in the catalogue of the one hundred principal fixed stars of astronomers. There lies the city on the sea-shore, wrapped in sleep. The sky looks solid, like a vault of steel set with diamonds! The stillness below is in harmony with the silence above; and one almost fears to speak, lest the harsh sound of the human voice, reverberating through those vaulted "chambers of the south," should wake up echo, and drown the music that fills the soul.

Within the tropics the land and sea breezes are more gentle; and though the night scenes there are not so suggestive as those just described, yet they are exceedingly delightful, and altogether lovely. The oppressive heat of the sun is mitigated, and the climate of the sea-shore is made both refreshing and healthful, by the alternation of those winds, which invariably come from the cooler place;—from the sea, which is the cooler by day; and from the land, which is the cooler by night.

About ten in the morning the heat of the sun has played upon the land with sufficient intensity to raise its temperature above that of the water. A portion of this heat being imparted to the air above it, causes it to rise; when the air, first from the beach, then from the sea, to the distance of several miles, begins to flow in with a most delightful and invigorating freshness.

When a fire is kindled on the hearth, we may see, if we observe the motes floating in the room, that those nearest to the chimney are the first to feel the draught and to obey it—they are drawn into the blaze. The circle of inflowing air is gradually enlarged, until it is scarcely perceived in the remote parts of the room. Now, the land is the hearth; the rays of the sun the fire; and the sea, with its cool and calm air, the room; and thus have we at our firesides the sea breeze in miniature.

When the sun goes down the fire ceases; then the dry land commences to give off its surplus⑦ heat by radiation, so that by dew-fall it and the air above it are cooled below the sea temperature. The atmosphere on the land thus becomes heavier than that on the sea, and, consequently, there is a wind sea-ward, which we call the land breeze.

—MAURY

WORDS

alternation, interchange; succession.

atmosphere, air.

catalogue, list; enumeration.

charactor, nature.

commences, begins.

communication, intercourse.

delightful, delicious.

developed, exhibited.

disarrange, ruffle.

dissipated, driven off.

furiously, violently; vehemently.

impatience, eagerness.

intensity, power.

interrupted, suspended.

invariably, uniformly.

invigorating, strengthening.

mitigated, softened.

oppressive, overpowering.

population, inhabitants.

regularity, punctuality.

requisite, necessary.

reverberating, echoing; resounding.

splendour, magnificence.

suggestive, significant; expressive.

transparency, clearness.

NOTES

① Tropical countries, countries between the tropics, or within the torrid zone. The tropics [Gr. trepo, I turn] are the parallels of latitude drawn through the points in the ecliptic at which the sun appears to turn in his course.

② Extra-tropical, immediately beyond the tropics, north or south.

③ Trade-winds, constant winds that blow in the tropical regions of the great oceans, especially of the Atlantic, where they are most regular. Currents of cold air are always flowing from the poles to the equator, to supply the place of the hot air which rises there from the surface of the globe. If the globe were at rest, these would be due north and south winds; but as the globe turns from west to east more quickly than the surrounding air, these lagging currents become a north-east and a south-east wind respectively. They are called "trade-winds" because of their great advantage to navigators in sailing from east to west.

④ Rarefaction, the distending or separating of the atoms of the atmosphere, which makes it lighter, and therefore causes it to rise. The air from the sea then rushes in to fill its place.

⑤ Valparaiso (Valpah-ri-so), "Vale of Paradise," the chief sea-port of Chili, on the west of South America.

⑥ Andes, the great mountain chain of South America. They "seem to draw near," because the clearness of the atmosphere makes them appear nearer.

⑦ Surplus, lit. overmuch; more than enough.

QUESTIONS

Where do the sea and the land breezes blow with the greatest regularity? When does the sea breeze set in? When does the land breeze? When do these breezes blow in extra-tropical countries? Where has the writer seen the sea breeze most powerfully developed? By what is it followed there? What is the character of these breezes within the tropics? What is their effect upon the climate? What is the cause of their alternation? Illustrate this by a fire on a hearth?

LESSON 21

THE RELIEF OF LEYDEN

A. D. 1574

The besieged city① was at its last gasp. The burghers had been in a state of uncertainty for many days; being aware that the fleet had set forth for their relief, but knowing full well the thousand obstacles which it had to surmount. They had guessed its progress by the illumination from the blazing villages; they had heard its salvos of artillery on its arrival at North Aa; but since then all had been dark and mournful again, hope and fear, in sickening alternation, distracting every breast. They knew that the wind was unfavourable, and at the dawn of each day every eye was turned wistfully to the vanes of the steeples. So long as the easterly breeze prevailed, they felt, as they anxiously stood on towers and house-tops, that they must look in vain for the welcome ocean.

Yet, while thus patiently waiting, they were literally starving; for even the misery endured at Haar'lem② had not reached that depth and intensity of agony to which Ley'den was now reduced. Bread, malt-cake, horse-flesh, had entirely disappeared; dogs, cats, rats and other vermin, were esteemed luxuries. A small number of cows, kept as long as possible for their milk, still remained; but a few were killed from day to day, and distributed in minute portions, hardly sufficient to support life, among the famishing population. Starving wretches swarmed daily around the shambles where these cattle were slaughtered, contending for any morsel which might fall, and lapping eagerly the blood as it ran along the pavement; while the hides, chopped and boiled, were greedily devoured.

Women and children, all day long, were seen searching gutters and dunghills for morsels of food, which they disputed fiercely with the famishing dogs. The green leaves were stripped from the trees, every living herb was converted into human food; but these expedients could not avert starvation. The daily mortality was frightful. Infants starved to death on the maternal breasts which famine had parched and withered; mothers dropped dead in the streets, with their dead children in their arms.

In many a house the watchmen, in their rounds, found a whole family of corpses—father, mother, children—side by side; for a disorder called "the Plague," naturally engendered of hardship and famine, now came, as if in kindness, to abridge the agony of the people. Pestilence stalked at noonday through the city, and the doomed inhabitants fell like grass beneath his scythe. From six thousand to eight thousand human beings sank before this scourge alone; yet the people resolutely held out, women and men mutually encouraging each other to resist the entrance of their foreign foe③—an evil more horrible than pest or famine.

Leyden was sublime in its despair. A few murmurs were, however, occasionally heard at the steadfastness of the magistrates; and a dead body was placed at the door of the burgomaster, as a silent witness against his inflexibility. A party of the more faint-hearted even assailed the heroic Adrian Vander Werf④ with threats and reproaches as he passed along the streets. A crowd had gathered around him as he reached a triangular place in the centre of the town, into which many of the principal streets emptied themselves, and upon one side of which stood the church of St. Pancras.

There stood the burgomaster, a tall, haggard, imposing figure, with dark visage and a tranquil but commanding eye. He waved his broad-leaved felt hat for silence, and then exclaimed, in language which has been almost literally preserved, "What would ye, my friends? Why do ye murmur that we do not break our vows and surrender the city to the Spaniards?—a fate more horrible than the agony which she now endures. I tell you I have made an oath to hold the city; and may God give me strength to keep my oath! I can die but once, whether by your hands, the enemy's, or by the hand of God. My own fate is indifferent to me; not so that of the city intrusted to my care. I know that we shall starve if not soon relieved; but starvation is preferable to the dishonoured death which is the only alternative. Your menaces move me not. My life is at your disposal. Here is my sword; plunge it into my breast, and divide my flesh among you. Take my body to appease your hunger, but expect no surrender so long as I remain alive."……

On the 28th of September a dove flew into the city, bringing a letter from Admiral Boisot.⑤ In this despatch the position of the fleet at North Aa was described in encouraging terms, and the inhabitants were assured that, in a very few days at furthest, the long-expected relief would enter their gates.

The tempest came to their relief. A violent equinoctial gale, on the night of the 1st and 2nd of October, came storming from the north-west, shifting after a few hours fully eight points, and then blowing still more violently from the southwest. The waters of the North Sea were piled in vast masses upon the southern coast of Holland, and then dashed furiously landward, the ocean rising over the earth and sweeping with unrestrained power across the ruined dikes. In the course of twenty-four hours the fleet at North Aa, instead of nine inches, had more than two feet of water……

On it went, sweeping over the broad waters. As they approached some shallows which led into the great Mere, the Zeelanders dashed into the sea, and with sheer strength shouldered every vessel through!

It was resolved that a sortie, in conjunction with the operations of Boisot, should be made against Lam'men⑥ with the earliest dawn. Night descended upon the scene—a pitch-dark night, full of anxiety to the Spaniards, to the Arma'da, to Leyden. Strange sights and sounds occurred at different moments to bewilder the anxious sentinels. A long procession of lights issuing from the fort was seen to flit across the black face of the waters, in the dead of night; and the whole of the city wall between the Cowgate and the town of Burgundy fell with a loud crash. The horror-struck citizens thought that the Spaniards were upon them at last; the Spaniards imagined the noise to indicate a desperate sortie of the citizens. Everything was vague and mysterious.

Day dawned at length after the feverish night, and the admiral prepared for the assault. Within the fortress reigned a death-like stillness, which inspired a sickening suspicion. Had the city indeed been carried in the night? had the massacre already commenced? had all this labour and audacity been expended in vain?

Suddenly a man was descried wading breast-high through the water from Lammen towards the fleet, while at the same time one solitary boy was seen to wave his cap from the summit of the fort. After a moment of doubt, the happy mystery was solved. The Spaniards had fled panic-struck during the darkness. Their position would still have enabled them, with firmness, to frustrate the enterprise of the patriots; but the hand of God, which had sent the ocean and the tempest to the deliverance of Leyden, had struck her enemies with terror likewise.

The lights which had been seen moving during the night were the lanterns of the retreating Spaniards; and the boy who was now waving his triumphant signal from the battlements had alone witnessed the spectacle. So confident was he in the conclusion to which it led him, that he had volunteered at daybreak to go thither alone.

The magistrates, fearing a trap, hesitated for a moment to believe the truth, which soon, however, became quite evident. Val'dez,⑦ flying himself from Ley'derdorp, had ordered Colonel Borgia to retire with all his troops from Lammen.

Thus the Spaniards had retreated at the very moment that an extraordinary accident had laid bare a whole side of the city for their entrance! The noise of the wall as it fell only inspired them with fresh alarm; for they believed that the citizens had sallied forth in the darkness to aid the advancing flood in the work of destruction.

All obstacles being now removed, the fleet of Boisot swept by Lammen, and entered the city on the morning of the 3rd of October. Leyden was relieved!⑧

—J. L. MOTLEY

WORDS

appease, satisfy.

audacity, daring.

bewilder, perplex.

conjunction, combination.

deliverance, relief.

disputed, contended for.

distracting, tormenting.

distributed, dispensed.

engendered, produced.

extraordinary, remarkable.

furiously, violently.

imagined, fancied.

indifferent, immaterial.

inflexibility, pertinacity.

inspired, suggested.

intensity, extremity.

massacre, butchery.

mortality, death-rate.

mysterious, incomprehensible.

obstacles, hindrances.

occurred, happened.

panic-struck, terrified.

preferable, more to be wished.

spectacle, sight.

summit, highest point.

surmount, overcome.

tranquil, calm.

uncertainty, doubt.

unrestrained, unchecked.

wistfully, longingly.

NOTES

① The besieged city.—Leyden, now a flourishing manufacturing town of South Holland. It was besieged by the Spaniards when they tried to subdue the Netherlands under their yoke. The siege began on 31st October 1573, and ended on 3rd October 1574. It was relieved by the dikes being cut, and the sea let in on the Spanish works. Fifteen hundred Spaniards were slain or drowned.

② At Haarlem.—"Frederick, the son of Alva, starved the little garrison of Haarlem (20 miles north of Leyden)into a surrender (1573); and then, enraged at the gallant defence they had made, butchered them without mercy. When the executioners were worn out with their bloody work, he tied the three hundred citizens that remained back to back, and flung them into the sea."—COLLIER'S Great Events of History.

③ Foreign foe, the Spaniards.

④ Adrian Van der Werf, the burgomaster, or chief magistrate of Leyden.

⑤ Admiral Boisot, the commander oi the Dutch fleet.

⑥ Lammen, a fort occupied by the Spaniards, which formed the sole remaining obstacle between the fleet and the city. It swarmed with soldiers, and bristled with cannon; and so serious an impediment did Boisot consider it, that he wrote that very night in desponding terms regarding it to the Prince of Orange.

⑦ Valdez, the Spanish commander. His head-quarters were at Ley'derdorp, a mile and a half to the right of Lammen.

⑧ Leyden was relieved.—The University of Leyden was erected as a memorial of this gallant defence and happy deliverance. The relief of Leyden was a fatal blow to Spanish power in the Netherlands.

QUESTIONS

What means did the burghers of Leyden know were being taken to relieve them? What was unfavourable to the advance of the fleet? In what condition were the citizens at this time? What added its horrors to those of famine? Whom did some of the faint-hearted assail? How did he address the people? What news arrived on the 28th of September? What at last came to their relief? What did the citizens resolve upon, on the night of the 2nd October? What strange sight occurred during the night? What strange sound was heard? By what was it caused? What had the Spaniards supposed it to be? What were the lights which had been seen moving? Who was the only occupant of Lammen visible in the morning? When was Leyden relieved?

LESSON 22

THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS

KING FRANCIS was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport; and one day, as his lions fought, sat looking on the court. The nobles filled the benches round, the ladies by their side; and amongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he sighed: and truly it was a gallant thing to see that crowning show—valour and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below.

Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws. They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their paws. With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled on one another, till all the pit with sand and mane was in a thunderous smother. The bloody foam above the bars came whizzing through the air; said Francis then, "Truth, gentlemen, we are better here than there!"

De Lorge's love o'erheard the king—a beauteous lively dame, with smiling lips and sharp bright eyes, which always seemed the same. She thought, "The count, my lover, is as brave as brave can be: he surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me. —King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine! I'll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine!"

She dropped her glove to prove his love, then looked at him and smiled: he bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild. The leap was quick, return was quick; he had regained his place: then threw the glove—but not with love—right in the lady's face!

"In truth," cried Francis, "rightly done:" and he rose from where he sat. "Not love," quoth he, "but vanity, sets love a task like that!"

—LEIGH HUNT

WORDS

beauteous, lovely.

divine, heavenly.

gallant, splendid.

hearty, jovial.

moment, instant.

occasion, opportunity.

quoth, said.

ramped, bounded.

regained, resumed.

stifled, smothered.

thunderous, noisy.

valour, bravery.

vanity, idle show.

wallowing, floundering.

wondrous, astonishing.

DESPISED OLD AGE

I HAVE lived long enough: my way of life

Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf;

And that which should accompany old age,

As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends,

I must not look to have; but in their stead,

Curses, not loud, but deep,—mouth-honour, breath,

Which the poor heart would fain deny, but dare not.

—SHAKESPEARE

LESSON 23

THE POLAR WORLD (I)

LET us imagine ourselves elevated above the region of the North Pole to a height sufficient to enable us to take in at one view the whole Arctic Circle. What we should see immediately beneath us can now be certainly affirmed. It would be the open Polar Sea discovered by Dr. Hayes of Kane's Expedition, in 1853. The view adopted by most geographers has been found correct, and there rolls around the Pole a sea about twelve hundred miles in breadth, abounding in animal life, and kept free from ice during a great part of the year by the influence of equatorial waters, which reach it by way of Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. But beyond this unexplored region we should see three distinct zones, forming what are called the Arctic Regions,—an icy barrier, treeless wastes, and vast forests.

The belt of ice which girdles the Polar Sea and the Pole itself has been the scene of many a deadly struggle between man and the frost-king, who reigns supreme in these inhospitable regions. To force a passage across or through this barrier has been the life-dream of many a heroic explorer; and hundreds of brave men, from the 17th century onwards, have perished in making the attempt. On September 6, 1909, the memorable announcement was made to the world by Commander Peary of the United States Navy that five months previously, on April 6th, he had "nailed the Stars and Stripes to the Pole." So intense is the cold within the whole Arctic Circle, and in the interior of Asia and America even beyond it, that, the average winter temperature ranges from 50°to 60°below the freezing point of water, and during a great part of the year converts mercury into a solid body.① But at the remote points to which man has penetrated in the northern ice-zone the spirit-thermometer has been known to fall as low as 90°, and even 100°, below the point at which water freezes! It may well be asked how man is able to bear these excessively low temperatures, which must seem appalling to an inhabitant of the temperate zone. But thick fur clothing; a hut small and low, where the warmth of a stove, or simply of an oil-lamp, is husbanded in a narrow space; above all, the wonderful power of the human constitution to adapt itself to every change of climate, go far to counteract the rigour of the cold.

The treeless zone, called "the barren-grounds," or simply "the barrens," extends southward from the ice-bound shores of the polar seas, and gradually merges into the forest-region, where it is encircled by a garland of evergreen. The want of trees in this region is caused not so much by its high northern latitude as by the cold sea-winds which sweep unchecked over the islands and the flat coast-lands of the Polar Ocean, and for miles and miles compel even the hardiest plant to crouch before the blast and creep along the ground. Nothing can be more melancholy than the aspect of the boundless morasses or arid wastes of the barrens of Siberia. Dingy mosses and gray lichens form the chief vegetation; and a few scanty grasses and dwarfish flowers that may have found a refuge in some more sheltered spot are not sufficient to relieve the dull monotony of the scene.

THE DESKET OF ICE

In winter, when animal life has mostly retreated to the south, or sought a refuge in burrows and in caves, an awful silence, interrupted only by the hooting of a snow-owl or the yelping of a fox, reigns over this vast expanse; but in spring, when the brown earth reäppears from under the melted snow, and the swamps begin to thaw, enormous flights of wild-birds return to the scene, and enliven it for a few months. An admirable instinct leads those winged legions from distant climes to the Arctic wildernesses, where, in the morasses and lakes, on the banks of the rivers, on the flat strands, and along the fish-teeming coasts, they find abundance of food; and where, at the same time, they can with greater security build their nests and rear their young. Some remain on the skirts of the forest-region; others, flying farther northward, lay their eggs upon the naked wastes.

Eagles and hawks follow the traces of the swimming and strand-birds; troops of ptarmigans② roam among the stunted bushes; and when the sun shines, the finch or the snow-bunting warbles his merry note.

While thus the warmth of summer attracts hosts of migratory birds to the Arctic wildernesses, shoals of salmon and sturgeons enter the rivers, in obedience to the instinct that forces them to quit the seas and to swim up the streams, for the purpose of depositing their spawn in the tranquil sweet waters of the river or lake. About this time, also, the reindeer leaves the forests, to feed on the herbs and lichens of the barrens; and to seek along the shores, fanned by the cool sea-breeze, some protection against the attacks of the stinging flies that arise in myriads from the swamps.

Thus during several months the barrens presents an animate scene, in which man also plays his part. The birds of the air, the fishes of the water, the beasts of the earth, are all obliged to pay their tribute to his various wants—to appease his hunger, to clothe his body, or to gratify his greed of gain.

THE FOREST REGION OF THE NORTH

But as soon as the first frosts of September announce the approach of winter, all animals, with but few exceptions, hasten to leave a region where the sources of life must soon fail. The geese, ducks, and swans return in dense flocks to the south; the strand-birds seek in some lower latitude a softer soil which allows their sharp beaks to seize a burrowing prey; the waterfowl forsake the bays and channels that will soon be blocked up with ice; the reindeer once more return to the forest; and in a short time nothing is left that can induce man to prolong his stay in the treeless plain. Soon a thick mantle of snow covers the hardened earth, the frozen lake, the ice-bound river; and conceals them all—for seven, eight, nine months at a time—under its monotonous pall, except where the furious north-east wind sweeps it away and lays bare the naked rock.

This snow, which, after it has once fallen, persists until the long summer day has effectually thawed it, protects in an admirable manner the vegetation of the higher latitudes against the cold of the long winter season. Thanks to this protection, and to the influence of a sun which for three or four months together circles above the horizon,③ and in favourable localities calls forth the powers of vegetation in an incredibly short time, even Washington, Grinnell Land,④ and Spitzbergen are able to boast of flowers.

The Arctic forest-regions are of still greater extent than the vast treeless plains which they encircle. When we consider that they form an almost continuous belt, stretching across three fourths of the world, in a breadth of from one thousand to fourteen hundred miles, even the woods of the Amazon, which cover a surface fifteen times greater than that of the British Isles, shrink into comparative insignificance. Unlike the tropical forests, which are characterized by an endless variety of trees, these northern woods are almost entirely composed of cone-beares, and one single kind of fir or pine often covers an immense extent of ground.

Another peculiarity of these forests is their apparent youth. This is sufficiently explained by the shortness of the summer, which, though able to bring forth new shoots, does not last long enough for the formation of wood. Hence the growth of trees becomes slower and slower the farther north they are found.

A third distinctive feature of the Arctic forests is their harmless character. There the traveller finds no poisonous plants; even thorns and prickles are rare. No venomous snake glides through the thicket, no crocodile lurks in the swamp. Even their beasts of prey—the bear, the lynx, the wolf—are less dangerous and blood-thirsty than the dreaded monsters of the torrid zone.

WORDS

abundance, plenty.

announce, intimate.

appease, assuage.

burrowing, mining.

converts, transforms.

counteract, check.

depositing, placing.

distinctive, characteristic.

effectually, thoroughly.

elevated, raised.

enormous, vast.

excessively, extremely.

geographers, writers on geography.

incredibly, not to be believed.

inhospitable, unfriendly.

insignificance, unimportance.

interrupted, broken.

latitude, distance from the equator.

localities, districts.

melancholy, saddening.

migratory, wandering.

morasses, marshes.

penetrated, advanced.

persists, lasts.

unexplored, not searched.

venomous, poisonous.

NOTES

① Mercury into a solid body.—The fact that mercury freezes at 39° below zero, makes spirit thermometers preferable for use in high latitudes. (See lesson on The Thermometer.)

② Ptarmigan, a bird of the grouse family, called, from the colour of its wings and breast, the white grouse. Its legs are feathered to the toes. It frequents lofty mountains, as those of Scandinavia and Scotland. It is not found in England.

③ Above the horizon.—During summer in the northern hemisphere there is around the North Pole—then leaning towards the sun—a region, varying in extent from day to day, within which, for many weeks together, the sun never sinks below the horizon. Then the polar regions enjoy perpetual day. During winter, in the same regions, the sun never rises above the horizon for many weeks together. Then these regions are subject to perpetual night.

④ Washington, Grinnell Land.—The former, the extreme north-west of Greenland, adjoining the open sea of Kane or Hayes; the latter west of the former, and separated from it by Kennedy Channel, a continuation of Baffin Bay.

QUESTIONS

Who discovered the North Pole? Who discovered the sea that rolls around it? What is its breadth? Name the three zones of the Arctic regions. Of what has the belt of ice been the scene? How far has man penetrated into it? What is the average winter temperature within the Arctic Circle? How low has the thermometer been known to fall in the extreme north? How is man able to bear these low temperatures? What is the treeless zone called? By what is the want of trees there caused? What forms the chief vegetation there? What causes its awful silence in winter? When do the birds return? What has attracted them? What birds of prey follow the seafowl? With what do the rivers at the same time swarm? What leads the reindeer to the sea-shore? What leads man also into that region in summer? When do the animals again migrate southward? Of what use is the snow in these high latitudes? Why is the sun's influence so great there in summer? What is the extent of the Arctic forest regions? Compare their extent with that of the woods of the Amazon. Wherein do they differ in character from tropical woods? How is their apparent youth accounted for? What is meant by their harmless character?

LESSON 24

THE BELLS

HEAR the sledges with the bells—silver bells!① What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, in the icy air of night! while the stars, that oversprinkle all the heavens, seem to twinkle with a crystalline delight; keeping time, time, time, in a sort of Runic rhyme,② to the tintinnabulation that so musically wells from the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, from the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

Hear the mellow wedding bells—golden bells!③ What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! Through the balmy air of night how they ring out their delight! From the molten-golden notes, and all in tune, what a liquid ditty floats to the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats on the moon! Oh, from out the sounding cells what a gush of euphony voluminously wells! How it swells, how it dwells on the future! How it tells of the rapture that impels to the swinging and the ringing of the bells, bells, bells, of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells—to the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!

Hear the loud alarum bells—brazen bells!④ What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells! In the startled ear of night how they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, they can only shriek, shriek, out of tune; in a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, in a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire, leaping higher, higher, higher, with a resolute endeavour now—now to sit or never, by the side of the pale-faced moon. Oh, the bells, bells, bells! what a tale their terror tells of despair! How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour on the bosom of the palpitating air! Yet the ear it fully knows, by the twanging and the clanging, how the danger ebbs and flows: yet the ear distinctly tells, in the jangling and the wrangling, how the danger sinks and swells, by the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells, of the bells, of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells—in the clamour and the clangour of the bells!

Hear the tolling of the bells—iron bells!⑤ What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! In the silence of the night how we shiver with affright at the melancholy menace of their tone; for every sound that floats from the rust within their throats is a groan. And the people—ah, the people—they that dwell up in the steeple all alone, and who, tolling, tolling, tolling, in that muffled monotone, feel a glory in so rolling on the human heart a stone—they are neither man nor woman—they are neither brute nor human—they are Ghouls!⑥ And their king it is who tolls; and he rolls, rolls, rolls, rolls a pæan from the bells! And his merry bosom swells with the pæan of the bells! And he dances and he yells; keeping time, time, time, in a sort of Runic rhyme, to the pæan of the bells—of the bells: keeping time, time, time, in a sort of Runic rhyme, to the throbbing of the bells—of the bells, bells, bells—to the sobbing of the bells; keeping time, time, time, as he knells, knells, knells, in a happy Runic rhyme, to the rolling of the bells—of the bells, bells, bells—to the tolling of the bells, of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells—to the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

—EDGAR ALLAN POE

WORDS

alärum, warning.

clamorous, vociferous.

clangour, harshness.

crystalline, clear sparkling.

endeavour, attempt.

euphony, pleasant sound.

expostulation, remonstrance.

frantic, furious.

harmony, musical concord.

horrified, terrified.

mellow, rich.

melody, sweet sound.

menace, threat.

merriment, rejoicing.

monody, lament.

monotone, unvaried sound.

pæan, song of triumph.

palpitating, throbbing.

rapture, delight.

tintinnabulation, tinkling.

turbulency, tumult.

voluminously, copiously.

wrangling, jangling.

NOTES

① Silver bells.—It is the purpose of the poem not only to describe, but also to imitate the characters of the different bells referred to. The verse is thus made to echo the various sounds successively. The silver sledge bells heard in the frosty air have a sharp and clear tinkling sound, suggestive of merriment.

② Runic rhyme.—Runes , the name of the peculiar characters of the old Teutonic and Scandinavian alphabets, is also applied to Gothic verses or rhymes. Their peculiarity is, that the lines are very short, so that the rhymes—whether head-rhyme (alliteration)or tail-rhyme—follow one another in quick succession, like the peals of bells. This is what is meant by Runic rhyme,—words which are themselves an example of alliteration.

③ Golden bells.—The mellow wedding bells express present rapture, and foretell a world of happiness. The sledge bells make melody—that is, a succession of sweet sounds; but the wedding bells make harmony, or the sweet agreement of different notes sounded together,—a "concord of sweet sounds."

④ Brazen bells.—These are the bells that startle the sleepers in the night with the alarm of fire. Their tale of terror is screamed out in a wildly clamorous clash and roar; and this is well imitated in the turbulency of the verse.

⑤ Iron bells.—This is the "passing bell," or knell, tolled at the hour of death, or immediately thereafter. Its character is that of a monody, or song of lamentation—solemn and mournful.

⑥ Ghouls (gools ), demons in Eastern fable, who were supposed to prey upon human bodies.

LESSON 25

THE POLAR WORLD (II)

THOUGH nature generally wears a more stern and forbidding aspect on advancing towards the Pole, yet the high latitudes have many beauties of their own. Nothing can exceed the magnificence of an Arctic sunset, clothing the snow-clad mountains and the skies with all the glories of colour; or be more serenely beautiful than the clear star-lit night, illumined by the brilliant moon, which for days continually circles around the horizon, never setting until she has run her long course of brightness. The uniform whiteness of the landscape and the general transparency of the atmosphere add to the lustre of her beams, which serve to guide the natives in their nomadic life, and to lead them to their hunting-grounds.

A number of icebergs floating in the sea—a familiar scene in polar regions—is one of the most magnificent spectacles in nature. But the wonderful beauty of these crystal cliffs never appears to greater advantage than when clothed by the midnight sun① with all the splendid colours of twilight. In the distance, they seem like masses of burnished metal or solid flame. Nearer at hand, they are like huge blocks of purest marble inlaid with pearl and opal gems. Thousands of sparkling little cascades leap into the sea from their sides, the water being discharged from lakes of melted snow and ice that repose in the quietude of their valleys.

But of all the magnificent spectacles that relieve the monotonous gloom of the Arctic winter, there is none to equal the magical beauty of the Aurora.② Night covers the snow-clad earth; the stars glimmer feebly through the haze which so frequently dims their brilliancy in the high latitudes, when suddenly a broad and clear bow of light spans the horizon in the direction where it is traversed by the magnetic meridian.③This bow sometimes remains for several hours, heaving or waving to and fro, before it sends forth streams of light toward the zenith. Sometimes these flashes proceed from the bow of light alone; at others they simultaneously shoot forth from many oppsite parts of the horizon, and form a vast sea of fire, whose brilliant waves are continually changing their position. Finally they all unite in a magnificent crown or cupola of light, with the appearance of which the phenomenon attains its highest degree of splendour.

The brilliancy of the streams, which are commonly red at their base, green in the middle, and light yellow towards the zenith, increases, and at the same time they dart with greater vivacity athwart the skies. The colours are wonderfully transparent; the red approaching to a clear blood-red, the green to a pale emerald tint. On turning from the flaming firmament to the earth, this also is seen to glow with a magical light. The dark sea, black as jet, forms a striking contrast to the white snow plain or the distant ice mountain: all the outlines tremble as if they belonged to the unreal world of dreams. The imposing silence of the night heightens the charms of the magnificent spectacle.

But gradually the crown fades; the bow of light dissolves; the streams become shorter, less frequent, and less vivid; and finally the gloom of winter once more descends upon the northern desert.

In these desolate regions, which are winter-bound during the greater part of the year, man, elsewhere the lord of the Earth, plays but an insignificant part. He is generally a mere wanderer over its surface—a hunter, a fisherman, a herdsman. A few small settlements, separated by vast deserts, give proof of his having made some weak attempts to establish a footing.

In the absence of manufactures and agriculture, man is entirely dependent on the lower animals for the means of subsistence. They constitute his wealth, and occupy all his care. They yield him food and clothing, and materials for shelter and for fashioning his rude implements and weapons. The defence with which nature has furnished them against the rigours of the climate, forms the very attraction which exposes them to the attacks of man. The rich furs yielded by the bear, the fox, the sable, the ermine, the lynx, the sea-otter, the seal, and many other Arctic animals, are valuable articles of commerce; and are, indeed, the only means by which the nomads of Siberia and the Esquimaux of North America can procure the foreign articles they require. The pursuit of the whale, the walrus, and the dolphin, the shark-fisheries of Greenland, the cod-fisheries of Greenland and Norway, and the eider-down④ trade of Iceland, complete the list of the mercantile resources of these regions.

The most useful, however, of all the Arctic animals is the reindeer. Indeed it is as indispensable to the Laplander, the Siberian, and the Esquimaux, as the camel is to the Bedouin, or the mule to the Peruvian,⑤ or as the cocoa-nut palm—the tree of a hundred uses—is to the islanders of the Indian Ocean. Living and dead, he renders to the busy Lapp all the services which it requires three or four animals—the horse, the cow, and the sheep or the goat—to render to the inhabitants of temperate climes. He is tractable and easily tamed. He even saves his master the trouble of providing him with food. For the most remarkable circumstance about him is the unerring instinct with which he discovers his favourite moss, even when the snow covers it to the depth of several feet. As the camel is the "ship" of the ocean of sand, so assuredly is the reindeer the camel of the desert of snow!

The Antarctic regions are far more desolate than the Arctic. There no energetic hunters like the Esquimaux chase the seal or the walrus; no patient herdsmen like the Lapps follow their reindeer to the brink of the icy ocean: all is one dreary, cheerless waste, uninhabited and uninhabitable, except by migratory birds,—the petrel, the albatross, the penguin. No plant of any description is found on any part of the Antarctic continent; no land quadruped lives there; everywhere the snow-line descends to the water's edge.

Certainly the grandest feature which nature presents in these regions is the Parry mountain-chain, about 1700 miles south of New Zealand. The most conspicuous object of the chain is Mount Erebus,⑥ an active volcano, of which Sir James Ross—the greatest of Antarctic explorers—had the good fortune to witness a magnificent eruption in 1841. The enormous column of flame and smoke rising 2000 feet above the mouth of the crater. which is elevated 12, 400 feet above the level of the sea, together with the snow-white mountain-chain and the deep blue ocean, formed a magnificent scene. The South Pole was first reached on December 10, 1911, by a Norwegian expedition under Captain Amundsen, which was favoured in crossing the ice by exceptionally good weather. Little more than a month later it was also reached under the most adverse conditions by Captain Scott, who perished on the return journey.

MOUNT EREBUS

WORDS

brilliancy, brightness.

burnished, polished.

column, pillar.

conspicuous, prominent.

continent, a large portion of land.

crystal, glass-like.

emerald, green.

energetic, vigorous.

firmament, heavens.

implements, tools.

imposing, striking.

indispensable, essential.

magnificence, grandeur.

mercantile, commercial.

phenomenon, appearance.

resources, means.

serenely, calmly.

simultaneously, at one time.

spectacles, sights.

subsistence, sustenance.

transparency, clearness.

unerring, never-failing.

NOTES

① Midnight sun.—Though at his lowest point in the heavens, he is still above the horizon.

② The Aurora—that is, the Aurora Borealis, popularly called the Northern Lights. Aurora is the Latin word for "dawn," or "daybreak;" when personified this became the goddess of the morning. It was formerly believed that the aurora had its origin outside of the atmosphere of the Earth. It is now known to be caused by electric discharges in the upper regions of the atmosphere.

③ The magnetic meridian—a great circle passing through the spectator's standpoint and the magnetic pole of the Earth, or a corresponding circle in the heavens. The magnetic pole, to which the magnet points, is not the same as the geographical North Pole, but it is near it.

④ Eider-down—the valuable down or soft breast-feathers of the eider-duck. Its collection is attended with great cruelty. The bird lines her nest with the down from her own breast, and lays her eggs in it. The collectors rob the nest of its contents. She lines it again, and lays more eggs. She is again robbed. When her own down is exhausted she calls her mate to her assistance, and he willingly bares his breast to supply the deficiency. If this be repeated oftener than three or four times, however, the birds are apt to abandon the spot and build elsewhere.

⑤ The mule to the Peruvian.—On the sandy waste of the coast of Peru, the mule is truly "the ship of the desert." It is able to bear both hunger and thirst, and all the fatigues of a prolonged journey over the sand, much longer than the horse.

⑥ Mount Erebus.—This mountain was named after the ship commanded by Sir James Ross in his expedition in 1841. An extinct volcano to the east of Mount Erebus was called Mount Terror, after the companion ship commanded by Francis Crozier, who afterwards perished with Franklin in the Arctic Sea.

QUESTIONS

What are the most striking aspects of nature in the Arctic regions? Where are icebergs seen to greatest advantage? Which is the most magnificent of Arctic phenomena? Where is it seen? How does it begin? What does the bow afterwards send forth? When does the phenomenon attain its highest splendour? Of what colours are the streams? What heightens the charms of the spectacle? What part does man play in those regions? On what is he solely dependent for sustenance? What animals yield valuable furs? Mention the other mercantile resources of the Arcticregions. What animal is most useful to man there? What is the most remarkable circumstance about the reindeer? What is the character of the Antarctic regions? What birds are seen there? Of what are these regions entirely destitute? What is their grandest feature? What is the highest summit of the chain called? After what? When was a grand eruption of itseen? By whom? Who discovered the South Pole?

LESSON 26

THE BURNING OF MOSCOW

A. D. 1812

WHEN Napoleon first came within sight of Moscow,① with its domes, and towers, and palaces, he gazed long and thoughtfully on that goal of his wishes. Murat was the first to enter the gates, with his splendid cavalry; but as he passed along the streets he was struck by the solitude that surrounded him. Nothing was heard but the heavy tramp of his squadrons: a deserted and abandoned city was the meagre prize for which such unparalleled efforts had been made.

As night drew its curtain over the splendid capital, Napoleon entered the gates, and immediately appointed Mortier governor. In his directions he commanded him to abstain from all pillage "For this," said he, "you shall be answerable with your life. Defend Moscow against all, whether friend or foe."

The bright moon rose over the mighty city, tipping with silver the domes of more than two hundred churches, and pouring a flood of light over a thousand palaces, and the dwellings of three hundred thousand inhabitants. The weary arm sank to rest; but there was no sleep for Mortier's eyes. Not the gorgeous and variegated palaces and their rich ornaments, nor the parks and gardens and Oriental magnificence that everywhere surrounded him, kept him wakeful, but the ominous forebodings that some dire calamity was hanging over the silent capital.

When he had entered it, scarcely a living soul met his gaze as he looked down the long streets; and when he broke open the buildings, he found salons, and parlours, and bed-rooms, all furnished and in order—but no occupants! This sudden abandonment of their homes betokened some secret purpose, yet to be fulfilled. The midnight moon was stealing over the city, when the cry of "Fire!" reached the ears of Mortier: the first light② over Napoleon's faltering empire was kindled, and that most wondrous scene of modern times commenced—THE BURNING OF MOSCOW.

Mortier, as governor of the city, immediately issued his orders, and was putting forth every exertion, when at daylight Napoleon hastened to him. Affecting to disbelieve the reports that the inhabitants were firing their own city, he put more rigid commands on Mortier to keep the soldiers from the work of destruction. The marshal simply pointed to some iron-covered houses that had not yet been opened, from every crevice of which smoke was issuing like steam from the sides of a pent-up volcano. Sad and thoughtful, Napoleon turned towards the Kremlin,③ the ancient palace of the Czars, whose huge structure rose high above the surrounding edifices.

In the morning, Mortier, by great exertions, was enabled to subdue the fire. But the next night, Sept. 15, at midnight, the sentinels on watch upon the lofty Kremlin saw below them the flames bursting through the houses and palaces, and the cry "Fire! fire!" again passed through the city. The dread scene was now fairly opened. Fiery balloons were seen dropping from the air and alighting on the houses; dull explosions were heard on every side from the shut-up dwellings: the next moment light burst forth from them, and the flames were raging through the apartments.

GENERAL VIEW OF MOSCOW

All was uproar and confusion. The serene air and moonlight of the night before had given way to driving clouds, and a wild tempest, like the roar of the sea, swept over the city. Flames arose on every side, blazing and crackling in the storm; white clouds of smoke and sparks in an incessant shower went driving towards the Kremlin. The clouds themselves seemed turned into fire, rolling wrath over devoted Moscow. Mortier, crushed with the responsibility thrown upon his shoulders, moved with his Young Guard amid this desolation, blowing up the houses and facing the tempest and the flames—struggling nobly to arrest the conflagration.

He hastened from place to place amid the ruins, his face blackened with smoke, and his hair and eyebrows singed with the fierce heat. At length the day dawned, and Mortier, who had strained every nerve for thirty-six hours, entered a palace and dropped down from fatigue. The manly form and stalwart arm that had so often carried death into the ranks of the enemy, at length gave way, and the gloomy marshal lay and panted in utter exhaustion. The night of tempest was succeeded by a day of fiery storm; and when night again enveloped the city, it was one broad flame, waving to and fro in the blast!

The wind had increased to a perfect hurricane, and shifted from quarter to quarter, as if on purpose to swell the sea of fire and extinguish the last hope. The fire was approaching the Kremlin: already the roar of the flames, the crash of falling houses, and the crackling of burning timbers, were borne to the ears of the startled Emperor. He arose and walked to and fro, stopping convulsively and gazing on the terrific scene. Murat and others of his marshals rushed into his presence, and on their knees besought him to flee; but he still clung to that haughty palace, as if it were his empire.

At length the shout, "The Kremlin is on fire!" was heard above the roar of the conflagration, and Napoleon reluctantly consented to leave. He descended into the streets with his staff, and looked about for a way of egress, but the flames blocked every passage. At length they discovered a postern gate leading to the Moskwa,④ and passed through it; but they had entered still further into the danger.

As Napoleon cast his eye round the open space, girdled and arched with fire, smoke, and cinders, he saw one single street yet open, but all on fire. Into this he rushed, and amid the crash of falling houses and the raging of the flames, over burning ruins, through clouds of rolling smoke, and between walls of fire, he pressed on. At length, half suffocated, he emerged in safety from the blazing city, and took up his quarters in the imperial palace of Petrowsky, nearly three miles distant.

Mortier, relieved from his anxiety for the Emperor, redoubled his efforts to arrest the conflagration. His men cheerfully rushed into every danger. Breathing nothing but smoke and ashes—canopied by flame and smoke and cinders—surrounded by walls of fire that rocked to and fro, and fell with a crash amid the blazing ruins, carrying down with them roofs of red-hot iron—he struggled against an enemy that no boldness could awe or courage overcome.

Those brave troops had heard the tramp of thousands of cavalry sweeping to battle, without fear; but now they stood instill terror before the march of the conflagration, under whose burning footsteps was heard the incessant noise of falling houses and palaces and churches. The continuous roar of the raging hurricane, mingled with that of the flames, was more terrible than the thunder of artillery; and before this new foe, in the midst of this battle of the elements, the awe-struck army stood powerless and affrighted.

When night again descended on the city, it presented a spectacle the like of which had never been seen before, and which baffles all description. The streets were streets of fire; the heavens a canopy of fire; and the entire body of the city amass of fire, fed by a hurricane that sped the blazing fragments in a constant stream through the air. Incessant explosions, from the blowing up of stores of oil and tar and spirits, shook the very foundations of the city, and sent vast volumes of smoke rolling furiously toward the sky. Huge sheets of canvas on fire came floating, like messengers of death, through the flames; the towers and domes of the churches and palaces, glowing with red-heat over the wild sea below, then tottering a moment on their bases, were hurled by the tempest into the common ruin.

Thousands of wretches, before unseen, were driven by the heat from the cellars and hovels, and streamed in an incessant throng along the streets. Children were seen carrying their parents, the strong the weak; while thousands more were staggering under loads of plunder which they had snatched from the flames. These, too, would frequently take fire in the falling shower, and the miserable creatures would be compelled to drop them and flee for their lives. Oh, it was a scene of woe and fear inconceivable and indescribable! A mighty and closelypacked city of houses and churches and palaces, wrapped from limit to limit in flames, which are fed by a whirling hurricane, is a sight this world has seldom seen.

But this was within the city. To Napoleon without, the spectacle was still more sublime and terrific. When the flames had overcome all obstacles, and had wrapped everything in their red mantle, that great city looked like a sea of rolling fire, swept by a tempest that drove it into billows. Huge domes and towers, throwing off sparks like blazing firebrands, now disappeared in their maddening flow, as they rushed and broke high over their tops, scattering their spray of fire against the clouds. The heavens themselves seemed to have caught the conflagration, and the angry masses that swept it rolled over a bosom of fire.

Columns of flame would rise and sink along the surface of this sea, and huge volumes of black smoke suddenly shoot into the air, as if volcanoes were working below. The black form of the Kremlin alone towered above the chaos—now wrapped inflame and smoke—again emerging into view—standing amid this scene of desolation and terror, like Virtue in the midst of a burning world, enveloped but unscathed by the devouring element. Napoleon stood and gazed on the scene in silent awe. Though nearly three miles distant, the windows and walls of his apartment were so hot that he could scarcely bear his hand against them. Said he, years afterwards,—

"It was the spectacle of a sea and billows of fire, a sky and clouds of flame; mountains of red rolling flames, like immense waves of the sea, alternately bursting forth and elevating themselves to the skies of flame above. Oh! it was the most grand, the most sublime, the most terrific sight the world ever beheld!"

—J. T. HEADLEY

WORDS

abstain, refrain.

apartment, room.

baffles, defies.

betokened, foretold.

canopied, over-arched.

conflagration, burning.

convulsively, spasmodically.

devoted, doomed.

discovered, found.

elevating, raising.

enveloped, enshrouded.

exertion, effort.

explosions, reports.

faltering, tottering.

fatigue, exhaustion.

firebrands, fagots.

forebodings, portents.

hovels, cellars.

hurricane, tempest.

indescribable, beyond the power of words.

issuing, emerging.

occupants, inhabitants.

ominous, inauspicious.

pillage, plunder.

relieved, delivered.

reluctantly, unwillingly.

rigid, strict.

sentinels, watchmen.

solitude, loneliness.

staggering, reeling.

suffocated, choked.

surface, bosom.

unparalleled, unequalled.

unscathed, unharmed.

volcano, burning mountain.

NOTES

① MOSCOW.—Napoleon, having humbled Austria and Prussia, resolved to strike a terrible blow at Russia, because she refused to join him in the plan he had devised for the ruin of English commerce. In 1812 he led into that country an army of 500,000 men,—a larger army, it is said, than, up till that time, had ever been led into the field by a single general. After gaining several victories, he advanced to Moscow in September. What took place there is described in the lesson. The severity of winter compelled him to begin a precipitate retreat, during which his grand army was all but totally destroyed.

② The first light, &c.—The failure of the Russian campaign was Napoleon's first great reverse, and led directly to his fall. It proved to Europe that he was vulnerable, and stirred up Prussia and Austria to make the stupendous effort which enabled them to throw off his yoke. The combined Russians, Prussians, and Austrians defeated him at Leipsic in 1813.

③ The Kremlin, the imperial palace at Moscow; built about 1376, burned down in 1812, and rebuilt in 1816.

④ The Moskwa, the river on which Moscow stands. It is a tributary of the Oka, as that is of the Volga.

QUESTIONS

What struck Murat as strange when he entered Moscow? What directions did Napoleon give to Mortier? What kept the latter wakeful that night? From what did he infer some secret purpose, to be fulfilled? What cry reached him at midnight? What commands did Napoleon give him when he went to him at daylight? How did Mortier answer him? By what means was the fire spread the next night? What increased its fury? To what place did Napoleon cling? What danger had he to encounter before he escaped from the city? What means did Mortier adopt to try to arrest the progress of the fire? What was the aspect of the city on the third night? Who then thronged the streets? Where did they come from? From what point was the spectacle most sublime? What building alone towered above the chaos? What did Napoleon say of the scene, years afterwards?

LESSON 27

THE RETREAT OF THE FRENCH ARMY FROM MOSCOW

MAGNIFICENCE of ruin! what has Time,

In all it ever gazed upon of war,

Of the wild rage of storm, or deadly clime,

Seen, with that battle's vengeance to compare?

How glorious shone the invaders' pomp afar!

Like pampered lions from the spoil they came:

The land before them silence and despair,

The land behind them massacre and flame.

Blood will have tenfold blood! What are they now? —A name.

Homeward by hundred thousands, column deep,

Broad square, loose squadron, rolling like the flood,

When mighty torrents from their channels leap,

Rushed through the land the haughty multitude,

Billow on endless billow: on through wood,

O'er rugged hill, down sunless, marshy vale,

The death-devoted moved, to clangour rude

Of drum and horn, and dissonant clash of mail.

Glancing disastrous light before that sunbeam pale.

Again they reached thee, Borodino!① Still

Upon the loaded soil the carnage lay,

The human harvest, now stark, stiff, and chill;

Friend, foe, stretched thick together, clay to clay.

In vain the startled legions burst away—

The land was all one naked sepulchre:

The shrinking eye still glanced on grim Decay;

Still did the hoof and heel their passage tear

Through cloven helms and arms, and corses mouldering drear.

The field was as they left it; fosse and fort

Streaming with slaughter still, but desolate—

The cannon flung dismantled by its port:

Each knew the mound, the black ravine whose strait

Was won and lost, and thronged with dead, till Fate

Had fixed upon the victor—half undone.

There was the hill from which their eyes elate

Had seen the burst of Moscow's golden zone:

But Death was at their heels—they shuddered and rushed on.

The hour of vengeance strikes! Hark to the gale,

As it bursts hollow through the rolling clouds,

That from the North in sullen grandeur sail

Like floating Alps. Advancing darkness broods

Upon the wild horizon; and the woods,

Now sinking into brambles, echo shrill,

As the gust sweeps them; and those upper floods

Shoot on their leafless boughs the sleet-drops chill,

That on the hurrying crowds in freezing showers distil.

They reach the wilderness! The majesty

Of solitude is spread before their gaze, —

Stern nakedness—dark earth and wrathful sky;

If ruins were there, they long had ceased to blaze;

If blood was shed, the ground no more betrays,

E'en by a skeleton, the crime of man:

Behind them rolls the deep and drenching haze,

Wrapping their rear in night; before their van

The struggling daylight shows the unmeasured desert wan.

Still on they sweep, as if their hurrying march

Could bear them from the rushing of His wheel

Whose chariot is the whirlwind. Heaven's clear arch

At once is covered with a livid veil:

In mixed and fighting heaps the deep clouds reel:

Upon the dense horizon hangs the sun,

In sanguine light, an orb of burning steel:

The snows wheel down through twilight, thick and dun.

Now tremble, men of blood—the judgment has begun!

The trumpet of the northern winds has blown,

And it is answered by the dying roar

Of armies on that boundless field o'erthrown.

Now in the awful gusts the desert hoar

Is tempested—a sea without a shore,

Lifting its feathery waves! The legions fly; —

Volley on volley down the hailstones pour:

Blind, famished, frozen, mad, the wanderers die;

And, dying, hear the storm but wilder thunder by.

Such is the hand of Heaven! A human blow

Had crushed them in the fight, or flung the chain

Round them where Moscow's stately towers were low;

And all be stilled. But thou! thy battle-plain

Was a whole empire: that devoted train

Must war from day to day with storm and gloom

(Man following, like the wolves that rend the slain);

Must lie from night to night as in a tomb;

Must fly, toil, bleed for home—yet never see that home!

—CROLY

WORDS

brambles, prickly shrubs.

carnage, corpses.

clangour, clamour.

clime, climate.

disastrous, destructive.

dismantled, dismounted.

dissonant, discordant.

distil, diffuse.

drenching, soaking.

fosse, ditch.

grandeur, majesty.

judgment, doomsday.

livid, murky.

marshy, fenny.

massacre, butchery.

pampered, gorged.

ravine, gorge.

sanguine, blood-red.

sepulchre, burial-place.

stately, commanding.

tempested, agitated.

torrents, currents.

unmeasured, immense.

vengeance, revenge.

NOTES

① Borodino, a village on the Moskwa, above Moscow, where, on the 7th September, just a week before Moscow was entered, a bloody battle was fought between the French and the Russians. Both sides claimed the victory; but, as the Russians retired after the battle, the palm is usually assigned to the French.

LESSON 28

THE TEMPERATE REGIONS

THE North Temperate Zone is the work-shop of the world. In the Frigid and Torrid Zones nature is preeminent. She defeats human labour in the former, by her sterility; in the latter she makes it unnecessary, by her luxuriance. But the supremacy of Man is the leading characteristic of the temperate regions of the globe. They contain three-fourths of the whole human race. Within them civilization has been most highly developed; and there the great events of history have been enacted, both in ancient and in modern times.

This activity and movement are due in a great measure to the influences of climate. In temperate climes, says Guyot, "the alternations of heat and cold, the changes of the seasons, a fresher and more bracing air, incite man to a constant struggle, to forethought, and to the vigorous employment of all his faculties. A more economical nature yields nothing, except to the sweat of his brow; every gift on her part is a recompense for effort on his. Nature here, even while challenging man to the conflict, gives him the hope of victory; and if she does not show herself prodigal, she grants to his active and intelligent labour more than his necessities require. While she calls out his energy, she thus gives him ease and leisure, which permit him to cultivate all the lofty faculties of his higher nature. Here, physical nature is not a tyrant, but a useful helper: the active faculties, the understanding, and the reason, rule over the instincts and the passive faculties; the soul over the body; man over nature.

"In the frozen regions man also contends with nature, but it is with a niggardly and severe nature; it is a desperate struggle—a struggle for life. With difficulty, by force of toil, he succeeds in providing for himself a miserable support, which saves him from dying of hunger and hardship during the tedious winters of that climate. High culture is not possible under such unfavourable conditions."

The excessive heat of the Tropics, on the other hand, enfeebles man. It invites to repose and inaction. Not only in the vegetable world and in the lower animals is the power of life carried to its highest degree, —in tropical man, too, physical nature excels. There the life of the body overmasters that of the soul. The physical instincts eclipse the higher faculties; passion predominates over intellect and reason; the passive over the active faculties.

"A nature too rich, too prodigal of her gifts, does not compel man to wrest from her his daily bread by his daily toil. A regular climate, and the absence of a dormant season,① render forethought of little use to him. Nothing invites him to that struggle of intelligence against nature which raises the powers of man to their highest pitch. Thus he never dreams of resisting physical nature: he is conquered by her; he submits to the yoke, and becomes again the animal man, in proportion as he abandons himself to external influences, forgetful of his high moral destination."

While a temperate climate is thus most favourable for developing man's intellectual vigour and physical strength, it is also most suitable for those animal and vegetable products which are best adapted to meet the wants of the great mass of mankind. Thus the ox and the sheep—the ruminants most useful to man—are natives of the Temperate Zone, and are diffused very widely and in vast numbers over it. From his home in Central Asia, the horse—the indispensable ally of man in every kind of industry, in war as in peace, in his pleasures as in his toils—has spread round and round the globe. The feathered tribes, too, exist in such abundance in these regions as to form in some countries a staple article of food.

Turning now to the vegetable kingdom, we find the cornplants—the plants which are best adapted for the food of civilized man—scattered profusely over the Temperate Zone. It is only when man has settled down in a fixed abode, —when he has abandoned his nomadic life and become an agriculturist, attaching himself to a certain locality, —that it is possible for him to rear corn. Corn is not self-sustaining, self-diffusing, like the wild grass. Self-sown, it gradually dwindles away, and finally disappears. "It can only be reared permanently by being sown by man's own hand, and in ground which man's own hand has tilled."

Corn, therefore, a great German botanist has said, precedes all civilization. With it are connected rest, peace, and domestic happiness, of which the wandering savage knows nothing. In order to rear it, nations must take possession of certain lands; and when their existence is thus firmly established, improvements in manners and customs speedily follow. They are no longer inclined for bloody wars, but fight only to defend the fields from which they derive their support.

Corn is the food most convenient and most suitable for man in a social state. It is only by the careful cultivation of it that a country becomes capable of permanently supporting a dense population. All other kinds of food are precarious, and cannot be stored up for any length of time: roots and fruits are soon exhausted; the produce of the chase is uncertain, and if hard pressed ceases to yield a supply. In some countries the pith of the sago-palm,② the fruit of the bread-fruit tree,③ the root of the esculent fern, and similar food, supplied spontaneously by nature, serve to maintain a thinly scattered and easily satisfied population; but man in these rude circumstances is invariably found depraved in body and in mind, and hopelessly incapable of bettering his condition. But the cultivation of corn, while it furnishes him with a supply of food for the greater part of the year, imposes upon him certain labours and restraints which have a most beneficial influence upon his character and habits.

THE CORN FIELD

Such are the plants which form the characteristic vegetable product of temperate regions. Wheat, which will not thrive in hot climates, flourishes all over the Temperate Zone, at various ranges of elevation. Maize spreads over an immense geographical area in North America, as well as in Southern Europe. Barley is cultivated in those parts of Europe and Asia where the soil and climate are not adapted for wheat; while oats and rye extend far into the bleak North, and disappear only when we reach those desolate Arctic regions where man cannot exist in his social capacity. By such striking adaptations of different varieties of grain to gradations of climate and varieties of soil, does Providence furnish the food indispensable for the sustenance of the human race.

Again: what are the trees that are most useful to man in a high state of civilization? Unquestionably those yielding the largest supply of common timber. Now the chief fancy wood trees—those which form part of man's luxuries—belong to the Tropics; but the pines and hard-wood trees—those which minister to man's necessities—belong distinctively to the Temperate Zone. The inhabitant of that zone must send to Honduras for mahogany, to Brazil for rosewood, to make his finer furniture; but the pine, the ash, the oak, the elm, the beech—the timber used in building his houses and workshops, the wood used in fashioning his tools and carts and carriages, and in making his most complicated machinery—these he finds abundantly in his own woods. They are reared in the same climate, they breathe the same air as himself.

What is true of the vegetable world above the soil, is true also of the mineral world beneath it. All the metals most useful to man, both for domestic and for industrial purposes—iron, tin, copper, lead—are found in abundance within the temperate regions. Coal, too, without which the ores could not be profitably smelted or supplied in sufficient quantities, and which is the main-spring of all manufacturing industry, is most plentiful in the Temperate Zone.

But very marked differences occur within the Temperate Zone itself—the result of differences of climate and configuration. Central Asia, for example—indeed, the whole of Asia north of the line of the Caucasus, the Himalaya, and the Chinese Wall④—consists of barren steppes, which now, as much as six centuries ago, are the home of barbarism and rapine. And why is this? Because its inland deserts are far removed from the influences of the sea; because lofty mountains give most of its land a northern aspect; because its rivers flow either into salt lakes with no outlet, or into a frozen ocean which completely shuts out commerce.

Look at Europe on the other hand. It is of all the continents the one which is most thoroughly broken up by inroads of the sea. Asia is four and a half times as large as Europe in superficial area; yet Europe has a coast-line five times as great as that of Asia. Excepting only the plains of Russia, no part of Europe is more than three hundred miles distant from the sea; while the number and the distribution of its navigable rivers bring the ocean within easy reach even of its remotest parts.

And what are the consequences of this? A glance at the map of Europe will tell us. It is evidently the continent most thickly covered with cities and towns; and with high-roads, canals, and railways, weaving the towns into a living and everbusy net-work. There civilization has struck its roots deepest, and stretched its branches widest. There the arts and sciences have reached their highest development. There the great mechanical inventions which have knit the world into one vast inter-dependent society, have had their birth; and commerce, manufactures, and agriculture have been brought to the greatest perfection.

Europe has laid the whole world under contribution for the supply of her physical wants. In return, she has laid the whole world under obligation to her for more ethereal but not less real benefits. She has been the cradle of those free political institutions which have developed the self-control and the independence of man as a member of society. Her literature is the richest and most varied in the world. In Europe the Christian religion has been most widely diffused, and it has been the centre from which the message of peace has been sent to the farthest corners of the world.

What is true of Europe as a whole is preëminently true of Great Britain. There the circle of European—nay, of universal—civilization and industry has its centre. By her colonies she has diffused the influence of her spirit and the energy of her sons throughout the world, so that her greatest rivals in material and social progress are her own children.

This is a proud position for so small a land to hold. But insignificant as the British Isles appear on the map of the world, Britain is in no small degree indebted to climate, physical configuration, and geographical position for the greatness which she has achieved.

"The territory," says Emerson, "has a singular perfection. The climate is warmer by many degrees than it is entitled to be by latitude. Neither hot nor cold, there is no hour in the whole year when one cannot work. The temperature makes no exhaustive demands on human strength, but allows the attainment of the largest stature. In variety of surface it is a miniature of Europe, having plain, forest, marsh, river, seashore. From first to last it is a museum of anomalies. This foggy and rainy country furnishes the world with astronomical observations. Its short rivers do not afford water-power, but the land shakes under the thunder of its mills. There is no goldmine of any importance, but there is more gold in England than in all other countries. It is too far north for the culture of the vine, but the wines of all countries are in its docks; and oranges and pine-apples are as cheap in London as on the Mediterranean."

WORDS

adaptations, adjustments.

alternation, succession.

anomalies, irregularities.

barbarism, savageness.

beneficial, improving.

characteristic, distinctive.

complicated, intricate.

configuration, form.

convenient, advantageous.

destination, destiny.

development, growth.

distribution, arrangement.

employment, use.

esculent, eatable.

ethereal, immaterial.

exhausted, consumed.

exhaustive, wearing out.

facilities, powers.

indispensable, necessary.

insignificant, unimportant.

intelligent, wise.

luxuriance, prolificness.

miniature, reduced copy.

miserable, wretched.

niggardly, penurious.

obligation, indebtedness.

permanently, lastingly.

predominates, has mastery.

preëminent, supreme.

prodigal, liberal.

profusely, abundantly.

ruminants, cud-chewers.

smelted, separated into metal and dross.

spontaneously, voluntarily.

sterility, barrenness.

superflcial, surface.

territory, land.

unfavourable, adverse.

NOTES

① A dormant season.—Winter, when the powers of nature are asleep. The approach of winter, in the temperate regions, makes man lay up stores from the previous harvest. He is thus encouraged to be provident and thoughtful. This is wanting in the Tropics.

② Sago-palm.—This tree grows in the East Indian Islands, in Ceylon, and on the southeastern coast of Hindostan.

③ Bread-fruit tree.—Grows in Tahiti and other South Sea Islands.

④ Chinese Wall.—A stupendous wall forming the northern boundary of China. It runs westward from the Yellow Sea for 1250 miles, till it meets the mountains which form the western frontier. It was intended as a defence against the Tartars, and was completed in the third century B. C.

QUESTIONS

What is the leading characteristic of the temperate regions? What proportion of the human race do they contain? To what is the activity of these regions in a great measure due? How does a temperate climate enable man to work? How does it compel him to work? What is the character of his struggle with nature in the frozen regions? What prevents labour in the Tropics? What renders it unnecessary? What animals are characteristic of the temperate regions? What plants? Why does corn precede all civilization? What is necessary to its permanent production? What are the chief corn-plants of the Temperate Zone? What trees are most abundant there? What minerals? By what are the differences that occur within the Temperate Zone produced? What is the character of Central Asia? How is this accounted for? What is remarkable in the configuration of Europe? What are the consequences of this? What country in Europe is preeminent in these respects? To what is Britain in some degree indebted for her proud position? What does Emerson say of the effects of its climate? Mention some of the anomalies which he points out.

LESSON 29

THE OVERLAND ROUTE①

(To be read before a Map of the Eastern Hemisphere)

EMBARKING at Southampton in one of the splendid steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Company, we soon pass the Isle of Wight, and make for the open sea. The second day brings us in contact with the rough waters of the Bay of Biscay. The Spanish coast is probably sighted off Cape Finisterre; and here the Englishman begins to recall with patriotic pride the many triumphs achieved by his countrymen on the Peninsula and in the surrounding waters. Here, in 1805, Sir Robert Calder inflicted a partial defeat on Villeneuve, the French admiral; who, a few months later, was completely overthrown at Trafalgar. Coruna is not far off, where Moore so gallantly held the French at bay till he completed his plans for embarkation.

At the south-western angle of Portugal we are off Cape St. Vincent—a lone, romantic promontory, with some fractured rocks at its base standing out into the ocean, and having on its summit a fine light-house with a brilliant light revolving every two or three minutes. The cape was the scene of two great victories gained by the English fleet over that of Spain; in connection with the second of which it gave his title to one of England's foremost sailors. There the Spaniards were defeated by Sir George Rodney in 1780, and still more signally by Sir John Jervis (afterwards Earl St. Vincent) in 1793. It was on the latter occasion that Nelson, then bearing the rank of commodore, took one of the Spanish ships, the San Nicolas, by entering through its cabin windows! Seeing this, the captain of the San Josef discharged a volley on the captors. Nelson thereupon closed with the San Josef and boarded her from the deck of the San Nicolas.

Ere long we discern the promontory of Trafalgar stretching into the Atlantic—a spot hallowed by what, in the estimation of Englishmen, is certainly the most of all the events which have made this corner of Europe famous in ancient and in modem story.

On the south, the lonely headland of Cape Spartel rises from the African coast above the Atlantic waters; and to the east of it may be seen the white buildings of Tangier, a city of Phoenician origin, and of note in the times of the Romans. Seized in 1457 by the Portuguese, Tangier was by them ceded to England in 1662, along with Bombay, as part of the dower of Catherine of Braganza, when she became queen of Charles II. It proved so useless and so expensive a possession, however, owing to the constant attacks of the Moons, that it was very soon abandoned to them, and they at once set about repairing the costly works which the English had dismantled at their departure. In this region, according to ancient fable, the Hesperides—daughters of the evening star—had their famous gardens, whose golden apples Hercules ruthlessly carried off.

We are now fairly within the renowned strait which was regarded by the ancients with so much awe as the remote boundary of their world, beyond which all was mystery and fable. On our left are the green hills of Spain, swelling into lofty mountains not far from the shore, with here and there a white village or a picturesque watch-tower. By-and-by we get a glimpse of the mouldering and forlorn ramparts of Tarifa, the most thoroughly Moorish town in Spain, and the most southern in Europe. From this point the Vandals② were driven across to Africa by the Goths in 417 A. D. At this point Tarif,③ a great Moorish general, after whom Tarifa is named, landed with his army in 711, when he came to conquer the Goths and establish the Moorish kingdom in Spain. Here, finally, Alfonzo XI. overthrew the Moors in a decisive action in 1340. Tarifa is a quaint old town, with its island fortress and lighthouse—fitting memento of the fierce struggles in which the inhabitants of the opposing shores engaged.

In a few hours we reach the grand fortress of Gibraltar, which keeps stern watch at the gates of the Mediterranean, and forms with the Rock of Ceuta, on the African side, the famous "Pillars of Hercules." Nothing could well be more imposing than the view of Gibraltar from the bay on its western side. Ranges of batteries rising from the shore, tier above tier, extend along its entire sea-front. At the northern extremity is the town. Every nook in the crags bristles with artillery. White barracks and gay villas, embowered in gardens and groves, occupy the midway ascent. Above all towers in rugged grandeur the summit of the Rock itself.

No less striking is the contrast which presents itself when we have doubled Europa Point, and look back to the eastern side of the Rock from the bosom of the Mediterranean. The scene which we have quitted was one of busy excitement and varied life. Now one long unbroken precipice, 1400 feet in height, towers above us. There are few signs of vegetation, and none of human habitation, save only the little village of white houses in Catalan Bay, which crouches at the foot of the Rock, as if in constant dread of being crushed by the overhanging masses.

Off Cape do Gata, the south-eastern headland of Spain—infamous to the mariner for the squalls that come suddenly down from its lofty crest—we get our last glimpse of the Peninsula, and of its brown, stern, and rugged mountains. As we skirt the African coast we discover the whereabouts of Algiers, now a French colony; then of Tunis, near which is the site of ancient Carthage, so long the rival of Rome for the supremacy of the world.

Our next stoppage is at Valetta, the port and capital of Malta, where the Knights of St. John triumphed so heroically over the infidel Turk in the sixteenth century. This, like Gibraltar, is now a British possession—one of the ocean towers which emphatically mark England's empire of the seas.

Our next port is Alexandria. The castle of Farillon, which serves as our land-mark in approaching the town, occupies the site of the famous Pharos④ of antiquity. A few miles eastward from it is Aboukir Bay, where Nelson annihilated the French fleet in 1798, and shut up Buonaparte's army in Egypt. Here the literally overland part of our route commences. From Alexandria we proceed by rail⑤ to Suez, taking Cairo on our way. Travellers hastening to India have to content themselves with a passing glimpse of Cleopatra's Needles⑥ and Pompey's Pillar⑦ at the first of these cities, and of the Pyramids in the vicinity of the last.

By the opening of the Suez Canal⑧ the only truly overland part of the Overland Route has been dispensed with, and steamers from Southampton reach India direct by way of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. At first only private vessels, specially adapted to the dimensions of the canal, and carrying both merchandise and passengers, performed the voyage without break. The adoption of the same course by the mail steamers was only a question of time, and is now universal.

The Suez Canal is certainly one of the greatest triumphs of modern engineering. Yet it is only an improvement on a much earlier plan; for it is well known that in the fifth century before the Christian era, an indirect line⑨ of canal connected the two seas, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. It began at about a mile and a half north of Suez, and struck in a northwesterly direction, availing itself of a series of natural hollows, to a point on the eastern branch of the Nile. By-and-by it became silted up; and after having been several times restored, it was finally filled with the never-resting sands in 767 A. D.

Upwards of ten centuries passed before any attempt was made to renew communication between the two seas. Then the idea occurred to the ingenious mind of Buonaparte; but as his engineers erroneously reported that there was a difference of level between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea to the extent of thirty feet, he suffered it to drop. In 1847a scientific commission, appointed by England, France, and Austria, ascertained that the two seas had exactly the same mean level; and in 1854 Ferdinand de Lesseps, an ingenious and enterprising Frenchman, obtained permission from the Viceroy of Egypt to make a canal across the isthmus. It was not, however, until 1858 that De Lesseps found himself in a position to appeal to the public for support. A company was then formed, and the canal was proceeded with; a variety of ingenious machinery being invented by the French engineers to meet the exigencies of their novel and magnificent enterprise. On the 17th of November 1869 it was formally opened for navigation, in the presence of a host of illustrious personages, representing every European State.

"As we went along the Canal," says Dr. Carpenter, describing a visit to Egypt, "we passed between mounds or banks, higher than the ordinary level. These banks were composed of material which had been excavated from the Canal, and thrown up on either side. As we steamed along very slowly, I mounted the 'bridge' of the steamer, so as to be able to look over these banks; and there I saw the interminable barren waste on the Egyptian side covered with water, and on the eastern side a sandy desert extending to Palestine.

"One of the first features of interest was a 'floating bridge,' thrown across the Canal by steam, at a point which, I was told, was in the track of the caravans. Now here was a most curious conjuncture of modern and ancient civilisation. This caravan track is one of the most ancient of all roads, leading from Egypt into Palestine and Syria, on the very line along which Jacob's sons may have gone down into Egypt to buy corn; and there we found one of the appliances of modem civilisation, in the shape of this 'floating bridge,' consisting of a large flat-bottomed boat which crosses and recrosses the Canal by means of chains wound and unwound upon large drums by a steam engine. This contact of ancient and modern civilization is one of the most remarkable features in Egypt.

"But there was another noticeable feature. There are stations all along the Canal, at which the officers reside, as well as the men who keep watch over the Canal, and who are ready to give help if any vessel should run aground. At most of these stations I noticed that there was a garden, generally with a gay show of flowers, and great cultivation of edible vegetables. Now what was the meaning of this? How could these gardens be made out of this sand and mud? The secret is, that every one of these places is supplied with fresh water.

"That fresh water is brought all the way from the Nile; for there is no fresh water to be got between Port Said and Suez—nothing but brackish water, obtained by digging. A fresh-water canal was therefore cut from the Nile at Cairo to Ismalia, a sort of half-way house between Suez and Port Said. Pipes convey this water to the railway which runs from Cairo to Suez by way of Ismalia. By this means a supply of wholesome water is conveyed regularly to all parts of the Canal, and flowers of every kind can be grown, nothing being wanted for the soil in that sunny clime but water. At Ismalia the head engineer has a villa with the most beautiful plants of all kinds, those of tropical as well as of temperate climes growing luxuriantly in his garden."

Before the establishment of the Overland Route, Suez, though a place of considerable transit trade between Egypt and the East, was a small, ill-built, wretched-looking town. Since that time it has been much improved, and has become there sidence of many merchants and agents. The country around it is desert, and provisions and water have to be brought from great distances.

Reëmbarking at Suez, we pass down the gulf of the same name, which is the western of the two arms at the head of the Red Sea. The Gulf of Suez is 190 miles in length; and near the head of it is believed by many to be the place at which the Israelites crossed the Red Sea in their exodus from Egypt. As, however, the gulf is known to have receded many miles from its ancient head, even since the Christian era, it is more probable that the scene of the passage is now in the sandy waste of the isthmus.

The eastern arm of the Red Sea is the Gulf of Akaba, which is 100 miles in length. On the triangular tongue of land between the two gulfs are the mountains of Horeb-Sinai, in whose midst there appeared to Moses "an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush;" and on whose "secret top" he received from God the "lively oracles" to give to the people.

Half way down the Red Sea, the navigation of which is rendered difficult by sudden changes of wind and heavy gales, we reach Jedda, one of the most active sea-ports in Arabia.Here thousands of pilgrims land every year on their way to Mecca, the birth-place of Mohammed and the cradle of the Mussulman faith. Near the southern extremity of the sea, on the margin of a sandy plain on the Arabian coast, is Mocha, a fortified sea-port, from which thousands of tons of the finest coffee are annually exported. Passing through the Straits of Bab-elmandeb, we reach Aden, where the sign-board of "The Prince of Wales Hotel" reminds us that we are once more in a British possession. Like Gibraltar and Valetta, Aden is considered an impregnable fortress. Like Gibraltar, too, it stands on a rocky peninsula, connected with the mainland by a narrow isthmus. Its harbour is the best in Arabia; and the town abounds in mosques and Mohammedan remains, which testify to its former magnificence. From Aden we steam through the Gulf of Aden and across the Arabian Sea; and before many days pass we are at anchor in the spacious harbour of Bombay.

BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF THE SUEZ CANAL

WORDS

abandoned, given up.

achieved, obtained.

annihilated, reduced to nothing.

availing, taking advantage.

dismantled, destroyed.

dispensed, departed(from).

embarkation, going aboard ship.

embowered, sheltered by trees.

emphatically, forcibly.

enterprising, adventurous.

erroneously, mistakingly.

excitement, activity.

exigencies, requirements.

exodus, journey out.

expensive, costly.

fortified, defended by forts.

glimpse, view.

habitation, dwelling.

illustrious, distinguished.

imposing, majestic.

impregnable, not to be taken.

ingenious, skilful.

magnificence, grandeur.

memento, memorial.

memorable, worthy of remem brance.

mystery, a profound secret.

navigation, ship-steering.

picturesque, striking.

promontory, headland.

residence, place of abode.

ruthlessly, pitilessly.

signally, decisively.

silted, filled with sand.

spacious, roomy.

supremacy, lordship.

surrounding, encompassing.

triangular, three-sided.

vicinity, neighbourhood.

NOTES

① The Overland Route.—The Overland Route (which crosses the land from Alexandria to Suez) was established so lately as 1845. Previously all vessels for India sailed round by the Cape of Good Hope. The voyage from Southampton to Bombay by the Cape occupies eighty-four days; the same distance by the Overland Route occupies only twenty-five. The establishment of the Overland Route was due chiefly to the perseverance and enterprise of Lieut. Thomas Waghorn, who wore out his life in the work, and died in 1849 still a young man. The Overland Route may be still further abridged by crossing the continent of Europe by rail, and sailing from Marseilles, Trieste, or Brindisi to Alexandria.

② The Vandals, a tribe of northern barbarians, who are found occupying the north of Central Europe in the middle of the fourth century.

③ Tarif.—Not to be confounded with Tarik, after whom Gibraltar is named.

④ Pharos, a lofty tower of white marble, built by Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 280 B. C. A fire was constantly kept burning on the top to direct sailors to the bay. It was considered one of the wonders of the world. Pharos has become a common name for a light-house or beacon.

⑤ By rail.—The Suez Railway was made by Robert Stephenson in 1858. He had been representative of England in the English, French, and Austrian Commission, appointed in1847 to report upon the feasibility of a Suez Canal. Stephenson thought the canal scheme impracticable, and suggested and planned the railway instead.

⑥ Cleopatra's Needles, two large obelisks, which used to mark the site of the Temple of Cæsar, at the eastern extremity of ancient Alexandria. Their connection with Cleopatra is entirely fanciful. They were raised at Heliop'olis (near Cairo) fourteen centuries before Cleopatra's time, and were removed to Alexandria by Julius Cæsar. One of them has been erected on the Thames Embankment, London. The other has been removed to the United States of America.

⑦ Pompey's Pillar, a red granite Corinthian column, on the west of ancient Alexandria, which, with base and capital, is 98 feet 9 inches in height. The shaft is a single stone, 73feet in height. It had, however, no connection with Pompey, having been erected (as the inscription on its base records) to commemorate the capture of Alexandria by the Emperor Diocletian in 297 A. D.

⑧ The Suez Canal.—The width of the canal on the average is about 330 feet, its depth from 30 to 36 feet. Its whole length is 103 miles. It begins at Port Said on the Mediterranean, where a spacious harbour has been built; proceeds to Kantara; traverses the Abu Ballah Lake; enters Lake Timseh at Ismalia; passes through the Bitter Lakes, and terminates at Suez.

⑨ An indirect line.—This ancient canal was 92 miles in length—60 of which were excavated by human hands;—its width was from 108 to 165 feet, and its depth 15 feet.

QUESTIONS

Where do the steamers in connection with the Overland Route sailfrom? Where is the Spanish coast sighted? What does an Englishman then recall? What battle-field is not far off? For what two events is Cape St. Vincent famous? Who was Earl St. Vincent? What feat did Nelson perform at the second battle of St. Vincent? What is, to an Englishman, the most hallowed spot in that corner of Europe? Why? What African city now comes in sight? Near what cape? When was Tangier ceded to England? Why was it abandoned? What fabled region is in the same neighbourhood? What strait is now entered? What town is by-and-by seen? What is remarkable in its position? With what historical events is it connected? What rock on the African shore is opposite Gibraltar? What do they together form? What is the appearance of Gibraltar from the bay? What contrast is presented by its eastern side? Where do we get our last glimpse of the Peninsula? What places of interest do we pass on the African coast? Where is our next stoppage? For what is Valetta famous? Where do we next proceed? What serves as our land-mark in approaching the town? What battle was fought a few miles to the east? Name the places of interest passed between Southampton and Alexandria. How do we reach Suez? What city do we take in our way? What objects of interest are to be seen near Alexandria, and in the vicinity of Cairo? How are the Mediterranean and the Red Sea now connected? What effect is the canal likely to have on the Overland Route? What do you know of an ancient canal there? Who was the engineer of the modern canal? When was it opened? What effect has the Overland Route had on Suez? What interesting events took place near the head of the Red Sea? For what is Jedda interesting? What other Arab town do we pass? Where do we next stop? How are we reminded that it is a British possession? What is its character as a fortress? What remains may be seen there? Name the places of interest between Alexandria and Bombay.

LESSON 30

CAIRO AND THE PYRAMIDS

THE best view of Cairo and its vicinity is obtained from the Citadel, which commands the whole city. It is thus described by Dean Stanley: "The town is a vast expanse of brown, broken only by occasional interludes of palms and sycamores, and by countless minarets.① About half a dozen large buildings, mosques or palaces, also emerge. On each side rise shapeless mounds; —those on the east covered with tents, and, dimly seen beyond, the browner line of the desert; those on the west, the sites of Old Cairo, of the Roman fortress of Babylon, and of Fostat, where Amrou② first pitched his tent, deserted since the time of Sal'adin. Beyond is the silver line of the Nile; and then, rising in three successive groups, above the delicate green plain which sweeps along nearly to the foot of the African hills, the Pyramids of Abu'sir, Saka'rah, and Ghi'zeh—these last being 'The Pyramids,' and the nearest. There is something very striking in their total disconnection with Cairo. They stand alone on the edge of that green valewhich is Egypt. There is no intermingling, as in ancient and modem Rome. It is as if you looked out on Stonehenge③ from London, or as if the Colis'um④ stood far away in the depths of the Campagna.⑤ Cairo is not 'the ghost of the dead Egyptian empire,' nor anything like it. Cairo itself leaves a deep feeling, that, whatever there was of greatness or wisdom in those remote ages and those gigantic monuments, is now the inheritance, not of the East, but of the West. The Nile, as it glides between the tombs of the Pharaohs⑥ and the city of the Caliphs,⑦ is indeed a boundary between two worlds."

The Pyramids stand at the edge of the desert, on the western side of the Nile, but an hour or two's distance from the city. After crossing the ferry, the stranger imagines them close at hand, though he has still a good long mile to traverse. A near view is generally disappointing; and it is not until the visitor begins to make comparisons, that the fact of their exceeding vastness comes home to the mind. The base of the Great Pyramid of Cheops is nearly 800 feet square, covering a surface of eleven acres; and its height is 461 feet, being 117feet higher than St. Paul's Cathedral. It is a common feat of travellers to ascend, with the aid of a couple of Arab guides, to the summit; which may be reached by an active man in about twenty minutes.

CAIRO FROM THE CITADEL (LOOKING WEST)

"The view from the top," says Stanley, "has the same vivid contrast of life and death which makes all wide views in Egypt striking—the desert and the green plain: only the view over the desert—the African desert—being much more extensive here than elsewhere, one gathers in better the notion of the wide, heaving ocean of sandy billows, which hovers on the edge of the Valley of the Nile. The white line of the minarets of Cairois also a peculiar feature—peculiar, because it is strange to see a modern Egyptian city which is a grace instead of a deformity to the view. You see also the strip of desert running into the green plain on the east of the Nile, which marks Heliop'olis and Goshen."

It is said that six million tons of stone were used in the construction of the Great Pyramid, that of Che'ops,⑧ and that its erection occupied one hundred thousand men for twenty years! The mass is not solid, but contains a series of chambers, the entrance to which is on the north side. A long, close, and devious passage leads to the Queen's Chamber, 17 feet long by12 high. From thence another long passage leads to the King's Chamber, 37 feet by 17, and 20 feet high. At one end of this apartment stands a sarcophagus⑨ of red granite, in which the monarch of the greatest kingdom of the Earth is supposed to have been laid.

The second Pyramid, that of Chephre'nes,⑩ is not much inferior in size to this one, its base being 684 feet, and its height 456; but it is not in such good preservation. Herodotus had asserted that it contained no chambers; but Belzoni effected an entrance to a chamber hewn out of the solid rock. In the sarcophagus he found the bones of an animal, probably the sacred bull⑪ of the Egyptians. The third large Pyramid contained a mummy; the remains of which, and of its cedar coffin, were deposited in the British Museum.

There can be no doubt that all of them were designed as receptacles for the dead. Around them lie scattered about, as far as the eye can reach, both up and down the bank of the river, and along the edge of the desert for miles beyond the ruined city of Memphis, ⑫ numberless edifices and tumuli⑬ of a monumental character, some of which were once profusely embellished with sculptures, and in which mummies⑭ have been found.

In front of the Pyramid of Chephrenes stands the great Sphinx, ⑮ —the hugest marvel of sculpture which the world has ever seen. For centuries this colossal wonder lay almost sub merged beneath the sand-drift of the desert. Caviglia⑯ undertook the laborious task of uncovering it; in the course of which he made some important discoveries, tending to show that there was anciently a temple on the area beneath the stony gaze of the colossal countenance, and an altar upon which sacrifices were offered. The features are Nubian, or rather ancient Egyptian, and their expression is strikingly calm and benignant.

THE SPHINX AND THE PYRAMID OF CHEPHREN

"There was something," says Stanley, "stupendous in the sight of that enormous head—its vast projecting wig, its great ears, its open eyes, the red colour still visible on its cheeks, the immense projection of the lower part of its face. Yet what must it have been when on its head there was the royal helmet of Egypt, on its chin the royal beard; when the stone pavement by which man approached the Pyramids ran up between its paws; when immediately under its breast an altar stood, from which the smoke went up into the gigantic nostrils of that nose, now vanished from the face, never to be conceived again! All this is known with certainty from the remains which actually exist deep under the sand on which you stand, as you look up from a distance into the broken but still expressive features."—In regard to the Sphinx we may add, that so continuous is the drift of sand from the desert, that nearly all those portions of the figure which modern investigators have at different times laid bare have been again covered.

—STANLEY

WORDS

apartment, room.

benignant, kind.

construction, erection.

countenance, face.

deformity, blemish.

designed, intended.

devious, winding.

disconnection, separation.

embellished, ornamented.

expressive, intelligent.

extensive, wide.

imagines, fancies.

inheritance, possession.

interludes, intervening spaces.

intermingling, mixing.

occasional, irregular.

preservation, keeping; entirety.

receptacles, depositories.

submerged, buried.

successive, in a series.

surface, area.

vanished, disappeared.

NOTES

① Minarets, tall, slender turrets, on Mohammedan mosques, surrounded by balconies, from which the people are summoned to prayer, not by bells, but by a crier, called a muezzin.

② Amrou, a famous Saracen general who conquered Syria and Egypt, and died at Cairo in 663 A. D.—Saladin was Sultan of Egypt and Syria in the twelfth century. He opposed the Christians in the third Crusade.

③ Stonehenge, a collection of huge stones arranged in two concentric circles, on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire. The stones are 140 in number, some of them 20 feet high, with in some cases stones of equally large dimensions resting upon them. They are certainly ancient British remains; but whether they were designed for Druidical worship, or as sepulchral memorials, cannot be determined.

④ The Colisum, an immense amphitheatre at Rome, elliptical in form, in which fights with wild beasts and other sports were exhibited. It is said to have accommodated 80,000 spectators at one time. It was built between 75 and 80 A. D.

⑤ The Campagna (Cam-pan'-ya), a wide and desolate plain in the neighbourhood of Rome.

⑥ The tombs of the Pharaohs.—The Pyramids were the tombs of the Pharaohs, or kings, of Egypt As soon as a Pharaoh began to reign, his pyramid was begun.

⑦ Caliphs, the chief rulers of the Saracens. The word Caliph means "successor," and was adopted by the first successor of Mohammed.

⑧ Cheops (Ke'-ops).—Various dates are assigned to the reign of this Pharaoh. The latest is 1082 B. C.

⑨ Sarcoph'agus, a stone coffin. The word means "flesh-eater," and was applied by the Greeks to a kind of limestone which consumed the human body, and of which coffins were therefore made.

⑩ Chephrenes (Kef-re'-net), was the second in succession from Cheops.

⑪ The sacred bull.—Animal worship prevailed in Egypt from the earliest times. The animal which they held most sacred was the bull, or Apis.

⑫ Memphis, one of the most ancient cities in the world, "of which the very ruins are tremendous."

⑬ Tumuli, sepulchral mounds.

⑭ Mummies, dead bodies embalmed.

⑮ The Sphinx.—It consists of a colossal human head and a lion's body. The length of the body is 172 feet; its height is 56.

⑯ Caviglia (Ca-veel'-ya), an Italian, who carefully examined the Sphinx in 1816.

QUESTIONS

Whence is the best view of Cairo and its vicinity obtained? What is the general aspect of the town? What is very striking in the situation of the Pyramids? What is the height of the Great Pyramid? What contrast does the view from the top of it present? How long was it in building? What does it contain? What were found in the chamber of the second Pyramid? For what purpose were the Pyramids designed? What is the Sphinx? Where does it stand?

LESSON 31

FAMILY WORSHIP

FROM "THE COTTAR'S SATURDAY NIGHT."

THE cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face,

They round the ingle form a circle wide;

The sire turns o'er, wi' patriarchal grace,

The big ha'-Bible, once his father's pride:

His bonnet reverently is laid aside,

His lyart haffets wearin' thin and bare;

Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide,

He wales a portion with judicious care;

And "Let us worship God," he says, wi' solemn air……

The priest-like father reads the sacred page,

How Abraham was the friend of God on high;

Or, Moses bade eternal warfare wage,

With Amalek's① ungracious progeny;

Or how the royal bard② did groaning lie;

Beneath the stroke of Heaven's avenging ire;

Or, Job's pathetic plaint and wailing cry;

Or rapt Isaiah's wild, seraphic fire;

Or other holy seers that tune the sacred lyre.

Perhaps the Christian volume③ is the theme, —

How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed;

How He who bore in heaven the second name

Had not on earth whereon to lay His head:

How his first followers and servants sped;

The precepts sage they wrote to many a land:

How he, who lone in Patmos④ banished,

Saw in the sun a mighty angel stand,

And heard great Babylon's doom pronounced by Heaven's command.

Then kneeling down to heaven's eternal King,

The saint, the father, and the husband prays:

Hope "springs exulting⑤ on triumphant wing,"

That thus they all shall meet in future days;

There ever bask in uncreated rays,

No more to sigh, or shed the bitter tear,

Together hymning their Creator's praise,

In such society, yet still more dear,

While circling time moves round in an eternal sphere……

Then homeward all take off their several way;

The youngling cottagers retire to rest:

The parent pair their secret homage pay,

And proffer up to Heaven the warm request,

That He who stills the raven's clamorous nest,

And decks the lily fair in flowery pride,

Would, in the way his wisdom sees the best,

For them and for their little ones provide;

But chiefly in their hearts with grace divine preside.

—ROBERT BURNS

WORDS

avenging, retributive.

circling, revolving.

clamorous, noisy.

followers, disciples.

guiltless, sinless.

haffets, temples; sides of the head.

homage, devotion.

hymning, singing.

ingle, fire-place.

judicious, sagacious.

lyart, gray.

pathetic, touching.

patriarchal, paternal.

precepts, maxims.

proffer, offer.

progeny, children.

pronounced, proclaimed.

provide, furnish the means of life.

reverently, devoutly.

seraphic, angelic.

triumphant, exulting.

ungracious, unfriendly.

wales, selects.

wearin, turning.

youngling, very young.

NOTES

① Amalek.—The Amalekites, who dwelt between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, attacked the Israelites shortly after they had crossed the latter. (See Exodus , xvii. 8-16.)

② The royal bard.—King David. (See 2 Samuel , xii.; and Psalm xxxii.)

③ The Christian volume, the New Testament.

④ He, who lone in Patmos.—John, the apostle and evangelist, who wrote the Apocalypse in the Isle of Patmos.

⑤ "Springs exulting," &c.—From Pope's Windsor Forest.

LESSON 32

THE VALLEY OF THE NILE

EGYPT may be said to owe its very existence as a habitable country to the presence of the Nile. The course of that magnificent river has now been traced to great lakes① lying across the Equator, more than two thousand miles south of Alexandria in a direct line. After receiving its two Abyssinian branches, at Khartoum and at Berber in Nubia, it pours the broad, deep volume of its waters through a flat, alluvial valley for fifteen hundred miles without being increased by any other tributary, and finally discharges itself by two principal channels and several minor outlets into the sea.

The whole of the cultivable soil of Egypt, with the exception of the oases② of the desert, consists of the meadow-land on either bank of this noble river; and it varies in width from five to one hundred and fifty English miles. It has been renowned for its fertility from the earliest ages, and was long rightly regarded as the granary of the ancient world. Even at the present day its fruitfulness is without a parallel in any region of like extent.

This fruitfulness is consequent upon the periodic inundations of the river. Although there is little or no rain in Egypt, there are continuous and heavy rains at the sources of the Nile. These begin to fall in March, and being supplemented by the melting of the mountain snows in the following months, occasion a perceptible rise in the river about the end of June. From this period to the close of September, the rise increases with a regularity almost certain and constant, at a rate of four inches a day.

When the flood is at the highest, the whole valley and delta③ of the Nile appear as a vast inland sea, dotted with towns and villages, and scattered mounds, barely emerging from the surface. At this season all communication has to be maintained by boats, save where, between places of importance, a few viaducts have been raised. Between September and December the river subsides, and the land is tilled; and by June the harvest has been reaped. But the cultivators of Egypt need not limit their labours to the production of a single crop: in lands advantageously situated as many as three crops are annually raised by means of artificial irrigation, managed by water-wheels of the simplest construction; the crops being chiefly grain, cotton, and indigo.④

Alexandria, the second town of Egypt, and its chief mercantile port, is but a desolate and wretched-looking city, not-withstanding the advantages it has of late years derived from its position in the route of the overland journey to India. The Turkish quarter is yet most filthy and unwholesome, and the mass of the inhabitants are to all appearance plunged in squalor and poverty. This town, which, from its fine harbour, has been termed "The key of Egypt," does not stand on the site of the famous city built by Alexander the Great, which, according to Pliny, was fifteen miles in circuit, and contained three hundred thousand inhabitants. The ancient city, which was burnt to ashes, with its world-renowned library, by the Kaliph Omar, in the year640, stood to the south of the present Alexandria, on a site which is now covered for the space of six or seven miles in circuit with a confused mass of ruins. Here stands the famous. Pompey's Pillar;⑤ and hence it was that many of the spoils which enrich the public places and the museums of European cities were derived.

ALEXANDRIA

The English traveller in Egypt is generally willing to getaway from Alexandria as soon as he can, and that for sanitary reasons. Cairo is distant some hundred miles, and the route thither lies either along the famous canal made by order of Mehemet Ali⑥ in 1819-20, or along the railway, which has brought the city of Saladin⑦ within a few hours of the coast.

On approaching Cairo by way of the Nile, the Pyramids are first seen from a point in the river, here about a mile in width, near the separation of the two great branches which form the delta of Lower Egypt, about ninety miles from their outlets at the coast. Standing on the western bank of the river, on a platform elevated some fifty feet above the surrounding level, they form most striking and suggestive objects, even when viewed from a great distance.

In the neighbourhood of the Pyramids are the ruins of Memphis, the ancient capital of Lower Egypt, and the residence of the Pharaohs at the time of the exodus of the Jews. "For miles," says Dean Stanley, "you walk through layers of bones and skulls and mummy swathings, extending from the sand, and deep down in shaft-like mummy-pits; and among these mummy-pits are vast galleries filled with mummies of ibises,⑧ in red jars, which are being gradually despoiled. Lastly, there are long galleries, only recently discovered, hewnin the rock, and opening from time to time—say every fifty yards—into high arched vaults, under each of which stands the most magnificent black marble sarcophagus⑨ that can be conceived—a chamber rather than a coffin—smooth, and sculptured within and without; grander by far than even the granite sarcophagi of the Theban kings—how much grander than any human sepulchres anywhere else; and all for the successive corpses of the bull Apis!"⑩

Continuing a course against the stream, the traveller passes many interesting scenes,—the great corn tract of Faioum, pits packed with crocodile mummies, rock tombs excavated in the face of the mountains, magnificent ruins and scattered monuments, as at Dendera and Thebes. One hundred miles above Thebes he reaches the first cataract (of which there are seven in all), and the town of Assouan on the borders of Nubia.

The course of the Nile through the territory of Nubia presents. considerable modifications in the scenery. For the most part the river is shut in by hills of granite and sandstone. The valley between these is arid, barren, sun-baked. It has the dull, leaden aspect of a desert. A few stunted palms are the only traces of vegetation that the eye can discover. Cultivation is nearly impossible, except here and there within a narrow strip of land on either side of the river. In some parts it is painfully carried on by means of irrigation—the water-wheels being worked by oxen, on whose labours those of the husbandman depend for success.

The traveller now finds himself beyond the domain of history; and though he constantly passes both town and temple in never-ending series, he knows of no interest connected with them apart from that which usually attaches to the ruins of the past. He feels now that the Nile itself is the greatest marvel of his journey; which, although rolling along at the distance of eight hundred miles from the sea, has lost nothing of its volume or its majesty.

At this long distance from the coast of the Mediterranean he arrives at Ipsambul, or Abou-Simbel. Here, on the confines of the pathless and unpeopled desert, stands one of Egypt's most striking marvels—the Temple of the Sun, built by Rameses⑪, whose gigantic statue sits there in the solitude, still unbroken, and revealed from head to foot. This statue is repeated four times: two are buried in the sand, and the third is overthrown and in fragments; but from the fourth still looks down the face of the greatest man of the old world, who flourished long before the rise of Greece and Rome—the first conqueror recorded in history—the glory of Egypt, the terror of Asia—the second founder of Thebes, which must have been to the world then what Rome was in the days of her empire.

"The chief thought," says Dean Stanley, "that strikes one at Ipsambul, and elsewhere, is the rapidity of transition in Egyptian worship from the sublime to the ridiculous. The gods alternate between the majesty of antediluvian angels and the grotesqueness of pre-Adamite monsters. By what strange contradiction could the same sculptors and worshippers have conceived the grave and awful forms of Ammon⑫ and Osiris,⑬ and the ludicrous images of gods in all shapes 'in the heavens and in the earth, and in the waters under the earth,' with heads of hawk, and crocodile, and jackal, and ape? What must have been the mind and muscle of a nation who could worship, as at Thebes, in the assemblage of hundreds of colossal Pashts—the sacred cats?

"And again: how extraordinary the contrast of the serenity and the savageness of the kings! Raineses, with his placid smile, grasping the shrieking captives by the hair, is the frontispiece of every temple; and Ammon, with a smile no less placid, is giving him the falchion to smite them. The whole impression is that gods and men alike belong to an age and world entirely passed away, when men were slow to move, slow to think; but that when they did move or think, their work was done with the force and violence of giants. One emblem there is of true monotheism⑭—a thousand times repeated—always impressive and always beautiful—chiefly on the roof and cornice, like the cherubim in the Holy of Holies—the globe with its widespread wings of azure blue, of the all-embracing sky: 'Under the shadow of Thy wings shall be my refuge.'"

THE NILE IN NUBIA

Beyond Ipsambul, the Nile comes floating, not through mountain passes, but through an absolute desert. The second cataract, by stopping the navigation, terminates the explorations of ordinary travellers; nor is there much beyond to tempt inquiry. In the dim distance two isolated mountains mark the route to Dongola, and they are often veiled in the clouds of sand driven upwards by the winds over the wide expanse of the desert.

WORDS

advantages, benefits.

alluvial, deposited by water.

antediluvian, before the Deluge.

approaching, nearing.

circuit, circumference.

colossal, gigantic.

communication, intercourse.

conceived, imagined.

confines, boundaries.

cultivators, agriculturists.

derived, obtained.

despoiled, robbed.

discharges, empties.

domain, region.

elevated, raised.

excavated, hollowed out.

existence, being.

explorations, researches.

falchion, sword.

frontispiece, decoration in front.

fruitfulness, fertility.

impressive, affecting.

inundations, overflowings.

irrigation, artificial watering.

isolated, detached.

ludicrous, exciting laughter.

marvel, wonder.

modifications, changes.

perceptible, noticeable.

recorded, mentioned.

regularity, uniformity.

renowned, famous.

sanitary, affecting health.

sculptured, carved.

serenity, calmness.

solitude, loneliness.

squalor, foulness.

suggestive, stimulating thought.

supplemented, augmented.

swathings, grave-clothes.

transition, passage.

tributary, affluent.

vegetation, plant-growth.

NOTES

① Great lakes, namely, the Victoria Nyanza and Albert Nyanza.

② Oases.—Of these are several in Egypt. The principal of them are the Great Oasis, west of Thebes; the Western Oasis, still farther west; and the Lesser; Oasis, half-way between the latter and the sea.

③ Delta.—The triangular tract of land between two of the mouths of the Nile is so called. It received its name from its re-semblance to the Greek letter della(Δ).

④ Indigo, a plant which yields a valuable blue dye.

⑤ Pompey's Pillar.—See lesson on The Overland Route, Note 7.

⑥ Mehemet Ali, a famous pasha of Egypt, who began life as a shopkeeper. He rose chiefly with the help of the Mamelukes, the rulers of Egypt before its conquest by the Turks; but he massacred them in 1811. Mehemet Ali died at Cairo in 1849.

⑦ Saladin, a celebrated sultan of Egypt in the twelfth century, who distinguished himself in the time of the Crusades.

⑧ Ibises.—The ibis (a wading bird) was held sacred by the Egyptians.

⑨ Sarcophagus, a stone coffin. (See lesson on Cairo and the Pyramids, Note 9.) The plural, sarcophagi, is used two lines below.

⑩ The bull Apis.—See lesson on Cairo and the Pyramids, Note 11.

⑪ Rarieses.—The third of that name, called also Sesostris, who conquered Arabia, Asia Minor, Persia, and India. He is said to have flourished about 1618 B. C.

⑫ Ammon, the chief god of the Thebans, to whose worship the temples of Luxor and Karnac were dedicated.

⑬ Osiris, the supreme god of the ancient Egyptians, sometimes identified with the sun, and commonly worshipped under the symbol of a sacred bull called Apis.

⑭ Monotheism, belief in a single God.

QUESTIONS

What makes Egypt a habitable country? How far has the course of the Nile been traced? What is the breadth of the cultivable Nile Valley? For what has that valley always been famous? Upon what is its fruitfulness consequent? When does the river begin to rise? What causes the inundation? When is it at its highest? When is the land tilled? When is the harvest reaped? How many crops are sometimes obtained in one year? What crops are chiefly grown? What is the capital of Lower Egypt? What is its character? Where are the ruins of the ancient city? When was it destroyed? What are the two modes of reaching Cairo? From what point are the Pyramids first seen? What was the ancient capital of Lower Egypt? Where are its ruins? What were recently discovered there? How far is the first cataract above Thebes? How many cataracts are there? What generally shuts in the Nile Valley in Nubia? What is the character of the country there? How is cultivation there carried on? What, above this, is the greatest marvel to be seen? What remarkable place stands eight hundred miles from the Mediterranean? What great temple is at Ipsambul? And what gigantic statue?

LESSON 33

PANEGYRIC ON MARIE ANTOINETTE

IT is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the Queen of France—then the Dauphiness①—at Versailles;② and surely never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in—glittering like the morning star, full of life, and splendour, and joy.

Oh, what a revolution! and what a heart must I have, to contemplate without emotion that elevation, and that fall! Little did I dream, when she added titles of veneration to those of enthusiastic, distant, respectful love, that she should ever be obliged to carry the sharp antidote against disgrace concealed in that bosom; little did I dream that I should live to see such disasters fallen upon her in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honour and of cavaliers. I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult.

But the age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished for ever. Never, never more shall we behold that generous loyalty to rank and sex—that proud submission, that dignified obedience, that subordination of the heart—which kept alive, even in servitude itself, the spirit of an exalted freedom. The unbought grace of life, the cheap defence of nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise is gone! It is gone,—that sensibility of principle, that chastity of honour, which felt a stain like a wound; which inspired courage whilst it mitigated ferocity; which ennobled whatever it touched; and under which vice itself lost half its evil, by losing all its grossness.

—EDMUND BURKE③

WORDS

antidote, corrective.

cavaliers, high-minded knights.

chastity, purity.

contemplate, regard.

decorating, adorning.

disasters, calamities.

enterprise, daring.

enthusiastic, impetuous.

extinguished, put out.

ferocity, fierceness.

horizon, where earth and sky meet.

loyalty, allegiance.

mitigated, alleviated.

panegyric, eulogy.

revolution, overturning.

scabbards, sheaths.

sensibility, conscientiousness.

servitude, bondage.

sophisters, quibblers.

splendour, magnificence.

subordination, subjection.

titles, claims.

veneration, reverence.

NOTES

① The Dauphiness, the wife of the Dauphin; the title borne by the heir-apparent to the French crown prior to 1830. Marie Antoinette (Ma-re An'-twoi-net), the Dauphiness here referred to, was a daughter of Maria Theresa of Germany. Her marriage with the Dauphin (in 1770) was the result of a compact between France and Germany against England. In 1774 she ascended the French throne, with her husband, Louis XVI. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, she was a special object of popular fury; which explains Burke's allusions to the disasters and insults that befell her. But she bore her trials with singular fortitude and dignity. She endured the hardships of imprisonment for four years, and was guillotined at Paris in October 1793, ten months after her husband had met the same fate.

② Versailles, a town near Paris, famous for its magnificent palace, built chiefly by Louis XIV. between 1661 and 1687. Marie Antoinette and her husband were seized there by the mob on 6th October 1789, and were led in triumph to Paris.

③ Edmund Burke, a great writer, orator, and statesman. He was born at Dublin in 1730, and died in 1797. He was one of the accusers of Warren Hastings, who was tried for acts of oppression and injustice while Governor-General of India His chief works are Reflections on the Revolution in France, and an Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful.

LESSON 34

CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

MAN is the direct agent of a wide and continual distress to the lower animals; and the question is, "Can any method be devised for its alleviation?" On this subject that scriptural image is strikingly realized: "the whole [inferior] creation groaning and travailing together in pain" because of him. It signifies naught to the substantive amount of the suffering, whether it be prompted by the hardness of his heart, or only permitted through the heedlessness of his mind. In either way it holds true, not only that the arch-devourer Man① stands preëminent over the fiercest children of the wilderness as an animal of prey, but that for his lordly and luxurious appetite, as well as for his service or merest curiosity and amusement, Nature must be ransacked throughout all her elements. Rather than forego the veriest gratifications of vanity, he will wring them from the anguish of wretched and ill-fated creatures; and whether for the indulgence of his barbaric sensuality or his barbaric splendour, he can stalk paramount over the sufferings of that prostrate creation which has been placed beneath his feet.

These sufferings are really felt. The beasts of the field are not so many automata② without sensation, so constructed as to assume all the natural expressions of it. Nature hath not practised this universal deception upon our species. These poor animals just look, and tremble, and give forth the very indications of suffering that we do. Theirs is the distinct cry of pain. Theirs is the unequivocal physiognomy of pain. They put on the same aspect of terror on the demonstrations of a menaced blow. They exhibit the same distortions of agony after the infliction of it. The bruise, or the burn, or the fracture, or the deep incision, or the fierce encounter with one of equal or of superior strength, affects them similarly to ourselves. Their blood circulates as ours. They have pulsations in various parts of the body as we have. They sicken, and they grow feeble with age, and, finally, they die, just as we do.

They possess the same feelings; and, what exposes them to like sufferings from another quarter, they possess the same instincts with our own species. The lioness robbed of her whelps causes the wilderness to ring aloud with the proclamation of her wrongs; or the bird whose little household has been stolen fills and saddens all the grove with melodies of deepest pathos. All this is palpable even to the general and unlearned eye; and when the physiologist③ lays open the recesses of their system, by means of that scalpel under whose operation they just shrink and are convulsed as any living subject of our own species, there stands forth to view the same sentient apparatus,④ and furnished with the same conductors for the transmission of feeling from every minutest pore upon the surface.

Theirs is unmixed and unmitigated pain, the agonies of martyrdom without the alleviation of the hopes and the sentiments whereof men are capable. When they lay them down to die, their only fellowship is with suffering; for in the prison-house of their beset and bounded faculties, no relief can be afforded by communion with other interests or other things. The attention does not lighten their distress, as it does that of man, by carrying off his spirit from that existing pungency and pressure which might else be overwhelming. There is but room in their mysterious economy for one inmate; and that is, the absorbing sense of their own single and concentrated anguish. And so on that bed of torment whereon the wounded animal lingers and expires, there is an unexplored depth and intensity of suffering which the poor dumb animal itself cannot tell, and against which it can offer no remonstrance—an untold and unknown amount of wretchedness of which no articulate voice gives utterance.

—THOMAS CHALMERS⑤

WORDS

alleviation, mitigation.

articulate, distinct.

communion, intercourse.

concentrated, self-contained.

constructed, put together.

convulsed, affected spasmodically.

deception, fraud.

distortions, writhings.

gratification, indulgence.

heedlessness, carelessness.

instinct, natural impulse.

luxurious, sensual.

mysterious, incomprehensible.

paramount, chief.

physiognomy, expression of face.

preëminent, supreme.

proclamation, publication.

prompted, suggested.

prostrate, down-trodden.

pulsations, throbbings.

pungency, sharpness.

ransacked, pillaged.

remonstrance, expostulation.

scalpel, dissecting knife.

substantive, actual.

travailing, labouring with pain.

unequivocal, unmistakable.

unmitigated, undiminished.

wretchedness, misery.

NOTES

① Arch-devourer Man. He feeds on animals, vegetables, and minerals.

② Automata, lifeless machines, moved by concealed works, so as to imitate the actions of living creatures. The singular is autom'aton.

③ Physiologist, one who studies and expounds physiology,—the science which treats of the nature and organization of living bodies.

④ Sentient apparatus, apparatus of the feelings; that is, the nerve system.

⑤ Thomas Chalmers.—An eloquent preacher and distinguished philanthropist of the nineteenth century. He was also a devoted student of mathematics and natural science. His writings present a remarkable combination of religious fervour with scientific enthusiasm; for example, his Astronomical Discourses, and his Bridge water Treatise On the Adaptation of External Nature to the Moral and Intellectual Constitution of Man. Born 1780; died 1847.

LESSON 35

THE DELUGE

LOOK for a moment on the catastrophe of the Deluge.① And let not our attention be so engrossed by its dread and awful character, as to overlook all that preceded it, and see nothing but the flood and its devouring waters.

The waters rise till rivers swell into lakes, and lakes become seas, and the sea stretches out her arms along fertile plains to seize their flying population. Still the waters rise; and now, mingled with beasts that terror has tamed, men climb to the mountain-tops, with the flood roaring at their heels. Still the waters rise; and now each summit stands above them like a separate and sea-girt isle.

Still the waters rise; and, crowding closer on the narrow spaces of lessening hill-tops, men and beasts fight for standing-room. Still the thunders roar, and the lightnings flash, and the rains descend, and the waters rise, till the last survivor of the shrieking crowd is washed off, and the head of the highest Alp goes down beneath the wave.

Now the waters rise no more. God's servant has done his work. He rests from his labours; and, all land drowned, all life destroyed, an awful silence reigning and a shoreless ocean rolling, Death for once has nothing to do but ride in triumph on the top of some giant billow, which, meeting no coast, no continent, no Alp, no Andes against which to break, sweeps round and round the world.

We stand aghast at the scene; and as the corpses of gentle children and sweet infants float by, we exclaim, Hath God forgotten to te gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?② No; assuredly not. Where, then, is his mercy?

Look here; behold this Ark, as, steered by an invisible hand, she comes dimly through the gloom. Lonely ship on a shoreless ocean, she carries mercy on board. She holds the costliest freight that ever sailed the sea. The germs of the Church are there—the children of the old world, and the fathers of the new.

Suddenly, amid the awful gloom, as she drifts over that dead and silent sea, a grating noise is heard. Her keel has grounded on the top of Ararat.③ The door is opened; and, beneath the sign of the olive branch, her tenants come forth from their baptismal burial, like life from the dead, or like souls which have passed from a state of nature into the light and the liberty of grace, or like the saints when they shall rise at the summons of the trumpet to behold a new heaven and a new earth, and see the sign which these "gray fathers"④ hailed encircling a head that was crowned with thorns.

—THOMAS GUTHRIE⑤

WORDS

assuredly, certainly.

baptismal, consecrating.

catastrophe, calamity.

corpses, dead bodies.

costliest, richest.

destroyed, annihilated.

encircling, surrounding.

engrossed, absorbed.

exclaim, cry out.

freight, cargo.

invisible, unseen.

lessening, diminishing.

preceded, went before.

shrieking, screaming.

summit, peak.

survivor, one who outlives others.

tenants, occupants.

NOTES

① The Deluge.—See Gen. vi. vii. viii.

② Hath God forgotten to be gracious, &c.—See Ps. lxxvii. 9.

③ Ararat.—A province in Armenia, on the mountains of which the ark rested.(Gen. viii. 4.) The summit of Mount Ararat is upwards of 17,000 feet above the lever of the sea. In 1829, Professor Parrot, a German, reached the summit after several unsuccessful attempts.

④ "Gray fathers."—From Campbell's poem on The Rainbow:—

"When o'er the green undeluged earth

Heaven's covenant thou didst shine,

How came the world's gray fathers forth

To watch thy sacred sign!"

⑤ Thomas Guthrie.—An eloquent preacher and a well-known philanthropist. Born 1803; died 1873.

LESSON 36

WHAT IS WAR?

WHAT is war? I believe that half the people that talk about war have not the slightest idea what it is. In a short sentence it may be summed up to be the combination and concentration of all the horrors, atrocities, crimes, and sufferings of which human nature on this globe is capable. But what is even a rumour of war? Is there anybody here who has anything in the funds,① or who is the owner of any railway stock; or anybody who has a large stock of raw material or of manufactured goods? The funds have recently gone down 10 per cent. I do not say that the fall is all on account of this danger of war, but a great proportion of it undoubtedly is. A fall of 10 per cent, in the funds is nearly £80,000,000 sterling of value; and railway stock having gone down 20 per cent, makes a difference of £60,000,000 in the value of the railway property of this country. Add the two—£140,000,000—and take the diminished prosperity and value of manufactures of all kinds during the last few months, and you will under-state the actual loss to the country now if you put it down at £200,000,000 sterling. But that is merely a rumour of war. That is war a long way off—the small cloud no bigger than a man's hand: what will it be if it comes nearer and becomes a fact? And surely sane men ought to consider whether the case is a good one, the ground fair, the necessity clear, before they drag a nation of nearly thirty millions of people into a long and bloody struggle, for a decrepit and tottering empire,② which all the nations in Europe cannot long sustain.

Well, if you go into war now, you will have more banners to decorate your cathedrals and churches. Englishmen will fight now as well as they ever did; and there is ample power to back them, if the country can be but sufficiently excited and deluded. You may raise up great generals. You may have another Wellington, and another Nelson too; for this country can grow men capable of every enterprise. Then there may be titles, and pensions, and marble monuments to eternize the men who have thus become great; —but what becomes of you and your country, and your children?

Speaking here, however, to such an audience—an audience probably, for its numbers, as intelligent and as influential as ever was assembled within the walls of any hall in this kingdom—I think I may put before you higher considerations even than those of property and the institutions of your country. I may remind you of duties more solemn, and of obligations more imperative. You profess to be a Christian nation. You make it your boast even—though boasting is somewhat out of place in such questions—you make it your boast that you are a Christian people, and that you draw your rule of doctrine and practice, as from a well pure and undefiled, from the lively oracles of God, and from the direct revelation of the Omnipotent. You have even conceived the magnificent project of illuminating the whole Earth, even to its remotest and darkest recesses, by the dissemination of the volume of the New Testament, in whose every page are written for ever the words of peace. Within the limits of this island alone, every Sabbath-day, 20,000, yes, far more than 20,000 temples are thrown open, in which devout men and women assemble to worship him who is the "Prince of Peace."

Is this a reality? or is your Christianity a romance, and your profession a dream? No; I am sure that your Christianity is not a romance, and I am equally sure that your profession is not a dream. It is because I believe this that I appeal to you with confidence, and that I have hope and faith in the future. I believe that we shall see, and at no very distant time, sound economic principles spreading much more widely amongst the people; a sense of justice growing up in a soil which hitherto has been deemed unfruitful; and—which will be better than all—the churches of the United Kingdom, the churches of Britain, awaking as it were from their slumbers, and girding up their loins to more glorious work, when they shall not only accept and believe in the prophecy, but labour earnestly for its fulfilment, that there shall come a time—a blessed time—a time which shall last for ever—when "nation shall not lift up③ sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

—JOHN BRIGHT④

WORDS

atrocities, cruelties.

combination, union.

concentration, essence.

considerations, motives.

decrepit, broken-down.

deluded, deceived.

diminished, lessened.

dissemination, distribution.

eternize, immortalize.

illuminating, enlightening.

imperative, binding.

obligations, duties.

revelation, communication.

romance, fiction.

sufficiently, enough.

under-state, under-rate.

undoubtedly, certainly.

NOTES

① The funds.—A Government in want of money frequently issues bonds, which are sold to the public, and yield a certain rate of interest. A Government in good credit, like the British Government, can borrow money cheaply (at 3 or 3½ percent.), while others have to pay much more. Government bonds were usually called The Funds; and when it was said "The funds have recently gone down 10 percent.," the meaning was that the price of £100 stock has gone down to £90. The reason why a rumour of war makes the funds fall is, that war increases the national debt, compelling the Government to issue more bonds at any price they will bring.

② A decrepit and tottering empire.—The Turkish Empire, which in 1864 England and France assisted to repel Russian aggression.

③ "Nation shall not lift up," &c.—See Isaiah, ii. 4; Micah, iv. 3.

④ John Bright.—A manufacturer of Rochdale (Lancashire), and one of the most powerful speakers in the British Parliament. He was the chief associate of Mr. Cobden in the agitation which led to the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. He has always been an ardent advocate of a peace policy, and he opposed the Russian War of 1854-56. The above speech was delivered at a conference of the Peace Society in Edinburgh. Born 1811; died 1889.

LESSON 37

COLONIAL LOYALTY

OUR attachment to the Queen, our own Victoria, is mingled with a tenderness not inconsistent with the sterner sentiment, which it softens and embellishes without enervating. Let her legitimate authority as a constitutional monarch, let her reputation as a woman, be assailed, and notwithstanding the lamentation of Burke① that the age of chivalry was past, thousands of swords would leap from their scabbards to avenge her. Ay, and they would be drawn as freely and wielded as vigorously and bravely in Canada or in Nova Scotia, as in England. Loyalty! love of British institutions! —they are ingrafted on our very nature; they are part and parcel of ourselves; and I can no more tear them from my heart (even if I would, and lacerate all its fibres) than I could sever a limb from my body.

And what are those institutions? A distinguished Americane statesman recently answered this question. He said: "The proudest Government that exists upon the face of the Earth is that of Great Britain. And the great Pitt,② her proudest statesman, when he would tell of Britain's crowning glory, did not speak, as he might have done, of her wide-spread dominion, upon which the sun never sets. He did not speak of martial achievements, of glorious battle-fields, and of splendid naval conflicts. But he said, with swelling breast and kindling eye, that the poorest man of Great Britain in his cottage might bid defiance to all the force of the Crown. It might be frail, its roof might shake, the wind might blow through it, the storm might enter, the rain might enter; but the King of England could not enter it. In all his forces he dared not cross the threshold of that ruined tenement."

—HON. W. YOUNG

WORDS

achievements, exploits.

attachment, affection (for).

distinguished, illustrious.

dominion, empire.

embellishes, adorns.

inconsistent, irreconcilable.

ingrafted, rooted.

lacerate, mangle.

lamentation, complaint.

recently, lately.

tenement, habitation.

vigorously, powerfully.

NOTES

① Lamentation of Burke. —See Panegyric on Marie Antoinette.

② The great Pitt. —William Pitt. Barl of Chatham.

LESSON 38

JERUSALEM FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

MORNING dawned; and I ascended to the terraced roof of a little tower on the western side of Olivet,① rented by a friend to whom every spot in Jerusalem was familiar. Behind Olivet, in the east, the sky was all aglow with red light, which shot slanting across the hill-tops and projecting cliffs, and upon the walls and prominent buildings of the city, throwing them up in bold relief from the deeply-shaded glens. No time could have been more opportune, no spot better fitted for seeing and studying the general topography of the Holy City. The whole site was before us, distinct and full, like a vast and beautiful embossed picture.

At our feet, along the base of Olivet, was the Kidron,② a deep and narrow glen, coming down from an undulating plateau③ on the right, and disappearing round the shoulder of the hill on the left; its banks terraced, and dotted here and there with little groves and single olive trees. Directly opposite us was Mount Moriah,④ its bare sides rising precipitously from the bottom of the Kidron to a height of some two hundred feet.

On its summit is a rectangular platform, about thirty acres in extent, and taking up fully one-half of the eastern side of the city. It is encompassed and supported by a massive wall, in some places nearly eighty feet high, and looking even higher where it impends over the ravine. This platform constitutes by far the most striking feature of the city. It is unique. There is nothing like it in the world. Its history, too, is wonderful. It has been a "holy place" for more than thirty centuries.

Its Cyclope'an⑤ walls were founded by Solomon. Upon it stood the Temple, in whose shrine the Glory of the Lord so often appeared, and in whose courts Christ so often taught. It is still to the Moslem⑥ "the Noble Sanctuary," and, next to Mecca,⑦ the most venerated sanctuary in the world.

The platform itself—simple, massive, and grand—is a striking object; but the buildings it contains greatly contribute to its beauty. In its centre, on a raised area of white marble, stands the Mosque of Omar,⑧ one of the most splendid mosques in the world, octagonal in form, encrusted with encaustic tiles of gorgeous colours, and surmounted by a graceful dome. From its area the ground slopes away to the encircling ramparts in gentle undulations of green turf, diversified with marble arcades, gilded cupolas, fountains, and prayer-niches;—all interspersed with venerable cypresses, olives, and palms.

MOSQUE OF OMAR

At the southern end is a large group of stately buildings, including the Mosque el-Aksa, once the Church of the Virgin; and round the sides of the platform are cloisters, here and there covered with domes, and surmounted by tall minarets. The quiet seclusion of this sanctuary, the rich green of its grass and foliage, the dazzling whiteness of its pavements and fountains, the brilliant tints of the central mosque, and, above all, its sacred associations, make it one of the most charming and interesting spots on Earth.

Just behind Moriah the Tyrope'an Valley⑨ was distinctly marked by a deeply-shaded belt, running from north to south through the city. Beyond it rose Zion, higher and longer than Moriah; in front, a confused mass of terraced roofs, tier above tier; farther back were seen the white buildings of the Armenian Convent,⑩ like an immense factory; more to the right the new English Church; and in the back-ground, crowning the hill, the massive square keep of the Castle of David. ⑪

The southern section of Zion is now outside the city wall; and there a high minaret and cupola mark the Tomb of David. From it the hill sinks into the Valley of Hin'nom in steep terraced slopes, covered with vineyards, olives, and corn-fields. As I looked, a moving object in one of the fields riveted my attention. "Haste! give me the glass," I said. I turned it towards the spot. Yes, I was right; —a plough and yoke of oxen were there at work. Jeremiah's prophecy was being fulfilled before my eyes: "Zion shall be ploughed like a field."⑫

Along the farther side of Zion runs the deep glen of Hinnom, which, turning eastward, sweeps round the southern end of the hill and joins the Kidron at En-rogel. These two ravines form the great physical boundaries and barriers of Jerusalem; they completely cut it off from the surrounding tableland; and they isolate the hills on which it stands, and those other hills, too, or hill-tops, which, as the Psalmist tells us, "are round about Jerusalem."⑬ These natural barriers also serve to confine the city within regular and definite limits—to prevent it from sending forth straggling suburbs and offshoots, as most other cities do; hence it was said, "Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together."⑭

A high battlemented wall encompasses the modern city. It runs for half a mile along the brow of the Kidron valley, facing Olivet, then turns at right angles and zigzags across Moriah, the Tyropean, and Zion, to the brow of Hinnom. The whole circuit is two miles and a half. The city was always fortified, and the walls and towers formed its most prominent features. Hence the language of the exulting Psalmist: "Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof, mark ye well her bulwarks."⑮

Jerusalem has no suburbs. There is no shading off of the city into the country—no long streets radiating from a centre, then straggling houses, and villas, and gardens, such as we are accustomed to see in English towns. The moment you pass the gates of Jerusalem you are in the country, —a country open, bare, without a single house, and almost desolate. Not a green spot is visible, and not a tree, save here and there a little clump of gnarled, dusky olives. Rounded hill-tops, and long reaches of plain, strown with heaps of gray limestone, extend from the walls far away to the north and to the south. There is no grandeur, beauty, or richness in the scenery. It is bleak and featureless.

Hence the sad disappointment felt by most travellers on approaching Jerusalem from the west and the south. They can only see the serrated line of gray Saracenic walls⑯ extending across a section of a bleak, rocky plateau. But when I stood that morning on the brow of Olivet, and looked down on the city, crowning those battlemented heights, encircled by those deep and dark ravines, and when the rising sun bathed in a flood of ruddy light the terraced roofs of the city, I involuntarily exclaimed, —"Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, the city of the great King!"⑰

—J. L. PORTER

WORDS

accustomed, used.

battlemented, fortified.

confused, irregular.

dazzling, overpowering.

desolate, deserted.

diversified, varied.

encaustic, enamelled.

encompassed, surrounded.

exulting, triumphant.

familiar, well known.

interspersed, mingled.

involuntarily, spontaneously.

octagonal, eight-sided.

opportune, convenient.

precipitously, steeply.

prominent, outstanding.

radiating, diverging.

riveted, enchained.

serrated, notched.

straggling, scattered.

topography, position of places.

undulating, rising and falling; irregular.

unique, unmatched.

venerated, revered.

NOTES

① Olivet, or the Mount of Olives, a ridge running north and south on the eastern side of Jerusalem. It is the hill on the right of the picture on page 199. The central summit rises two hundred feet above Jerusalem, and affords the finest view of the city and its surroundings.

② Kidron, the valley and stream separating Olivet from Jerusalem.

③ Plateau(pla-toe'), table-land.

④ Mount Moriah, the hill on which the Temple stood.

⑤ Cyclopean, gigantic; lit. like the Cyclopes, a fabulous race of one-eyed giants, said to have lived in Sicily, and to have been the workmen of Vulcan, the god of fire and furnaces.

⑥ Moslem, a Mussulman or Mohammedan.

⑦ Mecca, in Arabia, the birth-place of Mohammed. It attracts pilgrims in thousands every year, from all parts of the Mohammedan world.

⑧ Mosque of Omar.—A mosque is a Mohammedan place of worship; and the Mosque of Omar, built on the site of Solomon's Temple, is by far the most magnificent building in modern Jerusalem. It was built to commemorate the capture of Jerusalem by the Saracens under the Caliph Omar in 637 A. D. The date generally assigned for its completion is 687 A. D.

⑨ Tyropean Valley, between Mounts Moriah and Zion; called also, in its lower part, the Valley of Cheesemongers. This is only a translation of the other name, which is derived from Greek tyros, cheese, or a cheese-market.

⑩ Armenian Convent; a convent of the Armenian Church (from Armenia, a province of Asia Minor, south of the Caucasus), which professes a form of Christianity resembling that of the Greek Church. It is governed by patriarchs.

⑪ Castle of David.—So it is commonly called; but it is supposed by many to be the great tower of Hippicus mentioned by Josephus as the point from which the Jews made an unsuccessful sally upon the Romans, during the siege before the destruction of the city, A. D. 70. It is situated at the Jaffa gate, on the north-western corner of Mount Zion.

⑫ Zion, &C.—See Jeremiah, xxvi. 18, where the prophecy is assigned to Micah. Compare Micah, iii. 12.

⑬ Round about Jerusalem—See Psalm cxxv. 2.

⑭ Compact together.—See Psalm cxxii. 3.

⑮ Her bulwarks.—See Psalm xlviii. 13.

⑯ Saracen'ic walls.—The modern wall of Jerusalem was built by the Saracens in 1542.

⑰ Beautiful for situation—See Psalm. xlviii. 2.

JERUSALEM AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY

QUESTIONS

What is the best point for obtaining a general view of Jerusalem? Where is Mount Olivet? At what time did the writer ascend the tower on that mount? What glen lay at his feet? What Mount, on the other side of Kidron? Why is the platform on Moriah so deeply interesting? What great building stands upon it now? What valley separates Moriah from Zion? What divides Zion into two sections? Where is David's tomb? How is its position marked? What valley runs on the farther side of Zion? What effect have the valleys of Hinnom and Kidron on Jerusalem? Why are most travellers disappointed with the first view of Jerusalem?

LESSON 39

THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM

A. D. 70

THE aspect of Jerusalem had changed but little from that which it had worn at the time of the Crucifixion, when, thirty-five years later, the Roman eagles gathered round their prey. But during these years the Jews had been plunging deeper and deeper into sin and wretchedness. At last, goaded by outrage and insult, they had risen against their Roman masters; and the great Vespasian had been sent by Nero to tame their stubborn pride.

Galilee and Perea① were subdued after some trouble and delay; and the conqueror, having drawn a circle of forts round Jerusalem, was at Caesarea, preparing for the last great blow, when he heard the news of Nero's death. The army in Palestine then proclaimed Vespasian emperor. He hastened to secure Alexandria, the second city in the empire; and having heard while there that the people of Rome were holding feasts in his own honour, he set out for Italy. So the siege of Jerusalem was left to his son Titus.

Mustering his forces at Caesarea, and dividing them into three bands, Titus marched for the doomed city. Arrived there, he fortified three camps—one on the north, one on the west, and one, garrisoned by the Tenth Legion, on the Mount of Olives. Upon this last the Jews made a sally as the soldiers were digging the trenches; but they were soon beaten down the hill.

While the trumpets were blowing at Caesarea, and the clang of the Roman march was shaking the land, murder, and outrage, and cruel terror filled all Jerusalem. Robbers, calling themselves Zealots, had flocked in from the country. Eleazar, at the head of one set of these, held the inner court of the Temple. John of Gischala, another leader of ruffians, occupying ground somewhat lower, poured constant showers of darts and stones into the holy house, often killing worshippers as they stood at the very altar. In this mad war, houses full of corn were burned, and misery of every kind was inflicted on the wretched people. In despair they called Simon of Gerasa to their aid, and thus there were three hostile factions within the walls.

The great feast of the Passover came, and the Temple was thrown open to the thousands who crowded from every corner of the land to offer up their yearly sacrifice. Mingling in disguise with the throng, with weapons under their clothes, John's party gained entrance into the sacred court, and soon drove out their foes. The poor worshippers, all trampled and bleeding, escaped as best they could. John remained master of the Temple; and the three factions were reduced to two.

Within the city there were above 23,000 fighting men—a strong body if united. There was, indeed, a temporary union, when they saw the Roman soldiers busily cutting down all the trees in the suburbs, rolling their trunks together, and to the top of the three great banks thus formed dragging the huge siege-engines of the time—rams, catapults, and balistas.②

The siege opened in three places at once, towards the end of March, 70 A. D. The Roman missiles poured like hail upon the city; but none were so terrible as the stones, sometimes weighing a talent (125 pounds), which were cast from the east by the Tenth Legion. The Jews replied with some engines planted on the wall by Simon, flung torches at the Roman banks, and made an unavailing sally at the Tower of Hippicus.③

Three towers of heavy timber, covered with thick iron plates, were then erected by Titus. Rising higher than the walls, and carrying light engines, they were used to drive the Jews from their posts of defence. The falling of one of these at midnight with a loud crash spread alarm through the Roman camp; but it did not last long. At dawn the rams were swinging away, and pounding against the shaking wall, which on the fifteenth day of the siege yielded to Nico (the Conqueror), as the most ponderous of the Roman engines was called by the Jews. The legions, pouring through the breach, gained the first wall: nine days later, the second wall was levelled with the ground.

Then followed a pause of five days, after which the attack was renewed at John's Monument, and the Tower of Antonia.④ At the same time, Josephus, a noble Jew, from whose graphic history this sketch is drawn, went to the walls, as he had done before—as he did more than once again, to plead with his countrymen. But all in vain, for the Zealots were bent on holding out, and slew such of the people as they found trying to desert.

Famine had long before begun its deadly work. Mothers were already snatching the morsels from their children's lips. The robbers broke open every shut door in search of food, and tortured most horribly all who were thought to have a hidden store. Gaunt men, who had crept beyond the walls by night to gather a few wild herbs, were often robbed by these wretches of the handful of green leaves for which they had risked their lives. Yet, in spite of this, the starving people went out into the valleys in such numbers that the Romans caught them at the rate of five hundred a day, and crucified them before the walls, until there was no wood left to make another cross.

His serious losses made Titus resolve to hem in the city with a wall. It was built in the amazingly short time of three days! The attack was then directed against the Tower of Antonia, which stood at the north-west corner of the Temple, on a slippery rock, fifty cubits high. Four banks were raised. Some Roman soldiers, creeping in with their shields above their heads, loosened four of the foundation stones; and the wall, battered at all day, fell suddenly in the night.

But there was another wall inside. One Sabi'nus, a little dark Syrian soldier, led a forlorn hope of eleven men up to this in broad noon-day, gained the top, and put the Jews to flight; but tripping over a stone he was killed, as were three of his band. A night or two after, sixteen Romans stole up the wall, slew the guards, and blew a startling trumpet blast. The Jews fled. Titus and his men, swarming up the ruined wall, dashed at the entrance of the Temple. After ten hours' fighting, the Jews drove the Romans out of the Temple, but not from the Tower of Antonia.

After the Roman wall was built, the famine and the plague grew worse. Young men dropt dead in the streets. Piles of decaying corpses filled the lanes, and were thrown by thousands over the walls. No herbs were to be got now. Men, in the rage of hunger, gnawed their shoes, the leather of their shields, and even old wisps of hay. Robbers, with wolfish eyes, ransacked every dwelling, and, when one day they came clamouring for food to the house of the daughter of Eleazar, she set before them the roasted flesh of her own infant son! Brutal and rabid though they were, they fled from the house of that wretched mother.

At last the daily sacrifice ceased to be offered, and the war closed round the Temple. The cloisters were soon burned. Six days' battering had no effect on the great gates; fire alone could clear a path for the eagles. A day was fixed for the grand assault; but on the evening before, the Romans having penetrated as far as the Holy House, a soldier, climbing on the shoulders of another, put a blazing torch to one of the golden windows of the north side. The building was soon a sheet of leaping flames; and Titus, who had always desired to save the Temple, came running from his tent, but the din of war and the crackling flames prevented his voice from being heard.

On over the smoking cloisters trampled the legions, fierce for plunder. The Jews sank in heaps of dead and dying around the altar, which dripped with their blood. More fire was thrown upon the hinges of the gate; and then no human word or hand could save the house, where God himself had loved to dwell. Never did the stars of night look down on a more piteous scene. Sky and hill and town and valley were all reddened with one fearful hue. The roar of flames, the shouts of Romans, the shrieks of wounded Zealots, rose wild into the scorching air, and echoed among the mountains all around. But sadder far was the wail of broken hearts which burst from the streets below, when marble wall and roof of gold came crashing down, and the Temple was no more. Then, and only then, did the Jews let go the trust which had all along sustained them, that God would deliver his ancient people, smiting the Romans with some sudden blow.

The Upper City then became a last refuge for the despairing remnant of the garrison. Simon and John were there; but the arrogant tyrants were broken down to trembling cowards. And when, after eighteen days' work, banks were raised and the terrible ram began to sound anew on the ramparts, the panic-struck Jews fled like hunted foxes to hide in the caves of the hill. The eagles flew victorious to the summit of the citadel, while Jewish blood ran so deep down Zion that burning houses were quenched in the red stream!

The siege lasted 134 days, during which 1, 100,000 Jews perished, and 97,000 were taken captive. Some were kept to grace the Roman triumph;⑤ some were sent to toil in the mines of Egypt; some fought in provincial theatres with gladiators and wild beasts; those under seventeen were sold as slaves. John was imprisoned for life; Simon, after being led in triumph, was slain at Rome.

BAS-RELIEF ON THE ARCH OF TITUS—(From a Photograph)

It was a gay holiday, when the emperor and his son, crowned with laurel and clad in purple, passed in triumph through the crowded streets of Rome. Of the many rich spoils adorning the pageant none were gazed on with more curious eyes than the golden table, the candlestick⑥ with seven branching lamps, and the holy book of the Law, rescued from the flames of the Temple. It was the last page of a tragic story. The Jews— homeless ever since, yet always preserving an indestructible nationality—were scattered among the cities of Earth, to be the Shylocks of a day that is gone by, and the Rothschilds of our own happier age.

—W. F. COLLIER

WORDS

amazingly, wonderfully.

citadel, fortress.

clamouring, shouting.

despairing, losing hope.

disguise, false dress.

engines, machines.

foundation, basement.

garrisoned, occupied.

gladiators, sword-fighters.

indestructible, imperishable.

inflicted, visited.

levelled, razed.

loosened, detached.

missiles, projectiles.

nationality, unity as a people.

pageant, spectacle.

penetrated, made way.

piteous, melancholy.

plague, disease.

ponderous, heavy.

ransacked, plundered.

siege, investment.

temporary, for a time.

unavailing, fruitless.

weighing, in weight.

wretchedness, misery

NOTES

① Perea, a district on the east of the Jordan, extending from the lake of Gennesaret in the north to the river Arnon in the south.

② Rams, catapults, and balistas.—These were the chief military engines used by the Romans. The ram was used to destroy the lower part of the wall. It consisted of a large beam, the trunk of a fir or an ash tree, with a mass of bronze or iron, resembling the head of a ram, fastened to one end. At first the ram was borne in men's hands; but in its more perfect form it was swung by chains from a transverse beam, and covered with a wooden roof. The balista was used to shoot stones against the battlements. Sometimes the balista threw its missiles to a distance of a quarter of a mile. The more powerful sorts are said to have thrown stones weighing three hundredweight. The catapult was used to shoot darts at any of the besieged that showed themselves on the walls. In form, the catapult was long, the balista nearly square.

③ Tower of Hippicus.—Believed to be the same as the Castle of David, at the north-western corner of Mount Zion.

④ Tower of Antonia, the citadel of Jerusalem, stood at the north-western angle of Mount Moriah. It communicated with the cloisters of the Temple by secret passages. Herod called it Antonia in honour of Mark Antony.

⑤ To grace the Roman triumph.—Seven hundred of the tallest and handsomest of the captive Jews marched in Titus's triumphal procession, with ropes around their necks.

⑥ The golden table, the candlestick, &c.—As a permanent memorial of his victories, a triumphal arch, the most elegant in Rome, was dedicated to Titus, and completed shortly after his death. The sculpture carved on one side of the. archway, under the arch, represents that part of the procession in which Roman soldiers carried on high the spoils from the Temple of Jerusalem. There may still be distinctly recognised the golden candlestick which stood in the Temple in the time of Christ. The original candlestick used in the Tabernacle, and afterwards transferred to Solomon's Temple, had been carried off by the Chaldeans in 588 B. C. When the Temple was rebuilt, seventy years later, a new candlestick was made, which corresponded exactly with the original one, as described in Exodus (xxv. 31-40). This candlestick was deposited in Vespasian's Temple of Peace at Rome, where it remained for nearly four hundred years. It was carried off to Carthage by Genseric and his Vandals, in 455 A. D. Belisa'rius carried it from Carthage to Constantinople, in 533. From Constantinople it was sent back to Jerusalem, and placed in a Christian church; but it disappeared thence, when or by whose hands has never been ascertained.

QUESTIONS

Who was sent by Nero to subdue the rebellious Jews? Why did he leave Syria? To whom was the siege of Jerusalem left? How did he dispose his forces around the city? What different factions existed within the city? How were these reduced to two? When did the siege open? At how many points? How did the Romans drive the Jews from the walls? When was the first wall gained? when the second? Who went to the walls to plead with his countrymen? What led many of the Jews to desert the city? What plan did Titus adopt to hem them in more effectually? Against what tower was the attack then directed? How was it gained? To what extremities did the famine drive the besieged? What brought the siege to a sudden crisis? What became a last refuge for the garrison? In how many days was it reduced? How long did the siege last? How many Jews perished? How many were taken captive? What spoils were displayed in the Roman triumph?

LESSON 40

LEBANON

LEBANON stands in some respects alone and unrivalled among the mountains of the world. A most impressive signal of approach to the Holy Land is the first glimpse, off the shores of Cy'prus, of the ancient mountain rising from the eastern waters, its peaks wreathed with everlasting snows, and flushed with shifting hues of rose and purple in the clear evening sky. High up in its aërial solitude, pure and lustrous like a cloud steeped in sunshine, it stands for us as the emblem of that old oriental world which lies in its shadow; —Damascus,① buried in its depths of ever-blooming verdure; Antioch,② where the Oron'tes runs sparkling through its laurel groves to the sea; Baalbec,③ with its gray colossal relics—the Stonehenge of the desert; Tyre, discrowned and desolate, by the waters; and away in the south, the hills of Galilee with Jerusalem beyond, and the red peaks of the great and terrible wilderness which closes in this land of wonder.

From the time when the Jewish leader④ sighed to see "the good land beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, even Lebanon," through those later days when Hebrew seers and poets looked up to its vineyards and forests, its purple slopes and its burnished silver diadem, and drew from them eternal types of truth and beauty, what a boundless wealth of sacred tradition and imagery has been treasured up in the venerable name of Lebanon!

This name, which is now confined to the eastern mountain chain, "Lib'anus" properly so called, is used in a wider sense by the inspired writers, and includes the great parallel range of "Anti-Libanus," which in Hermon, its loftiest summit, attains a height of ten thousand feet. This mountain, towering in its magnificent elevation over the plain, is "the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus."

To the Jewish people, so proud of their national Temple and its associations with the golden age of their history, Lebanon, on this account alone, would be reverently endeared. From its quarries were hewn the massive blocks of stone which rose on Mori'ah without sound of axe or hammer; and many a giant tree had been felled by the Tyrian woodman in its forests to yield the precious wood so largely employed in the building. In the luxurious days of the later kings the mansions of the noble and the wealthy in Jerusalem were embellished with this costly wood—"ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion."

BEIROUT AND MOUNTAINS OF LEBANON

The height of this tree made it a symbol of pride; its stateliness and far-spreading branches, of extended empire: "The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; no tree in the garden of God was like unto him for beauty." With a deeper meaning, as an emblem of the spiritual progress of the believer, the psalmist says: "The righteous shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon."

The mountain region of Lebanon is a world in itself, peopled by ancient races, whose religious feuds have often carried devastation through its fairest valleys. The northern part of the range is occupied mainly by a Christian population, the Ma'ronites;⑤ the southern by the Drūs'es,⑥ a brave, high-spirited people, whose religion is a mystery, and seems to be a kind of Moham'medanism, tinctured with the wild fanaticism of the East.

Situated on a lovely bay at the base of Lebanon is Bei'rout, suggesting to us what Tyre may have been like, in the days of its glory. The coast is dotted with villages, and the number of them scattered about the mountain is amazing. On approaching it from the sea, one is struck by the groups of white dwellings that gleam among the vineyards on its lower slopes, and higher up speckle the dark pine-groves,— multitudes of little hamlets clinging to its sides, or hanging like swallows' nests from its rocky eaves. Everywhere, as one makes his way through the storm-gashed ravines of the mountain, where cataracts leap and torrents twist and foam, each sudden turn of the road brings into view new villages, dropped about here and there in green retreats, and slumbering in their orchards and mulberry groves like nooks of Paradise shut out from the world.

From the highest point, which perhaps one has gained on a journey from Damascus and Baalbec to the Cedar Forest,⑦ the prospect is one of ' surpassing grandeur. All at once the mountains sink and fall away to a giddy depth beneath—a maze of furrowed ridges, surging, like the waves of a frozen sea, through a veil of warm blue vapour; old castles and convents perched on islanded heights; villages everywhere clustering on the terraced steeps; at your feet the venerable Cedar Wood dwindled to a thicket of shrubs; and away in the distance the hazy gleam of the Mediterranean waters. One is reminded of the paradise of that gorgeous dream of Coleridge:—

"There were gardens bright with sinuous rills,

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Infolding sunny spots of greenery."

It is not for the multitude of its cedars that Lebanon is now renowned; but the spot where stand the last surviving relics of the forests that once clothed its sides will always be a haunt of pilgrimage. The wood contains about three hundred cedars, of which fifty trees, twisted by the storms and scarred by the tempests of centuries, may challenge special admiration. On a mound in the centre stands the patriarch of the grove, nine feet in diameter, spreading his ponderous arms, each a tree in itself, over the heads of the many generations that have grown up below.

THE CEDAR GROVE

Nowhere, perhaps, is the wonderful union of mountain grandeur with beauty of site and richness of culture better seen than near the Christian village of Ehden,⑧ described in glowing terms by all who have visited it. It stands on the brink of a gorge nearly two thousand feet in depth, its houses of hewn stone scattered under the shade of walnut trees, every slope and terrace waving with cornfields and vineyards, and groves of mulberry and poplar. The chime of bells, so seldom heard in the East, awakens a peculiar emotion when ringing the hour of prayer in these Christian villages.

Stability, fragrance, fruitfulness, types of the highest graces that beautify and exalt the life of man, dwell in pure and endless companionship beneath the cedars of Lebanon.

—J. D. BURNS

WORDS

associations, connections.

burnished, polished.

colossal, huge.

culture, cultivation.

devastation, ruin.

dwindled, reduced.

embellished, ornamented.

emblem, token.

emotion, feeling.

fanaticism, religious frenzy.

fragrance, aroma.

fruitfulness, productiveness.

impressive, affecting.

includes, embraces.

lustrous, bright.

luxurious, voluptuous.

magnificent, grand.

multitudes, crowds.

reminded, put in mind.

slumbering, sleeping.

stability, steadfastness.

surpassing, excessive.

surviving, remaining.

tinctured, tinged.

unrivalled, peerless.

wilderness, desert.

NOTES

① Damascus, the ancient capital of Syria, and probably the oldest city in the world. It has belonged successively to all the great conquering nations of the globe,—Assyrians. Persians. Greeks, Romans, Saracens, Tartars, and Turks. Damascus is a great caravan centre. The cloth called Damask is supposed to have originated there and Damascus steel has never been surpassed.

② Antioch, formerly the capital of all Syria, and at one time the third city in the Roman Empire for wealth and refinement. It is situated on the river Orontes, 20 miles from its mouth. It has many times been nearly destroyed by earthquakes, and now its population is 30,000.

③ Baalbec, an ancient city of Syria, in the valley between Lebanon and AntiLebanon. It was also called Helio-polis, both names having the same meaning,—City of the Sun. The origin of the city has been ascribed to Solomon. Among the ruins of its temples, there are found single blocks of stone over 60 feet long. One of these is 69 feet long, 17 broad, and 14 feet thick.

④ The Jewish leader.—Moses, who led the Israelites through the wilderness, but was not allowed to cross the Jordan with them.

⑤ Maronites; so called from their founder, Maron, who lived in the fifth century. They were reconciled to the Church of Rome in the twelfth century, and are still subject to it, but they hold their service in Syriac. They number about 200,000.

⑥ Druses, Arabs, who came from the eastern confines of Syria, and settled in Lebanon within the last nine hundred years. It is said that they were originally Egyptians, and that the sect was founded by one of the followers of Hakim, an Egyptian prophet, who was expelled from Egypt for his heretical belief in Hakim. They now number 100,000. In 1860 the Druses attacked the Maronites, and massacred great numbers of them. The Turks and the French interfered, and the Druses surrendered in January 1861, giving up their leaders.

⑦ The Cedar Forest, on the western slope of Lebanon, 25 miles inland from Botrys.

⑧ Ehden, about five miles north-west of the Cedar Forest.

QUESTIONS

What relics of the old oriental world lie in the shadow of Lebanon? What is the highest peak of Anti-Lebanon? and its height? Why would Lebanon be reverently endeared to the Jewish people? Of what was the cedar tree the symbol? Who dwell in the northern and the southern parts of the Lebanon region respectively? By what is one struck on approaching Lebanon from the sea? How many trees does the Cedar Forest now contain? Describe the patriarch of the grove. Where is the village of Ehden situated? For what is it remarkable?

LESSON 41

GREAT OCEAN ROUTES

(To be read before a Map of the World)

SOUTHAMPTON, which is the station of most of the great ocean mails, is a quaint old English sea-port at the head of Southampton Water in Hants. Two passages lead from Southampton Water to the English Channel—the Solent and the Spithead; and between them lies the Isle of Wight. A northern branch of the Spithead is Portsmouth Harbour, the principal station of the English Navy.

The great ocean routes which have their starting-point at Southampton are—the Mediterranean, the West Indian, the Cape, East Indian, Australian, and China routes.

The principal vessels that follow the Mediterranean route are those in connection with the overland route to India. But by this route also communication is kept up with the whole of the Mediterranean coasts, and an extensive trade—chiefly in corn—is carried on between the Black Sea and the principal British ports.

The Cape and East Indian mail steamer, on leaving Southampton, makes direct for St. Vincent, one of the Cape Verd Islands, where there is a commodious harbour, a free port, and a coaling station. These islands are situated 320 miles west of Cape Verd, on the coast of Africa, They form a Portuguese possession. Cotton cloth and salt are their most valuable exports.

The next station on the Cape route is Ascension Island, 1800 miles south-east of St. Vincent. This small island, which is 8 miles long, by 6 broad at its western end, has belonged to England since 1815. At George Town, on its north-western coast, there is a fort with military quarters, surrounded by a few detached residences; and opposite the town there is an open roadstead. It is a convenient victualling station for the African squadron of the English Navy.

Eight hundred miles south-east of Ascension, the steamer reaches the interesting island of St. Helena, the scene of the captivity and death of Napoleon Buonaparte. The chief settlement in the island is James Town, on the north-western shore. The interior is an elevated table-land, 1500 feet above the sea-level. Near the centre of this plateau is Longwood, the residence of Napoleon from 1815 till 1821. He was buried on the island; but in 1840 his remains were removed to Paris. Indian steamers do not often call at St. Helena on the outward voyage, but it is a usual station in the homeward track.

After St. Helena, the steamer next stops at Cape Town; so called from the Cape of Good Hope, in the neighbourhood of which it stands. Cape of Good Hope Province, of which Cape Town is the capital, became a British possession in 1814. Prior to that time it belonged to Holland; and the town bears evident traces of its Dutch origin. It has canals in the principal streets; the houses are flat-roofed and painted or whitewashed, with terraces and gardens in front. It is situated on the south-western shore of Table Bay, under the shadow of Table Mount.

From Cape Town the steamer proceeds to Mauritius, a considerable island (36 miles long by 20 broad) in the Indian Ocean. The Dutch called the island Mauritius, after Prince Maurice, their Stadtholder, when they settled there in 1598. Abandoned by the Dutch in 1715, the French took possession of it, and called it the Isle of France. In 1810 it was taken by the British, and its possession was confirmed to them in 1814; but the companion island of Bourbon, which had been taken at the same time, was restored to the French. Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, is a place of growing prosperity. It has over 50,000 inhabitants, and it is now in direct communication, not only with India, but with Aden and Australia.

The next station on the direct route is Point de Galle, a seaport at the southern extremity of the island of Ceylon. Here the Cape and Overland routes meet, as the steamers from Aden and Bombay also touch at Point de Galle. This port forms a kind of mail depot for the whole of the East, as branch mails proceed thence to Madras, Calcutta, Penang, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong-Kong.

Ships returning to England from Australia generally prefer the Pacific and Cape Horn route to that by the Cape of Good Hope and the Atlantic. By this means vessels are able, both in going and returning, to take advantage of the westerly winds and currents which prevail in the neighbourhood of both of these stormy Capes.

After doubling Cape Horn, the homeward-bound ship makes for the Falkland Islands, which form a convenient British outpost in the southern seas. This group, consisting of two large and a host of small islands, is situated about 300 miles from the coast of Patagonia. The western of the two large islands is 90 miles, the eastern is 100 miles in length. Their population is sparse; but vegetation is luxuriant, and cattle abundant. Vessels frequenting these seas call at the Falkland Islands to procure provisions and fresh water. The direct route from the Falkland Islands to Southampton is by the Cape Verd Islands, where the homeward and outward routes meet. A vessel that has sailed from St. Vincent to Melbourne by the Cape of Good Hope, and has returned to St. Vincent by Cape Horn, has obviously sailed round the world.

The West Indian mail is carried direct from Southampton to St. Thomas, a small island belonging to Denmark, in the group called the Virgin Islands. The capital of St. Thomas is a free port, and one of the best trading places in the West Indies. It is built in the form of an amphitheatre around a spacious bay; hence its selection as a great mail station, and as the chief magazine and market for West Indian produce.

From St. Thomas the mail steamer proceeds to Kingston in Jamaica, which has also a fine harbour, available for the largest ships. Another route to Kingston is by the Bermudas, a group of nearly four hundred islands, about 600 miles from the coast of the United States. These islands—the "still vexed Bermoothes"① of Shakespeare—are of great value to Britain as a naval station, one of them containing a land-locked harbour, which has few equals in the world. The port referred to is also used as an arsenal and as a convict settlement; and it is the centre of important transit trade between the West Indies and the mainland of North America. There is regular steam communication from Bermuda to Halifax, New York, and St. Thomas.

From Kingston the mail route is continued to Colon, on the northern side of the Isthmus of Panama. Thence it proceeds by canal across the isthmus to Panama②—a distance of 42 miles. Panama has thus been raised to a position of great importance among Pacific sea-ports. It is now the station for the mails between Great Britain and Peru and Chili. Steamers also ply between Panama and San Francisco in California.

The South American and Pacific route, starting from Liverpool, proceeds by way of Bordeaux, and calls at Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, which stands in the relation of parent state to the modern Brazilian Republic.③ From Lisbon the route proceeds in a south-westerly direction for upwards of 600 miles to the mountainous island of Madeira, which gives its name to a famous wine made from the grapes grown on the island. Madeira is also a favourite resort of consumptive patients during the winter and spring months.

Madeira is a Portuguese island. The Canaries, those next visited, belong to Spain, and form a station at which all ships sailing between Spain and the East or West Indies regularly call. Conspicuous among them by its lofty snow-capped peak is Teneriffe, an extinct, or, at least, quiescent volcano, which rises 12, 182 feet above the ocean.

TENERIFFE

The Cape Verd Islands, already referred to in connection with the East Indian route, mark the next stage in the voyage. The steamer then crosses the Atlantic in a south-westerly direction, and makes no further pause till it reaches either Pernambuco or Bahia (for they are visited alternately by successive mails) on the north-eastern coast of Brazil. Thence it proceeds to Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the country, and the second city in commercial importance in South America. Rio, to which alternate steamers sail direct from Lisbon, is situated on the western shore of a vast bay or inlet, 17 miles in length, and 11 in extreme width, which is studded with islands, and forms one of the noblest harbours in the world. This harbour communicates with the Atlantic by a deep and narrow passage between two granite mountains. The entrance is so safe as to render the services of local pilots entirely unnecessary. Yet so commanding is the position of the fortresses at the mouth of the harbour, on its islands, and on the surrounding heights, that the ingress of a hostile fleet would be a work of the utmost difficulty.

From either side of that contracted entrance stretch away, as far as the eye can reach, lofty mountains, whose pointed summits and fantastic shapes recall the glories of Alpland. On the left, the Sugar-Loaf Mountain stands like a giant sentinel over the metropolis of Brazil. On the right another lofty range commences near the principal fortress, which commands the entrance of the bay, and, forming curtain-like ramparts, reaches away in picturesque headlands to the bold promontory well known to all South Atlantic navigators as Cape Frio. Far through the opening of the bay, and in some places towering even above the lofty coast-barrier, can be discovered the blue outline of the distant Organ Mountains, whose lofty pinnacles will at once suggest the origin of their name.

As far up the bay as the eye can reach, lovely little islands, verdant and palm-clad, may be seen rising out of its dark bosom; while the hills and lofty mountains which surround it on all sides, when gilded by the rays of the setting sun, form a fitting frame for such a picture. At night the lights of the city have a fine effect; and when the land-breeze begins to blow, the rich odour of the orange and other perfumed flowers is borne seaward along with it.

The aspect which Rio de Janeiro presents to the beholder bears no resemblance to the compact brick walls, the dingy roofs, the tall chimneys, and the generally level sites of Northern cities. Its surface is diversified by hills of irregular but picturesque shape, which shoot up in different directions, leaving between them flat intervals of greater or less extent. Along the bases of these hills, and up their sides, stand rows of buildings, whose whitened walls and red-tiled roofs are in happy contrast with the deep green foliage that always surrounds and often embowers them.

From Rio, the steamer continues its course to Monte Video, the capital of Uruguay, situated at the mouth of the La Plata. Monte Video has an excellent harbour, around which the city is built in crescent form. On the opposite side of the La Plata, farther up the estuary, is Buenos Ayres,④ the capital of the Argentine Republic, and the largest city of the southern hemisphere. The navigation of the La Plata is rendered difficult by its numerous rocks and sand-banks, and it is especially dangerous during the prevalence of the tempestuous south-west winds called pamperos. Prior to 1885 passengers and mails for Buenos Ayres were landed at Monte Video, but in that year a harbour, large enough to accommodate the mail steamers, was constructed at Buenos Ayres.

RIO DE JANEIRO

After leaving Buenos Ayres the steamer proceeds southward; and passing through the Strait of Magellan,⑤ or weathering Cape Horn,⑥ makes for Valparaiso, the chief port of Chili. Four hundred miles westward, in the midst of the Pacific, is the island of Juan Fernandez, Alexander Selkirk's solitary residence on which for four years suggested to Defoe his well-known story, "Robinson Crusoe." From Valparaiso, the steamer proceeds to Callao, the port of Lima, which is six miles inland, and with which it is connected by rail. Lima, the city founded by Pizarro⑦ to be the Spanish capital of his conquests, has the reputation of being the handsomest city in South America—its cathedral and numerous churches, with their domes and spires, giving it a magnificent appearance. We have now crossed the line of the West Indian and Panama route already described, of which the traveller may, for variety's sake, avail himself on his homeward journey.

WORDS

abundant, plentiful.

amphitheatre, circular space.

arsenal, store of war material.

available, suitable.

captivity, imprisonment.

chimneys, smoke vents.

commercial, mercantile.

commodious, roomy.

communication, intercourse.

companion, accompanying.

consumptive, afflicted with disease of the lungs.

contracted, narrow.

convenient, advantageous.

convict, criminal.

cres cent, semicircular.

detached, standing alone.

elevated, raised.

estuary, river-mouth.

extensive, large.

extremity, termination.

fantastic, fanciful.

harbour, haven; port.

intervals, spaces.

luxuriant, rich; copious.

magazine, store-house.

magnificent, grand.

metropolis, chief city.

mountainous, rocky.

neighbourhood, vicinity.

obviously, evidently.

perfumed, scented.

picturesque, striking.

pinnacles, pointed summits.

plateau, table-land.

prevalence, continuance.

promontory, headland.

quiescent, dormant.

resemblance, likeness.

residences, dwelling-houses.

roadstead, anchorage.

spacious, wide.

squadron, division.

terraces, raised platforms.

unnecessary, needless.

verdant, green.

volcano, burning mountain.

NOTES

① "Still vexed Bermoothes."—The ever-stormy Bermudas. See The Tempest, Act i., Scene 2. Shakespeare is supposed to have taken his idea from an account of the shipwreck of Sir George Somners on the Bermudas in 1609.

② The isthmus of Panama.—It had long been proposed to cut a ship canal through the isthmus: and in 1881 a French company obtained a concession from the Republic of Colombia, and Ferdinand de Leeseps, the maker of the Suez Canal, was placed in charge of the work. The attempt was a failure, and the rights of the French company were acquired by the American Government, under whom the canal was completed and opened to shipping in 1914. Panama became an independent republic in 1903.

③ Brazilian Republic.—On the outbreak of the Peninsular War, the royal family of Portugal fled to Brazil, which had been a Portuguese dependency since the sixteenth century. They formed it into a tributary kingdom in 1815, and into an independent empire in 1822. In 1889 Brazil became a republic.

④ Buenos Ayres (Bo'nus A'riz; but the Spanish pronunciation is Bwa'noce I'rez), seceded from the Argentine Confederation in 1853; but they were reunited in 1862. Argentine means pertaining to silver (from. Lat argentum, sliver). This and the name La Plata (plate), given first to the country, and afterwards to the estuary, were suggested by the silver and gold which the Spanish discoverers received from the natives. They supposed, but erroneously, that they were the produce of the country.

⑤ Strait of Magellan.—This strait was first passed through by Magellan (Fernando de Magalhaens), a Portuguese navigator, in 1521. He gave the Pacific Ocean its name on account of its calmness when he first entered it.

⑥ Weathering Cape Horn.—See ROYAL READER No. V.

⑦ Pizarro.—The Spaniard who conquered Peru in 1532.

QUESTIONS

Where is Southampton? How does it communicate with the English Channel? Where is Portsmouth Harbour? What ocean routes start from Southampton? What is the most important branch of the Mediterranean route? For what other purposes is it employed?

At which of the Cape Verd Islands does the East Indian mail call? How far are these islands from the African coast? To whom do they belong? Which is the next station on the Cape route? To whom does it belong? What town is on it? As what is it convenient? How far is St. Helena from Ascension? What is the chief interest attaching to it? What was Napoleon's residence? Where is it situated? What is the next place visited after St. Helena? Why is it so called? When did Cape Colony become a British possession? What does it bear traces of? What island is next visited? After whom was it named? From whom did Britain take it? When? What is its capital? What is the next station? Where is Point de Galle? What routes there meet? What branch mails proceed thence? What route de ships returning from Australia prefer? Why? What islands lie in the ship's course after doubling Cape Horn? What is abundant on these islands? For what do ships visit them? Where do the homeward and outward routes meet? What has then been accomplished?

Where does the West Indian mail sail from Southampton? Why has that port been selected as a mail station? To whom does the island belong? Where does the steamer go from St. Thomas? What other route is thereto Kingston? What does Shakespeare call these islands? Why are they so valuable to Britain? Where does the mail route proceed after Kingston? And from Navy Bay? What is the distance to Panama? When was the railway opened? What has been its effect on Panama?

Where does the South American mail start from? What places in Europe does it call at? What islands lie in its course between Portugal and Brazil? For what is Madeira famous? To whom do the Canaries belong? Which is the most conspicuous of them? What are the towns first visited on the Brazilian coast? What is the capital of Brazil? How is it situated? Where does the steamer go after leaving Rio? What towns on the Pacific coast are visited? What island is west from Valparaiso? For what is it interesting? What is the port of Lima? Who founded Lima? What reputation does it possess? By what other route may the traveller return to England?

LESSON 42

THE LLANOS OF SOUTH AMERICA

IN South America the features of Nature are traced on a gigantic scale. Mountains, forests, rivers, plains, there appear in far more colossal dimensions than in our part of the world. Many a branch of the Amazon surpasses the Danube in size. In the boundless primitive forests of Guiana more than one Great Britain could find room. The Alps would seem but of moderate elevation if placed beside the towering Andes; and the plains of Northern Germany and Holland are utterly insignificant when compared with the llanos① of Venezuela and New Granada, which cover a surface of more than 250,000square miles.

Nothing can be more remarkable than the contrast which these immeasurable plains present at various seasons of the year—now parched by a long-continued drought, and now covered with the most luxuriant vegetation. When, day after day, the sun, rising and setting in a cloudless sky, pours his vertical rays upon the thirsty llanos, the calcined②grass-plains present the monotonous aspect of an interminable waste. Like the ocean, their limits melt in the hazy distance with those of the horizon; but here the resemblance ceases, for no refreshing breeze wafts coolness over the desert to comfort the drooping spirits of the wanderer.

In the wintry solitudes of Siberia③ the skin of the reindeer affords protection to man against the extreme cold; but in these sultry plains there is no refuge from the burning sun above and the heat reflected from the glowing soil, save where, at vast intervals, small clumps of the Mauritia palm afford a scanty shade. The water-pools which nourished this beneficent tree have long since disappeared; and the marks of the previous rainy season, still visible on the tall reeds that spring from the marshy ground, serve only to mock the thirst of the exhausted traveller.

Yet even now the parched savanna④ has some refreshment to bestow, for the globular melon-cactus,⑤ which flourishes on the driest soil, and sometimes measures a foot in diameter, conceals a juicy pulp under its tough and prickly skin. Guided by an admirable instinct, the wary mule strikes off with his forefeet the long, sharp thorns of this remarkable plant, the emblem of good nature under a rough exterior, and then cautiously advances his lips to sip the refreshing juice.

As, in the Arctic regions, the intense cold during winter retards pulsation, or even suspends the operations of life, so in the llanos the long continuance of drought causes a similar stagnation in animated nature. The thinly scattered trees and shrubs do not, indeed, cast their foliage, but the grayish-yellow of their leaves announces that vegetation is suspended. Buried in the clay of the dried-up pools, the alligator⑥ and the water⑦ lie plunged in a deep summer sleep, like the bear of the North in his long winter slumber; and many animals which, at other times, are found roaming over the llanos have left the parched plains and migrated to the forest or the river.

The large maneless puma, and the spotted jaguar, following their prey to less arid regions, are now no longer seen in their former hunting-grounds; and the Indian has also disappeared with the stag he pursued with his poisoned arrows. In Siberia, the reindeer and the migratory birds are scared away by cold; here, life is banished and suspended by an intolerable heat.

Sometimes the ravages of fire are added to complete the image of death on the parched savanna.

"We had not yet penetrated far into the plain," says Sir Robert Schomburgk, "when we saw to the south-east high columns of smoke ascending to the skies—the sure signs of a savanna fire; and at the same time the Indians anxiously pressed us to speed on, as the burning torrent would most likely roll in our direction.

"We could already distinguish the flames of the advancing column, already hear the bursting and crackling of the reeds, when, fortunately, the sharp eye of the Indians discovered some small eminences before us, only sparingly covered with a low vegetation, and to these we now careered as if Death himself were behind us. Half a minute later and I should not have lived to relate our adventures. With beating hearts we saw the sea of fire rolling its devouring billows towards us: the suffocating smoke, beating on our faces, forced us to turn our backs upon the advancing conflagration, and to await the dreadful decision with the resignation of helpless despair.

"And now we were in the midst of the blaze. Two arms of fire encircled the base of the little hillock on which we stood, and united before us in a waving mass, which, rolling onwards, travelled further and further from our gaze. The flames had devoured the short grass of the hillock, but had not found sufficient nourishment for our destruction. Soon the deafening noise of the conflagration ceased, and the dense black clouds in the distance were the only signs that the fire was still proceeding on its devastating path over the wide wastes of the savanna."

At length, after a long drought, when all nature seems about to expire from the want of moisture, various signs announce the approach of the rainy season.⑧ The sky, instead of its brilliant blue, assumes a leaden tint, from the vapours which are beginning to condense. Like distant mountain-chains, banks of clouds begin to rise over the horizon, and, forming in masses of increasing density, ascend higher and higher, until at length the sudden lightnings flash from their dark bosom, and with the loud crash of thunder the first rains burst in torrents over the thirsty land.

Scarcely have the showers had time to moisten the earth, when the dormant powers of vegetation begin to awaken with an almost miraculous rapidity. The dull, tawny surface of the parched savanna changes, as if by magic, into a carpet of the most lively green, enamelled with thousands of flowers of every colour.

And now, also, the animal life of the savanna awakens to the full enjoyment of existence. The horse and the ox rejoice in the grasses, under whose covert the jaguar⑨frequently lurks to pounce upon them with his fatal spring. On the border of the swamps, the moist clay, slowly heaving, bursts asunder, and from the tomb in which he lay embedded rises a gigantic water-snake or huge crocodile.

The new-formed pools and lakes swarm with life, and a host of water-fowl,—i'bises, cranes, flamiñ'goes,—make their appearance to regale on the abundant banquet. A new creation of insects and other unbidden guests now seek the wretched hovels of the Indians. Worms and vermin of all names and forms emerge from the inundated plain; for the tropical rains have gradually converted the savanna, which erewhile exhibited a waste as dreary as that of the Sahara, into a boundless lake.

—HARTWIG AND SCHOMBURGK

WORDS

admirable, wonderful.

announce, intimate.

banqnet, feast.

cautiously, carefully.

density, bulk thickness.

devastating, destroying.

devouring, ravaging.

eminences, elevations.

exhausted, worn-out.

existence, life.

immeasurable, immense.

insignificant, inconsiderable.

interminable, endless.

inundated, overflowed.

migratory, wandering.

monotonous, tiresome.

nourished, supported.

penetrated, made way.

protection, covering.

rapidity, speed celerity.

stagnation, deadness.

surpasses, excels exceeds.

NOTES

① Llanos, extensive open plains.

② Calcined, converted into powder by heat, or made so as easily to be crumbled.

③ Siberia, the Russian territory extending across the north of Asia.

④ Savonna, a wide meadow, covered with long grass.

⑤ Melon-cactus, a plant of the cactus family, which are all natives of America, with fruit the shape of a melon. The fruit of another kind of cactus is called the prickly pear, or Indian fig.

⑥ Alligator, a ferocious and powerful reptile, resembling very closely the crocodile of the Nile. Its ordinary length is from fifteen to eighteen feet; but it is sometimes much longer. Its numerous teeth are very sharp, and it has a most formidable tail.

⑦ Water-boa, a species of snake which has the power of living in water.

⑧ The rainy season.—In tropical countries, there is a dry season, during which there is no rain, followed by a rainy season, during which rain falls every day. At and near the equator, there are two rainy seasons and two dry ones in the year; at the tropics, only one. The reason of this is, that the rain depends upon the sun, which crosses the equator twice a year, and each of the tropics only once. This description of the return of the rainy season in South America should be compared with that of the advent of the south-west monsoon in Ceylon.

⑨ Jaguar, the American tiger or panther, an extremely fierce and destructive beast of prey.

QUESTIONS

What is the characteristic feature of Nature in South America? What striking contrast do the llanos of South America present at different seasons? Wherein do they differ from the wintry solitudes of Siberia? What refreshment does the mule obtain in the savanna? What effect has the drought upon animated nature? What animals bury themselves for the season? What sometimes adds its ravages to complete the image of death? What is the best way to escape from it? What signs announce the approach of the rainy season? What is remarkable about the revival of vegetation? What animals return to the savanna? Into what have the tropical rains converted it?

LESSON 43

THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA

May 5, 1821

WILD was the night,① yet a wilder night

Hung round the soldier's pillow;

In his bosom there raged a fiercer fight

Than the fight on the wrathful billow.

A few fond mourners were kneeling by,—

The few that his stern heart cherished;

They knew, by his glazed and unearthly eye,

That life had nearly perished.

They knew, by his awful and kingly look,

By the order hastily spoken,

That he dreamed of days when the nations shook,

And the nations' hosts were broken.

He dreamed that the Frenchmen's sword still slew,

Still triumphed the Frenchmen's "eagle;"

And the struggling Austrian fled anew,

Like the hare before the beagle.②

The bearded Russian he scourged again,

The Prussian's camp was routed;

And again on the hills of haughty Spain

His mighty armies shouted.

Over Egypt's sands, over Alpine snows,

At the pyramids, at the mountain,

Where the wave of the lordly Danube flows,

And by the Italian fountain;

On the snowy cliffs where mountain streams

Dash by the Switzer's dwelling,

He led again, in his dying dreams,

His hosts, the broad earth quelling.

Again Mareñ'go's③ field was won.

And Je'na's④ bloody battle;

Again the world was over-run,

Made pale at his cannons' rattle.

He died at the close of that darksome day—

A day that shall live in story:

In the rocky land⑤ they placed his clay,

And "left him alone with his glory."⑥

—M'LELLAN

WORDS

billow, wave.

cherished, fostered held dear.

darksome, dismal.

haughty, imperious.

kneeling, on bended knee.

mourners, sorrowers.

quelling, overpowering.

scourged, lashed punished.

triumphed, prevailed.

wrathful, angry.

NOTES

① Wild was the night.—"As if to mark a closing point of resemblance betwixt Cromwell and Napoleon, a dreadful tempest arose on the 4th of May, which preceded the day that was to close the mortal existence of this extraordinary man. A willow, which had been the exile's favourite, and under which he often enjoyed the fresh breeze, was torn up by the hurricane; and almost all the trees about Longwood shared the same fate. The 5th of May came amid wind and rain. Napoleon's passing spirit was deliriously engaged in a strife more terrible than that of the elements around. The words 'Tete d'armee,' the last which escaped his lips, intimated that his thoughts were watching the current of a heady fight. About eleven minutes before six in the evening, Napoleon, after a struggle which indicated the original strength of his constitution, breathed his last."—SCOTT'S Life of Napoleon.

② Beagle, a small hound, formerly used in hunting hares.

③ Marengo, in Italy, where Napoleon, after crossing the Alps, defeated the Austrians in 1800.

④ Jena, in Saxe-Weimar (Germany), where Napoleon defeated the Prussians in 1806.

⑤ In the rocky land, &c.—He was buried on St. Helena in 1821; but in 1840 his remains were, with the consent of England, removed to France, and reinterred in Paris.

⑥ "Left him alone with his glory."—This is from the last line of "The Burial of Sir John Moore."

LESSON 44

HYMN BEFORE SUNRISE, IN THE VALE OF CHAMOUNI①

HAST thou a charm to stay the morning star

In his steep course? So long he seems to pause

On thy bald, awful head, O sovereign Blanc!②

The Arve and Arveiron③ at thy base

Rave ceaselessly; but thou, most awful form,

Risest from forth thy silent sea of pines,

How silently! Around thee, and above,

Deep is the air and dark, substantial, black,

An ebon mass: methinks thou piercest it

As with a wedge. But when I look again,

It is thine own calm home, thy crystal shrine,

Thy habitation from eternity.

O dread and silent mount! I gazed upon thee

Till thou, still present to the bodily sense,

Didst vanish from my thought; entranced in prayer

I worshipped the Invisible alone.

Yet, like some sweet beguiling melody,

So sweet we know not we are listening to it,

Thou the meanwhile wast blending with my though

Yea, with my life, and life's own secret joy;

Till the dilating soul, enrapt, transfused,

Into the mighty vision passing—there,

As in her natural form, swelled vast to heaven.

Awake, my soul! not only passive praise

Thou owest! not alone these swelling tears,

Mute thanks, and secret ecstasy!④ Awake,

Voice of sweet song! Awake, my heart! awake,

Green vales and icy cliffs! all join my hymn.

Thou first and chief, sole sovereign of the vale!⑤

Oh, struggling with the darkness all the night,

THE VALE OF CHAMOUNI

And visited all night by troops of stars,

Or when they climb the sky, or when they sink, —

Companion of the morning star at dawn,

Thyself Earth's rosy star,⑥ and of the dawn

Co-herald,⑦ wake, O wake, and utter praise!

Who sank thy sunless pillars deep in earth?

Who filled thy countenance with rosy light?

Who made thee parent of perpetual streams?

And you, ye five wild torrents⑧ fiercely glad!

Who called you forth from night and utter death,

From dark and icy caverns called you forth,

Down those precipitous, black, jagged rocks,

For ever shattered, and the same for ever?

Who gave you your invulnerable life,

Your strength, your speed, your fury, and your joy,

Unceasing thunder, and eternal foam?

And who commanded, and the silence came, —

"Here let the billows stiffen and have rest"?

Ye ice-falls! ye that from the mountain's brow

Adown enormous ravines slope amain—

Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice,

And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge!

Motionless torrents!⑨ silent cataracts!

Who made you glorious as the gates of heaven

Beneath the keen full moon? Who bade the sun

Clothe you with rainbows? Who, with living flowers

Of loveliest blue,⑩ spread garlands at your feet? —

GOD! let the torrents, like a shout of nations,

Answer! and let the ice plains echo, GOD!

GOD! sing, ye meadow streams, with gladsome voice!

Ye pine groves, with your soft and soul-like sounds!

And they, too, have a voice, yon piles of snow,

And in their perilous fall shall thunder, GOD!

Ye living flowers that skirt the eternal frost!

Ye wild goats sporting round the eagle's nest!

Ye eagles, playmates of the mountain storm!

Ye lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds!

Ye signs and winders of the elements!

Utter forth GOD! and fill the hills with praise!

—S. T. COLERIDGE

WORDS

beguiling, fascinating.

cataracts, waterfalls.

ceaselessly, constantly.

companion, associate.

dilating, expanding.

entranced, enraptured.

eternal, everlasting.

invulnerable, impregnable.

precipitous, steep.

ravines, gorges.

shattered, shivered.

struggling, contending.

substantial, solid.

transfused, translated.

worshipped, adored.

NOTES

① Chamouni, a celebrated village and valley in Savoy, at the foot of Mont Blanc.—This hymn should be compared with "Adam and Eve's Morning Hymn," from Milton's Paradise Lost; and also with Thomson's "Hymn" appended to The Seasons.

② Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe; lit. "the white mountain" from its peak being perpetually snow-clad. Height, 15, 744 feet. It is in France, on the borders of Savoy and Piedmont.

③ The Arve and Arveiron, torrents which have their sources in the glaciers of Mont Blanc.

④ Ecstasy, transport; a degree of delight which absorbs the whole mind; lit. a standing out of oneself. [Gr. ek-stasis, a standing out.]

⑤ Sovereign of the vale, an apostrophe, or address to Mont Blanc.

⑥ Earth's rosy star, a reference to beautiful colours which the snow crystals assume in the sunshine, especially at sunrise.

⑦ Of the dawn co-herald—Because, from its great height, it catches and reflects the first rays of light long before surrounding objects.

⑧ Five wild torrents.—Besides the Arve and Arveiron, already mentioned, five outstanding torrents rush down the sides of the mountain.

⑨ Motionless torrents.—This and the preceding lines describe glaciers-slowly moving streams of ice which are formed in the higher parts of the Alps, and gradually move down to the warmer regions, where they melt away. In point of fact glaciers are not "motionless," and not always "silent." Their motion, which resembles that of a river—the centre advancing faster than the sides—varies in rate from 100 to 400 feet in a year. The different rates at which the different parts of a glacier move often cause rents to be made across it, and these are accompanied by loud explosions like the reports of cannon.

⑩ Living flowers of loveliest blue—the blue gentian, which grows luxuriantly on the very skirts of the glaciers. See also seven lines below—"Ye living flowers," &c.

LESSON 45

"WITH BRAINS, SIR."

"PRAY, Mr. Opie,① may I ask what you mix your colours with?" said a brisk dilettante② student to the great painter. "With Brains, sir," was the gruff reply—and the right one. It did not give much of what we call information; it did not expound the principles and rules of art: but, if the inquirer had the commodity referred to, it would awaken him; it would set him a-going, a-thinking, and a-painting to good purpose. If he had not the wherewithal, as was likely enough, the less he had to do with colours and their mixture the better.

Many other artists, when asked such a question, would have either set about detailing the mechanical composition of such and such colours, in such and such proportions, compounded so and so; or perhaps they would have shown him how they laid them on: but even this would have left him at the critical point. Opie preferred going to the quick and the heart of the matter: "With Brains, sir."

Sir Joshua Reynolds③ was taken by a friend to see a picture. He was anxious to admire it, and he looked over it with a keen and careful but favourable eye. "Capital composition; correct drawing; the colour and tone excellent: but—but—it wants—it wants—That!" snapping his fingers; and wanting "that," though it had everything else, it was worth nothing.

Again: Etty,④ who was appointed teacher of the students of the Royal Academy, had been preceded by a clever, talkative, scientific expounder of æsthetics,⑤ who had delighted to tell the young men how everything was done—how to copy this, and how to express that. A student went up to the new master: "How should I do this, sir?" "Suppose you try."—Another: "What does this mean, Mr. Etty?" "Suppose you look." "But I have looked." "Suppose you look again."

And they did try, and they did look, and look again; and they saw and achieved what they never could have done, had the how or the what (supposing that possible, which it is not in its full and highest meaning) been told them, or done for them. In the one case, sight and action were immediate, exact, intense, and secure; in the other, mediate, feeble, and lost as soon as gained.

But what are "Brains"? what did Opie mean? And what is Sir Joshua's "That"? what is included in it? And what is the use or the need of trying and trying, of missing often before you hit, when you can be told at once and be done with it? or of looking, when you may be shown? Everything depends on the right answers to these questions.

What the painter needs, in addition to, and as the complement of, the other elements, is genius and sense; what the doctor needs, to crown and give worth and safety to his accomplishments, is sense and genius: in the first case, more of this than of that; in the second, more of that than of this. These are the "Brains" and the "That."

And what is genius? and what is sense? Genius is a peculiar inborn aptitude, or tendency, to any one calling or pursuit over all others ……It was as natural, as inevitable, for Wilkie⑥ to develop himself into a painter, and into such a painter as we know him to have been, as it is for an acorn when planted to grow up an oak.

But genius, and nothing else, is not enough, even for a painter; he must likewise have sense; and what is sense? Sense drives, or ought to drive, the coach: sense regulates, combines, restrains, commands, all the rest—even the genius; and sense implies exactness and soundness, power and promptitude of mind.

But it may be asked, how are the brains to be strengthened the sense quickened, the genius awakened, the affections raised—the whole man turned to the best account? You must invigorate the containing and sustaining mind; you must strengthen him from within, as well as fill him from without; you must discipline, nourish, edify, relieve and refresh his entire nature; and how?

Encourage not merely book knowledge, but the personal pursuit of natural history, of field botany, of geology, of zoology. Give the young, fresh, unforgetting eye exercise and free scope upon the infinite diversity and combination of natural colours, forms, substances, surfaces, weights, and sizes. Give young students everything, in a word, that will educate their eye and ear, their touch, taste, and smell, their sense of muscular resistance. Encourage them to make models, preparations, and collections of natural objects. Above all, try to get hold of their affections, and make them put their hearts into their work.

But one main help is to be found in study; and by this we do not mean the mere reading, but the digging into and through, the energizing upon and mastering, the best books. Taking up a book and reading a chapter of lively, manly sense, is like taking a game at cricket or a run to the top of a hill. Exertion quickens your pulse, expands your lungs, makes your blood warmer and redder, fills your mouth with the pure waters of relish, strengthens and supples your legs: and though on your way to the top you may encounter rocks and baffling debris, just as you will find in serious and honest books difficulties and puzzles, still you are rewarded at the top by a wide view. You see as from a tower the end of all. You see the clouds, the bright lights and the everlasting hills on the far horizon. You come down from the hill a happier, a better, and a hungrier man, and of a better mind.

But, as we said, you must eat the book—you must crush it, and cut it with your teeth and swallow it; just as you must walk up, and not be carried up the hill, much less imagine you are there, or look upon a picture of what you would see were you up, however accurately or artistically done: no—you yourself must do both. He who has obtained any amount of knowledge is not truly wise unless he appropriates and can use it for his need.

—J. BROWN, M. D.

WORDS

accurately, correctly.

achieved, accomplished.

anxious, desirous.

appropriates, assimilates.

aptitude, fitness.

artistically, tastefully.

commodity, article.

complement, what supplies a deficiency.

debris, rubbish.

discipline, train.

diversity, variety.

energizing, exercising the mind.

expound, explain.

imagine, fancy.

information, knowledge.

intense, earnest.

invigorate, strengthen.

mechanical, physical.

muscular, physical.

promptitude, readiness.

proportions, quantities.

regulates, controls.

relieve, succour.

restrains, curbs.

scientific, theoretical.

supples, makes pliant.

NOTES

① Opie, John, an eminent English painter. From being the son of a Cornish carpenter, who discouraged his taste for art, he rose to be Professor of Painting in the Royal Academy, London. Born 1761; died 1807.

② Dilettante, a superficial dabbler in art or science.

③ Sir Joshua Reynolds, an unrivalled English portrait painter. He was the first president of the Royal Academy of London. He was also the friend of Johnson, Burke, Goldsmith, and of the leading literary men of his time. Born 1723; died 1792.

④ Etty, William, a distinguished English artist. Born. 1787; died 1849.

⑤Æsthetics, the principles of taste; the theory or science of the beautiful in art. The word is derived from a Greek verb meaning "I feel."

⑥ Wilkie, Sir David, a celebrated Scottish painter, well known by his works, The Village Politicians; The Rent Day; Blind Man's Buff, &c. Born 1785; died 1841.

QUESTIONS

What question did the student ask Opie? What kind of student was he? What answer did Opie give him? What might many other artists have replied? What did Sir Joshua Reynolds say his friend's picture wanted? What did Etty reply to students who asked him how to do things, and what things meant? What did all these answers point to as necessary to the painter? What is Genius? What is the office of Sense? What must be done to awaken genius and quicken sense? To what is reading a chapter of lively, manly sense compared? How must a book be read, that it may do good? He who has obtained any amount of knowledge is not truly wise unless—?

LESSON 46

LIFE IN SAXON ENGLAND (I)

WHEN the sun rose on Old England, its faint red light stirred every sleeper from the sack of straw, which formed the only bed of the age. Springing from this rustling couch, and casting off the coarse sheeting and coverlets of skin, the subjects of King Alfred donned the day's dress. Men wore linen or woollen tunics, which reached to the knee; and, over these, long fur-lined cloaks, fastened with a brooch of ivory or gold. Strips of cloth or leather, bandaged cross-wise from the ankle to the knee over red and blue stockings; and black, pointed shoes, slit along the instep almost to the toes, and fastened with two thongs, completed the costume of an Anglo-Saxon① gentleman. The ladies, wrapping a veil of silk or linen upon their delicate curls, laced a loose-flowing gown over a tight-sleeved bodice, and pinned the graceful folds of their mantles with golden butterflies and other tasteful trinkets.

The breakfast hour in Old England was nine o'clock. This meal consisted probably of bread, meat, and ale, but was a lighter repast than that taken when the hurry of the day lay behind. It was eaten often in the bower. Between breakfast and noon-meat at three lay the most active period of the day. Let me picture a few scenes in Old English life, as displayed in the chief occupations of the time.

Leaving the ladies of his household to linger among the roses and lilies of their gardens, or to ply their embroidering needles in some cool recess of the orchard, festooned with broad vine leaves and scented with the smell of apples, the earl or thane went out to the porch of his dwelling, and, sitting there upon a fixed throne, gave alms to a horde of beggars, or presided over the assembly of the local court.

Autumn brought delightful days to the royal and noble sportsmen of Old England. Galloping down from his home, perched, as were all great English houses, on the crest of a commanding hill, the earl, with all care or thought of work flung aside, dashed with his couples of deep-chested Welsh hounds into the glades of a neighbouring forest, already touched with the red and gold of September.

Gaily through the shadowy avenues rang the music of the horns, startling red deer and wild boars from their coverts in the brushwood. Away after the dogs, maddened by a fresh scent, goes the gallant hunt—past swine-herds with their goads, driving vast herds of pigs into the dales, where beech-mast② and acorns lie thick upon the ground—past woodcutters, hewing fuel for the castle fire, or munching their scanty meal of oaten bread about noon; nor is bridle drawn until the game, antlered or tusked, has rushed into the strong nets spread by attendants at some pass among the trees.

Hawking long held the place of our modem shooting. Even the grave and business-like Alfred devoted his pen to this enticing subject. And we can well understand the high spirits and merry talk of a hawking party, cantering over rustling leaves, all white and crisp with an October frost, on their way to the reedy mere, where they made sure of abundant game. On each rider's wrist sat a hooded falcon, caught young, perhaps in a dark pine-wood of Norway, and carefully trained by the falconer, who was no unimportant official in an Old English establishment.

Arrived at the water, the party broke into sets; and as the blue heron rose on his heavy wing, or a noisy splashing flight of ducks sprang from their watery rest, the hood was removed, and the game shown to the sharp-eyed bird, which, soaring loose into the air from the up-flung wrist, cleft his way in pursuit with rapid pinion, rose above the doomed quarry, and descending with a sudden swoop, struck fatal talons and yet more fatal beak into its back and head, and bore it dead to the ground. A sharp gallop over the broken surface had meantime brought the sportsman up in time to save the game, and restore the red-beaked victor to his hood and perch.

But hunting and hawking were the pastimes of the rich. While fat deer fell under the hunter's dart, and blue feathers strewed the banks of lake and river, the smith③ hammered red iron on his ringing anvil—the carpenter cut planks for the mead-bench④ or the bower-wall, or shaped cart-wheels and plough-handles for the labours of the farm—the shoemaker, who also tanned leather and fashioned harness, plied his busy knife and needle—the furrier prepared skins for the lining of stately robes—and in every cloister monks, deep in the mysteries of the furnace, the graving-tool, the paint-brush, and a score of similar instruments, manufactured the best bells, crucifixes, jewelry, and stained glass then to be found in the land.

The Old English farmers were rather graziers than tillers of the soil. Sheep for their wool, swine for their flesh, kine for their beef and hides, dotted the pastures and grabbed in the forests near every steading. But there was agriculture too. A picture of an Old English farm-house would present, though of course in ruder form, many features of its modem English successor. Amid fields, often bought for four sheep an acre, and scantily manured with marl after the old British fashion, stood a timbered house, flanked by a farm-yard full of ox-stalls and stocked with geese and fowl. A few bee-hives—the islands⑤ of the sugar-cane not being yet discovered—suggested a mead-cask always well filled, and a good supply of sweetmeats for the board; while an orchard, thick with laden boughs, supplied pears and apples, nuts and almonds, and in some districts figs and grapes.

From the illustrations of an Old English manuscript we know something of the year's farm-work. January saw the wheel of the iron plough drawn down the brown furrows by its four oxen, harnessed with twisted willow ropes or thongs of thick whale-skin. They dug their vineyards in February, their gardens in March. In April, when seed-time was past, they took their ease over horns of ale. May prepared for the shearing of the wool. June⑥ saw the sickles in the wheat; July heard the axe among the trees. In August barley was mown with scythes. In September and October hounds and hawks engrossed every day of good weather. Round November fires farming implements were mended or renewed; and the whirling flail, beating the grain from its husk, beat also December chills from the swiftly-running blood. We find in the threshing scene a steward, who stands keeping count, by notches on a stick, of the full baskets of winnowed grain which are pouring into the granary.

Ships came from the Continent to Old England, laden with furs and silks, gems and gold, rich dresses, wine, oil, and ivory; bearing back, most probably, blood-horses, wool for the looms of Flanders, and in earlier times English slaves for the markets of Aix-la-Chapelle and Rome. The backward condition of trade may be judged from a law which enacted that no bargain should be made except in open court, in presence of the sheriff, the mass-priest, or the lord of the manor.

Merchants, travelling in bands for safety, and carrying their own tents, passed round the different country towns at certain times, when holiday was kept and village sports filled the green with noisy mirth. The wives and daughters of Old English cottages loved bright ribbons and showy trinkets, after the fashion of their sex. So while Gurth was wrestling on the grass, or grinning at the antics of the dancing bear, Githa was investing her long-hoarded silver pennies in some strings of coloured beads or an ivory comb.

Close to the merchant or pedler (if we give him the name which best expresses to modern ears the habit of his life) stood an attendant with a pair of scales, ready to weigh the money incase of any considerable sale. Slaves and cattle formed, in early times in England, a common medium of exchange. Whenever gold shone in the merchant's sack, it was chiefly the Byzan'tine gold solidus, shortly called Byzant',⑦ worth something more than nine of our shillings. Silver Byzants, worth two shillings, also passed current; and in earlier times Roman money, stamped with the heads of emperors, found its way into English purses.

By the English in olden times a journey was never undertaken for mere pleasure, for many perils beset the way. The rich went short journeys in heavy waggons, longer journeys on horseback—the ladies riding on side-saddles as at present. But most travelling was performed afoot. Horsemen carried spears, for defence against robbers or wild beasts; pedestrians held a stout oak staff, which did double work in aiding and in defending the traveller. The stirrup was of an odd triangular shape, the spur a simple spike. A cover wrapped the head, and a mantle the body, of the traveller. That they sometimes carried umbrellas we know; but these were probably very rare, being confined, like gloves, to the very highest class.

Ale-houses, in which too much time was spent, abounded in the towns; but in country districts inns⑧ were scarce. There were indeed places, like an Eastern caravansary,⑨ where travellers, carrying their own provisions, found a refuge from wind and rain by night within bare stone walls; the patched-up ruins, perhaps, of an old Roman villa or barrack, which afforded a cheerless shelter to the weary, dripping band. But the hospitality of the Old English folk, implanted both by custom and by law—not after the narrow modern fashion of entertaining friends, who give parties in return, but the welcoming to bed and board of all comers, known and unknown—caused the lack of inns to be scarcely felt, except in the wilder districts of the land.

No sooner did a stranger show his face at the iron-banded door of an Old English dwelling than water was brought to wash his hands and feet; and when he had deposited his arms with the keeper of the door, he took his place at the board among the family and friends of the host. For two nights no question pried into his business or his name; after that time the host became responsible for his character. There were few solitary wayfarers; for the very fact of being alone excited suspicion, and exposed the traveller to the risk of being arrested, or perhaps slain, as a thief.

WORDS

Santics, tricks.

arrested, seized.

avenues, alleys, groves.

deposited, left.

displayed, exhibited.

engrossed, monopolized.

enticing, attractive.

exchange, commerce.

excited, aroused.

fashioned, shaped.

features, aspects.

festooned, garlanded.

harnessed, yoked.

hospitality, kindness to guests.

illustrations, pictures.

implanted, instilled.

implements, tools.

investing, laying out.

munching, chewing.

mysteries, secrets.

probably, likely.

provisions, supplies of food.

pursuit, chase.

quarry, prey.

responsible, answerable.

supplied, furnished.

timbered, wooden.

triangular, three-cornered.

unimportant, insignificant.

NOTES

① Anglo-Saxon.—By the Anglo-Saxons we are to understand our Old-English forefathers. They, however, called themselves Englishmen; never Anglo-Saxons. That name is convenient enough to distinguish the earliest from later English; but in so far as it countenances the theory that the English speech and nation are the result of a combination of Anglo-Saxon and Norman elements, and different from both, it is wrong. The history of the language, which is the true test of nationality, can be traced in an unbroken line from the sixth and seventh centuries to the present day. The term Anglo-Saxon is liable to another objection. It is often supposed to mean English Saxon as distinguished from Continental Saxon; but in truth it only means Angles and Saxons in combination. Anglian or Old English for the speech and people, and Old England for the country, are, perhaps, less objection-able terms.

② Beech-mast.—The fruit of beech, oak, and other forest trees, is called in Old English mast.

③ The smith.—There were two kinds of smiths;—the armourer, who was well paid, and held a high social place; and the mere blacksmith, who did the coarser work.

④ Mead-bench, the bench on which they sat to drink mead, a kind of sweet wine made of honey and water.

⑤ The islands, the West Indies.

⑥ June, July—It is thought that the artist has here transposed June and July by mistake.

⑦ Byzant', a gold coin; so called from its having been made at Byzan'tium, afterwards Constantinople.

⑧ Inns.—Inn is an Old English word, meaning "lodging." Other names for it were gest-hus; that is, "guest-house:" and cumena-hus; that is, the "house of comers."

⑨ Caravansary, a large square building with a spacious court in the centre, where caravans, or companies of travellers, are accommodated for the night.

QUESTIONS

Of what did beds in Old England consist? How were the men dressed? How were the women? What was the busiest part of the day in Old England? In what did the ladies occupy themselves? In what sports did the rich take part? What held the place of modern shooting? What handicrafts did the workingmen follow? What were the farmers chiefly? Whence do we know something of the year's farm work? How did the steward keep count of the quantity of grain? What did ships bring from the Continent? What did they bear back? How did merchants travel? What formed common mediums of exchange? What were the means of travelling? Where did companies of travellers spend the night? What supplied the lack of inns?

LESSON 47

LIFE IN SAXON ENGLAND (II)

THE central picture in Old English life—the great event of the day—was Noon-meat or dinner in the great hall. A little before three, the chief and all his household, with any stray guests who might have dropped in, met in the hall, which stood in the centre of its encircling bowers—the principal apartment of every Old English house. Clouds of wood-smoke, rolling up from a fire which blazed in the middle of the floor, blackened the carved and gilded rafters of the arched roof before it found its way out of the hole above, which did duty as a chimney.

Tapestries of purple dye, or glowing with variegated pictures of saints and heroes, hung, or, if the day was stormy, flapped upon the chinky walls. In palaces and in earls' mansions coloured tiles, wrought like Roman tesserce① into a mosaic, formed a clean and pretty pavement; but the common flooring of the time was of clay, baked dry with the heat of winter evenings and summer noons. The only articles of furniture always in the hall were wooden benches; some of which, especially the high settle or seat of the chieftain, boasted cushions, or at least a rug.

While the hungry crowd, fresh from woodland and furrow, were lounging near the fire or hanging up their weapons on the pegs and hooks that jutted from the wall, a number of slaves, dragging in a long, flat, heavy board, placed it on movable legs, and spread on its upper half a handsome cloth. Then were arranged with other utensils for the meal some flattish dishes, baskets of ash-wood for holding bread, a scanty sprinkling of steel knives shaped like our modern razors, platters of wood, and bowls for the universal broth.

The ceremony of "laying the board," as the Old English phrased it, being completed, the work of demolition began. Great round cakes of bread—huge junks of boiled bacon—vast rolls of broiled eel—cups of milk—horns of ale—wedges of cheese—lumps of salt butter—and smoking piles of cabbages and beans, melted like magic from the board under the united attack of greasy fingers and grinding jaws. Kneeling slaves offered to the lord and his honoured guests long skewers or spits, on which steaks of beef or venison smoked and sputtered, ready for the hacking blade.

Poultry, too, and game of every variety, filled the spaces of the upper board;② but, except naked bones, the crowd of loaf-eaters, as Old English domestics were suggestively called, saw little of these daintier kinds of food. Nor did they much care, if to their innumerable hunches of bread they could add enough pig to appease their hunger. Hounds, sitting eager-eyed by their masters, snapped with sudden jaws at scraps of fat flung to them, or retired into private life below the board with some sweet bone that fortune sent them.

With the washing of hands, performed for the honoured occupants of the high settle by officious slaves, the solid part of the banquet ended. The board was then dragged out of the hall; the loaf-eaters slunk away to have a nap in the byre, or sat drowsily in corners of the hall; and the drinking began. During the progress of the meal, Welsh ale had flowed freely in horns or vessels of twisted glass. Mead, and in very grand houses wine,③ now began to circle in goblets of gold and silver, or of wood inlaid with those precious metals.

Most of the Old English drinking-glasses had rounded bottoms, like our soda-water bottles, so that they could not stand upon the table—a little thing, which then as in later times suggested hard drinking and unceasing rounds. Two attendants, one to pour out the liquor, and the other to hand the cups, waited on the carousers, from whose company the ladies of the household soon withdrew. The clinking of cups together, certain words of pledge, and a kiss, opened the revel.

In humbler houses, story-telling and songs, sung to the music of the harp by each guest in turn, formed the principal amusement of the drinking-bout. But in great halls, the music of the harp—which, under the poetic name of "glee-wood," was the national instrument—of fiddles played with bow or finger, of trumpets, pipes, flutes, and horns, filled the hot and smoky air with a clamour of sweet sounds. The solo of the ancient scôp or maker,④ who struck his five-stringed harp in praise of old Teutonic heroes, was exchanged in later days for the performances of the glee-man, who played on many instruments, danced with violent and often comical gestures, tossed knives and balls into the air, and did other wondrous feats of jugglery.

Meantime the music and the mead did their work upon maddened brains: the revelry grew louder; riddles, which had flown thick around the board at first, gave place to banter, taunts, and fierce boasts of prowess; angry eyes gleamed defiance; and it was well if in the morning the household slaves had not to wash blood-stains from the pavement of the hall, or in the still night, when the drunken brawlers lay stupid on the floor, to drag a dead man from the red plash in which he lay.

From the reek and riot of the hall the ladies escaped to the bower, where they reigned supreme. There, in the earlier part of the day, they had arrayed themselves in their bright-coloured robes, plying tweezers and crisping-irons on their yellow hair, and often heightening the blush that Nature gave them with a shade of rouge. There, too, they used to scold and beat their female slaves, with a violence which said more for their strength of lung and muscle than for the gentleness of their womanhood.

When their needles were fairly set agoing upon those pieces of delicate embroidery, known and prized over all Europe as "English work," some gentlemen dropped in, perhaps harp in hand, to chat and play for their amusement, or to engage in games of hazard and skill, which seem to have resembled modern dice and chess. When in later days supper came into fashion, the round table of the bower was usually spread for Evening-food, as this meal was called. And not long afterwards, those bags of straw, from which they sprang at sunrise, received for another night their human burden, worn out with the labours and the revels of the day.

WORDS

arranged, laid out.

arrayed, decked.

carousers, revellers.

central, most important.

chieftain, lord.

completed, finished.

defiance, challenge.

demolition, consumption.

gestures, actions.

heightening, intensifying.

honoured, distinguished.

lounging, loitering.

officious, over-obliging.

principal, chief.

resembled, been like.

revelry, festivity.

suggestively, significantly.

unceasing, incessant.

utensils, appliances.

variegated, checkered.

NOTES

① Tesseræ, the blocks or cubes used in making mosaic pavements. From its diminutive, tessella, comes the word tessel-latd, used in describing such pavements.

② The upper board, that at which the host and his guests sat; for the servants and retainers sat in the same room, but at a lower table at the other end of the hall.

③ Wine.—The use of wine among the Old English was limited to the highest class. It was either imported from the Continent or made of home-grown grapes, which since Roman days had ripened in the lower basins of Severn and Thames. Many monasteries, alive to the delights of grape juice, contrived to have a vineyard of their own.

④ Scop or maker.—The Old English word for "poet" is sceopa—that is, shaper; in later times maker (Scot. mocker) was used in the same sense. Both words point to creation, or original invention, as the essential part of the poet's work. It may be noticed, also, that the word "poet" comes from a Greek verb signifying to make; while the French "troubadour" and "trouvere," and the Italian "trovatore," are all derived from a word meaning to make, invent, find out.

QUESTIONS

What was the great event of the Old English day? When did it take place? Of what did the table consist? By whom was the board laid? Of what did the meal consist? What food did the domestics receive? With what did the solid part of the banquet end? What then began? What did they drink? What was peculiar about their drinking-glasses? Of what is this suggestive? By what performances was the banquet accompanied? In what did it often end? Where had the ladies meantime gone? How did they spend the evening?

LESSON 48

THE RELIEF OF LUCKNOW

September 26th, 1857

HAVELOCK had determined, when he started in the morning, to relieve the anxiously-waiting garrison① that night, or not survive the attempt; and the soldiers, who at first were glad to obtain a moment's rest, became impatient at delay. They had fought their way for nearly a hundred miles to rescue their beleaguered comrades with their wives and children, and they could not rest till they thundered at the gates of their prison.

The garrison in the meantime were anxiously listening for their arrival. They had heard the heavy firing in the morning, and noticed that there was a great sensation in the city. Towards noon they could see the smoke of battle as it rolled upwards over the houses; and, a little later, people hurrying out of the city, carrying bundles of clothes on their heads, followed by large bodies of cavalry and infantry. Although the enemy kept up a steady fire upon them, they were too excited to pay much heed to it, but listened with beating hearts to the heavy cannonade as it wound hither and thither through the streets.

By four o'clock some officers on the look-out reported that they saw, far away, near a palace, a regiment of Europeans and a bullock battery. Soon after, the rattle of musketry was heard in the streets. While they stood listening, a rifle ball went whistling over their heads, and never before was the sound of a bullet so sweet to the ear. It was a voice from their friends, and whispered of deliverance. Five minutes later, and the Highlanders were seen storming through one of the principal streets; and although they dropped rapidly, under the fire from roofs, windows, and doors, there was no faltering.

Then the long restrained excitement burst forth in cheer upon cheer—"from every fort, trench, and battery—from behind sand-bags piled on shattered houses—from every post still held by a few gallant spirits, rose cheer on cheer." The thrilling shouts penetrated even to the hospital, and the wounded crept out into the sun, a ghastly throng, and sent up their feeble voices to swell the glad shout of welcome!

The conversation between Outram and Havelock② was long and earnest. The former was at first firm in his opinion that they should remain in the palace-court and other sheltered places till morning, and Havelock as thoroughly determined to push on. He said that the garrison might even then be exposed to the final assault; and if it were not, that the enemy could concentrate such a force around them before morning that it would be almost impossible to advance. At length it was agreed to leave the wounded, the heavy guns, and a portion of the army behind, and with only two regiments, the 78th Highlanders and the Sikhs,③ to attempt to reach the Residency.

Outram had been wounded in the arm by a musket-ball early in the morning; but, though faint from loss of blood, he refused to leave the saddle, and even now would not dismount.

Enduring as he was bold and chivalric, he resolved to accompany Havelock, and share with him the danger, and, if need be, death, in this last perilous advance to the relief of the garrison.

Everything being ready, these two gallant commanders put themselves at the head of the slender column, and moved outof the place of shelter. As soon as they entered the street, the houses on either side shot forth flame; while, to prevent the rapid advance of the troops, and hold them longer under the muzzles of their muskets, the enemy had cut deep trenches across the street, and piled up barricades. Passing under an archway that streamed with fire, the gallant Neill④ fell from his horse—dead. His enraged followers halted a moment to avenge his death; but the stern order of Havelock, "Forward!" arrested their useless attempt, and the column moved on. Each street as they entered it became an avenue of flame, through which it seemed impossible for anything living to pass. Every door and window was ablaze, while an incessant sheet of fire ran along the margin of the flat roofs, which were black with men.

At each angle batteries were placed, and as soon as the head of the column appeared in view the iron storm came drifting down the street, piling it with the dead. The rattling of grapeshot and musket-balls against the walls and on the pavement was like the pattering of hail on the roof of a house! From out those deep avenues the smoke arose as from the mouth of a volcano, while shouts and yells rending the air on every side made still more appalling the night, which had now set in.

Between those walls of fire, through that blinding rain of death, Havelock walked his horse composedly as if on parade, his calm, peculiar voice, now and then rising over the clangour of battle. That he escaped unhurt seems a miracle, for in the previous eleven hours he had lost nearly one-third of his entire force, while of the two other generals one was dead and the other wounded.

At length the gate of the Residency was reached. A little time was spent in removing the barricades, during which the bleeding column rested, while the moon looked coldly down on the ruins by which they were surrounded. When the passage was cleared, the soldiers, forgetting their weariness, gave three loud cheers, and rushed forward.

Cheers without and cheers within, cheers on every side, betokened the joy and excitement that prevailed, while overall arose the shrill pipes of the Highlanders. The "column of relief " and the garrison rushed into each other's arms, and then the officers passed from house to house to greet the women and children. The stern Highlanders snatched up the children and kissed them, with tears streaming down their faces, thanking God they were in time to save them.

—J. T. HEADLEY

WORDS

appalling, terrifying.

arrested, checked; prevented.

avenue, passage; alley.

barricades, barriers; defences.

beleaguered, besieged.

cannonade, firing of great guns.

composedly, collectedly.

concentrate, bring together.

conversation, conference.

deliverance, relief; rescue.

determined, resolved.

excitement, agitation.

impatient, fretful.

incessant, unbroken.

peculiar, sifigular.

perilous, dangerous.

prevailed, existed.

refused, declined.

removing, clearing away.

restrained, pent-up; repressed.

sensation, commotion.

survive, outlive.

NOTES

① The anxiously-waiting garrison.—The mutiny broke out at Luck now, the chief town in Oude (Ood), on the 30th of May 1857. As many of the English as could reach it, took refuge in the Residency, which the rebels began to besiege on 1st of July. The garrison was relieved by Out-ram and Havelock, as described in this lesson, on the 26th of September. Havelock then retired, leaving Outram in command, and the siege by the rebels recommenced. Sir Colin Campbell (Lord Clyde), accompanied by Havelock, attacked the rebels in Lucknow on the 18th of October, and, after a week's fighting, succeeded in finally rescuing the garrison. Havelock died of dysentery at a suburb of Lucknow on October 25th, aged 62.

② Outram and Havelock.—Outram was Havelock's superior officer, and was entitled to take the command of the relieving force; but, with true generosity and nobleness of character, he waived his claim, in consideration of the strenuous exertions, Havelock had already made to reach the garrison. He therefore accompanied the force as a civilian, and fought under Havelock as a volunteer!

③ The Sikhs—natives of the Punjab, Northern India, who were conquered by the British in 1849. During the mutiny of 1857 they remained faithful to the British, and helped materially to subdue the rebellion.

④ The gallant Neill—General Neill, who had in June suppressed the mutiny at Bena'res, and afterwards gained many successes over the rebels.

QUESTIONS

How far had Havelock's force fought its way to rescue the garrison of Lucknow? By what signs did the garrison know that relief was approaching? When did their excitement burst forth in cheers? What was Outram's opinion of what should be done? Why did Havelock differ from him? What was at last agreed upon? What general was shot in the advance? How had the rebels obstructed the passage through the streets? What proportion of his force did Havelock lose before he reached the Residency? What took place when the "column of relief" got inside?

LESSON 49

THE BALACLAVA CHARGE

October 25, 1854

AFTER their repulse in the plain of Balaclava by the Highlanders, two deep, —"that thin red streak topped by a line of steel," —and by the heavy brigade, the Russian cavalry retired. Their infantry at the same time fell back towards the head of the valley, leaving men in three of the redoubts they had taken, and abandoning the fourth. They had also placed some guns on the heights over their position on the left of the gorge. Their cavalry joined the reserves, and drew up in six solid divisions, in an oblique line, across the entrance to the gorge. Six battalions of infantry were placed behind them, and about thirty guns were drawn up along their line, while masses of infantry were also collected on the hills behind the redoubts on our right. Our cavalry had moved up to the ridge across the valley on our left, and had halted there, as the ground was broken in front.

And now occurred the melancholy catastrophe which fills us all with sorrow. It appears that the Quartermaster-General,① Brigadier Airey, thinking that the light cavalry had not gone far enough in front when the enemy's horse had fled, gave an order in writing to Captain Nolan, 15th Hussars, to take to Lord Lucan, directing his lordship "to advance" his cavalry nearer to the enemy. A braver soldier than Captain Nolan the army did not possess. He rode off with the order to Lord Lucan. (He is now dead and gone: God forbid that I should cast a shade on the brightness of his honour, but I am bound to state what I am told occurred when he reached his lordship.)

When Lord Lucan received the order from Captain Nolan, and had read it, he asked, we are told, "Where are we to advance to?" Captain Nolan pointed with his finger to the line of the Russians, and said, "There are the enemy, and there are the guns, sir, before them; it is your duty to take them," —or words to that effect. Lord Lucan, with reluctance, gave the order to Lord Cardigan to advance upon the guns, conceiving that his orders compelled him to do so. The noble earl, though he did not shrink, also saw the fearful odds against them. Don Quixote,② in his tilt against the windmill, was not nearly so rash and reckless as the gallant fellows who prepared without a thought to rush on almost certain death.

It is a maxim of war, that "cavalry never act without a support;" that "infantry should be close at hand when cavalry carry guns, as the effect is only instantaneous;" and that it is necessary to have on the flank of a line of cavalry some squadrons in column, the attack on the flank being most dangerous. The only support our light cavalry had was the reserve of heavy cavalry at a great distance behind them, the infantry and guns being far in the rear. There were no squadrons in column at all, and there was a plain to charge over, before the enemy's guns could be reached, of a mile and a half in length!

At ten minutes past eleven our light cavalry brigade advanced. The whole brigade scarcely made one effective regiment, according to the numbers of continental armies, and yet it was more than we could spare. As they rushed towards the front, the Russians opened on them, from the guns in the redoubt on the right, with volleys of musketry and rifles. They swept proudly past, glittering in the morning sun in all the pride and splendour of war.

We could scarcely believe the evidence of our senses. Surely that handful of men are not going to charge an army in position? Alas! it was but too true. Their desperate valour knew no bounds, and far indeed was it removed from its so-called better part—discretion.③ They advanced in two lines, quickening their pace as they closed upon the enemy. A more fearful spectacle was never witnessed than by those who beheld these heroes rushing to the arms of Death.

At the distance of twelve hundred yards the whole line of the enemy belched forth from thirty iron mouths a flood of smoke and flame, through which hissed the deadly balls. Their flight was marked by instant gaps in our ranks, by dead men and horses, by steeds flying wounded or riderless across the plain. The first line is broken—it is joined by the second—they never halt, or check their speed an instant. With diminished ranks, thinned by those thirty guns, which the Russians had laid with the most deadly accuracy; with a halo of flashing steel above their heads, and with a cheer which was many a noble fellow's death-cry, they flew into the smoke of the batteries: but ere they were lost from view the plain was strewed with their bodies, and with the carcasses of horses.

They were exposed to an oblique fire from the batteries on the hills on both sides, as well as to a direct fire of musketry. Through the clouds of smoke we could see their sabres flashing, as they rode up to the guns and dashed into their midst, cutting down the gunners where they stood. We saw them riding through the guns, as I have said: to our delight we saw them returning after breaking through a column of Russian infantry, and scattering it like chaff, when the flank fire of the battery on the hill swept them down, scattered and broken as they were. Wounded men and riderless horses flying towards us told the sad tale. Demi-gods could not have done what they had failed to do.

At the very moment when they were about to retreat, an enormous mass of Lancers was hurled on their flank. Colonel Shewell, of the 8th Hussars, saw the danger, and rode his few men straight at them, cutting his way through with fearful loss. The other regiments turned, and engaged in a desperate encounter. With courage too great almost for credence, they were breaking their way through the columns which enveloped them, when there took place an act of atrocity without parallel in the modern warfare of civilized nations.

The Russian gunners, when the storm of cavalry passed, returned to their guns. They saw their own cavalry mingled with the troopers who had just ridden over them; and, to the eternal disgrace of the Russian name, the miscreants poured a murderous volley of grape and canister on the mass of struggling men and horses, mingling friend and foe in one common ruin!

It was as much as our heavy cavalry brigade could do to cover the retreat of the miserable remnants of the band of heroes as they returned to the place they had so lately quitted. At thirty-five minutes past eleven not a British soldier, except the dead and the dying, was left in front of those guns.

—W. H. RUSSELL

WORDS

abandoning, relinquishing.

atrocity, barbarity.

battalions, large companies.

carcasses, dead bodies.

catastrophe, disaster.

cavalry, horse soldiers.

compelled, obliged.

delight, joy.

diminished, reduced.

effective, efficient; complete.

encounter, conflict.

enormous, very great.

evidence, testimony.

infantry, foot soldiers.

instantaneous, momentary.

miscreants, wretches.

oblique, slanting.

occurred, happened.

parallel, match.

redoubts, outworks.

reluctance, unwillingness.

remnants, survivors.

repulse, defeat.

spectacle, sight.

squadrons, bodies of troops.

NOTES

① Quartermaster-General, the chief of that department of an army which provides quarters for it, and all that that implies,—as provisions, clothing, transport, &c.

② Don Quixote, the hero of a famous Spanish mock-romance by Cervantes; one of whose exploits, that of running a tilt against a windmill, has become proverbial for hare-brained folly. Hence "Quixotic" as a synonym for rash, precipitate.

③ Discretion, a reference to the well-known proverb, "The better part of valour is discretion." (See Shakespeare, Henry IV. Act v. Scene 4.)

QUESTIONS

What position did the Russian cavalry take up after retiring? How many guns were drawn up along their line? What order did Airey send to Lucan? How did Nolan explain it? To whom did Lucan give the order to advance? What maxim of war was violated in this? What took place at the distance of twelve hundred yards from the enemy? Where did the light cavalry then make their way? To what were they exposed on their way back? Of what act of atrocity were the Russian gunners guilty?

LESSON 50

THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

HALF a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

Rode the Six Hundred.

"Forward the Light Brigade!

Charge for the guns," he said:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the Six Hundred.

"Forward the Light Brigade!"

Was there a man dismayed?

Not though the soldier knew

Some one had blundered:①

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the Six Hundred.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon in front of them,

Volleyed and thundered;

Stormed at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well;

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of Hell,

Rode the Six Hundred.

Flashed all their sabres bare,

Flashed as they turned in air,

Sabring the gunners there,

Charging an army, while

All the world wondered:

Plunged in the battery smoke,

Right through the line they broke:

Cossack② and Russian

Reeled from the sabre stroke,

Shattered and sundered.

Then they rode back, but not—

Not the Six Hundred.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon behind them,

Volleyed and thundered;

Stormed at with shot and shell,

While horse and hero fell,

They that had fought so well

Came through the jaws of Death,

Back from the mouth of Hell,

All that was left of them—

Left of Six Hundred.

When can their glory fade?

Oh! the wild charge they made!

All the world wondered.

Honour the charge they made!

Honour the Light Brigade,

Noble Six Hundred!

—ALFRED TENNYSON

WORDS

battery, number of cannon.

blundered, made a mistake.

dismayed, alarmed.

league, measure of length.

plunged, swallowed.

reply, answer; objection.

sabring, cutting down.

shattered, broken.

sundered, separated.

thundered, roared.

valley, hollow.

volleyed, bellowed.

wondered, marvelled.

NOTES

① Some one had blundered.—The mistake made by Captain Nolan in explaining to Lord Lucan the order of Brigadier-General Airey is referred to in the preceding lesson.

② Cossack.—This name was originally given to the warlike inhabitants of the Ukraine or Little Russia. They are genuine Russians, their capital Kiev, on the Dnieper, having been for nearly three centuries the residence of the grand-dukes (880-1157 A. D.). From the seventeenth century till the Revolution of 1917 they enjoyed various privileges. They paid no taxes; but, instead, they were required to serve in time of war.

FRIENDS

FRIEND after friend departs;

Who hath not lost a friend?

There is no union here of hearts

That finds not here an end:

Were this frail world our final rest

Living or dying, none were blest.

Beyond the flight of time,

Beyond this vale of death,

There surely is some blessed clime

Where life is not a breath,

Nor life's affections transient fire,

Whose sparks fly upward and expire.

There is a world above,

Where parting is unknown;

A long eternity of love,

Formed for the good alone;

And Faith beholds the dying here

Translated to that glorious sphere.

—JAS. MONTGOMERY

LESSON 51

THE DISCOVERY OF THE SEA ROUTE TO INDIA

THE Map of the World, until the end of the fifteenth century; exhibited only one hemisphere, and even that was not completely explored. The general outlines of Europe and Asia were correctly laid down, with the exception of the northeast corner of the latter, which was still a blank. The shores of Africa which are washed by the Mediterranean and the Red Sea were well known, as was also the Atlantic coast as far down as Cape Nun.① The remainder of the continent was a blank, which the geographers filled in at pleasure with dragons, serpents, and all manner of strange monsters.

It was not without an indefinable terror that European mariners spoke of the mysterious regions to the south, which lay beyond their ken. "He who would pass Cape Nun," said a current proverb, "will either return or not;" implying that if he had not the good sense to turn before he reached the cape, he would never have the chance of doing so afterwards. And so for long years the dreaded promontory stretched out into the waves, and all ships were careful to keep well to the north of it.

It was reserved for Portugal to tear aside the veil which hung over the greater part of Africa. Confined to a narrow strip of coast, and isolated from the Mediterranean by its position outside of the Strait of Gibraltar, it was natural that this little kingdom should turn its attention to the navigation of the Atlantic. Thanks to the wise provisions of various sovereigns, and to its admirable situation at the mouth of the greatest river in the Peninsula, Lisbon had, before the end of the fourteenth century, become an important seat of commerce.

A strong desire, however, possessed the Portuguese to find a new route to India. The Moors② had familiarized them with the luxuries of the East; but when a religious crusade was declared against these dusky neighbours, that source of supply was cut off. At the same time that this want was felt, great improvements were being made in the art of navigation.

The phenomenon of the magnet had long been known, but it was only about this period that it became more than a scientific toy, and was rendered useful for practical purposes in the shape of the mariner's compass.③ Armed with this simple little instrument, the seaman could now steer his course even when the stars, which had hitherto been his only guides, were hidden—he ceased to be afraid of venturing out of sight of land.

The impulse which this invention gave to navigation was sudden and direct. "The compass twinkling on its card," it has been said, "was a beam from Heaven. Like a new revelation, the mysteries of an unknown world were unveiled, and the bold and noble were inspired to lead the way. Di'az doubles the Cape of Storms; De Ga'ma finds his course to the East Indies; Colum'bus treads the Baha'mas; and twelve years do not separate these discoveries."

TABLE MOUNTAIN AND CAPE TOWN

Don Henry, "the Navigator," as he is usually called, the fifth son of King John of Portugal, enthusiastically promoted the exploration of Africa. Impressed with a strong conviction that the continent did not end at Cape Nun, as represented on the maps, he organized repeated voyages of discovery, and taking up his abode on the promontory of Sa'gres, in the south of Portugal, he watched the white specks of sail sink below and rise above the horizon, as they went and came on their adventurous mission.

The first expedition was despatched about 1415; and when Prince Henry died, in 1463, the farthest point explored was Cape Verd and the adjoining group of islands. For no less than fifty-two years that enlightened man had devoted almost the whole of his time, thoughts, and revenues to this work; and yet the only fruit within his lifetime was the discovery of about fifteen hundred miles of coast.

Gradually creeping on from headland to headland along the coast, the Portuguese, under Barthol'omew Di'az, in 1486, seeking the land of Prester John,④ unconsciously doubled the southern extremity of Africa, and did not learn their success until they were returning disheartened, under the belief that their voyage had been a failure.

Landing in Table Bay, Diaz planted the banner of St. Philip, under the shadow of Table Mountain,⑤ where a large and flourishing city has since sprung up. In order that future explorers might not be deterred by the name of Cape of Storms, which Diaz had conferred on the promontory, King Emanuel⑥ changed it to Cape of Good Hope.

The circumnavigation of the continent and the direct voyage to India were not accomplished till ten years later. Vas'co de Ga'ma, sailing from Lisbon with six ships on 8th July 1497, on the 20th May of the following year arrived at Cal'icut⑦ on the coast of Malabar'.

The problem of a new route to the East⑧ was now solved, and the Portuguese for a time entered on a brilliant career of conquest and commercial prosperity. In the short space of fifteen years they established their authority in India over the whole coast from Ormuz⑨ to Ceylon, from Cape Comorin to the Moluccas, and the entire commerce of the East was almost exclusively in their hands.

The foreign empire of Portugal was brilliant but brief. A single century saw its rise, culmination, and decline. Internal factions and revolts; the want of discipline; neglect of defences; a shameful system of rapine, by which individuals were enriched at the expense of the state; pride, selfishness, and avarice, were among the chief causes of its decay.

—J. H. FYFE

WORDS

accomplished, overtaken.

completely, entirely.

conferred, bestowed.

culmination, zenith.

despatched, sent out.

devoted, dedicated.

disheartened, crestfallen.

enlightened, intelligent.

enthusiastically, zealously; earnestly.

exclusively, entirely.

exhibited, showed; displayed.

explored, examined.

familiarized, acquainted.

improvements, advances.

impulse, impetus.

indefinable, vague.

individuals, private persons.

inspired, encouraged.

mysterious, secret; hidden.

organized, planned.

phenomenon, circumstance.

promontory, headland.

promoted, forwarded.

prosperity, success.

provisions, measures.

rapine, plunder.

remainder, residue; rest.

unconsciously, unwittingly.

NOTES

① Cape Nun, on the west coast of Morocco, about six hundred miles from Gibraltar.

② The Moors, inhabitants of Maurita'nia (now the Barbary States) in the north of Africa. They were a branch of the Arabs or Moham'medans. They are also called Sar'acens; that is, Eastern people. The Moors conquered Spain in the eighth century; and a fresh inroad took place in the eleventh century, when the Moorish kingdom of Grana'da was founded. Bloody wars between the Moors and the Christians raged during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Granada was taken by Ferdinand in 1492, and the Moorish power in Spain was completely overthrown.

③ The mariner's compass.—Its invention is ascribed to the Venetian navigator Marco Polo, in A. D. 1260; but the needle was floated on straws in water till 1302, when Flavio Gioja of Naples first suspended it freely on a fixed point.

④ Prester John, that is, John the Priest, an imaginary Christian sovereign, supposed in the Middle Ages to rule in some distant Eastern country.

⑤ Table Mountain.—So called from its flat summit. It is situated on the peninsula between Table Bay and False Bay, and is 3000 feet high. The mass of white cloud which often covers it in summer is called the Table-cloth. The view represents Cape Town, a city of over 200,000 inhabitants.

⑥ King Eman'uel of Portugal, surnamed the Fortunate, reigned from 1495 till 1521.

⑦ Calicut, whence calico takes its name, a town on the south-west coast of Hindustan', 250 miles from Cape Comorin'.

⑧ A new route to the East.—The Cape route has now been superseded by the opening of the Suez Canal.

⑨ Ormuz, the strait joining the Gulfs of Persia and Oman'.

QUESTIONS

What was the extent of the Map of the World, until the end of the fifteenth century? How far south were the Atlantic shores of Africa known? What country first explored the greater part of the African coast? Why was it natural for Portugal to turn its attention to the Atlantic? Who had familiarized the Portuguese with the luxuries of the East? What invention gave a great impulse to navigation? Who enthusiastically promoted the exploration of Africa? How much of the coast had been discovered when he died? Who was the first to double the Cape of Good Hope? When? What was its former name? Who discovered the passage to India round the Cape? When? How long did the foreign empire of Portugal last? What led to its fall?

LESSON 52

GREECE

HE who hath bent him o'er the dead,

Ere the first day of death is fled—

Before Decay's effacing fingers

Have swept the lines where beauty lingers

And marked the mild, angelic air,

The rapture of repose that's there—

The fixed, yet tender traits, that streak

The languor of the placid cheek;

And—but for that sad, shrouded eye,

That fires not, wins not, weeps not now;

And but for that chill, changeless brow,

Where cold obstruction's apathy

Appals the gazing mourner's heart,

As if to him it could impart

The doom he dreads, yet dwells upon; —

Yes, but for these, and these alone,

Some moments, ay, one treacherous hour,

He still might doubt the tyrant's power;

So fair, so calm, so softly sealed,

The first, last look, by Death revealed!

Such is the aspect of this shore.

'Tis Greece—but living Greece no more!①

So coldly sweet, so deadly fair,

We start—for soul is wanting there.

Hers is the loveliness in death

That parts not quite with parting breath;

But beauty with that fearful bloom,

That hue which haunts it to the tomb—

Expression's last receding ray,

A gilded halo hovering round decay—

The farewell beam of feeling passed away!

Spark of that flame, that flame of heavenly birth,

Which gleams, but warms no more its cherished earth!

Clime of the unforgotten brave!

Whose land from plain to mountain cave

Was freedom's home, or glory's grave!

Shrine of the mighty! can it be,That this is all remains of thee?

Approach, thou craven, crouching slave:

Say, is not this Thermop'ylæ?②

These waters blue that round you lave,

O servile offspring of the free—

Pronounce, what sea, what shore is this? —

The gulf, the rock of Sal'amis!③

These scenes, their story not unknown.

Arise, and make again your own;

Snatch from the ashes of your sires

The embers of their former fires;

And he who in the strife expires,

Will add to theirs a name of fear

That Tyranny shall quake to hear,

And leave his sons a hope, a fame,

They, too, will rather die than shame:

For freedom's battle, once begun,

Bequeathed by bleeding sire to son,

Though baffled oft, is ever won.

Bear witness, Greece, thy living page;

Attest it, many a deathless age!

While kings, in dusty darkness hid,

Have left a nameless pyramid;

Thy heroes, though the general doom

Hath swept the column from their tomb,

A mightier monument command—

The mountains of their native land!

There points thy Muse to stranger's eye

The graves of those that cannot die!

'Twere long to tell, and sad to trace,

Each step from splendour to disgrace;

Enough—no foreign foe could quell

Thy soul, till from itself it fell;④

Yes! self-abasement paved the way

To villain bonds and despot sway.

—BYRON

WORDS

apathy, indifference.

attest, bear witness.

bequeathed, transmitted.

changeless, immovable.

craven, cowardly.

effacing, expunging.

embers, brands; cinders.

languor, feebleness.

loveliness, beauty.

pyramid, monument.

rapture, transport.

receding, withdrawing.

splendour, magnificence.

treacherous, faithless.

unforgotten, undying.

NOTES

① Living Greece no more.—At the time referred to in the poem, Greece was entirely subject to the Turks, as it had been for nearly three centuries, during which everything like national life had been well-nigh trodden out. The struggle for independence, in which Byron sacrificed his life, began in 1821.

② Thermopylæ, the famous pass in Thessaly where Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans bravely fell before the advancing tide of Persians.

③ Salamis, an island (mod. Koluri) in the Saronic Gulf (the Sea of Ægina, or Athens), between which and the mainland of Attica the Persian fleet was defeated by Themistocles, 480 B. C.

④ From itself it fell—refers to the internal dissensions and civil wars which so weakened Greece that, in the second century B. C., she fell an easy prey to Rome.

LESSON 53

THERMOPYLÆ

｛In the year 480 B. C., ten years after the Battle of Marathon, Xerxes, the son and successor of Dari'us, opened the Second Persian War by invading Greece in person, at the head of the greatest army the world has ever seen. Their numbers have been estimated at more than two millions of fighting men. This immense host, proceeding by the way of Thessaly, had arrived without opposition at the narrow defile of Thermopylæ,① between the mountains and the sea, where the Spartan② Leonidas was posted with three hundred of his countrymen and some Thespian③ allies—in all fewer than a thousand men.

The Spartans were forbidden by their laws ever to flee from an enemy; they had taken an oath never to desert their standards; and Leonidas and his countrymen, and their few allies, prepared to sell their lives as dearly as possible. Bravely meeting the attack of the Persian host, and retreating into the narrowest part of the pass as their numbers were thinned by the storm of arrows, and by the living mass that was hurled upon them, they fought with the valour of desperation until every one of their number had fallen. A monument was afterwards erected on the spot, bearing the following inscription: —"Go, stranger, and tell at Lacedæmon that we died here in obedience to her laws."｝

PASS OF THERMOPYLÆ, WITH TOMBS OF THE SPARTANS

THEY fell devoted, but undying;

The very gale their name seemed sighing;

The waters murmured of their name,

The woods were peopled with their fame;

The silent pillar, lone and gray,

Claimed kindred with their sacred clay;

Their spirits wrapped the dusky mountain,

Their memory sparkled o'er the fountain; —

The meanest rill, the mightiest river,

Rolls mingling with their fame for ever.

Despite of every yoke she bears,

That land is glory's still, and theirs!

'Tis still a watch-word to the earth; —

When man would do a deed of worth,

He points to Greece, and turns to tread,

So sanctioned, on the tyrant's head;

He looks to her, and rushes on,

Where life is lost, or freedom won.

—BYRON

WORDS

claimed, demanded.

defile, pass.

desperation, despair.

devoted, dedicated.

estimated, calculated.

forbidden, prohibited.

invading, marching into.

kindred, relationship.

memory, remembrance.

mingling, mixing.

murmured, babbled.

opposition, obstruction.

retreating, retiring.

sanctioned, approved.

standards, colours.

NOTES

① Thermopylæ, a pass between Thes'saly and Lo'cris, provinces of ancient Greece, and between Mount .ta and the sea.

② Spartan, a native of Sparta, the Capital of Laco'nia, or Lacedæmo'nia, in the Peloponne'sus (the Morea). The Spartans were a race of soldiers, and cultivated neither commerce nor any of the peaceful arts; hence the modern word Spartan, meaning hardy, enduring, dauntless.

③ Thespian, belonging to Thespiæ, a city of Bæotia (Northern Greece), south-west of Thebes. Between 600 and 700 of its citizens are said to have perished with the Spartans at Thermopylæ.

LESSON 54

PAUL AT ATHENS

THERE was something, to such an one as Paul, that was spirit-stirring in the mighty array that he had to cope with at Athens.① He was full of courage and of hope. In the cause of Christ he had gone on conquering, and would trust that, even here, he should conquer. He felt that it was enough, even if lie saved but one, to recompense the effort and the peril—that it was enough, if, by his faithfulness, he only delivered his own soul.

But his was a mind to look and aim at more than this. He felt the splendour of the triumph there would be in levelling the wisdom and the idolatry of Athens at the foot of the Cross. He burned to make Olym'pus② bow its awful head, and cast down its coronet of gods, at His feet who dwelt in Zion; and the pæans of Bacchus and Apollo③ were, in his ear, but preludes to the swelling "song of Moses and of the Lamb."

Animated by such feelings, we may now regard Paul, in what must have been one of the most interesting moments of even his eventful life, preparing himself on the Hill of Mars④ to address an auditory of Athenians on behalf of Christianity. He would feel the imposing associations of the spot on which he stood, where, in the darkness of night, and under the canopy of heaven, justice had been administered in its most awful form, by characters the most venerable. Accompanied as it was with the solemnities of religion, it was attended with an authority which public opinion assimilated rather with the decrees of conscience and of the gods than with the ordinary power of human tribunals.

He would look around on many an immortal trophy of architect and sculptor; where genius had triumphed, but triumphed only in the cause of that idolatry to which they had been dedicated, and for which they existed. And beyond the city, clinging around its temples, like its inhabitants to their enshrined idols, would open on his view that lovely country and the sublime ocean, and the serene heavens bending over them, and bearing that testimony to the Universal Creator which man and man's works withheld.

With all would Grecian glory be connected—the brightness of a day that was closing, and of a sun that had already set, where recollections of grandeur faded into sensations of melancholy. And he would gaze on a thronging auditory, the representatives, to his fancy, of all that had been, and of all that was; and think of the intellects with which he had to grapple, and of the hearts in whose very core he aimed to plant the barbed arrows of conviction.

There was that Multitude, so acute, so inquisitive, so polished, so athirst for novelty, and so impressible by eloquence; yet with whom a barbarian accent might break the charm of the most persuasive tongue; over whom their own oligarchy of orators would soon reassert their dominion, in spite of the invasion of a stranger; and with whom taste, feeling, and habit would throw up all their barriers against the eloquence of Christianity. There would be the Priest, astonished at an attempt so daring; and as the speaker's design opened on his mind, anxiously, and with alternate contempt and rage, measuring the strength of the Samson⑤ who thus grasped the pillars of his temples, threatening to whelm him, his altars, and his gods beneath their ruins.

There would be the Stoic,⑥ in the coldness of his pride, looking sedately down, as on a child playing with children, to see what new game was afloat, and what trick or toy was now produced for wonderment. There the Epicurean,⑦ tasting, as it were, the preacher's doctrine, to see if it promised aught of merriment; just lending enough of idle attention not to lose amusement should it offer; and venting the full explosion of his ridicule on the resurrection of the dead.

There the Sophist,⑧ won, perhaps, into something of an approving and complacent smile by the dexterity of Paul's introduction;⑨ but finding, as he proceeded, that this was no mere show of art or war of words; and vibrating between the habitual love of entangling, bewildering, and insulting an opponent, and the repulsiveness which there always is to such men in the language of honest and zealous conviction. There the Slave, timidly crouching at a distance to catch what stray sounds the winds might waft to him, after they had reached his master's ears, of that doctrine, so strange and blessed, of man's fraternity. And there the young and noble Roman, who had come to Athens for education; —not to sit like a humble scholar at a master's feet, but, with all the pride of Rome upon his brow, to accept what artists, poets, and philosophers could offer as their homage to the lords of Earth.

If for a moment Paul was overwhelmed by the feeling, —in the circumstances, perfectly natural, —that he was the central object of such a scene and such an assemblage, there would rush upon his mind the majesty of Jehovah; and the words of the glorified Jesus; and the thunders that had struck himself to the earth on the road to Damascus;⑩ and the sense of former efforts, conflicts, and successes; and the approach of that judgment to come, whose righteousness and universality it was now his duty to announce.

Unappalled and collected, he began: —"Ye men of Athens,⑪ I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription. TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth."

—W. J. FOX

WORDS

administered, dispensed.

animated, inspired.

announce, proclaim.

array, display.

assimilated, identified.

astonished, surprised.

auditory, audience.

barbarian, foreign.

complacent, satisfied.

conquering, triumphing.

coronet, crown.

enshrined, consecrated.

fraternity, brotherhood.

grapple, struggle.

homage, tribute of praise.

merriment, amusement.

recollections, remembrances.

recompense, repay.

sedately, calmly.

sensations, pangs.

superstitious, idolatrous.

trophy, achievement.

unappalled, undismayed.

universality, comprehensiveness.

vibrating, oscillating.

NOTES

① At Athens.—Paul's visit to Athens was made in what is known as his second missionary tour,—A. D. 51-64. Driven by persecution from Philippi and from Thessaloni'ca, he took refuge in Beræ'a, where for a time his ministry was successful; but to avoid a storm of hostility which seemed to be gathering there also, he secretly left Beræa and went to Athens. (Acts, xvii.)

② Olympus, a famous mountain on the borders of Macedonia and Thessaly, which, probably from its great height, was regarded as the abode of the gods. It is here used as the symbol of the whole system of Greek mythology.

③ Pæans of Bac'chus and Apol'lo.—A p.an is a song of praise, originally in honour of Apollo, the god of culture and art, from whose epithet Paian the word pæan is taken. It was afterwards applied to hymns in praise of other gods, and to the revels of the worshippers of Bacchus, the god of Wine.

④ Hill of Mars, a translation of the Greek name Areop'agus, the seat of the Areopagites, the supreme court of Athens. This court, for the trial and punishment of murderers and persons charged with impieties and immoralities, held its sessions in the open air; and during the darkness of night, because justice should be blind to everything but facts. A little to the south-east rose the steep height of the Acrop'olis, or citadel, on whose level summit were crowded more and richer idolatrous structures than on any other equal space in the world. There stood the temples of Pal'las and Nep'tune, the great bronze statue of the former, and, above all, the Parthenon, the glory of Grecian architecture.

⑤ The Samson.—Samson was the great military Judge and deliverer of Israel; who, having been taken and blinded by the Philistines, destroyed himself and the temple and lords of the Philistines, by pulling down the pillars that supported the house. The heathen priest at Athens is supposed to have regarded Paul as a moral Samson, who threatened to destroy his temples and altars by sheer force of overwhelming argument.

⑥ The Stoic.—The Stoics, followers of Zeno, were so called from stoa, the Greek word for a porch, because their founder had taught his disciples in a portico of Athens. Pride was their great characteristic. They enforced a sort of stern virtue, and an indifference both to pleasure and to pain, which led to some noble deeds. In spirit they much resembled the Jewish Pharisees.

⑦ The Epicurean.—The Epicureans,—followers of Epicu'rus.(b) who died B. C. 271,—were the children of pleasure. They were practical atheists, and unmeasured scoffers. The rule of life laid down by their founder was the pursuit of pleasure properly regulated and controlled. But his followers forgot the regulation and control which he enjoined, and pursued pleasure for its own sake.

⑧ The Sophist.—The Sophists were an inferior class of teachers in Athens, who dealt in verbal niceties and quibbles. Ar'istotle(b) used the word in the sense of a false teacher of philosophy. The Sophists were instrumental in procuring the death of Soc'rates.(b) 399 B. C.

⑨ The dexterity of Paul's introduction.—Paul was peculiarly skilful and happy in adapting his addresses to the circumstances of his audience. In this address, for example, he struck a key-note which would at once arrest the proud and idolatrous Athenians, by telling them how "superstitious" (that is, zealous for the gods) they appeared to be, judging by the number of magnificent temples by which he was surrounded. When preaching in the synagogue at Antioch, on the other hand, he rapidly sketched God's dealings with Israel, and preached Christ to them as the Son of David (Acts, xiii. 16-23). When addressing Agrippa, a highly educated Syrian prince, he appeals to him, saying, "King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest." (Acts, xxvi. 27.)

⑩ On the road to Damascus,—on the occasion of Paul's conversion. (See Acts, ix. 3-9.)

⑪ Ye men of Athens. (See Acts, xvii. 22-26.)

QUESTIONS

What feelings would encourage Paul to preach boldly at Athens? Where did he address the Athenians? What "imposing associations" would the place suggest to his mind? What would he see from that spot? What classes of people would be represented in his audience? By what would the Sophist be won at first? What was that introduction?

LESSON 55

EVIDENCES OF DESIGN IN CREATION

WHEN we observe a number of separate forces acting in union and harmony, we must believe that there has been a designing mind bringing them together and causing them to cooperate. When we see these agencies working in happiest association to produce innumerable effects of a beneficent character; when we find them consenting and consorting throughout thousands or myriads of years or geological ages, —the evidence is felt to be overwhelming beyond the power of human calculation.

"How often," asks Tillotson, "might a man, after he had jumbled a set of letters in a bag, fling them out upon the ground before they would fall into an exact poem, yea, or so much as make a good discourse in prose ? And may not a little book be as easily made by chance as this great volume of the world? —How long might a man be sprinkling colours upon canvas, with a careless hand, before they would happen to make the exact picture of a man? And is a man easier made by chance than this picture ?

"How long might twenty thousand blind men, which should be sent out from the several remote parts of England, wander up and down before they would all meet upon Salisbury Plain, and fall into rank and file in the exact order of an army? And yet this is much more easy to be imagined than that the innumerable blind parts of matter should rendezvous① themselves into a world."

Every manual labourer may see something analogous to the art by which he earns his livelihood, operating among the natural objects by which he is surrounded.

The sailor may discover the peculiarities of his craft among marine animals. Thus, among the lower tribes, he has observed a jelly-fish—called by him the Portuguese man-of-war—setting up a sail which consists of a crest surmounting the bladder. He may notice, too, how the mussel and pinna② anchor themselves by means of threads of a horny material. The tail of the fish, it is well known, acts as a scuttle, enabling its possessor to plough its way through the deep.

The web-foot of the swimmers is an example of what is called "feathering the oar:"③ when pushed forward, the web and toes collapse. The leg (usually so called) of the guillemot④ and of divers is compressed laterally, presenting a knife-edge before and behind, and thus gives less resistance in the fore and back stroke. It is worthy of being mentioned, as illustrating the same point, that the whale's tail collapses in the upward but expands in the downward stroke.

The shepherd knows how much care and watchfulness are necessary in order to protect his flocks from the wild beasts which attack them, and is thus led to admire the instincts of those animals, such as the deer, which set a watch to give a signal of danger. The hunter knows how much cunning he must exercise in order to come within reach of the wild animals pursued by him, and should not withhold a feeling of wonder when he observes how their instincts lead the brutes to show such dexterity in avoiding their natural enemies.

We find that those liable to be chased as prey, often take the colour of the ground on which they habitually feed. Riflemen are invariably dressed in the hue which is deemed least conspicuous, and which is best fitted for concealment; and is there not an equally clear proof of design furnished by the circumstance that fishes are often of the colour of the ground over which they swim, and that wild animals are not unfrequently of the colour of the covert in which they hide themselves? The red grouse and red deer are of the colour of the heath on which they feed; whereas the lapwing and curlew, themselves and their eggs, take the hue of the pasture among which they are usually found.

Speaking of the ptarmigan,⑤ the late Mr. Thompson says: "We hardly draw on the imagination by viewing its plumage as an exquisite miniature of the seasonal changes which the mountain summit undergoes; —a miniature drawn, too, by a Hand that never errs! In summer we look upon the beautiful mixture of gray, brown, and black, as resembling the three component parts of ordinary granite—feldspar, mica, and horn-blende⑥ —among the masses of which the ptarmigan usually resides. Late in autumn, when snows begin to fall about the lofty summits, and partially to cover the surface of the rocks, we find the bird pied⑦ with white; and in winter, when they present a perfect chrysolite.'⑧ it is almost wholly of the same pure hue." Nor is it unworthy of being noted, that whitish or grayish colours, which are known to be the warmest, prevail in the covering of animals in the arctic regions.

The builder may easily perceive that the woody structure of plants and the bones of animals are constructed on architectural principles, being strengthened where weight has to be supported and pressure resisted, and becoming more slender where lightness is required. The form of the bole of a tree, and the manner in which it fixes itself into the ground, so as to be able to face the storms of a hundred winters, are said to have yielded some suggestions to the celebrated engineer, Smeaton, in the construction of the Eddystone Light-house.⑨ The architect of the Crystal Palace⑩ confessed that he derived some of the ideas embodied in that structure from observing the wonderful provision made for bearing up the very broad leaf of the beautiful lily⑪, which has been brought within these few years from the marshes of Guiana to adorn our conservatories.

Every joint in the animal frame can be shown to be exactly suited to the function which it has to perform. In flesh-eating animals, where strength is the chief requisite in the lower jaw, there is a simple hinge-joint of great power; whereas in herbivorous species, which have to grind hard vegetable matter, the joint admits of free motion in all directions. Where motion in one direction is all that is required, we have a common joint, as in the fingers; where motion all round is necessary, we have, as at the shoulder and hip, the ball-and-socket joint, admitting of a rotatory motion round a ball.

In some parts of the animal frame, a single bone is all that is required, and more would injure the strength; in other parts, as in the fore-arm, a kind of rotatory motion is furnished by two bones, a radius and an ulna,⑫ so adjusted as to move to some extent round each other.

The tubes and pipes which conduct water and gas through all the streets and dwellings of a great city, are not such ingenious contrivances as the veins and arteries which convey the blood to and from every extremity of the frame. The means by which water is forced to rise in a pump are not so wonderful as those by which, proceeding on a different principle, fluid is made to mount in the plant to the most distant twig and leaf. We construct valves to allow fluids to pass in one direction, but to prevent them from flowing back in the opposite direction; but before man devised such agency they were already in his own veins; and it was upon noticing them that Harvey, proceeding, as he tells us, on the principle that they were there to serve a purpose, was led to the discovery of the circulation of the blood.

It is a circumstance of great significance, that parts of animals which, to superficial observers, might seem useless, or even inconvenient, have been found, in the progress of discovery, to serve most important ends in the economy of life. The hump of the camel might readily be regarded as a very unseemly encumbrance, and we find even the distinguished naturalist Buffon speaking of these humps, and of the callous pads on the legs of that animal, as marks of degradation and servitude. A little patient investigation, however, suffices to show that these parts of their frame, like every other, fit these useful creatures for the purposes served by them in the regions which they inhabit.

It has often been remarked, that the abundant supply of fluid laid up in the cells of one of the stomachs, is a beautiful provision for enabling the animal to endure a long continuance of thirst; and it can be shown that the enlargement of their feet, with their convex soles, allows them to tread easily on the loose, yielding sand of the desert; that the callosities or pads on their legs permit them to lie down and repose on scorching surfaces; and that their humps are supplies of superabundant nourishment provided for their long journeys, so that, when deprived of other food, their frames feed on this nutriment, — and it has been observed, that at the close of a long journey their humps have been much diminished in size.

Such facts as these go to prove that it is our own ignorance and presumption which lead us to complain of the inconveniences of nature; and that a little more knowledge, and, better still, a little more humility and patience, would lead us to discover and to acknowledge, that there are admirable wisdom and benevolence even in those parts of God's works which may seem to be useless, or even injurious.

—J. M 'COSH

WORDS

Beneficent, kind.

calculation, estimate.

callous, hard.

celebrated, famous.

collapses, contracts.

component, constituent.

conspicuous, prominent.

contrivances, devices.

cooperate, work together.

dexterity, cleverness.

diminished, reduced.

encumbrance, burden.

exquisite, beautiful.

herbivorous, herb-eating.

investigation, inquiry.

laterally, from side to side.

miniature, reduction.

peculiarities, features.

principles, rules.

pursued, chased.

requisite, essential.

rotatory, revolving.

significance, force.

sprinkling, scattering.

superabundant, spare.

surmounting, overtopping.

NOTES

① Rendezvous (rang'-da-voo), assemble.

② Pinna, a large shell-fish, somewhat like the mussel; called also the wing-shell, from the likeness of its shell to the wing of a bird.

③ "Feathering the oar," turning the blade of the oar horizontally in carrying it back, so as to present no resistance to wind or surf.

④ Guillemot, a sea-bird, allied to the penguins, auks, and divers; found in the northern parts of both hemispheres.

⑤ The ptarmigan (tar'-me-gan), called also the white grouse, from the colour it assumes in winter. It is found only in lofty situations and in northern countries.

⑥ Feldspar, mi'ca, and horn'blende, the three components of common granite. Feldspar, or felspar, is a crystalline mineral, softer than quartz. With this the gray colour of the bird corresponds. Mica consists of a number of thin layers, and has long been used as a substitute for glass, especially in Russia. To it the brown feathers of the bird are compared. Hornblende is a common mineral of a blackish-green colour.

⑦ Pied, variegated, spotted.

⑧ Chrysolite, a bright jewel, of a yellowish or greenish hue. The expression "Perfect chrysolite," (which is quoted from Shakespeare's Othello,) is meant to describe the appearance of mountains in winter, when the sun shines upon their snow-clad summits.

⑨ Eddystone Light-house, ten miles from the coast of Cornwall, and fourteen from Plymouth.

⑩ The architect of the Crystal Palace—Sir Joseph Paxton, an eminent English gardener. When acting as chief gardener to the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth, he had erected a conservatory of iron and glass which covered an acre. This suggested the plan for the Great Exhibition of 1851 at London, which he submitted to the building committee, and which introduced a new style of architecture, since largely adopted in similar undertakings. Paxton was born in 1803; died in 1865.

⑪ Lily—the Victoria Regia, a magnificent water-lily, discovered in Guiana (South America) in1838, by Sir Robert Schom'burgk, the distinguished naturalist, and named after Queen Victoria.

⑫ Radius and ulna.—The fore-arm (between the elbow and the hand) consists of two bones; the radius, or exterior bone, on the thumb-side of the arm [Lat. radius, the spoke of a wheel]; and the ulna, the larger and interior bone, which forms, with the arm proper, the elbow joint [Lat. ulna, the elbow].

QUESTIONS

What are the proofs of a designing mind in any work? By what comparisons does Tillotson enforce this? What remarkable adaptation is there in the leg of swimming birds? With what natural means of protection are animals chased as prey provided? What is remarkable in the case of the ptarmigan? Mention cases in which builders have taken their ideas from natural objects. Give instances of adaptation in the joints of the body. What led Harvey to discover the circulation of the blood? Give examples of parts of animals which seem useless, being really most useful contrivances. What lesson is to be learned from this?

LESSON 56

THE STORY OF HORATIUS

A LEGEND OF ANCIENT ROME.

THE early history of Rome, as recorded by Livy and other Latin writers, was probably compiled from legendary poems that had been transmitted from generation to generation, and often rehearsed at the banquets of the great. The historian Macaulay has aimed at reconstructing some of these poetic legends, which he has given to the world under the title of Lays of Ancient Rome. As a specimen of these beautiful and stirring poems, the "Story of Horatius" is here given.

It is stated by all the Latin historians, that, a few years after the expulsion of the Tarquins① for their despotism and crimes, the neighbouring Etrua cans,② to which nation they belonged, endeavoured to restore the tyrants to power, and came against Rome with an overwhelming force. The Romans, repulsed at first, fled across a wooden bridge over the Tiber, when the Roman Consul③ ordered the bridge to be destroyed, to prevent the enemy from entering the city. The continuation of the legend is supposed to be narrated by one of the Roman minstrels, at a period one hundred years later than the events recorded: —

But the Consul's brow was sad,

And the Consul's speech was low,

And darkly looked he at the wall,

And darkly at the foe.

"Their van will be upon us

Before the bridge goes down;

And if they once may win the bridge,

What hope to save the town?"

Then out spake brave Horatius,

The captain of the gate:

"To every man upon this Earth

Death cometh, soon or late;

And how can man die better

Than facing fearful odds,

For the ashes of his fathers,

And the temples of his gods!

"Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul,

With all the speed ye may;

I, with two more to help me,

Will hold the foe in play.

In you strait path a thousand

May well be stopped by three;

Now, who will stand on either hand,

And keep the bridge with me?"

Then out spake Spurius Lartius, —

A Ramnian④ proud was he:

"Lo, I will stand at thy right hand,

And keep the bridge with thee."

And out spake strong Herminius, —

Of Titian blood was he:

"I will abide on thy left side,

And keep the bridge with thee."

"Horatius,"quoth the Consul,

"As thou say'st, so let it be."

And straight against that great array

Forth went the dauntless three.

Meanwhile the Tuscan army,

Right glorious to behold,

Came flashing back the noonday light,

Rank behind rank, like surges bright

Of a broad sea of gold.

Four hundred trumpets sounded

A peal of warlike glee,

As that great host, with measured tread,

And spears advanced, and ensigns spread,

Rolled slowly toward the bridge's head,

Where stood the dauntless three.

The three stood calm and silent,

And looked upon the foes,

And a great shout of laughter

From all the vanguard rose:

And forth three chiefs came spurring

Before that mighty mass;

To earth they sprang, their swords they drew,

And lifted high their shields, and flew

To win the narrow pass.

But the scorn and laughter of the Etruscans were soon changed to wrath and curses, for their chiefs were quickly laid low in the dust at the feet of the "dauntless three."

But now no sound of laughter

Was heard among the foes.

A wild and wrathful clamour

From all the vanguard rose.

Six spears' length from the entrance

Halted that mighty mass,

And for a space no man came forth

To win the narrow pass.

But hark! the cry is "Astur:"

And lo! the ranks divide,

And the great lord of Luna⑤

Comes with his stately stride.

Upon his ample shoulders

Clangs loud the fourfold shield,

And in his hand he shakes the brand

Which none but he can wield.

The proud Astur advances with a smile of contempt for the three Romans, and turns a look of scorn upon the flinching Tuscans.

Then, whirling up his broadsword

With both hands to the height,

He rushed against Horatius,

And smote with all his might

With shield and blade Horatius

Right deftly turned the blow.

The blow, though turned, came yet too nigh:

It missed his helm, but gashed his thigh:

The Tuscans raised a joyful cry

To see the red blood flow.

He reeled, and on Herminius

He leaned one breathing-space;

Then, like a wild-cat mad with wounds,

Sprang right at Astur's face.

Through teeth and skull and helmet,

So fierce a thrust he sped,

The good sword stood a handbreadth out

Behind the Tuscan's head!

And the great lord of Luna

Fell at that deadly stroke,

As falls on Mount Alvernus⑥

A thunder-smitten oak.

Far o'er the crashing forest

The giant arms lie spread;

And the pale augurs, muttering low,

Gaze on the blasted head.

In the meantime the axes had been busily plied; and while the bridge was tottering to its fall, Lartius and Herminius regained the opposite bank in safety. Horatius remained facing the foe until the last timber had fallen, when, weighed down with armour as he was, he "plunged headlong in the tide."

No sound of joy or sorrow

Was heard from either bank;

But friends and foes, in dumb surprise,

With parted lips and straining eyes,

Stood gazing where he sank:

And when beneath the surges

They saw his crest appear,

All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry,

And even the ranks of Tuscany

Could scarce forbear to cheer.

But fiercely ran the current,

Swollen high by months of rain:

And fast his blood was flowing;

And he was sore in pain,

And heavy with his armour,

And spent with changing blows:

And oft they thought him sinking,

But still again he rose.

"Curse on him!" quoth false Sextus.

"Will not the villain drown?"

But for this stay, ere close of day

We should have sacked the town!" —

"Heaven help him!" quoth Lars Porsena,⑦

"And bring him safe to shore;

For such a gallant feat of arms

Was never seen before."

And now he feels the bottom;

Now on dry earth he stands;

Now round him throng the fathers,

To press his gory hands;

And now with shouts and clapping,

And noise of weeping loud,

He enters through the river-gate,

Borne by the joyous crowd.

Then follows an account of the rewards which a grateful people bestowed upon the hero. The minstrel thus concludes the legend: —

When the good-man mends his armour,

And trims his helmet's plume;

When the good-wife's shuttle merrily

Goes flashing through the loom;

With weeping and with laughter

Still is the story told,

How well Horatius kept the bridge

In the brave days of old.

WORDS

augurs, soothsayers.

bestowed, conferred.

clamour, shouting.

compiled, composed.

concludes, closes; ends.

contempt, disdain.

continuation, sequel.

crashing, shattering.

dauntless, courageous.

deftly, cleverly.

despotism, tyranny.

divide, open up.

flinching, yielding.

gallant, heroic.

measured, regular.

overwhelming, overpowering.

rapturous, joyous.

reconstructing, rebuilding.

recorded, narrated.

rehearsed, recited.

sacked, pillaged.

strait, narrow.

surges, waves.

vanguard, front.

wrathful, angry.

NOTES

① The Tarquins,—Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome, was the son of Tarquin'ius Pris'cus, the fifth king. His efforts to acquire despotic power made for him many foes; and the crimes of his son Sextus (the "false Sextus"of the lay) infuriated the people, who rose under Junius Brutus, expelled the Tarquins from Rome, and abolished the monarchy for ever. This was in 509 B. C.

② Etruscans, the people of Etruria, or Tuscia, a country in Central Italy, with the Tiber as its southern boundary, and including the whole of modern Tuscany, Tarquinius Superbus was a native of Tar Quinii, a town in Etruria, sixty miles from Rome; and he had gone to Rome as an adventurer in the reign of Afi'cus Mar'tius, in whose favour he obtained a high place. Left by that king guardian to his sons, Tarquin set them aside and ascended the throne himself.

③ Roman Consul—After the abolition of monarchy, Rome was ruled by two Consuls (that is, Colleagues), elected annually.

④ Ramnian……Ti'tian.—The Patricians, or true Roman citizens, consisted of three tribes,—the Ram'nes, a Latin colony said to have been founded by Romulus, on the Palatine Hill; the Tities, or Sabine settlers, on the Quirinal Hill; and the Luceres, or Etruscans, on the Cealian Hill.

⑤ Luna, a town on the northern frontier of Etruria, near which were famous white marble quarries,—now those of Carra'ra.

⑥ Mount Alvernus—probably Mount Albur'nus, near the ancient Pæs'turn (now magnificent ruins), and south-east of Salerno.

⑦ Lars Porsena.—Lars was a common Etruscan first-name, generally given to the eldest son, whence it came to signify Lord. A younger son was called Aruns. Porsena was king of Clusium in Etruria. He ultimately subdued Rome, and exacted tribute from the citizens.

LESSON 57

ROMAN GIRL'S SONG

Rome, Rome! thou art no more

As thou hast been!

On thy seven hills of yore①

Thou satst a queen.

Thou hadst thy triumphs then

Purpling the street;②

Leaders and sceptred men

Bowed at thy feet.

They that thy mautle wore,

As gods were seen—

Rome, Rome! thou art no more

As thou hast been!

Rome! thine imperial brow

Never shall rise:

What hast thou left thee now? —

Thou hast thy skies!

Blue, deeply blue, they are,

Gloriously bright!

Veiling thy wastes afar

With coloured light.

Thou hast the sunset's glow,

Rome, for thy dower,

Flushing tall cypress-bough,

Temple and tower!

And all sweet sounds are thine,

Lovely to hear;

While night o'er tomb and shrine

Rests darkly clear.

Many a solemn hymn,

By starlight sung,

Sweeps through the arches dim.

Thy wrecks among.

Many a flute's low swell

On thy soft air

Lingers, and loves to dwell

With summer there.

Thou hast the South's rich gift

Of sudden song,

A charmed fountain, swift,

Joyous, and strong.

Thou hast fair forms that move

With queenly tread;

Thou hast proud fanes above

Thy mighty dead.

Yet wears thy Tiber's shore

A mournful mien; —

Rome, Rome! thou art no more

As thou hast been!

—FELICIA HEMANS

WORDS

charmed, bewitched.

dower, portion.

fanes, temples.

flushing, suffusing.

imperial, sovereign.

lingers, loiters.

mantle, garment.

mien, aspect.

shrine, altar.

solemn, religious.

triumphs, exultations.

veiling, covering.

NOTES

① On thy seven hills of yore.—Rome was built on seven hills, and is therefore called by poets "The seven-hilled city." At the time of its greatest glory, the walls of Rome were nearly twenty miles in circumference.—Of yore means formerly; in time long past.

② Purpling the street.—Purple was the royal colour of the ancients, especially the famous and costly Tyrian purple. In imperial Rome it was the emblem of sovereign power, and would consequently predominate in a Roman triumph, when "leaders and sceptred men" were led in procession behind the chariot of the conqueror.

LESSON 58

REGULUS BEFORE THE ROMAN SENATE

{IN the year 263 before Christ the First Punic War① began; and, after it had continued eight years with varied success, the Romans sent the Consul Regulus, at the head of a large army, to carry the war into Africa. On the passage across the Mediterranean, the Carthaginian fleet, bearing not less than one hundred and fifty thousand men, was met and defeated; but in the following year, in a battle on land, the Romans were defeated with great loss, and Regulus himself, being taken prisoner, was thrown into a dungeon. Five years later, the Carthaginians were in turn defeated in Sicily, with a loss of twenty thousand men, and the capture of more than a hundred of their elephants, which they had trained to fight in the ranks.

It was then that the Carthaginians sent an embassy to Rome with proposals of peace. Regulus was taken from his dungeon to accompany the embassy, the Carthaginians trusting that, weary of his long captivity, he would urge the Senate to accept the proffered terms; but the inflexible Roman persuaded the Senate to reject the proposals and continue the war, assuring his countrymen that the resources of Carthage were nearly exhausted. Bound by his oath to return if peace were not concluded, he voluntarily went back, in spite of the prayers and entreaties of his friends, to meet the fate which awaited him. It is generally stated that after his return to Carthage he was tortured to death by the exasperated Carthaginians. Thus he spoke to the Senate: —}

Urge me no more; your prayers are vain,

And even the tears ye shed:

When I can lead to Rome again

The bands that once I led;

When I can raise your legions slain

On swarthy Libya's② fatal plain,

To vengeance from the dead,

Then will I seek once more a home,

And lift a freeman's voice in Rome!

Accursed moment! when I woke

From faintness all but death,

And felt the coward conqueror's yoke

Like venomed serpent's wreath

Round every limb! —if lip and eye

Betrayed no sign of agony,

Inly I cursed my breath:

Wherefore, of all that fought, was I

The only wretch that could not die?

To darkness and to chains consigned,

The captive's fighting doom,

I recked not; —could they chain the mind,

Or plunge the soul in gloom?

And there they left me, dark and lone,

Till darkness had familiar grown;

Then from that living tomb

They led me forth, I thought, to die; —

Oh! in that thought was ecstasy!

But no! kind Heaven had yet in store

For me, a conquered slave,

A joy I thought to feel no more,

Or feel but in the grave.

They deemed, perchance, my haughtier mood

Was quelled by chains and solitude;

That he who once was brave—

Was I not brave? —had now become

Estranged from honour, as from Rome.

They bade me to my country bear

The offers these have borne;

They would have trained my lips to swear

Which never yet have sworn.

Silent their base commands I heard;

At length I pledged a Roman's word,

Unshrinking, to return.

I go, prepared to meet the worst;

But I shall gall proud Carthage first.

They sue for peace;—I bid you spurn

The gilded bait they bear;

I bid you still, with aspect stern,

War, ceaseless war, declare.

Fools as they were, could not mine eye,

Through their dissembled calmness, spy

The struggles of despair?

Else had they sent this wasted frame

To bribe you to your country's shame?

Your land—I must not call it mine;

No country has the slave;

His father's name he must resign,

And even his father's grave—

But this not now—beneath her lies

Proud Carthage and her destinies:

Her empire o'er the wave

Is yours; she knows it well, and you

Shall know, and make her feel it too. —

Ay, bend your brows, ye ministers

Of coward hearts, on me;

Ye know no longer it is hers,

The empire of the sea;

Ye know her fleets are far and few,

Her bands a mercenary crew;

And Rome, the bold and free,

Shall trample on her prostrate towers.

Despite your weak and wasted powers!

One path alone remains for me—

My vows were heard on high;

Thy triumphs, Rome, I shall not see,

For I return to die.

Then tell me not of hope or life;

I have in Rome no chaste, fond wife,

No smiling progeny;

One word concentres for the slave,

Wife, children, country, all—the grave.

—DALE

WORDS

captivity, imprisonment.

capture, seizure.

concentres, embraces.

consigned, committed.

continued, lasted.

defeated, overthrown.

destinies, fate.

dissembled, feigned.

ecstasy, rapture.

embassy, deputation.

entreaties, importunities.

exasperated, infuriated.

exhausted, worn out.

inflexible, stubborn.

mercenary, hireling.

perchance. perhaps.

pledged, plighted.

progeny, offspring.

resources, means.

swarthy, dark.

venomed, poisonous.

NOTES

①Punic War.—So the wars between Rome and Carthage (of which there were three) were called by the Romans. The name Pæni (whence Punic) was given to the Carthaginians because of their Phænician origin. In the third Punic War, Carthage was completely destroyed, 146 B. C.

②Libya, the northern part of Africa; in Roman times the name given to the region now known as the Libyan Desert. After the fall of Carthage, Libya became a Roman province.

LESSON 59

THE SAHARA

THE Sahara may be likened to a vast ocean separating the negro kingdoms of equatorial Africa from the more civilized states of the north; and the numerous oases① with which it is studded are like so many islands in the midst of the desert waste. This waste, however, though destitute of everything helpful to human life and comfort, does not consist solely of barren sands. There is a vast extent of dry, stunted herbage, on which the camel can pasture; and thus a passage across the desert is rendered practicable, by routes which would be impossible were the Sahara what it is often represented as being—one wide sandy plain.

In the desert, a route through the sand is always chosen in preference to any other; because in the sandy tracts springs are most likely to be found, and because the sand presents a soft dry bed on which the traveller can repose after the fatigues of the day. It is this preference of the natives which has led Europeans to suppose that the whole of the Sahara is a sandy waste. The character of the desert is very much the reverse of this, there being hundreds of miles of hard, firm soil, while hundreds more are a mixture of stony fragments and pebbles.

Travelling on sand, there is of course no visible road, as the fierce winds that frequently recur soon obliterate all trace of footsteps. The guides, therefore, find their way by land-marks, which they carefully renew when necessary. These are often the most trifling objects, such as a tuft of herbage, a single plant, or the summit of a swell in the soil. In places where the plain is one void and arid flat, even such objects are wanting, and their place is supplied by heaps of stones or cairns, piled at great distances. Sometimes the route extends for ten or twelve days over a plain affording not a single drop of moisture!

OASES

Along nearly the whole length of the northern shores of the continent there extends a fertile belt of land, called by the natives the Tell, the cultivation of which yields the means of life to the populations of the coast. In the neighbourhood of this fertile belt there are numerous oases extending into the interior; while others, fortunately for the purposes of commerce and civilization, exist within practicable distances across the whole desert.

AN OASIS IN THE DESERT

Farther eastward, near the limits of the Sahara, a line of oases extends from its northern to its southern boundary. One of these, the Great Oasis of Thebes, is one hundred and twenty miles in length. It is watered by a pleasant stream, with groves of palm and acacia on its banks.

The oases invariably lie in the lowest levels of the soil, and doubtless owe their existence to the moisture which naturally gravitates② towards such localities. Mast of these isolated spots, even though hundreds of miles apart, enjoy a constant supply of water, and are favourable to the cultivation of the date palm and other fruit-trees, as well as of various kinds of vegetables.

The date palm supplies a large proportion of the food of the dwellers in the desert. The tree is thirty-three years in coming to maturity; after which it will bear fruit for seventy years more, the annual crop of each tree averaging from three to four hundred pounds weight. Not only man, but all the animals of the desert can feed on the date. The fruit is easily preserved by packing it closely in woollen bags; and when thus compressed into solid masses it may be kept for several years. Sometimes a tree is tapped for the sake of its sap, which is much relished as a beverage, and which, when allowed to ferment,③ forms a drink resembling cider. A single tree will yield fourteen or fifteen quarts a day for two years, but will die if the drain be continued longer.

Every part of the date palm is turned to profitable account. The wood is used for building, and for every kind of carpenter-work; the fibre is twisted into ropes; baskets are made of the branches; and sheep are fattened with the pounded stones of the fruit.

The population of the desert is necessarily sparse and scanty, in proportion to its enormous area. It consists of various tribes of two distinct nations; —the Berbers, made up of descendants of the ancient Lib'yans, of the Romans, and of the Van'dals; and the Arabs, originally invaders, who yet retain, in no small degree, their original characteristics.

The Berbers are the settled inhabitants of the oases, where the men cultivate the ground, and the women manage the manufactures. They maintain amicable relations with their nomadic④ brethren, to whom they are in the habit of confiding the care of such cattle as they possess, and of whose property they undertake the custody during the wanderings of the owners. The oasis generally contains a village (ksar), which is built of stone, and, together with the gardens, is walled in. Nothing is grown but what will produce food of some kind, and the utmost use is made of every foot of land and drop of water. At the same time, provision is made for defence, and sentinels are kept continually on the watch for an enemy.

Outside the walls are the marabets, or sepulchres of the dead; upon which are lavished far more expense and taste than on the abodes of the living. Near each tomb rises a little sepulchral chapel, executed in a finished style of architecture, by the most skilful artisans that can be procured. These buildings are universally held sacred; and even the foe who would slaughter the living and make a prey of their property, leaves the resting-places of the dead inviolate.

THE ARABS

The life of the desert nomads, even when free from war and brigandage, is one of perpetual variety and excitement. They spend the winter and the spring in the wilderness, where, at these seasons, there are both water and pasture; but they remain in one spot only for a few days, striking their tents and migrating to another as soon as the pasture is consumed.

As summer approaches, they resort to the oases where their property is kept; here they load their camels with merchandise, and journey northward. They arrive in the Tell just at harvest-time, when the price of corn is low. Here they pass the summer in barter and commerce, exchanging their woollen goods and dates for raw wool, sheep, &c.

At the close of the summer they set off southward again, arriving at the oases in October, just as the dates are ripe. Their assistance is now valuable in gathering in the crops, which occupies them a month; and another month is spent in bartering their raw wool and other late purchases for a portion of the dates which they have helped to gather, and for manufactured garments made by the women. These they deposit in their magazines, and then withdraw again to the desert, with their flocks and herds.

CARAVANS

There are two classes of caravans,⑤ either of which a traveller may join. The first, and most expeditious, is the gafa'la, or merchants' caravans, which start with some degree of regularity from certain depots in the northern oases, and whose departures are always made known beforehand. The camel-drivers regulate the speed of the journey, generally travelling from twenty to twenty-five miles a day, save in regions infested by robbers, where they will occasionally double that rate of speed. In case of attack, every one defends himself and his property as he best can; and the timid are seen rushing towards the centre, to escape being cut off as stragglers.

CARAVAN CROSSING THE DESERT

The second kind of caravan is the ne'ja, which consists of a whole tribe in migration, and which travels much more slowly. They carry with them, not their merchandise merely, but all their cattle, tents, and household stuff, together with their women, children, domestic animals, and poultry.

They move along at an easy rate, and the journey is pleasant enough so long as no enemy appears; but should they meet the bands of a hostile tribe while thus encumbered, it may chance to go hard with them. The battle which ensues is one in which quarter is neither asked nor given, the Arabs being much more bitter in their warfare against each other than in their encounters with Europeans. Sunset is the signal for the cessation of the strife, and the defeated party is allowed to make off in the night. In these conflicts prisoners are never made, the conquerors preferring the heads of their victims to any ransom that could be offered.

From Morocco six caravans traverse the Sahara every year, when from two thousand to three thousand camels are loaded with European produce, and start for the distant countries of the interior. Some of these caravans penetrate as far into Soudan as Timbuctu. They bring thence gold dust, buffalo-skins, ivory, senna, alkali, rhinoceros-horns, indigo, diamonds, perfumes, gums, and other articles of commerce. On reaching the banks of the Niger, the Moors deposit their merchandise on a hill. They then retire, and the negroes advance and criticise the goods. After an examination of three days, they generally come to terms, and the business is done.

WORDS

amicable, friendly.

assistance, help.

bartering, exchanging.

brigandage, plunder.

civilized, cultivated.

compressed, squeezed.

consumed, exhausted.

cultivate, till.

custody, guardianship.

destitute, devoid.

encounters, conflicts.

encumbered, embarrassed.

enormous, vast.

expeditious, rapid.

fertile, productive.

invariably, uniformly.

inviolate, uninjured.

lavished, squandered.

magazines, store-houses.

maturity, ripeness.

merchandise, goods.

migration, travelling.

neighbourhood, vicinity.

obliterate, efface.

occasionally, sometimes.

perpetual, constant.

practicable, performable.

preference, choice; liking.

profitable, lucrative.

relished, enjoyed.

reverse, opposite.

sepulchres, tombs.

supplied, filled up.

NOTES

① Oases, fertile spots, The singular is oasis.

② Gravitates, has a bias or tendency, under the influence of the law of gravitation, by which bodies are drawn towards the centre of the earth. Water, therefore, always seeks the lowest level.

③ Ferment, undergo fermentation; that change in organic substances by which their sugar, starch, &c, are decomposed. A foam, or froth, rises to the top. This is the yeast, or barm, used in making dough.—Cider is a liquor made from apples.

④ Nomadic, leading a wandering life; properly, pastoral. Tribes which lead an unsettled, wandering life, are called no'mads.

⑤ Caravan, a company of travellers going across the desert, who combine for greater security.

QUSTIONS

What mistake is frequently made regarding the nature of the Sahara? What has led to this mistake? How do the guides find their way across the desert?

What is the Tell? Where do the oases usually lie? With what does the date palm supply the dwellers in the desert? To what two nations do these inhabitants belong? Who are the Berbers? Where do they live? What is the ksar? What are the marabets?

What part of the year do the Arabs spend in the wilderness? For what purpose do they leave it?

What are the two classes of caravans called? Which travels the more quickly?To what danger are they exposed? What is characteristic of Arab warfare? How many caravans cross the Sahara from Marocco every year? How far do they penetrate? What do they bear thence?

LESSON 60

THE LIGHT-HOUSE

THE rocky ledge runs far into the sea,

And on its outer point, some miles away.

The light-house lifts its massive masonry, —

A pillar of fire by night,① of cloud by day.

Even at this distance I can see the tides,

Upheaving, break unheard along its base; —

A speechless wrath, that rises and subsides

In the white lip and tremor of the face.

And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,

Through the deep purple of the twilight air,

Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light,

With strange, unearthly splendour in its glare.

Not one alone; —from each projecting cape

And perilous reef along the ocean's verge,

Starts into life a dim, gigantic shape,

Holding its lantern o'er the restless surge.

And the great ships sail outward and return,

Bending and bowing, o'er the billowy swells;

And ever joyful, as they see it burn,

They wave their silent welcomes and farewells.

They come forth from the darkness, and their sails

Gleam for a moment only in the blaze;

And eager faces, as the light unveils,

Gaze at the tower, and vanish while they gaze.

The mariner remembers when a child,

On his first voyage, he saw it fade and sink;

And, when returning from adventures wild,

He saw it rise again o'er ocean's brink.

Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same

Year after year, through all the silent night,

Burns on for evermore that quenchless flame,

Shines on that inextinguishable light!

It sees the ocean to its bosom clasp

The rocks and sea-sand with the kiss of peace; —

It sees the wild winds lift it in their grasp,

And hold it up, and shake it like a fleece.

The startled waves leap over it; the storm

Smites it with all the scourges of the rain;

And steadily against its solid form

Press the great shoulders of the hurricane.

The sea-bird② wheeling round it, with the din

Of wings and winds and solitary cries,

Blinded and maddened by the light within,

Dashes himself against the glare, and dies.

A new Prome'theus,③ chained upon the rock,

Still grasping in his hand the fire of Jove,

It does not hear the cry, nor heed the shock,

But hails the mariner with words of love.

"Sail on!" it says, "sail on, ye stately ships;

And with your floating bridge the ocean span;

Be mine④ to guard this light from all eclipse, —

Be yours to bring man nearer unto man!"

—LONGFELLOW

WORDS

adventures, enterprises.

billowy, surging.

eclipse, obscuration.

gigantic, colossal.

grasping, holding.

hurricane, tempest.

immovable, steadfast.

maddened, irritated.

massive, bulky.

perilous, dangerous.

projecting, outstanding.

quenchless, inextinguishable.

radiance, brightness.

solitary, lonely.

speechless, voiceless.

subsides, falls.

tremor, quivering from fear.

upheaving, swelling.

vanish, disappear.

NOTES

① A pillar of fire, &c.—The light-house is here compared to the cloud which led the children of Israel through the wilderness. (Exodus, xiii. 21.) The resemblance, however, does not go beyond the idea of a "pillar" bearing "fire," and the general notion of guidance implied in its purpose.

② The sea-bird, &c.—It is an interesting fact that sea-birds are often attracted by the rays of a light-house, and dash themselves against the lantern, often breaking the glass as well as injuring themselves. In a single night at Cape de Brehat (Bretagne, France) nine panes were shattered from this cause. On another occasion, at the same place, a wild duck forced its way through two rows of mirrors, and fell upon the lamp. A thousand of these birds were on one occasion caught by the crew of a British light-ship, who made them into a gigantic pie. It is necessary to defend with trellis-work the lights most exposed to visits of this kind. See Light-houses and Light-ships, by W. H. Davenport Adams.

③ Prometheus, a fabled giant in Greek mythology, who was said to have formed men out of clay, and to have given them life by means of fire stolen from Heaven—"the fire of Jove." This provoked the wrath of Jupiter, who ordered him to be bound to a rock on Mount Cau'casus, a vulture being placed near to torment him by preying continually on his flesh.

④ Be mine…. be yours=Let it be my duty—let it be your duty. This is a classical construction. Compare, in Latin, Est regis, it is (the duty) of the king; Sit meum, be it mine (my duty).

LESSON 61

THE LAST FIGHT IN THE COLISÆUM

A. D. 404

THE grandest and most renowned of all the ancient amphitheatres is the Colisæ'um at Rome. It was built by Vespa'sian and his son Titus, the conquerors of Jerusalem, in a valley in the midst of the seven hills of Rome. The captive Jews were forced to labour at it; and the materials—granite outside, and a softer stone within—are so solid, and so admirably built, that still, at the end of eighteen centuries, it has scarcely even become a ruin, but remains one of the greatest wonders of Rome.

Five acres of ground were enclosed within the oval of its outer wall, which, outside, rises perpendicularly in tiers of arches one above another. Within, the galleries of seats projected forwards, each tier coming out far beyond the one above it; so that between the lowest and the outer wall there was room for a great variety of chambers, passages, and vaults around the central space, called the arena.①

THE COLISÆUM

Altogether, when full, this huge building held no fewer than 87,000 spectators! It had no roof; but when there was rain, or if the sun was too hot, the sailors in the porticos unfurled awnings that ran along upon ropes, and formed a covering of silk and gold tissue over the whole. Purple was the favourite colour for this veil; because, when the sun shone through it, it cast such beautiful rosy tints on the snowy arena and the white purple-edged togas of the Roman citizens.

When the emperor had seated himself and given the signal, the sports began. Sometimes a rope-dancing elephant would begin the entertainment, by mounting even to the summit of the building and descending by a cord. Or a lion came forth with a jewelled crown on his head, a diamond necklace round his neck, his mane plaited with gold, and his claws gilded, and played a hundred pretty gentle antics with a little hare that danced fearlessly within his grasp.

Sometimes water was let into the arena, a ship sailed in, and falling to pieces in the midst, sent a crowd of strange animals swimming in all directions. Sometimes the ground opened, and trees came growing up through it, bearing golden fruit. Or the beautiful old tale of Orpheus② was acted: these trees would follow the harp and song of the musician; but—to make the whole part complete—it was in no mere play, but in real earnest, that the Orpheus of the piece fell a prey to live bears.

For the Colisæum had not been built for such harmless spectacles as those first described. The fierce Romans wanted to be excited and to feel themselves strongly stirred; and, presently, the doors of the pits and dens around the arena were thrown open, and absolutely savage beasts were let loose upon one another—rhinoceroses and tigers, bulls and lions, leopards and wild boars—while the people watched with ferocious curiosity to see the various kinds of attack and defence, their ears at the same time being delighted, instead of horror-struck, by the roars and howls of the noble creatures whose courage was thus misused.

Wild beasts tearing each other to pieces might, one would think, satisfy any taste for horror; but the spectators needed even nobler game to be set before their favourite monsters; —men were brought forward to confront them. Some of these were, at first, in full armour, and fought hard, generally with success. Or hunters came, almost unarmed, and gained the victory by swiftness and dexterity, throwing a piece of cloth over a lion's head, or disconcerting him by putting their fist down his throat.

INTERIOR OF THE COLISÆUM

But it was not only skill, but death, that the Romans loved to see; and condemned criminals and deserters were reserved to feast the lions, and to entertain the populace with their various kinds of death. Among those condemned was many a Christian martyr,③ who witnessed a good confession before the savage-eyed multitude around the arena, and "met the lion's gory mane" with a calm resolution and a hopeful joy that the lookers-on could not understand. To see a Christian die, with upward gaze, and hymns of joy on his tongue, was the most strange and unaccountable sight the Colisæum could offer; and it was therefore the choicest, and reserved for the last of the spectacles in which the brute creation had a part.

The carcasses were dragged off with hooks, the blood-stained sand was covered with a fresh clean layer, perfume was wafted in stronger clouds, and a procession came forward— tall, well-made men, in the prime of their strength. Some carried a sword and a lasso, others a trident and a net; some were in light armour, others in the full, heavy equipment of a soldier; some on horseback, some in chariots, some on foot. They marched in, and made their obeisance to the emperor; and with one voice their greeting sounded through the building: "Hail, Cæsar; those about to die salute thee!" They were the gladiators—the swordsmen trained to fight to the death to amuse the populace.

THE DYING GLADIATOR.

Fights of all sorts took place, —the light-armed soldier and the netsman—the lasso and the javelin—the two heavy-armed warriors, —all combinations of single combat, and sometimes a general mêlêe. When a gladiator wounded his adversary, he shouted to the spectators, "He has it!" and looked up to know whether he should kill or spare. When the people held up their thumbs, the conquered was left to recover, if he could; if they turned them down, he was to die: and if he showed any reluctance to present his throat for the death-blow, there was a scornful shout, "Receive the steel!" Many of us must have seen casts of that most touching statue of the wounded gladiator, that called forth from Byron these noble lines of indignant pity: —

"I see before me the gladiator lie:

He leans upon his hand; his manly brow

Consents to death, but conquers agony;

And his drooped head sinks gradually low;

And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow

From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one,

Like the first of a thunder-shower; and now

The arena swims around him—he is gone,

Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won.

"He heard it, but he heeded not; his eyes

Were with his heart, and that was far away:

He recked not of the life he lost, nor prize;

But where his rude hut by the Danube lay—

There were his young barbarians all at play,

There was their Dacian④ mother—he their sire,

Butchered to make a Roman holiday. —

All this rushed with his blood. —Shall he expire,

And unavenged? —Arise, ye Goths,⑤ and glut your ire!"

Christianity, however, worked its way upwards, and at last was professed by the emperor on his throne. Persecution came to an end, and no more martyrs fed the beasts in the Colisæum. The Christian emperors endeavoured to prevent any more shows where cruelty and death formed the chief interest, and no truly religious person could endure the spectacle; but custom and love of excitement prevailed even against the emperor. They went on for fully a hundred years after Rome had, in name, become a Christian city, and the same customs prevailed wherever there was an amphitheatre or pleasure-loving people.

Meantime the enemies of Rome were coming nearer and nearer. Al'aric, the great chief of the Goths, led his forces into Italy, and threatened the city itself. Hono'rius, the emperor, was a cowardly, almost idiotic boy; but his brave general, Stil'icho, assembled his forces, met the Goths at Pollen'tia (about twenty-five miles from where Turin now stands), and gave them a complete defeat, on Easter-day of the year 403. He pursued them to the mountains, and for that time saved Rome.

In the joy of victory, the Roman Senate invited the conqueror and his ward Honorius to enter the city in triumph, at the opening of the new year, with the white steeds, purple robes, and vermilion cheeks with which, of old, victorious generals were welcomed at Rome. The churches were visited instead of the Temple of Jupiter, and there was no murder of the captives; but Roman bloodthirstiness was not yet allayed, and, after the procession had been completed, the Colisæum shows commenced, innocently at first, with races on foot, on horseback, and in chariots; then followed a grand hunt of beasts turned loose in the arena; and next a sword-dance. But after the sword-dance came the arraying of swordsmen, with no blunted weapons, but with sharp spears and swords—a gladiator combat in full earnest. The people, enchanted, applauded with shouts of ecstasy this gratification of their savage tastes.

Suddenly, however, there was an interruption. A rude, roughly-robed man, bareheaded and barefooted, had sprung into the arena, and, waving back the gladiators, began to call aloud upon the people to cease from the shedding of innocent blood, and not to requite God's mercy, in turning away the sword of the enemy, by encouraging murder. Shouts, howls, cries, broke in upon his words; this was no place for preachings—the old customs of Rome should be observed— "Back, old man!"—"On, gladiators!"

The gladiators thrust aside the meddler, and rushed to the attack. He still stood between, holding them apart, striving in vain to be heard. "Sedition! sedition!"—"Down with him!"—was the cry; and the prefect in authority himself added his voice. The gladiators, enraged at interference with their vocation, cut him down. Stones, or whatever came to hand, rained upon him from the furious people, and he perished in the midst of the arena! He lay dead; and then the people began to reflect upon what had been done.

His dress showed that he was one of the hermits who had vowed themselves to a life of prayer and self-denial, and who were greatly reverenced, even by the most thoughtless. The few who had previously seen him, told that he had come from the wilds of Asia on pilgrimage, to visit the shrines and keep his Christmas at Rome. They knew that he was a holy man—no more: it is not even certain what his name was. But his spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted zeal he had resolved to stop the cruelty, or die.

He had died, but not in vain. His work was done. The shock of such a death before their eyes turned the hearts of the people; they saw the wickedness and cruelty to which they had blindly surrendered themselves; and since the day when the hermit died in the Colisæum, there has never been another fight of gladiators. Not merely at Rome, but in every province of the empire, the custom was utterly abolished; and one habitual crime at least was wiped from the earth by the self-devotion of one humble, obscure, and nameless man.

—A Book of Golden Deeds

WORDS

abolished, destroyed.

absolutely, positively.

admirably, excellently.

agony, suffering.

amphitheatres, circuses.

awnings, canopies.

bloodthirstiness, desire for slaughter.

carcasses, dead bodies.

condemned, sentenced to death.

confront, encounter.

descending, going down.

dexterity, cleverness.

disconcerting, confusing.

ecstasy, rapture.

enchanted, delighted.

endeavoured, attempted.

entertainment, amusement.

equipment, outfit.

excitement, sensation.

galleries, tiers.

inhuman, merciless.

innocently, harmlessly.

leopards, spotted animals.

melee(ma-la), confused tight.

obeisance, reverence.

perpendicularly, vertically.

populace, the common people.

porticos, porches.

previously, formerly.

procession, pageant.

reluctance, unwillingness.

renowned, famous.

requite, repay.

resolution, firmness.

reverenced, venerated.

rhinoceroses, thick-skinned animals.

spectacles, exhibitions.

surrendered, yielded.

threatened, menaced.

unaccountable, inexplicable.

unavenged, without retaliation.

vermilion, bright red.

vocation, profession.

NOTES

① Arena.—So called from the sand [Lat. arena] with which it was strown.

② Orpheus, fabled son of a king of Thrace, his mother being the chief of the muses. His skill as a poet and a musician was such that the rocks and the trees followed him.

③ Christian martyr.—The persecutions of the early Christians by the Roman Emperors took place between 64 and 303 A. D. There were eleven great persecutions, of three of which Rome was the chief scene. The Christian victims were frequently forced to encounter wild beasts in the arena, and were sooner or later torn to pieces by them.

④ Dacian, a native of Dacia in Hungary, which was subdued by the Emperor Trajan in 106 A. D. On the occasion of his triumph, upwards of 10,000 captives were made to fight with one another in the circus, for the amusement of the people. The combats lasted 123 days. Trajan's Column, erected by the Senate and people in 114 A. D., to commemorate his victories, is so perfect in its design and proportions, that it has been taken as a model for all succeeding erections of the same kind. His achievements are delineated in a series of bas-reliefs, continued in a spiral form from the base to the summit of the shaft.

⑤ Ye Goths.—Rome was taken and the empire was overthrown by different Gothic tribes in the fifth century, when the barbarous treatment to which Rome had subjected its captives from these races was barbarously avenged. There is no reason, however, to believe that the Dacians subdued by Trajan were Goths; indeed, the Goths did not get possession of Dacia till 270 A. D.

QUESTIONS

Which was the grandest of the ancient amphitheatres? By whom was it built? What space does it cover? What number of spectators did it hold? Who gave the signal for the sports to begin? What was the nature of the opening sports? By what were the more harmless spectacles succeeded? What followed the fight of beasts with beasts? What was considered the choicest spectacle of this kind? Who then marched in, and greeted the emperor? How did the spectators indicate whether they wished a vanquished gladiator to be killed or spared? What put an end to these displays? When were they revived at Rome? Who suddenly interrupted the sports? What was his fate? What effect had his death?

LESSON 62

THE DESTRUCTION OF POMPEII

ONCE upon a time there stood a town in Italy, at the foot of Mount Vesu'vius, which was to Rome what Brighton or Hastings is to London—a fashionable watering-place. There Roman gentlemen and members of the Senate built villas, to which they were in the habit of retiring from the fatigues of business or the broils of politics.

The outsides of all the houses were adorned with frescoes,① and every shop glittered with all the colours of the rainbow. At the end of each street there was a charming fountain, and any one who sat down beside it to cool himself had a delightful view of the Mediterranean, then as beautiful, as blue and sunny as it is now.

ATRIUM OF A HOUSE IN POMPEII

On a fine day, crowds might have been seen lounging here; some sauntering up and down in gala dresses of purple, while slaves passed to and fro bearing on their heads splendid vases; others sat on marble benches, shaded from the sun by awnings, and having before them tables covered with wine, and fruit, and flowers. Every house in that town was a little palace, and every palace was like a temple, or one of our great public buildings.

Any one who thinks a mansion in Belgravia② the height of splendour, would have been astonished, had he lived in those days, to find how completely the abodes of those Roman lords outshone "the stately homes of England." On entering the former, the visitor passed through a vestibule decorated with rows of pillars, and then found himself in the atrium,③ in which the household gods kept guard over the owner's treasure, which was placed in a safe, or strong-box, secured with brass or iron bands. In this apartment guests were received with imposing ceremony; and there the patron heard the complaints, supplications, and adulations of his great band of clients or dependants, who lived on his smiles and bounty, but chiefly on the latter. Issuing thence, the visitor found himself in the tabli'num,④ an apartment paved with mosaic⑤ and decorated with paintings, in which were kept the family papers and archives. The house contained also dining and supper rooms, and a number of sleeping rooms hung with the softest of Syrian cloths; —cabinets filled with rare jewels and antiquities, and sometimes a fine collection of paintings; —and last of all, a pillared per'istyle, opening out upon the garden. There the finest fruit hung temptingly in the rich light of a golden sky; and fountains, which flung their waters aloft in every imaginable form and device, cooled the air and discoursed sweet music to the ear. From behind each shrub there peeped a statue, or the bust of some great man, carved from the purest white marble, and placed in charming contrast with bouquets of rare flowers springing from stone vases. On the gate, or in mosaic on the pavement within, there was always the image of a dog, and beneath it the inscription, Cave canem—that is, "Beware of the dog!"

The frescoes on the walls represented scenes in the Greek legends, such as "The Seizure of Euro'pa," "The Battle of the Am'azons," &c.; many of which are still to be seen in the museum at Naples. The pillars in the peristyle⑥ of which we have just spoken were encircled with garlands of flowers, which were renewed every morning. The tables of citron-wood were inlaid with silver ar'abesques;⑦ the couches were of bronze, gilt and jewelled, and were furnished with thick cushions, and tapestry embroidered with marvellous skill.

"BEWARE OF THE DOG!"

When the master gave a dinner party, the guests reclined upon these cushions, washed their hands in silver basins, and dried them with napkins fringed with purple; and having made a libation on the altar of Bacchus,⑧ ate oysters brought from the shores of Britain, kids which were carved to the sound of music, and fruits served up on ice in the hottest days of summer. While the cup-bearers filled their golden cups with the rarest and most delicate wines in the world, other attendants crowned them with flowers wet with dew, and dancers executed the most graceful movements, and singers accompanied by the lyre poured forth an ode of Hor'ace or of Anac'reon.

After the banquet, a shower of scented water, thrown from invisible pipes, spread perfume over the apartment; and everything around, even the oil, and the lamps, and the jets of the fountain, shed forth the most grateful odour; and suddenly from the mosaic of the floor tables of rich dainties, of which we have at the present day no idea, arose, as if by magic, to stimulate the palled appetites of the revellers into fresh activity. When these had disappeared, other tables succeeded them, upon which senators, and consuls, and proconsuls gambled away provinces and empires by the throw of dice; and last of all, the tapestry was suddenly raised, and young girls, lightly attired, wreathed with flowers, and bearing lyres in their hands, issued forth, and charmed sight and hearing by the graceful mazes of the dance.

THE FORUM OF POMPEII

One day, when festivities such as these were in full activity, Vesuvius sent up a tall and very black column of smoke, something like a pine-tree; and suddenly, in broad noonday, darkness black as pitch came over the scene! There was a frightful din of cries, groans, and imprecations, mingled confusedly together. The brother lost his sister, the husband his wife, the mother her child; for the darkness became so dense that nothing could be seen but the flashes which every now and then darted forth from the summit of the neighbouring mountain. The earth trembled, the houses shook and began to fall, and the sea rolled back from the land as if terrified; the air became thick with dust; and then, amidst tremendous and awful noise, a shower of stones, scoriæ, and pumice⑨ fell upon the town, and blotted it out for ever!

The inhabitants died just as the catastrophe found them— guests in their banquet-halls, brides in their chambers, soldiers at their post, prisoners in their dungeons, thieves in their theft, maidens at the mirror, slaves at the fountain, traders in their shops, students at their books. Some attempted flight, guided by blind people, who had walked so long in darkness that no thicker shadows could ever come upon them; but of these many were struck down on the way. When, a few days afterwards, people came from the surrounding country to the place, they found nought but a black, level, smoking plain, sloping to the sea, and covered thickly with ashes! Down, down beneath, thousands and thousands were sleeping "the sleep that knows no waking," with all their little pomps, and vanities, and frivolities, and pleasures, and luxuries, buried with them.

This took place on the 23rd of August, 79 A. D. ; and the name of the town thus suddenly overwhelmed was POMPEII (Pompa'ee). Sixteen hundred and seventeen years afterwards, curious persons began to dig and excavate on the spot, and lo! they found the city. very much as it was when overwhelmed. The houses were standing, the paintings were fresh, and the skeletons⑩ stood in the very positions and the very places in which death had overtaken their owners so long ago!

CASTS OF BODIES DISCOVERED IN THE RUINS OF POMPEII.

(In the Museum at Naples.)

The marks left by the cups of the tipplers still remained on the counters; the prisoners still wore their fetters, the belles their chains and bracelets; the miser held his hand on his hoarded coin; and the priests were lurking in the hollow images of their gods, from which they uttered responses and deceived the worshippers. There were the altars, with the blood dry and crusted upon them; the stables in which the victims of the sacrifice were kept; and the hall of mysteries, in which were symbolic paintings.

The researches are still going on, new wonders are every day coming to light, and we soon shall have almost as perfect an idea of a Roman town in the first century of the Christian era as if we had walked the streets and gossiped with the idle loungers at the fountains. Pompeii is the ghost of an extinct civilization rising up before us.

—Illustrated Magazine of Art

WORDS

adulations, flatteries.

antiquities, curiosities.

appetites, desires.

archives, records.

belles, ladies.

bouquets, bunches.

catastrophe, calamity.

delicate, choice.

delightful charming.

discoursed, gave forth.

dungeons, cells.

embroidered, sewed.

excavate, hollow out.

fashionable, much frequented.

fatigues, toils.

festivities, entertainments.

frivolities, frolics.

garlands, wreaths.

gossiped, tattled.

grateful, pleasant.

imprecations, curses.

luxuries, indulgences.

mansion, large house.

mysteries, secret rites.

responses, answers.

sauntering, strolling.

stimulate, excite.

symbolic, emblematic.

tapestry, needle-work.

temptingly, attractively.

terrified, frightened.

tremendous, horrible.

vestibule, entrance-hall.

NOTES

① Frescoes, paintings made upon the walls themselves. In fresco-painting, the colours are laid upon the lime while it is still soft and wet.

② Belgravia, the south-western district of London, built between 1826 and 1852, on land belonging to the Marquis of Westminster, one of whose titles is Viscount Belgrave; hence the name. Being full of splendid mansions, it is taken as the type of fashionable London.

③ Atrium, the principal public apartment, or reception-room, in a Roman house. There was an opening in the centre of the roof, towards which the other roofs sloped so as to throw down the rain into an open cistern in the middle of the floor, called the impluvium (Lat. pluvia, rain).

④ Tablinum, a recess or room at the farther end of the atrium, of which it formed a part.

⑤ Paved with mosaic.—Originally, Roman floors were beaten down with rammers; hence pavement (from Lat pavio, I beat). Sometimes pieces of marble were embedded in it; and this probably suggested the idea of mosaics, which are devices formed by in-laying a neutral ground with stones of different shapes and colours.

⑥ Peristyle, an open court, larger than the atrium, in the back part of the house. It was surrounded by columns, with garden in the centre. From the columns it received its name,—peristyle being a Greek word meaning a range of columns around a building.

⑦ Arabesque, a style of decoration in which the Arabians excelled, in which fruit, flowers, and other devices were interwoven with carved lines.

⑧ Libation on the altar of Bac'chus, wine poured out in honour of the god of wine.

⑨ Scoriæ, the slaggy, vitreous lava sent forth by volcanoes. Pu'mice is a light porous substance, like stony froth, found in all volcanic regions. It is used for polishing ivory, marble, glass, and metals.

⑩ Skeletons.—In 1865, while the excavations were proceeding under the direction of Signor Fiorelli, the workmen discovered peculiar cavities, at the bottom of which bones were discernible. These cavities were filled with liquid plaster, and when this had hardened, and the outer crust of pumice was removed, the casts of several human bodies were displayed. These, with many other relics of the buried city; are to be seen in the National Museum at Naples.

QUESTIONS

In what relation did Pompeii stand to Rome? How were its inhabitants chiefly occupied? What was the atrium in a Pompeian house? Describe the tablinum. What was the peristyle? How was it decorated? Describe a Pompeian dinner party. When did the eruption which buried the city take place? How were the inhabitants occupied at the time? When did the work of excavation begin? In what condition was the city found?

LESSON 63

THE SOUTH-WEST MONSOON IN CEYLON

MAY is signalized by the great event of the change of the monsoon,① and all the grand phenomena which accompany its approach. It is difficult for one who has not resided in the tropics to comprehend the feeling of enjoyment which accompanies these periodical commotions of the atmosphere. In Europe they would be fraught with annoyance, but in Ceylon they are welcomed with a relish proportionate to the monotony they dispel.

Long before the wished-for period arrives, the verdure produced by the previous rains becomes almost obliterated by the burning droughts of March and April. The deciduous trees② shed their foliage, the plants cease to put forth fresh leaves, and all vegetable life languishes under the unwholesome heat. The grass withers on the baked and cloven earth, and red dust settles on the branches and thirsty brushwood.

The insects, deprived of their accustomed food, disappear under ground, or hide beneath the decaying bark; the water-beetles bury themselves in the hardened mud of the pools; and the snails retire into the crevices of the rocks or the hollows among the roots of the trees. Butterflies are no longer seen hovering over the flowers; the birds appear fewer and less joyous; and the wild animals and crocodiles, driven by the drought from their accustomed retreats, wander through the jungle, or even venture to approach the village wells in search of water. Man equally languishes under the general exhaustion, ordinary exertion becomes distasteful, and the Singalese,③ although inured to the climate, move with lassitude and reluctance.

Meanwhile the air becomes loaded to saturation with aqueous vapour, drawn up by the augmented force of evaporation acting vigorously over land and sea: the sky, instead of its brilliant blue, assumes the sullen tint of lead; and not a breath disturbs the motionless rest of the clouds that hang on the lower range of the hills. At length, generally about the middle of the month, but frequently earlier, the sultry suspense is broken by the arrival of the wished-for change. The sun has by this time nearly attained his greatest northern declination,④ and created a torrid heat throughout the lands of Southern Asia and the peninsula of India.

The air, lightened by its high temperature and such watery vapour as it may contain, rises into loftier regions, and is replaced by in-draughts from the neighbouring sea; and thus a tendency is gradually given to the formation of a current bringing up from the south the warm humid air of the equator. The wind, therefore, which reaches Ceylon comes laden with moisture, taken up in its passage across the great Indian Ocean. As the monsoon draws near, the days become more overcast and hot, banks of clouds rise over the ocean to the west, and in the twilight the eye is attracted by the peculiar whiteness of the sea-birds that sweep along the strand to seize the objects flung on shore by the rising surf.

At last the sudden lightnings flash among the hills and sheet among the clouds that overhang the sea, and with a crash of thunder the monsoon bursts over the thirsty land, not in showers or partial torrents, but in a wide deluge, that in the course of a few hours overtops the river banks and spreads in inundations over every level plain. The rain at these periods excites the astonishment of a European. It descends in almost continuous streams, so close and dense that the level ground, unable to absorb it sufficiently fast, is covered with one uniform sheet of water; and down the sides of declivities it rushes in a volume that wears channels in the surface. For hours together, the noise of the torrent, as it beats upon the trees and bursts upon the roofs, flowing thence in rivulets along the ground, occasions an uproar that drowns the ordinary voice, and renders sleep impossible.

This violence, however, seldom lasts more than an hour or two, and gradually abates after intermittent paroxysms, and a serenely clear sky supervenes. For some days heavy showers continue to fall at intervals in the forenoon; and the evenings which follow are embellished by sunsets of the most gorgeous splendour, lighting the fragments of clouds that survive the recent storm.

The extreme heat of the previous month becomes modified in June; the winds continue steadily to blow from the southwest, and frequent showers, accompanied by lightning and thunder, serve still further to diffuse coolness throughout the atmosphere and verdure over the earth. So instantaneous is the response of nature to the influence of returning moisture, that in a single day, and almost between sunset and dawn, the green hue of reviving vegetation begins to tint the saturated ground.

In ponds from which, but a week before, the wind blew clouds of sandy dust, the peasantry may now be seen catching the reänimated fish; and tank-shells and water-beetles revive and wander over the submerged sedges. The electricity of the air stimulates the vegetation of the trees; and scarcely a week elapses before the plants are covered with the larvæ of butterflies, the forest is murmuring with the hum of insects, and the air is harmonious with the voice of birds.

—J. EMERSON TENNENT

WORDS

aquenous, watery.

augmented, increased.

crevices, fissures.

declivities, slopes.

exhaustion, weariness.

instantaneous, immediate.

intermittent, at intervals.

inundations, floods.

languishes, droops.

larvæ, new-hatched young.

lassitude, lafiguor.

modified, lessened.

moisture, dampness.

monotony, sameness.

obliterated, effaced.

paroxysms, fits.

phenomena, appearances.

saturation, fulness.

signalized, distinguished.

stimulates, excites.

submerged, immersed.

suspense, delay.

temperature, degree of heat.

vegetation, plant life.

NOTES

① The monsoon.—The monsoons are periodical winds which prevail in the Indian Ocean, especially between Africa and Hindustan, blowing half the year in one direction, and the other half in the opposite direction. The north-east monsoon, which carries rain to Africa, blows from November to April. The south-west monsoon, which carries rain to India, blows from May to October, being caused by the higher temperature of the continent of Asia during that season.

② Deciduous trees, trees which lose their leaves in autumn, as opposed to evergreens.

③ Singalese, natives of Ceylon.

④ Greatest northern declination—that point in the sun's apparent path at which it reaches its greatest northern distance from the equator. The circle drawn round the Earth at this point is called the Tropic of Cancer, because the sun then enters the constellation Cancer. It is called tropic [Gr. trepo, I turn], or turning-point, because then the sun's path turns southward again. The turning-point is also called the solstice [Lat. sol, sun; sto, I stand], because at that time the sun seems to stand still in its position in the zodiac for several days. This point is 23 degrees north of the equator. The sun reaches it on the 21st of June, which is called the summer solstice, and marks the longest day in the year in the northern hemisphere. Six months later (22nd December), the sun attains its greatest southern declination, forming the winter solstice, and marking the shortest day in the northern hemisphere. The circle of the globe drawn through this point is the Tropic of Capricorn; so called because then the sun enters the constellation Capricornus. At the intervening middle points the sun's path crosses the equator, making the Equinoxes of spring and autumn, when day and night are of the same length all over the globe.

QUESTIONS

What is the monsoon? When does its change occur in Ceylon? How are the commotions of the atmosphere which accompany the change regarded? In what state is vegetable nature before it arrives? What effect has the drought upon the animal creation? What are the first indications of the approaching change? Whence does the wind derive its moisture? By what is the arrival of the monsoon accompanied? What is remarkable about the rain? How soon do its effects appear in nature?

AMBITION CLAD IN HUMILITY.

'TIS a common proof

That lowliness is young Ambition's ladder,

Whereto the climber upward turns his face;

But, when he once attains the utmost round,

He then unto the ladder turns his back,

Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees,

By which he did ascend.

—SHAKESPEARE

LESSON 64

THE SEVEN AGES OF MAN

ALL the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,

Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.

And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail

Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,

Sighing like furnace, with a woful ballad

Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,

Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard;①

Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,

Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,

In fair round belly with good capon② lined,

With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,③

Full of wise saws and modern instances;

And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,④

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,

His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness, and mere oblivion;

Sans⑤ teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

—SHAKESPEARE —As You Like It

WORDS

bubble, empty.

entrances, in-comings.

eventful, changeful.

exits, out-goings.

instances, examples.

jealous, watchful.

mewling, squalling.

oblivion, forgetfulness.

reputation, fame.

satchel, school-bag.

shrunk, shrivelled.

spectacles, glasses.

unwillingly, reluctantly.

whining, peevish.

woful, melancholy.

NOTES

① The pard, the panther; but used in poetry for any spotted animal. Pardus is Latin for panther; and leopardus for lion panther. The poet here compares the soldier's beard to the whiskers of the panther, which give it a very fierce aspect.

② Capon, fowl fattened for the table.

③ Beard of formal cut.—This is the pointed "legal" beard of the sixteenth century, such as we see in portraits of Lord Bacon, as well as of Ralegh and Spenser, and of Shakespeare himself. It was of a different cut from the "military" beard of the soldier, and from the long "clerical" beard, or the broad, spade-shaped beard of the civilian. Beards went out of fashion in England at the Restoration (1600); but their use again became popular about the middle of the nineteenth century.

④ Pantaloon, a slovenly and silly old man. The name was originally given to a covetous old dotard in Italian comedy; and then to a buffoon in pantomimes.

⑤ Sans, without: a French word adopted in English without change of spelling; but it is pronounced as an English word.

LESSON 65

LIFE IN NORMAN ENGLAND

THE tall frowning keep① and solid walls of the great stone castles, in which the Norman barons lived, betokened an age of violence and suspicion. Beauty gave way to the needs of safety. Girdled with its green and slimy ditch, round the inner edge of which ran a parapeted wall pierced along the top with shot-holes, stood the buildings, spreading often over many acres.

If an enemy managed to cross the moat and force the gateway, in spite of a portcullis② crashing from above, and melted lead pouring in burning streams from the perforated top of the rounded arch, but little of his work was yet done; for the keep lifted its huge angular block of masonry within the inner bailey or court-yard, and from the narrow chinks in its ten-foot wall rained a sharp incessant shower of arrows, sweeping all approaches to the high and narrow stair, by which alone access could be had to its interior.

These loop-holes were the only windows, except in the topmost story, where the chieftain, like a vulture in his rocky nest, watched all the surrounding country. The day of splendid oriels③ had not yet come in castle architecture.

Thus a baron in his keep could defy, and often did defy, the king upon his throne. Under his roof, eating daily at his board, lived a throng of armed retainers; and around his castle lay farms tilled by martial franklins,④ who at his call laid aside their implements of husbandry, took up the sword and spear, which they could wield with equal skill, and marched beneath his banner to the war.

PREPARING FOR THE CHASE

With robe ungirt and head uncovered each tenant had done homage and sworn an oath of feälty, placing his joined hands between those of the sitting baron, and humbly saying as he knelt, "I become your man from this day forward, of life and limb and of earthly worship; and unto you I shall be true and faithful, and bear to you faith for the tenements that I claim to hold of you, saving the faith that I owe unto our sovereign lord the king." A kiss from the baron completed the ceremony.

The furniture of a Norman keep was not unlike that of an English house. There was richer ornament—more elaborate carving. A faldestol, the original of our arm-chair, spread its drapery and cushions for the chieftain in his lounging moods. His bed now boasted curtains and a roof, although, like the English lord, he still lay only upon straw. Chimneys tunnelled the thick walls, and the cupboards glittered with glass and silver. Horn lanterns and the old spiked candlesticks lit up his evening hours, when the chess-board arrayed its clumsy men, carved out of walrus-tusk, then commonly called whale's-bone. But the baron had an unpleasant trick of breaking the chessboard on his opponent's head, when he found himself checkmated; which somewhat marred said opponent's enjoyment of the game. Dice of horn and bone emptied many a purse in Norman England. Tables and draughts were also sometimes played.

Dances and music whiled away the long winter nights; and on summer evenings the castle court-yards resounded with the noise of foot-ball, kayles (a sort of ninepins), wrestling, boxing, leaping, and the fierce joys of the bull-bait. But out of doors, when no fighting was on hand, the hound, the hawk, and the lance attracted the best energies and skill of the Norman gentleman.

Rousing the forest-game with dogs, they shot at it with barbed and feathered arrows. A field of ripening corn never turned the chase aside: it was one privilege of a feudal baron to ride as he pleased over his tenants' crops, and another to quarter his insolent hunting-train in the farm-houses which pleased him best! The elaborate details of woodcraft became an important part of a noble boy's education; for the numerous bugle calls and the scientific dissection of a dead stag took many seasons to learn.

After the Conquest, to kill a deer or own a hawk came more than ever to be regarded as the special privilege of the aristocracy. The hawk, daintily dressed, as befitted the companion of nobility, with his head wrapped in an embroidered hood, and a peal of silver bells tinkling from his rough legs, sat in state, bound with leathern jesses⑤ to the wrist, which was protected by a thick glove. The ladies and the clergy loved him. By many a mere the abbots ambled on their ponies over the swampy soil, and sweet shrill voices cheered the long-winged hawk, as he darted off in pursuit of the soaring quarry.

The author of "Ivanhoe,"⑥ and kindred pens, have made the tournament a picture familiar to all readers of romance. It therefore needs no long description here. It was held in honour of some great event—a coronation, wedding, or victory. Having practised well during squirehood at the quintain,⑦ the knight, clad in full armour, with visor barred and the colours of his lady on crest and scarf, rode into the lists, for which some level green was chosen and surrounded with a palisade.

For days before, his shield had been hanging in a neighbouring church, as a sign of his intention to compete in this great game of chivalry. If any stain lay on his knighthood, a lady, by touching the suspended shield with a wand, could debar him from a share in the jousting. And if, when he had entered the lists, he was rude to a lady, or broke in any way the etiquette of the tilt-yard, he was beaten from the lists with the ashwood lances of the knights.

The simple joust⑧ was the shock of two knights, who gal loped with levelled spears at each other, aiming at breast or head, with the object either of unhorsing the antagonist, or, if he sat his charger well, of splintering the lance upon his helmet or his shield. The mellay hurled together, at the dropping of the prince's baton, two parties of knights, who hacked away at each other with axe and mace and sword, often gashing limbs and breaking bones in the wild excitement of the fray. Bright eyes glanced from the surrounding galleries upon the brutal sport; and when the victor, with broken plume, and dusty, battered, red-splashed armour, dragged his weary or wounded limbs to the footstool of the beauty who presided as Queen over the festival, her white hands decorated him with the meed of his achievements.

The Normans probably dined at nine in the morning. When they rose they took a light meal; and ate something also after their day's work, immediately before going to bed. Goose and garlic formed a favourite dish. Their cookery was more elaborate, and, in comparison, more delicate, than the preparations for an English feed; but the character for temperance, which they brought with them from the Continent, soon vanished.

The poorer classes hardly ever ate flesh, living principally on bread, butter, and cheese; —a social fact which seems to underlie that usage of our tongue by which the living animals in field or stall bore English names—ox, sheep, calf, pig, deer; while their flesh, promoted to Norman dishes, rejoiced in names of French origin—beef, mutton, veal, pork, venison. Round cakes, piously marked with a cross, piled the tables, on which pastry of various kinds also appeared. In good houses cups of glass held the wine, which was borne from the cellar below in jugs.

Squatted around the door or on the stair leading to the Norman dining-hall, which was often on an upper floor, was a crowd of beggars or lickers,⑨ who grew so insolent in the days of Rufus, that ushers, armed with rods, were posted outside to beat back the noisy throng, who thought little of snatching the dishes as the cooks carried them to table!

The juggler,⑩ who under the Normans filled the place of the English gleeman, tumbled, sang, and balanced knives in the hall; or out in the bailey of an afternoon displayed the acquirements of his trained monkey or bear. The fool, too, clad in coloured patch-work, cracked his ribald jokes and shook his cap and bells at the elbow of roaring barons, when the board was spread and the circles of the wine began.

While knights hunted in the greenwood or tilted in the lists and jugglers tumbled in the noisy hall, the monk in the quiet Scriptorium(11) compiled chronicles of passing events, copied valuable manuscripts, and painted rich borders and brilliant initials on every page. These illuminations form a valuable set of materials for our pictures of life in the Middle Ages.

Monasteries served many useful purposes at the time of which I write. Besides their manifest value as centres of study and literary work, they gave alms to the poor, a supper and a bed to travellers; their tenants were better off and better treated than the tenants of the nobles; the monks could store grain, grow apples, and cultivate their flower-beds with little risk of injury from war, because they had spiritual thunders at their call, which awed even the most reckless of the soldiery into a respect for sacred property.

Splendid structures those monasteries generally were, since that vivid taste for architecture which the Norman possessed in a high degree, and which could not find room for its display in the naked strength of the solid keep, lavished its entire energy and grace upon buildings lying in the safe shadow of the Cross. Nor was architectural taste the only reason for their magnificence. Since they were nearly all erected as offerings to Heaven, the religion of the age impelled the pious builders to spare no cost in decorating the exterior with fret-work and sculpture of Caen stone,(12) the interior with gilded cornices and windows of painted glass.

As schools, too, the monasteries did no trifling service to society in the Middle Ages. In addition to their influence as great centres of learning, English law had enjoined every mass-priest to keep a school in his parish church, where all the young committed to his care might be instructed. This custom continued long after the Norman Conquest. In the Trinity College Psalter we have a picture of a Norman school, where the pupils sit in a circular row around the master as he lectures to them from a long roll of manuscript. Two writers sit by the desk, busy with copies resembling that which the teacher holds.

The youth of the middle classes, destined for the cloister or the merchant's stall, chiefly thronged these schools. The aristocracy cared little for book-learning. Very few indeed of the barons could read or write. But all could ride, fence, tilt, play, and carve extremely well; for to these accomplishments many years of pagehood and squirehood were given.

The only Norman coin we have is the silver penny. Round halfpence and farthings were probably issued. As in Old English days, the gold was foreign. In the reign of the Conqueror, and for some time afterwards, tax-collectors and merchants reckoned money after the English fashion.

—W. F. COLLIER

WORDS

aristocracy, nobility.

betokened, indicated.

chronicles, annals.

committed, intrusted.

cornices, mouldings.

decorated, adorned.

destined, intended.

dissection, cutting up.

elaborate, minute.

excitement, commotion.

exterior, outside.

familiar, well known.

fealty, allegiance.

husbandry, agriculture.

illuminations, illustrations.

lavished, squandered.

managed, contrived.

manifest, evident.

manuscripts, writings.

meed, reward.

mere, lake.

palisade, fence.

perforated, pierced.

privilege, right.

reckless, heedless.

reckoned, calculated.

rejoiced, gloried.

resounded, echoed.

retainers, adherents.

ribald, vulgar.

scientific, systematic.

snatching, seizing.

suspended, up-hung.

temperance, abstinence.

tenements, lands and houses.

tournament, tilt.

vanished, disappeared.

NOTES

① Keep, the tall square tower forming the strongest and securest part of the castle; called also the donjon, or mastertower. [Lat. dominio, from dominus, a lord.] The under-ground part of the donjon was used as a prison; hence dungeon.

② Portcullis, a huge gate of crossed timbers hung in the gateway of a castle, where it could be let down suddenly to bar the entrance.

③ Oriel, a large projecting window forming a recess in the room, usually richly decorated, and filled with stained glass. Oriel means literally a portico, and was applied originally to a recess at the end of a Gothic hall.

④ Franklin, a freeholder. [Fr. franc, Ger. frank, free.]

⑤ Jesses, short straps.

⑥ The author of "Ivanhoe," Sir Walter Scott.—Ivanhoe, one of his most fascinating romances, is a story of the times of Richard I., the Lion Heart.

⑦ Quintain, an ancient tilt-board, consisting of a cross-bar turning upon an upright post, and having a broad board at the one end, and a bag full of sand at the other. If the horseman missed the board, he was laughed at; and if he hit it, he had to avoid being knocked off his horse by the bag of sand which then swung round to his back.

⑧ Joust (joost), mellay.—The former was tilting in sport; the latter was tilting in earnest. Both are French words, as nearly all the words in the language of chivalry are. "Joust" is from jouster, jouter, to come together; whence Eng. jostle. "Mellay" is from melee (may-lay), a confused crowd, from meler, to mix.

⑨ Lickers, that is, gluttons. [Old Fr. lescheur, Ger. lecken, to lick; whence Eng. lickerish, dainty, nice in food.]

⑩ Juggler, that is lit., joker. [Fr. jongleur, fun; Lat. jocus, a joke or jest.]

⑪ Scriptorium, that is, writing-room. From Lat. scriptor, a writer; scribere, to write.

⑫Caen stone, a fine white stone found near Caen in Normandy, which is built of it. The stone is exported to great distances on account of its beauty. Caen was at one time the capital of the dukedom of Normandy in France; and there William the Conqueror and his Queen are buried.

QUESTIONS

What did the structure of Norman castles betoken? How were they protected from attacks? What was the oath of fealty? How was a Norman keep furnished? In what out-door sports did the Normans engage? On what occasions were tournaments held? What was the difference between a joust and a mellay? What social fact underlies the distinction between ox, sheep, &c., and beef, mutton, &c.? Who were the jugglers? What useful purposes did monasteries serve in those times? What is the difference in architecture between the castles and the monasteries? How is this to be explained? What classes of society were taught in the schools of the Middle Ages? Why not the aristocracy? What is the only Norman coin we have? How was money reckoned after the Norman Conquest?

LESSON 66

SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY

HAVING often received an invitation from my friend Sir Roger de Coverley to pass away a month with him in the country, I last week accompanied him thither, and am settled with him for some time at his country house, where I intend to form several of my ensuing speculations. Sir Roger, who is very well acquainted with my humour, lets me rise and go to bed when I please, dine at his own table or in my chamber as I think fit, sit still and say nothing without bidding me be merry……

I am the more at ease in Sir Roger's family, because it consists of sober and staid persons; for as the knight is the best master in the world, he seldom changes his servants; and as he is beloved by all about him, his servants never care for leaving him: by this means his domestics are all in years, and grown old with their master. You would take his valet-de-chambre① for his brother, his butler is gray-headed, his groom is one of the gravest men that I have ever seen, and his coachman has the looks of a privy councillor……

I could not but observe with a great deal of pleasure the joy that appeared in the countenances of these ancient domestics, upon my friend's arrival at his country seat. Some of them could not refrain from tears at the sight of their old master; every one of them pressed forward to do something for him, and seemed discouraged if they were not employed.

At the same time, the good old knight, with a mixture of the father and the master of the family, tempered the inquiries after his own affairs with several kind questions relating to themselves. His humanity and good nature engage everybody to him, o that when he is pleasant upon② any of them, all his family are in good humour, and none so much so as the person whom he diverts himself with; on the contrary, if he coughs, or betrays any infirmity of old age, it is easy for a stander-by to observe a secret concern in the looks of all his servants……

My chief companion, when Sir Roger is diverting himself in the woods or the fields, is a very venerable man, who is ever with Sir Roger, and has lived at his house in the nature of a chaplain above thirty years. This gentleman is a person of good sense and some learning, of a very regular life and obliging conversation. He heartily loves Sir Roger, and knows that he is very much in the old knight's esteem, so that he lives in the family rather as a relation than as a dependant……

My friend Sir Roger has often told me, with a great deal of mirth, that at his first coming to his estate he found three parts of his house altogether useless: that the best room in it had the reputation of being haunted, and by that means was locked up; that noises had been heard in his long gallery, so that he could not get a servant to enter it after eight o'clock at night; that the door of one of his chambers was nailed up, because there went a story in the family that a butler had formerly hanged himself in it; and that his mother, who lived to a great age, had shut up half the rooms in the house, in which either her husband, a son, or a daughter had died.

The knight, seeing his habitation reduced to so small a compass, and himself in a manner shut out of his own house, upon the death of his mother ordered all the apartments to be flung open, and exorcised③ by his chaplain, who lay in every room, one after another, and by that means dissipated the fears which had so long reigned in the family……

My friend Sir Roger, being a good Churchman, has beautified the inside of his church with several texts of his own choosing. He has likewise given a handsome pulpit-cloth, and railed in the communion table at his own expense. He has often told me, that at his coming to his estate he found his parishioners very irregular; and that in order to make them kneel and join in the responses, he gave every one of them a hassock and a Common Prayer Book, and at the same time employed an itinerant singing-master to instruct them rightly in the tunes of the psalms, upon which they now very much value themselves.

As Sir Roger is landlord to the whole congregation, he keeps them in very good order, and will suffer nobody in it to sleep besides himself; for if by chance he has been surprised into a short nap at sermon, upon recovering out of it he stands up and looks about him, and if he sees anybody else nodding, he either wakes them himself, or sends his servant to them.

Several other of the old knight's particularities break out upon these occasions. Sometimes he will be lengthening out a verse in the singing-psalms, half a minute after the rest of the congregation have done with it; sometimes, when he is pleased with the matter of his devotion, he pronounces Amen three or four times to the same prayer; and sometimes he stands up when everybody else is kneeling, to count the congregation, or see if any of his tenants are missing.

I was yesterday very much surprised to hear my old friend, in the midst of the service, calling out to one John Matthews to mind what he was about, and not disturb the congregation. This John Matthews, it seems, is remarkable for being an idle fellow, and at that time was kicking his heels for his diversion. The authority of the knight, though exerted in that odd manner which accompanies him in all circumstances of life, has a very good effect upon the parish, who are not polite enough to see anything ridiculous in his behaviour; besides that the general good sense and worthiness of his character make his friends observe these little singularities as foils that rather set off④ than blemish his good qualities.

As soon as the sermon is finished, nobody presumes to stir till Sir Roger is gone out of the church. The knight walks down from his seat in the chancel⑤ between a double row of his tenants, that stand bowing to him on each side; and he every now and then inquires how such an one's wife, or mother, or son, or father does, whom he does not see at church; which is understood as a secret reprimand to the person that is absent.

The chaplain has often told me that, upon a catechising day, when Sir Roger has been pleased with a boy that answers well, he has ordered a Bible to be given him next day for his encouragement; and sometimes accompanies it with a flitch of bacon to his mother. Sir Roger has likewise added ￡5 a year to the clerk's⑥ place; and, that he may encourage the young fellows to make themselves perfect in the Church service, has promised, upon the death of the present incumbent, who is very old, to bestow it according to merit.

—JOSEPH ADDISON

WORDS

ancient, old-fashioned.

beautifi ed, ornamented.

chambers, apartments.

compass, dimensions.

countenances, faces.

devotion, prayer.

discouraged, disappointed.

dissipated, dispelled.

diversion, amusement.

domestics, servants.

ensuing, following.

habitation, dwelling.

hassock, kneeling-stool.

humanity, kindness.

incumbent, holder.

infirmity, weakness.

inquires, asks.

invitation, request.

itinerant, travelling.

obliging, courteous.

observe, remark.

particularities, oddities.

polite, polished.

pronounces, repeats.

reprimand, reproof.

reputation, character.

responses, answers.

ridiculous, absurd.

speculations, meditations.

surprised, thrown unexpectedly.

tempered, mingled.

venerable, reverend.

NOTES

① Valet-de-chambre (valley-de-shong-br), a chamber-servant; a footman.

② Is pleasant upon, makes fun of.

③ Exorcised, freed of evil spirits.

④ Foils that rather set off.—Jewellers are accustomed to set gold or silver leaf behind transparent jewels, in order to give them colour or lustre; this leaf is called a foil. (Fr. feuille. Lat folium, a leaf; Eng. tin-foil.) Hence anything used to show another thing to greater

advantage is called a. foil.

⑤ Chancel, the principal part of a church, where the altar or communion table is placed.

⑥ Clerk, the lay officer who leads the responses of the congregation in the Episcopal service.

LESSON 67

OLD ENGLISH AND NORMAN-FRENCH

THE proud Norman was not successful in imposing his own tongue upon the subjugated nation, when the fatal day of Hastings placed the British realm in the hands of his race. In vain was Norman-French spoken from throne, pulpit, and judgment-seat; in vain did the Norman nobles long disdain to learn the language of the enslaved English. For a time the two tongues lived side by side, though in very different conditions: the one, the language of the master, at court and in the castles of the soldiers who had become noble lords and powerful barons; the other, the language of the conquered, spoken only in the lowly huts of the subjugated people.

The Norman altered and increased the latter, but he could not extirpate it. To defend his conquest,① he took possession of the country; and, master of the soil, he erected fortresses and castles, and attempted to introduce new terms. The universe and the firmament, the planets, comets, and meteors, the atmosphere and the seasons, all were impressed with the seal of the conqueror. Hills became mountains, and dales valleys; streams were called rivers, and brooks rivulets; waterfalls changed into cascades, and woods into forests.

The deer, the ox, the calf, the swine, and the sheep appeared on his sumptuous table as venison, beef veal, pork, and mutton. Salmon, sturgeon, lamprey, and trout became known as delicacies; serpents and lizards, squirrels, falcons and herons, cocks and pigeons, stallions and mules, were added to the animal kingdom.

Earls and lords were placed in rank below his dukes and marquises. New titles and dignities, of viscount, baron, and baronet, squire and master, were created; and the mayor presided over the English aldermen and sheriff; the chancellor and the peer, the ambassador and the chamberlain, the general and the admiral headed the list of officers of the government.

The king alone retained his name, but the state and the court became French: the administration was carried on according to the constitution; treaties were concluded by the ministers in their cabinet, and submitted for approval to the sovereign; the privy council was consulted on the affairs of the empire, and loyal subjects sent representatives to parliament. Here the members debated on matters of grave importance, on peace and war, ordered the army and the navy, disposed of the national treasury, contracted debts, and had their sessions and their parties.

At brilliant feasts and splendid tournaments collected the flower of chivalry; magnificent balls, where beauty and delicious music enchanted the assembled nobles, gave new splendour to society, polished the manners and excited the admiration of the ancient inhabitants; who, charmed by such elegance, recognised in their conquerors persons of superior intelligence, admired them, and endeavoured to imitate their fashions.

But the dominion of the Norman did not extend to the home of the Englishman;② it stopped at the threshold of his house: there, around the fireside in his kitchen and the hearth in his room, he met his beloved kindred; the bride, the wife, and the husband, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, tied to each other by love, friendship, and kind feelings, knew nothing dearer than their own sweet home.

The Englishman's flocks, still grazing in his fields and meadows, gave him milk and butter, meat and wool; the herdsman watched them in spring and summer; the ploughman drew his furrows, and used his harrows, and, in harvest, the cart and the flail; the reaper plied his scythe, piled up sheaves and hauled his wheat, oats, and rye to the barn. The waggoner drove his wain, with its wheels, felloes, spokes, and nave; and his team bent heavily under their yoke.

In his trade by land and sea, he still sold and bought; in the store or the shop, the market or the street, he cheapened his goods and had all his dealings, as pedler or weaver, baker or cooper, saddler, miller, or tanner. He lent or borrowed, trusted his neighbour, and with skill and care throve and grew wealthy. Later, when he longed once more for freedom, his warriors took their weapons, their axes, swords, and spears, or their dreaded bow and arrow. They leaped without stirrup into the saddle, and killed with dart and gavelock. ③At other times they launched their boats and ships, which were still pure English from keel to deck and from the helm or the rudder to the top of the mast, afloat and ashore, with sail or with oar.

As his fathers had done before him in the land of his birth, the Englishman would not merely eat, drink, and sleep, or spend his time in playing the harp and the fiddle, but by walking, riding, fishing, and hunting, he kept young and healthy; while his lady with her children were busy teaching or learning how to read and to write, to sing and to draw. Even needle-work was not forgotten, as their writers say that "by this they shone most in the world." The wisdom of later ages was not known then, but they had their home-spun sayings, which by all mankind are yet looked upon as true wisdom, as: God helps them that help themselves; Lost time is never found again: When sorrow is asleep, wake it not!

Thus the two languages, now contending and then mingling with each other, continued for nearly four hundred years side by side in the British kingdom; the Norman-French, an exotic plant, deprived of its native soil and heat, flourishing for a time, but gradually withering and fading away; the language of the subject, like an indigenous tree, trimmed by the rough storm, grafted in many a branch by an unskilful hand, but still giving shade with its wide-spreading foliage, and bearing flowers and fruit in abundance.

The Normans had conquered the land and the race, but they struggled in vain against the language. It conquered them in its turn, and, by its spirit, converted them into Englishmen. In vain did they haughtily refuse to learn a word of that despised tongue, and indignantly asked, in the words of the minister of Henry Ⅲ., "Am I an Englishman, that I should know these characters and these laws?" In vain it was that William and his successors filled bishopric and abbey with the most learned and best educated men of France, and deposed English dignitaries, like Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester, because he was an "idiot who did not know the French tongue, and could not aid in the king's council."

Neither sufferings nor death itself, apparently, could teach those haughty Normans the necessity of learning the language of their new home. When in the year 1080 some Northumbrians presented to Vaulcher (Walchere), Bishop and Lord of Durham (Dunholme), an humble and submissive request, the proud prelate required, in answer to their request, that they should pay four hundred pounds of silver. Their astonished but determined spokesman asked for leave to consult with his associates, but, knowing the bishop's entire ignorance of English, he said to his friends: "Short rèd,④ g.d rèd; Slee ye se bisceop!"⑤ and immediately they fell upon the bishop and slew him and one hundred men of French and Flemish blood!……

Thus we see that conquest cannot exterminate a language, nor drive it from its native soil. The Normans, with all their power and strength, lords of the land, masters of the people, and with every advantage on their side, could not destroy a highly cultivated, ancient and national tongue, like the English. It rose against them and conquered them in its turn……

The Normans could, as conquerors, seat their Norman-French on the throne and on the judge's bench, at the dais of the noble and in the refectory of the monk; but they found the door of manor and of cottage jealously guarded. Their number, moreover, was too small to allow them to spread all over the kingdom. The few Norman soldiers and their families, immured in castles, and too haughty to associate with the despised English, anxiously preserved their connection with France, where many still possessed estates, and held no intercourse but with their own countrymen.

The Norman-French tongue was, therefore, neither carried to all parts of the kingdom, nor supported by the aid of intellectual superiority. The Old English speech, on the other hand, had been carefully guarded and preserved by the people; it had never lost its hold upon their affections; persecution and the necessity of concealment had made it but all the dearer to the suffering race. It now made its way, slowly and almost imperceptibly, but with unerring and unceasing perseverance, from rank to rank, until it finally reached the very court from which it had been so ignominiously driven, and seated itself once more upon the throne of England!

—DE VERE

WORDS

administration, executive.

approval, safiction.

contending, struggling.

contracted, incurred.

deposed, degraded.

dignitaries, men of rank.

dominion, rule.

dreaded, feared.

enchanted, fascinated.

exotic, foreign.

exterminate, cast out.

extirpate, up-root.

felloes, rims.

firinament, heavens.

forgotten, overlooked.

ignominiously, shamefully.

imperceptibly, unnoticed.

imposing, forcing.

increased, enlarged.

indigenous, native.

indignantly, angrily.

intellectual, mental.

nave, centre-block.

persecution, oppression.

perseverance, persistence.

refectory, dining-hall.

rudder, blade of the helm.

subjugated, subdued.

submissive, humble.

sumptuous, luxurious.

wain, waggon.

NOTES

1 Defend. conquest.—The words printed in italics in this and the four following paragraphs are of Norman-French origin.

2 Home.. Englishman.—The words printed in italics in this and the three following paragraphs are native English (so called Anglo-Saxon) words.

3 Gave lock, a spear or javelin; also a pointed bar of iron used as a crowbar.

4 Short red, &. c.—That is, "Short advice is good advice; Slay ye the bishop."

5 Bisceop, bishop, though an Old English word, is of classical origin, as is also the office which it names. The English translation of the word is over-seer. [Gr. episkopos; Lat. episcopus.] The French eveque is from the same root, and the two words show how widely the derivatives of the same word in two languages may differ:—Lat. Episcopus: O. Eng. bisceop, Eng. bishop; Ital. vescovo; O. FR. evesque, FT. eveque.

QUESTIONS

What means did the Normans take to impose their language upon the English? With what result? Mention things and classes of things bearing Norman names. Where did the dominion of the Norman not extend? Mention classes of things bearing native English names. How long did the two languages exist side by side? What is the story of Walchere of Durham? What prevented the spread of Norman-French all over the kingdom? What was the result of the struggle between the two languages?

LESSON 68

VENICE

WHEN Attila, King of the Huns,① devastated Italy in the middle of the fifth century, the citizens of Aquileia, Padua, and other towns on the Adriatic, fled from the invader.

At the head of the gulf are about a hundred little islands, formed of mud and sand swept down by the rivers which drain the plains of Northern Italy. These islands are surrounded by shallow water, and protected from the waves by long bars of sand, between which by various narrow channels vessels pass out and in. Upon these islands the Veneti driven from the mainland established themselves, and there founded a city in the midst of the waters.

In their new home they missed the vines and the olives which clad their native slopes, as well as the bees and the cattle which they used to tend. The waste of wild sea-moor on which they now dwelt offered only a few patches of soil fit for cultivation, and these yielded but a scanty crop of stunted vegetables. The only supplies which Nature furnished were the fish which swarmed in the waters, and the salt which encrusted the beds of the lagoons.②

A more miserable, hopeless plight than that of the inhabitants of these little islands, it would be hard to conceive; and yet out of their slender resources they built up Venice! The sandbanks which they contested with the sea-fowl became the site of a great and wealthy city; and their fish and salt formed the original basis of a world-wide commerce. Their progress, however, was slow and laborious. Seventy years after the settlement was formed, they were still obliged to toil hard for a bare subsistence.

Some distinctions of rank—a tradition of their former condition—were maintained amongst them, but all were reduced to an equality of poverty. Fish was the common, almost the only, food of all classes. None could boast a better dwelling than a rude hut of mud and osiers. Their only treasure consisted of salt, which they transported to the mainland, receiving in exchange various articles of food and clothing; and, not less important, wood for boat-building. The security in which they pursued these humble occupations was, however, envied by Italians who were groaning under the tyranny and rapine of the barbarians, and the island-colony received accessions of population.

The Venetians, who could scarcely stir from one spot to another except by water, became the most expert of seamen. Their vessels not only threaded the tortuous courses of the rivers and canals into the heart of the peninsula, but visited all the harbours of the Adriatic; and, gaining confidence, pushed out into the Mediterranean, and opened up a trade with Greece and Constantinople. Thus Venice became the port of Italy and Germany, and the means of communication between them and the seat of the Roman Empire in the East.③

THE GRAND CANAL. VENICE

Every year the ships of the Republic grew larger and more numerous. In the fourteenth century it had afloat a fleet of three thousand merchantmen; but of these some were only of ten tons burden, while few exceeded one hundred tons. Fishing-boats were probably included in the estimate. In addition, there were about forty war-galleys, carrying eleven thousand men; which were kept cruising in different directions, for the protection of Venetian commerce.

The largest of the galleys was the famous Bucentaur,④ which, with its exterior of scarlet and gold, its long bank of burnished oars, its deck and seats inlaid with precious woods, its gorgeous canopy and throne, rivalled the magnificence of Cleopatras barge. It was in this splendid vessel that the Doge⑤ went annually in state to celebrate the marriage of Venice⑥ with the Adriatic, by dropping a ring into its waters; thus symbolizing the fact that a people whose habitations might be assigned either to earth or to water, were equally at home on both.

With an extensive commerce the Venetians combined several manufactures. They not only prepared immense quantities of salt, and cured fish but found in their sands the material of that exquisite glass, so pure, and yet so rich in hue, with which their name is still associated. The furnaces from which this beautiful product emanated were congregated, as they still are, in the island of Mura'no.

There were also brass and iron foundries; and the armourers of Venice were widely celebrated for the strength and beauty of their weapons, breastplates, helmets, and bucklers. The weaving of cloth-of-gold was another important industry. This costly and gorgeous material was in great demand in the Courts of France and Germany. Charlemagne himself was rarely seen without a robe of Venetian pattern and texture.

It was thus that Venice grew rich. The mud huts gradually gave place to palaces, and the peasants were transformed into haughty nobles. "The Venetians are grown so proud," says an old traveller in the fifteenth century, "that when one has a son, the saying goes, 'A lord is born into the world!'" In the beginning of the same century it was reckoned that there were at least a thousand nobles in the city, whose yearly incomes ranged from 4,000 to 70,000 ducats, and that at a time when 3,000 ducats bought a palace.

At the end of the twelfth century the population was 70,000, exclusive of persons in holy orders. Two hundred years later it had increased nearly fourfold.

Venice was then, as now, a city intersected by innumerable water highways, bordered by marble mansions mingled with tenements of wood, studded with churches, and having public squares confined on three sides by houses, while on the remaining side a quay overlooked the sea. The streets bustled with traffic. Gon'dolas⑦ skimmed rapidly along the canals. The merchants assembled on the Rial'to,⑧ and the money-changers spread their tables under the shadow of the Campani'le.⑨

THE BRIDGE OF THE RIALTO

The Bank of Venice—the first institution of the kind ever established—the credit of which was guaranteed by the State, attested at once the wisdom and the commercial enterprise of the City of the Waters. In the shops, every article of use, luxury, or ornament, could be obtained. Contractors of all kinds and of different nations resorted thither, and the ships of every flag loaded and unloaded at the quays.

The rivalry of Gen'oa forms a large element in the history of Venice. The two republics were deadly and relentless enemies. Whenever their ships met there was a fight; and in a narrow sea like the Mediterranean, where in some cases they frequented the same ports, they met very often.

In 1261 a rupture with the Byzantine government at Constantinople led to the exclusion of the Venetians from the trade of the Black Sea. Genoa for a time was in the ascendant. A desperate war ensued, which at the end of four years terminated in the triumph of the Venetians, whose maritime and commercial supremacy was thus indicated. The object of the struggle—the trade of the Black Sea—was, however, lost to the victors as well as to the vanquished; for the Turks intervened and imposed their paralyzing influence on the commerce and industry of those parts. Within the Mediterranean, Venice remained without a rival. The blow which proved fatal to her influence came from without, and was as unexpected as it was inevitable. It was the discovery of a sea passage to India,⑩ which set aside the old caravan routes, of which Venice formed, as it were, the European centre.

—J. H. FYFE.

WORDS

accessions, additions.

attested, evidenced.

celebrate, solemnize.

channels, passages.

conceive, imagine.

confidence, assurance.

cruising, sailing to and fro.

desperate, furious.

devastated, laid waste.

emanated, issued.

encrasted, coated.

enterprise, daring.

established, settled.

estimate, calculation.

exclusive, excepting.

exquisite, beautiful.

frequented, visited.

inevitable, unavoidable.

intersected, cut up.

intervened, interposed.

mainland, continent.

maritime, naval.

original, primary.

pattern, design.

rapine, plunder.

relentless, implacable.

stunted, dwarfed.

subsistence, living.

symbolizing, typifying.

tenements, houses.

texture, fabrication.

tortuous, winding.

transformed, changed.

NOTES

① Attila, King of the Huns.—He ravaged the Eastern Empire 445-450 A. D.; and, having made peace with the Emperor Theodosius Ⅱ., prepared to invade the Empire of the West. In 451, he was defeated at Chalons, by Aetius, the Roman general, aided by Theodoric the Ostro-Goth.

② Lagoons, marshes or lakes formed by the overflowing of the sea, and separated from it by banks of sand.

③ Roman Empire in the East.—The Empire was divided into eastern and western portions in 364 A. D., when two brothers began to reign,—Valentinian in the west, and Valens in the east.

④ Bucentaur.—The name is supposed to be a corruption of Ducentorum, the first state barge having been officially described as "navigium ducentorum hominum;" that is, a ship for two hundred men. The last Bucentaur, which was destroyed by the French in 1797, was a galley one hundred feet in length, having two decks. In the lower, sat one hundred and sixty picked rowers. The upper deck comprised two magnificent galleries for the Doge's retinue, and a state saloon at the stern, which glittered with the ducal throne.

⑤ Doge (Doj), the chief magistrate, or Duke of Venice. The chief ruler of Genoa bore the same title.

⑥ The marriage of Venice.—The ceremony took place on Ascension Day each year. Venice is said to have acquired the sovereignty of the Adriatic from Pope Alexander Ⅲ. in 1170, who confirmed the concession by the gift of a ring of gold. It was after this that the ceremony of the mystical marriage was introduced. Previously, the Doge had visited the Adriatic in state, and performed certain rites, according to the fashion of the age.

⑦ Gondola, a light flat-bottomed boat used as a public conveyance through the water-streets of Venice. Lord Byron describes it as "a coffin clapt in a canoe;" and Mr. S. Laing as a Thames wherry with the upper part of a mourning coach stuck amidships.

⑧ The Rialto, a famous bridge in Venice, between the isle of Rialto (where Venice first sprang) and that of St. Mark. It, and the street leading to it, form the greatest business thoroughfare in the city. The present bridge, which is of marble, was begun in 1588, and completed within two years. It is 72 feet wide, and is divided longitudinally into five parts,—two rows of shops, two narrow passages, and a broad passage (21 feet wide) in the middle.

⑨ The Campanile (Campanela), the Bell Tower of St. Mark's Cathedral. It is detached from the church, and rises to the height of 323 feet.

⑩ Discovery of a sea passage to India—by Vasco da Ga'ma, in 1497. He established the first European settlement in India at Cochin, in 1502.

QUESTIONS

When and by whom was Venice founded? What was the common food of the first settlers? What article did they export? "What made them so expert as seamen? With what distant places did they ere long open up a trade? What was the largest of the Venetian galleys called? On what occasion was it used? In what manufactures did the Venetians excel? What was the population of Venice at the end of the twelfth and the fourteenth centuries respectively? What has Venice for streets? And what for carriages? Where did the merchants assemble? And the moneychangers? What republic was a great rival of Venice? What gave Genoa the ascendency for a time? What deprived both of the object of their struggle? What blow at last proved fatal to Venice?

LESSON 69

THE CIRCULATION OF WATER

THE simplest form of the circulation of matter is that which is presented by the watery vapour contained in the atmosphere. From this vapour the dews and rains are formed which refresh the scorched plant and fertilize the earth. The depth of dew which falls we cannot estimate. On summer evenings it appears in hazy mists, and collects on leaf and twig in sparkling pearls; but at early dawn it vanishes again unmeasured—partly sucked in by plant and soil, and partly dispelled by the youngest sunbeams. But the yearly rain-fall is easily noted. In Britain it averages about thirty inches in depth; and in Western Europe generally, it is seldom less than twenty inches. Among the Cumberland mountains, in some places a fall of two hundred inches a year is not uncommon; while among the hills near Calcutta, as much as five hundred and fifty inches sometime falls within six months.

Now, as the whole of the watery vapour in the air, were it to fall at once in the form of rain, would not cover the entire surface of the Earth to a depth of more than five inches, how repeated must the rise and fall of this watery vapour be! To keep the air always duly moist, and yet to maintain the constant and necessary descent of dew and rain, the invisible rush of water upwards must be both great and constant. The ascent of water in this invisible form is often immediate and obvious, depending solely upon physical causes; but it is often also in direct, and being the result of physiological① or of chemical causes, is less generally perceptible. Thus:—

1. Water circulates abundantly between earth and air through the agency of purely physical causes. We see this when a summer shower falling upon our paved streets is speedily licked up again by the balmy winds, and wafted towards the region of clouds, ready for a new fall. But this form of circulation takes place on the greatest scale from the surface of the sea in equatorial regions, heated through the influence of the sun's rays. Thence streams of vapour are continually mounting upwards with the currents of ascending air; and with these they travel north and south, till colder climates precipitate them in dew, rain, or snow. Returned to the arctic or the temperate seas by many running streams, these precipitated waters are carried back again to the equator by those great sea-rivers which mysteriously traverse all oceans; and. when there, are ready to rise again to repeat the same revolution. How often, since time began, may the waters which cover the whole Earth have thus traversed air and sea, taking part in the endless movements of inanimate nature!

2. Again: physiological causes, though in a less degree than the physical, are still very largely influential in causing this watery circulation. Thus the dew and rain which fall sink in part into the soil, and are thence drunk in by the roots of growing plants. But these plants spread out their green leaves into the dry air, and from numberless pores are continually exhaling watery vapour in an invisible form. From the leafy surface of a single acre in crop, it is calculated that from three to five millions of pounds of water are yearly exhaled in the form of vapour, in Britain; while, on an average, not more than two and a half millions fall in rain. Whether the surplus thus given off be derived from dews or from springs, it is plain that this evaporation from the leaves of plants is one of the most important forms which the circulation of water assumes.

Animals take into their stomachs another portion of the same water, and, as a necessary function of life, are continually returning it into the air from their lungs and their insensibly reeking hides. About two pounds a day are thus discharged into the air by a full-grown man; and larger animals probably give off more, in proportion to their size. Multiply this quantity by the number of animals which occupy the land surface of the globe, and the sum will show that this also is a form of watery circulation which, though less in absolute amount than the others I have mentioned, is yet of much importance in the economy of nature.

3. But water circulates also, in consequence of unceasing chemical operations, in a way which, if less obvious to the un instructed, is, if possible, more beautiful and more interesting than the mere physical methods above described. The main substance of plants—their woody fibre—consists in large proportion of water. The same is true of the starch and sugar which are consumed by an animal. When the plant dies and decomposes in the air, the water is again set free from its woody stem. When the animal digests the starch and sugar, the water which these contain is discharged from its lungs and skin. Thus the living plant works up water into its growing substance, which water the decaying plant and the breathing animal again set free; and thus a chemical circulation continually goes on, by which the same water is caused again and again to revolve. Within a single hour it may be in the form of starch in my hand, be discharged as watery vapour from my lungs, and be again absorbed by the thirsty leaf to add to the substance of a new plant!

—JAMES F. W. JOHNSTON

WORDS

absorbed, drunk in.

abundantly, plentifully.

circulation, rotation.

consumed, swallowed.

decomposes, separates into elements.

discharged, expelled.

dispelled, dissipated.

economy, system.

equatorial, near the equator.

estimate, calculate.

evaporation, dispersion in vapour.

exhaling, breathing out.

function, duty.

inanimate, lifeless.

influential, operative.

maintain, uphold.

mentioned, named.

mysteriously, strangely.

obvious, evident.

occupy, inhabit.

perceptible, apparent.

precipitate, throw down.

proportion, degree.

repeated, frequent.

revolve, circulate.

scorched, withered.

uncommon, unusual.

NOTES

① Physiological, that is, pertaining to the functions of organic bodies, both vegetable and animal. Thus evaporation and condensation in the air constitute a physical cause, inhalation and exhalation by plants and animals form a physiological cause, decomposition of matter forms a chemical cause, of the circulation of water.

QUESTIONS

What proves the frequency with which the rise and fall of watery vapour must take place? To what three causes is the ascent of water into the atmosphere due? Give an example of the circulation of water due to purely physical causes. Show how physiological causes operate. Give an example of the chemical operations which cause water to circulate.

LESSON 70

GINEVRA

IF thou shouldst ever come to Mod'ena,①

Stop at a palace near the Reggio Gate,

Dwelt in of old by one of the Orsini.②

Its noble gardens, terrace above terrace,

And numerous fountains, statues, cypresses,

Will long detain thee; but before thou go,

Enter the house—prythee, forget it not—

And look a while upon a picture there.

'Tis of a lady in her earliest youth; —

She sits inclining forward as to speak,

Her lips half open, and her finger up,

As though she said, "Beware!" her vest of gold,

Broidered with flowers, and clasped from head to foot—

An emerald stone in every golden clasp;

And on her brow, fairer than alabaster,

A coronet of pearls. But then her face,

So lovely, yet so arch, so full of mirth.

The overflowings of an innocent heart—

It haunts me still, though many a year has fled,

Like some wild melody!—Alone it hangs,

Over a mouldering heir-loom, its companion,

An oaken chest half eaten by the worm.

She was an only child; from infancy,

The joy, the pride, of an indulgent sire.

Her mother dying of the gift she gave,

That precious gift, what else remained to him?

The young Gine'vra was his all in life;

Still as she grew, for ever in his sight.

She was all gentleness, all gaiety,

Her pranks the favourite theme of every tongue.

But now the day was come, the day, the hour;

And in the lustre of her youth, she gave

Her hand, with her heart in it, to Francesco.

Great was the joy; but at the bridal feast,

When all sat down, the bride was wanting there—

Nor was she to be found! Her father cried.

"'Tis but to make a trial of our love!"

And filled his glass to all; but his hand shook,

And soon from guest to guest the panic spread.

'Twas but that instant she had left Francesco,

Laughing and looking back, and flying still,

Her ivory tooth imprinted on his finger.

But now, alas! she was not to be found;

Nor from that hour could anything be guessed,

But that she was not! Weary of his life,

Francesco flew to Venice, and forthwith

Flung it away in battle with the Turk.

Orsini lived; and long mightst thou have seen,

An old man wandering as in quest of something,

Something he could not find—he knew not what.

When he was gone, the house remained a while,

Silent and tenantless, then went to strangers.

Full fifty years were past, and all forgot,

When on an idle day, a day of search,

'Mid the old lumber in the gallery,

That mouldering chest was noticed; and 'twas said,

By one as young, as thoughtless, as Ginevra,

"Why not remove it from its lurking-place?"

'Twas done as soon as said; but on the way

It burst—it fell; and lo, a skeleton!

And here and there a pearl, an emerald-stone,

A golden clasp, clasping a shred of gold.

All else had perished—save a nuptial ring,

And a small seal, her mother's legacy,

Engraven with a name, the name of both—

"GINEVRA." There, then, had she found a grave!

Within that chest had she concealed herself,

Fluttering with joy, the happiest of the happy;

When a spring-lock, that lay in ambush there,

Fastened her down—for ever!

—ROGERS

WORDS

ambush, concealment.

bridal, wedding.

cypresses, evergreens.

detain, occupy.

fluttering, thrilling.

gaiety, sprightliness.

gentleness, tenderness.

heir-loom, family relic.

imprinted, indented.

inclining, bending.

indulgent, kind.

innocent, guileless.

legacy, bequest.

lustre, brilliancy.

mouldering, crumbling.

nuptial. marriage.

overflowings, outpourings.

quests, search.

tenantless, uninhabited.

terrace, platform.

theme, subject.

NOTES

① Modena, capital of the province of .milia, in the north of Italy,—the former Duchy of Modena. The .milian Way (Rimini to Piacenza) passes through it, and forms its principal street; at the northwestern extremity of which is the "Reggio Gate." where the Way passes on to Reggio.

② Orsini, a celebrated Roman family during the Middle Ages. It yielded two popes, and a great number of cardinals.

QUESTIONS

To what family did Ginevra belong? Why was she very precious to her father? How was her marriage interrupted? What was her fate? When was it discovered? What became of Francesco? What is the starting point of the poem?

LESSON 71

THE DIGNITY OF LABOUR

THE dignity of labour! Consider its achievements! Dismayed by no difficulty, shrinking from no exertion, exhausted by no struggle, ever eager for renewed efforts in its persevering promotion of human happiness, "clamorous Labour knocks with its hundred hands at the golden gate of the morning," obtaining each day, through succeeding centuries, fresh benefactions for the world!

Labour clears the forest, and drains the morass, and makes the wilderness rejoice and blossom as the rose. Labour drives the plough, and scatters the seed, and reaps the harvest, and grinds the corn, and converts it into bread, the staff of life. Labour, tending the pastures and sweeping the waters, as well as cultivating the soil, provides with daily sustenance the thousand millions of the family of man.

Labour moulds the brick, and splits the slate, and quarries the stone, and shapes the column, and rears, not only the humble cottage, but the gorgeous palace, the tapering spire, and the stately dome.

Labour, diving deep into the solid earth, brings up its long-hidden stores of coal, to feed ten thousand furnaces, and in millions of habitations to defy the winter's cold. Labour explores the rich veins of deeply-buried rocks, extracting the gold, the silver, the copper, and the tin. Labour smelts the iron, and moulds it into a thousand shapes for use and ornament, —from the massive pillar to the tiniest needle, from the ponderous anchor to the wire-gauze, from the mighty flywheel of the steam-engine to the polished purse-ring or the glittering bead.

Labour hews down the gnarled oak, and shapes the timber, and builds the ship, and guides it over the deep, plunging through the billows and wrestling with the tempest, to bear to our shores the produce of every clime. Labour brings us Indian rice and American cotton; African ivory and Greenland oil; fruits from the sunny South and furs from the frozen North; tea from the East and sugar from the West; —carrying, in exchange, to every land the products of British industry and British skill. Labour, by the universally spread ramifications of trade, distributes its own treasures from country to country, from city to city, from house to house, conveying to the doors of all, the necessaries and luxuries of life; and, by the pulsations of an untrammelled commerce,① maintaining healthy life in the great social system.

Labour, fusing opaque particles of rock,② produces transparent glass, which it moulds and polishes, and combines so wondrously, that sight is restored to the blind; while worlds, before invisible from distance, are brought so near as to be weighed and measured with unerring exactness; and atoms, which had escaped all detection from their minuteness, reveal a world of wonder and beauty in themselves.

Labour, possessing a secret far more important than the philosopher's stone, transmutes the most worthless substances into the most precious; and, placing in the crucible of its potent chemistry the putrid refuse of the sea and the land, extracts fragrant essences,③ and healing medicines, and materials of priceless importance in the arts.

Labour, laughing at difficulties, spans majestic rivers, carries viaducts over marshy swamps, suspends a.rial bridges above deep ravines, pierces the solid mountain with its dark, undeviating tunnel, blasting rocks and filling hollows; and, while linking together with its iron but loving grasp all nations of the Earth, verifies, in a literal sense, the ancient prophecy: "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low."④

Labour draws forth its delicate iron thread,⑤ and, stretching it from city to city, from province to province, through mountains and beneath the sea, realizes more than fancy ever fabled, while it constructs a chariot on which speech may outstrip the wind, compete with the lightning, and fly as rapidly as thought itself.

Labour seizes the thoughts of genius, the discoveries of science, the admonitions of piety, and with its magic types impressing the vacant page, renders it pregnant with life and power, perpetuating truth to distant ages, and diffusing it to all mankind.

Labour sits enthroned in palaces of crystal, whose high arched roofs proudly sparkle in the sunshine which delighteth to honour it, and whose ample courts are crowded with the trophies of its victories in every country and in every age.

Labour, a mighty magician, walks forth into a region uninhabited and waste;⑥ he looks earnestly at the scene, so quiet in its desolation; then, waving his wonder-working wand, those dreary valleys smile with golden harvests; those barren mountain-slopes are clothed with foliage; the furnace blazes; the anvil rings; the busy wheels whirl round; the town appears, —the mart of Commerce, the hall of Science, the temple of Religion, rear high their lofty fronts; a forest of masts, gay with varied pennons, rises from the harbour; the quays are crowded with commercial spoils, —the peaceful spoils which enrich both him who receives and him who yields. Representatives of far-off regions make it their resort; Science enlists the elements of earth and heaven in its service; Art, awaking, clothes its strength with beauty; Literature, new born, redoubles and perpetuates its praise; Civilization smiles; Liberty is glad; Humanity rejoices; Piety exults, —for the voice of industry and gladness is heard on every hand. And who, contemplating such achievements, will deny that there is dignity in Labour!

—NEWMAN HALL

WORDS

achievements, accomplishments.

admonitions, warnings.

benefactions, good deeds.

compete, strive.

contemplating, pondering.

desolation, destitution.

detection, discovery.

dignity, nobleness.

dismayed, daunted.

distributes, dispenses.

exertion, labour.

gorgeous, splendid.

perpetuating, continuing.

ponderous, weighty.

pulsations, beats.

ramifications, branches.

representatives, emissaries.

sustenance, nourishment.

transmutes, changes.

untrammelled, free.

verifies, fulfils.

viaducts, road-ways.

NOTES

1 Pulsations of an untrammelled commerce.—This figure compares the circulation of commodities in merchandise to the circulation of blood in the human body, the regularity of which is indicated by the beats of the pulse. Untrammelled, means free from the restrictions of import and export duties.

2 Particles of rock, the sand of which glass is made. This paragraph refers to the work of the optician, in making spectacles, telescopes, and microscopes.

3 Fragrant essences.—The pungent smell arising from putrefying substances is caused by the ammonia which they give off. It is well known that some of the finest "scents" are manufactured from putrefying matter.

4 "Every valley shall be exalted," &c.—Isaiah, xl. 4.

5 Iron thread.—This paragraph of course refers to the electric telegraph.

6 A region uninhabited and waste.—This passage rapidly sketches the progress of a colony, such as one of those in Australia or New England, from the time of its first settlement on a barren shore, till it becomes a populous and flourishing state.

LESSON 72

THE PROBLEM OF CREATION

IF we look out upon the starry heavens by which we are surrounded, we find them diversified in every possible way. Our own mighty Stellar System takes upon itself the form of a flat disk, which may be compared to a mighty ring breaking into two distinct divisions. severed from each other, the interior with starsless densely populous than upon the exterior. But take the telescope and go beyond this; and here you find, coming out from the depths of space, universes of every possible shape and fashion; some of them assuming a globular form, and, when we apply the highest possible penetrating power of the telescope, breaking into ten thousand brilliant stars, all crushed and condensed into one luminous, bright, and magnificent centre.

But look yet farther. Away yonder, in the distance, you behold a faint, hazy, nebulous ring of light, the interior almost entirely dark, but the exterior ring-shaped, and exhibiting to the eye, under the most powerful telescope, the fact that it may be resolved entirely into stars, producing a universe somewhat analogous to the one we inhabit. Go yet deeper into space, and there you will behold another universe—voluminous scrolls of light, glittering with beauty, flashing with splendour, and sweeping a curve of most extraordinary form and of most tremendous outlines.

Thus we may pass from planet to planet, from sun to sun, from system to system. We may reach beyond the limits of this mighty stellar cluster with which we are allied. We may find other island universes sweeping through space. The great unfinished problem still remains—Whence came this universe? Have all these stars which glitter in the heavens been shining from all eternity? Has our globe been rolling around the sun for countless ages? Whence, whence this magnificent architecture, whose architraves① rise in splendour before us in every direction? Is it all the work of chance? I answer, No. It is not the work of chance.

Who shall reveal to us the true cosmogony② of the universe by which we are surrounded? Is it the work of an Omnipotent Architect? If so, who is this August Being? Go with me tonight, in imagination, and stand with old Paul, the great apostle, upon Mars Hill,③ and there look around you as he did. Here rises that magnificent building, the Parthenon, sacred to Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. There towers her colossal statue, rising in its majesty above the city of which she was the guardian—the first object to catch the rays of the rising, and the last to be kissed by the rays of the setting, sun. There are the temples of all the gods; and there are the shrines of every divinity.

And yet I tell you these gods and these divinities, though created under the inspiring fire of poetio fancy and Greek imagination, never reared this stupendous structure by which we are surrounded. The Olympic Jove④ never built these heavens. The wisdom of Minerva never organized these magnificent systems. I say with St. Paul,⑤ —"The God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands."

No; here is the temple of our Divinity. Around us and above us rise Sun and System, Cluster and Universe. And I doubt not that in every region of this vast Empire of God, hymns of praise and anthems of glory are rising and reverberating from Sun to Sun and from System to System—heard by Omnipotence alone across immensity and through eternity!

—O. M. MITCHELL

WORDS

analogous, similar.

anthems, sacred songs.

diversified, varied.

eternity, infinitude of time.

extraordinary, remarkable.

globular, spherical.

guardian, protector.

immensity, infinitude of space.

magnificent, splendid

nebulous, cloudy.

penetrating, piercing.

reveal, unfold.

reverberating, resounding.

stupendous, tremendous.

surrounded, encompassed.

universes, world-system.

voluminous, ample.

NOTES

① Architrave (arketrave), entablature; or that part of the entablature which rests upon the column.

② Cosmogony, the theory or science of the origin of the universe.

③ Mars Hill, Parthenon, Minerva.—See the lesson, Paul at Athens, —Minerva is the Latin name for the Pallas Athene of the Greeks. She was the goddess of wisdom.

④ Olympic Jove.—Zeus of the Greeks, (called by the Romans Jupiter and Jove, the chief of their deities, who were supposed to have their abode on Olympus, a lofty mountain in Thessaly.

⑤ With St. Paul.—See Acts, ⅩⅦ 24.

LESSON 73

EDUCATION AND THE STATE

I BELIEVE, sir,① that it is the right and the duty of the State to provide means of education for the common people. This proposition seems to me to be implied in every definition that has ever yet been given of the functions of a Government. About the extent of those functions there has been much difference of opinion among ingenious men. There are some who hold that it is the business of a Government to meddle with every part of the system of human life: to regulate trade by bounties and prohibitions, to regulate expenditure by sumptuary laws, to regulate literature by a censorship, to regulate religion by an inquisition. Others go to the opposite extreme, and assign to Government a very narrow sphere of action. But the very narrowest sphere that ever was assigned to governments by any school of political philosophy is quite wide enough for my purpose. On one point all the disputants are agreed. They unanimously acknowledge that it is the duty of every Government to take order for giving security to the persons and property of the members of the community.

This being admitted, can it be denied that the education of the common people is a most effectual means of securing our persons and our property? Let Adam Smith② answer that question for me. He has expressly told us that a distinction is to be made, particularly in a commercial and highly civilized society, between the education of the rich and the education of the poor. The education of the poor, he says, is a matter which deeply concerns the commonwealth. Just as the magistrate ought to interfere for the purpose of preventing the leprosy from spreading among the people, he ought to interfere for the purpose of stopping the progress of the moral distempers which are inseparable from ignorance. Nor can this duty be neglected without danger to the public peace. If you leave the multitude uninstructed, there is serious risk that their animosities may produce the most dreadful disorders.

The most dreadful disorders! Those are Adam Smith's own words; and prophetic words they were. Scarcely had he given this warning to our rulers when his prediction was fulfilled in a manner never to be forgotten. I speak of the riots of 1780. I do not know that I could find in all history a stronger proof of the proposition, that the ignorance of the common people makes the property, the limbs, the lives of all classes insecure. Without the shadow of a grievance, at the summons of a madman, a hundred thousand people rise in insurrection. During a whole week there is anarchy in the greatest and wealthiest of European cities. The Parliament is besieged. Your predecessor③ sits trembling in his chair, and expects every moment to see the door beaten in by the ruffians whose roar he hears all round the house. The peers are pulled out of their coaches. The bishops in their lawn are forced to fly over the tiles. The chapels of foreign ambassadors, buildings made sacred by the law of nations, are destroyed. The house of the Chief Justice is demolished. The little children of the Prime Minister are taken out of their beds and laid in their night clothes on the table of the Horse Guards,④ —the only safe asylum from the fury of the rabble. The prisons are opened. Highwaymen, housebreakers, murderers, come forth to swell the mob by which they have been set free. Thirty-six fires are blazing at once in London. The Government is paralyzed; the very foundations of the Empire are shaken.

Then came the retribution. Count up all the wretches who were shot, who were hanged, who were crushed, who drank themselves to death at the rivers of gin which ran down Holborn Hill;⑤ and you will find that battles have been lost and won with a smaller sacrifice of life. And what was the cause of this calamity—a calamity which, in the history of London, ranks with the Great Plague and the Great Fire?⑥ The cause was the ignorance of a population which had been suffered, in the neighbourhood of palaces, theatres, temples, to grow up as rude and stupid as any tribe of tattooed cannibals in New Zealand—I might say, as any drove of beasts in Smithfield Market.⑦

The instance is striking; but it is not solitary. To the same cause are to be ascribed the riots of Nottingham,⑧ the sack of Bristol,⑨ all the outrages of Lud, and Swing,⑩ and Rebecca(11); —beautiful and costly machinery broken to pieces in Yorkshire, barns and hay-stacks blazing in Kent, fences and buildings pulled down in Wales. Could such things have been done in a country in which the mind of the labourer had been opened by education; in which he had been taught to find pleasure in the exercise of his intellect, taught to revere his Maker, taught to respect legitimate authority, and taught at the same time to seek the redress of real wrongs by peaceful and constitutional means?

This, then, is my argument: —It is the duty of Government to protect our persons and property from danger; the gross ignorance of the common people is a principal cause of danger to our persons and property: therefore it is the duty of the Government to take care that the common people shall not be grossly ignorant.

And what is the alternative? It is universally allowed that, by some means, Government must protect our persons and property. If you take away education, what means do you leave?You leave means such as only necessity can justify— means which inflict a fearful amount of pain, not only on the guilty, but on the innocent who are connected with the guilty. You leave guns and bayonets, stocks and whipping-posts, tread-mills, solitary cells, penal colonies, gibbets. See, then, how the case stands. Here is an end which, as we all agree, governments are bound to attain. There are only two ways of attaining it. One of those ways is by making men better, and wiser, and happier. The other way is by making them infamous and miserable. Can it be doubted which we ought to prefer?

—LORD MACAULAY

WORDS

alternative, other course.

anarchy, lawlessness.

argument, line of reasoning.

bayonets, short swords.

calamity, disaster.

commonwealth, state.

constitutional, statutory.

demolished, destroyed.

disputants, controversialists.

distinction, difference.

expenditure, outlay.

functions, duties.

grievance, ground of complaint.

infamous, disgraceful.

inflict, impose.

inseparable, indissoluble.

insurrection, rebellion.

legitimate, lawful.

particularly, especially.

philosophy, science.

predecessor, precursor.

prediction, prophecy.

prohibitions, restrictions.

proposition, statement.

retribution, punishment.

sumptuary, restricting expenditure.

tattooed, skin-dyed.

NOTES

① Sir.—The Speaker of the House of Commons, to whom the speeches are addressed.

② Adam Smith.—Author of a standard work on political economy entitled Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Smith was Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow. He died in 1790.

③ Your predecessor.—This is addressed to the Speaker, and thus means the Speaker of the House of Commons in 1780.

④ The Horse Guards, a building in London, at the east end of St. James's Park, in which some of the Horse Grenadier Guards are garrisoned, and where the Commander-in-Chief has his office. Two horse-soldiers, in full uniform, daily mount guard under two small arches at its gates.

⑤ Holborn Hill, one of the great thoroughfares of London.

⑥ The Great Plague and the Great Fire.

⑦ Smithfield Market.—In the eastern part of London. It was the great cattle market of London till the new Metropolitan Market in Copenhagen Fields was opened in 1855. The open market at Smith-field was then disused; but a new dead-meat market was built there.

⑧ The riots of Nottingham.—These riots, like those in Yorkshire afterwards referred to, were excited by the introduction of machinery for spinning and weaving. The hand-loom weavers fancied that they would be thrown out of employment, or that their wages would be reduced. An idiot named Ned Lud having in a passion broken some frames at Nottingham, the mob commenced a wholesale destruction of all the machinery in the place. The rioters were called Luddites, and their outrages continued to be perpetrated in the north of England from 1811 till 1816. Several Luddites were tried and executed.

⑨ The sack of Bristol.—The Recorder was obnoxious to the common people, because he opposed the Reform Bill. On his entrance into Bristol in October 1831, the mob destroyed the mansion-house and other public buildings, and burned nearly one hundred private residences. Above five hundred lives were lost.

⑩ Swing.—The name assumed by the writers of threatening letters sent to farmers between 1830 and 1833, warning them that if they did not abandon the use of machinery, especially of threshing-mills, their farm-houses would be wrecked. In consequence, many stack-yards, in Kent and other southern counties, were burned; houses, machines, and live stock were sacrificed. Many farmers were forced to submit, and the outrages and terrorism did not cease till some of the ringleaders were apprehended and punished.

⑪Rebecca.—The Rebecca riots of Wales in 1843 arose out of the bad management of turnpikes and tolls. The name originated in a strange distortion of a Scripture text: "And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her,…. Let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them."(Gen. xxiv. 60.) The rioters, disguised in bonnets and gowns, attacked the toll-bars at midnight, flung out the keepers' furniture, pulled down the houses, and levelled the gates with the ground. Further inflamed by political agitators, they attacked workhouses, burned stacks, and even spilt blood.

QUESTIONS

On what point has there been much difference of opinion among ingenious men?—About the extent of the functions of Government.

What differences are pointed out?—Some have held that Government should meddle with every department of human life; others have assigned to Government a very narrow sphere of action.

On what are all parties agreed?—That it is the duty of Government to take order fox the security of life and property.

What is a most effectual means of accomplishing this?—Education.

What does Adam Smith say leaving the multitude uninstructed is likely to produce?—The most dreadful disorders.

What striking example of such disorders is given?—The riots in London in 1780.

Mention some particulars of the excesses perpetrated by the mob.—Peers were pulled out of their coaches; bishops had to fly over the tiles; the chapels of foreign ambassadors were destroyed; the house of the Chief Justice was demolished; the prisons were opened, and the prisoners swelledthe mob; thirty-six fires were blazing in London at once.

What was the true cause of that calamity?—The ignorance of the people, who, in the neighbourhood of palaces, had been allowed to grow up as rude as savages and brutes.

What other instances are mentioned?—The Machinery riots of the Luddites in Nottingham and Yorkshire, in 1811-16; the Reform riots in Bristol in 1831; the agricultural outrages in Kent in 1830-33; the Rebecca riots in Wales in 1843.

What would have made these things impossible?—Opening the minds of the labourers by education; &c., &c.

Sum up the argument.—Government should protect life and property; the ignorance of the people endangers life and property: therefore Government should take means to remove the ignorance of the people.

What is the alternative?—Education, or physical force—guns and bayonets, &c.

What are the consequences of each plan?—Education makes men better, wiser, and happier; physical force makes them infamous and miserable.

NOTES

The answers to the questions on the above lesson are given in full, as the argument may be somewhat difficult for young scholars to follow. They will also serve to show how the main points in a lesson may be gathered up by means of a few leading questions.

LESSON 74

ENGLISH SELF-ESTEEM

AND now I will grapple with the noble Lord [Palmerston]① on the ground which he selected for himself, in the most triumphant portion of his speech, by his reference to those emphatic words, Civis Romanus sum.② He vaunted, amidst the cheers of his supporters, that under his administration an Englishman should be throughout the world what the citizen of Rome had been. What then, sir, was a Roman citizen? He was the member of a privileged caste; he belonged to a conquering race, —to a nation that held all others bound down by the strong arm of power. For him there was to be an exceptional system of law; for him principles were to be asserted, and by him rights were to be enjoyed, that were denied to the rest of the world.

Is such, then, the view of the noble lord, as to the relation that is to subsist between England and other countries? Does he make the claim for us, that we are to be uplifted on a platform high above the standing-ground of all other nations? It is, indeed, too clear, not only from the expressions, but from the whole spirit of the speech of the noble Viscount, that too much of this notion is lurking in his mind; that he adopts in part that vain conception, that we, forsooth, have a mission to be the censors of vice and folly, of abuse and imperfection among the other countries of the world; that we are to be the universal schoolmasters; and that all those who hesitate to recognize our office can be governed only by prejudice or personal animosity, and should have the blind war of diplomacy forthwith declared against them……

Sir, the English people, whom we are here to represent, are indeed a great and noble people; but it adds nothing to their greatness or their nobleness, that, when we assemble in this place, we should trumpet forth our virtues in elaborate panegyrics, and designate those who may not be wholly of our mind as a knot of foreign conspirators. Now, the policy of the noble lord tends to encourage and confirm in us that which is our besetting fault and weakness, both as a nation and as individuals. Let an Englishman travel where he will as a private person, he is found in general to be upright, high-minded, brave, liberal, and true: but with all this, foreigners are too often sensible of something that galls them in his presence; and I apprehend it is because he has too great a tendency to self-esteem—too little disposition to regard the feelings, the habits, and the ideas of others.

I doubt not that use will be made of our present debate to work upon this peculiar weakness of the English mind. The people will be told that those who oppose the motion are governed by personal motives, have no regard for public principle, no enlarged ideas of national policy. You will take your case before a favourable jury, and you think to gain your verdict; but, sir, let the House of Commons be warned—let it warn itself—against all illusions. There is in this case also a course of appeal. There is an appeal, such as one honourable and learned member has already made, from the one House of Parliament to the other. There is a further appeal from this House of Parliament to the people of England. But, lastly, there is also an appeal from the people of England to the general sentiment of the civilized world; and I, for my part, am of opinion that England will stand shorn of a chief part of her glory and her pride, if she shall be found to have separated herself, through the policy she pursues abroad, from the moral support which the general and fixed convictions of mankind afford—if the day shall come in which she may continue to excite the wonder and the fear of other nations, but in which she shall have no part in their affections and their regard.

—WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE③

WORDS

administration, government.

animosity, antipathy.

besetting, habitual.

caste, race; order.

civilized, cultivated.

conception, notion.

conspirators, plotters.

convictions, beliefs.

designate, characterize.

disposition, inclination.

emphatic, forcible.

exceptional, special.

expressions, words.

favourable, partial.

foreigners, strangers.

illusions, deceptions.

imperfection, fault.

panegyrics, eulogies.

personal, selfish.

privileged, favoured.

recognize, acknowledge.

separated, withdrawn.

subsist, continue.

tendency, proneness.

triumphant, exulting.

vaunted, boasted.

NOTES

① Lord Palmerston.—Henry Temple, Viscount Palmerston, one of the most successful foreign ministers of England. He was a member of nearly every Liberal Government from 1809 till his death in 1865. His firm and decided policy made the name of England be respected all over the world. Mr. Gladstone contends in this speech that the tendency of Lord Palmerston's policy was to make England be regarded with fear rather than with affection. The occasion of the speech was a rupture with Greece in 1850. Some British subjects in Athens having suffered loss by the violence of a mob, compensation was demanded. When this was refused, Admiral Parker, with the Mediterranean fleet, was ordered to blockade the Pir.us, the port of Athens—a step which led to the debate in Parliament.

② Civis Romanus sum—I am a Roman citizen.

③ William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of England from 1868 till 1874, from 1880 till 1885, again in 1886, and a fourth time in 1892. He entered public life as a follower of Sir Robert Peel, under whom he took office in 1834. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1852 till 1855, and again from 1859 till 1866. The fiscal reforms accomplished during these years raised him to the first rank as a finance minister.

LESSON 75

PLEASURES OF KNOWLEDGE

"Not to know at large of things remote

From use, obscure and subtle, but to know

That which before us lies in daily life,

Is the prime wisdom."

—MILTON

IT is NOBLE to seek Truth, and it is BEAUTIFUL to find it. It is the ancient feeling of the human heart, that knowledge is better than riches; and it is deeply and sacredly true. To mark① the course of human passions as they have flowed on in the ages that are past; to see why nations have risen, and why they have fallen; to speak of heat, and light, and the winds; to know what man has discovered in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; to hear the chemist unfold the marvellous properties that the Creator has locked up in a speck of earth; to be told that there are worlds so distant from our own, that the quickness of light, travelling since the world's creation, has never yet reached us; —it is worth while in the days of our youth to strive hard for this great discipline.

To wander in the creations of poetry, and grow warm again with that eloquence which swayed the democracies of the Old World;② to go up with great reasoners to the First Cause of all, and to perceive, in the midst of all this dissolution and decay and cruel separation, that there is one thing unchangeable, indestructible, and everlasting; —it is surely worth while to pass sleepless nights for this; to give up for it laborious days;③ to spurn for it present pleasures; to endure for it afflicting poverty; to wade for it through darkness, and sorrow, and contempt, as the great spirits of the world have done in all ages and in all times.

I appeal to the experience of every man who is in the habit of exercising his mind vigorously and well, whether there is not a satisfaction in it, which tells him he has been acting up to one of the great objects of his existence? The end of nature has been answered: his faculties have done that which they were created to do—not languidly occupied upon trifles, not enervated by sensual gratification, but exercised in that toil which is so congenial to their nature, and so worthy of their strength.

A life of knowledge is not often a life of injury and crime. Whom does suck a man oppress? with whose happiness does he interfere? whom does his ambition destroy? and whom does his fraud deceive? In the pursuit of science he injures no man, and in the acquisition he does good to all.

A man who dedicates his life to knowledge, becomes habituated to pleasure which carries with it no reproach: and there is one security that he will never love that pleasure which is paid for by anguish of heart—his pleasures are all cheap, all dignified, and all innocent; and, as far as any human being can expect permanence in this changing scene, he has secured a happiness which no malignity of fortune can ever take away, but which must cleave to him while he lives, ameliorating every good, and diminishing every evil of his existence……

I solemnly declare, that, but for the love of knowledge, I should consider the life of the meanest hedger and ditcher as preferable to that of the greatest and richest man in existence; for the fire of our minds is like the fire which the Persians burn④ on the mountains—it flames night and day, and is immortal, and not to be quenched! Upon something it must act and feed—upon the pure spirit of knowledge, or upon the foul dregs of polluting passions.

Therefore, when I say, in conducting your understanding, love knowledge with a great love, with a vehement love, with a love coeval with life, what do I say but love innocence; love virtue; love purity of conduct; love that which, if you are rich and great, will sanctify the providence which has made you so, and make men call it justice; love that which, if you are poor, will render your poverty respectable, and make the proudest feel it unjust to laugh at the meanness of your fortunes; love that which will comfort you, adorn you, and never quit you—which will open to you the kingdom of thought, and all the boundless regions of conception, as an asylum against the cruelty, the injustice, and the pain that may be your lot in the outer world—that which will make your motives habitually great and honourable, and light up in an instant a thousand noble disdains at the very thought of meanness and of fraud?

Therefore, if any young man have embarked his life in the pursuit of Knowledge, let him go on without doubting or fearing the event: let him not be intimidated by the cheerless beginnings of Knowledge, by the darkness from which she springs, by the difficulties which hover around her, by the wretched habitations in which she dwells, by the want and sorrow which sometimes journey in her train; but let him ever follow her as the Angel that guards him, and as the Genius of his life. She will bring him out at last into the light of day, and exhibit him to the world comprehensive in acquirements, fertile in resources, rich in imagination, strong in reasoning, prudent and powerful above his fellows in all the relations and in all the offices of life.

—SYDNEY SMITH

WORDS

acquisition, attainment.

ameliorating, making better.

ancient, primitive.

asylum, refuge.

coeval, of the same age.

comprehensive, capacious.

contempt, neglect.

democracies, republics.

dignified, elevated.

discovered, found out.

dissolution, destruction.

eloquence, oratory.

enervated, weakened.

experience, knowledge gained by practice.

fertile, fruitful; ready.

habituated, accustomed.

indestructible, everlasting.

intimidated, frightened.

languidly, feebly.

marvellous, wonderful.

permanence, durability.

quenched, extinguished.

vehement, powerful.

NOTES

① To mark, &c.—The different sciences and arts referred to in the successive clauses of the sentence are—history, physics, meteorology and geology, chemistry, astronomy, poetry, oratory, and theology.

② The democracies of the Old World.—Such were Athens and Sparta in ancient Greece, and such were Rome and Carthage in their palmiest days. The "eloquence" referred to is that of Demosthenes, the Athenian, and of Cicero, the Roman, orator.

③ Laborious days.—This effect of the love of knowledge has evidently been suggested by what Milton says of the love of fame:—

"Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise

(That last infirmity of noble mind)

To scorn delights, and live laborious days." —Lycidas, 70-72.

④ The fire which the Persians burn.—The dominant religion in Persia was fire-worship, or Parseeism, down to the seventh century, when the country was conquered by the Arabs, and Mohammedanism took its place. Many of the Parsees then fled to India, and their descendants have still their head-quarters at Bombay. Many, at the same time, submitted to the conquerors, and their descendants are called Guebres (Gwebers).

LESSON 76

THE BRITISH CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF CANADA

I TAKE the British constitutional system as the great original system upon which are founded the institutions of all free States. I take it as one of a family born of Christian civilization. I take it as combining in itself permanence and liberty; liberty in its best form—not in theory alone, but in practice; liberty which is enjoyed in fact by all the people of Canada, of every origin and of every creed.

Can any one pretend to say that a chapter of accidents which we can trace for eight hundred years, and which some antiquaries may even trace for a much longer period, will account for the permanence of these institutions? If you say that they have not in themselves the elements of permanence which preserve the foundations of a free State from one generation to another—how do you account for their continued and prosperous existence? How do you account for it, that of all the ancient constitutions of Europe this alone remains; and remains not only with all its ancient outlines, but with great modern impovements, —improvements, however, made in harmony with the design of its first architects? Here is a form of government that has lasted, with modifications to suit the spirit of succesive ages, for a period of eight hundred years. How is it that I account for the permanence of its institutions? By asserting that, in their outline plan, they combine all the good of material importance that has ever been discovered.

The wisdom of the middle ages, and the political writers of the present time, have all laid down one maxim of government,—That no unmixed form of government can satisfy the wants of a free and intelligent people; that an unmixed democracy, for instance, must result in anarchy or military despotism: but that the form of government which combines in itself an inviolable monarchy, popular representation, and the incitements of an aristocracy—a working aristocracy—an aristocracy that takes its share of toil and danger in the day of battle, of care and anxiety in the time of peace—an aristocracy of talent open to any of the people who make themselves worthy to enter it—that threefold combination in the system of government is the highest conception of political science.

Let us see if the British form, apart from any details of its practice, combines in itself these three qualities. The leading principle of the British system is, that the head of the State is inviolable. It is necessary to the stability of any State that there should be an inviolable authority or tribunal; and under the British system this is recognized in the maxim that "the King can do no wrong." Having placed the principle of inviolability in the Crown, and the principle of privilege in the Peerage, the founders of the State took care at the same time that the peerage should not stagnate into a small and exclusive caste. They left the House of Lords open to any of the People who might distinguish themselves in war or in peace, although they might be the children of paupers (and some have been ennobled who were unable to tell who their parents were), to enter in and take their place on an equality with the proudest there, who trace back their descent for centuries.

It was for the people of Canada, with the precedent of England and the example of the American republic before them, to decide which should be the prevailing character of their government, —British constitutional, or republican constitutional. For my part, I prefer the British constitutional government, because it is the best; and I reject the republican constitutional government, because it is not the best. We are now witnessing a great epoch in the world's history; and the events daily transpiring around us should teach us not to rely too much upon our present position of secure independence, but rather to apprehend and be prepared for attempts against our liberties, and against that system of government which, I am convinced, is heartily cherished by the inhabitants of this province.

—HON. T. D. M'GEE

WORDS

anarchy, confusion.

antiquaries, students of antiquity.

apprehend, anticipate.

architects, designers.

aristocracy, government by nobles.

combining, uniting.

conception, ideal.

democracy, government by the people.

distinguish, make famous.

elements, principles.

ennobled, raised to the peerage.

exclusive, select.

importance, value.

incitements, attractions.

inviolable, sacred.

original, primary.

permanence, durability.

prevailing, predominant.

privilege, immunity.

prosperous, flourishing.

recognized, acknowledged.

transpiring, happening.

tribunal, authority.

LESSON 77

THE SCHOOLMASTER AND THE CONQUEROR

THERE is nothing with which the adversaries of improvement are more wont to make themselves merry than with what is termed "the march of intellect;" and I confess that I think, as far as the phrase goes, they are in the right. It is a very absurd, because a very incorrect, expression. It is little calculated to describe the operation in question. It does not suggest an image at all resembling the proceedings of the true friends of mankind. It much more resembles the progress of the enemy of all improvement. The conqueror moves in a march. He stalks onward with "the pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war" —banners flying, shouts rending the air, guns thundering, and martial music pealing, to drown the shrieks of the wounded, and the lamentations for the slain.

Not thus the schoolmaster, in his peaceful vocation. He meditates and prepares in secret the plans which are to bless mankind; he slowly gathers around him those who are to further their execution; he quietly, though firmly, advances in his humble path, labouring steadily, but calmly, till he has opened to the light all the recesses of ignorance, and torn up by the roots the weeds of vice. His is a progress not to be compared with anything like a march; but it leads to a far more brilliant triumph, and to laurels more imperishable than the destroyer of his species, the scourge of the world, ever won.

Such men—men deserving the glorious title of teachers of mankind—I have found, labouring conscientiously, though perhaps obscurely, in their blessed vocation, wherever I have gone. I have found them, and shared their fellowship, among the daring, the ambitious, the ardent, the indomitably active French; I have found them among the persevering, resolute, industrious Swiss; I have found them among the laborious, the warm-hearted, the enthusiastic Germans; I have found them among the high-minded Italians; and in our own country, thank Heaven, they everywhere abound, and their number is every day increasing.

Their calling is high and holy; their fame is the property of nations; their renown will fill the Earth in after ages, in proportion as it sounds not far off in their own times. Each one of those great teachers of the world, possessing his soul in patience, performs his appointed work; awaits in faith the fulfilment of the promises; and, resting from his labours, bequeaths his memory to the generation whom his works have blessed, and sleeps under the humble but not inglorious epitaph, commemorating "one in whom mankind lost a friend, and no man got rid of an enemy."

—LORD BROUGHAM (1778-1868)

WORDS

adversaries, enemies.

bequeaths, hands down.

calculated, fitted.

commemorating, celebrating.

conscientiously, faithfully.

enthusiastic, ardent.

epitaph, inscription on a tomb-stone.

fulfilment, performance.

imperishable, undying.

incorrect, inaccurate.

indomitably, invincibly.

industrious, laborious.

lamentations, wailings.

obscurely, humbly.

persevering, persistent.

property, possession.

shrieks, cries.

vocation, calling.

LESSON 78

BRITISH COLONIAL AND NAVAL POWER

THE sagacity of England is in nothing more clearly shown than in the foresight with which she has provided against the emergency of war. Let it come when it may, it will not find her unprepared. So thickly are her colonies and naval stations scattered over the face of the Earth, that her war-ships can speedily reach every commercial centre on the globe.

There is that great centre of commerce, the Mediterranean Sea. It was a great centre long ago, when the Phoenician①traversed it, and, passing through the Pillars of Hercules,②sped on his way to the distant and then savage Britain. It was a great centre when Rome and Carthage③ wrestled in a death-grapple for its possession. But at the present day England is as much at home on the Mediterranean as if it were one of her own Canadian lakes.

Nor is it simply the number of the British colonies, or the evenness with which they are distributed, that challenges our admiration. The positions which these colonies occupy, and their natural military strength, are quite as important facts. There is not a sea or a gulf in the world, which has any real commercial importance, but England has a stronghold on its shores. And wherever the continents tending southward come to points, around which the commerce of nations must sweep, there is a British settlement; and the cross of St. George salutes you as you are wafted by. There is hardly a little desolate, rocky island or peninsula, formed apparently by Nature for a fortress, and nothing else, but the British flag floats securely over it.

These are literal facts. Take, for example, the great Overland Route④ from Europe to Asia. Despite its name, its real highway is on the waters of the Mediterranean and Red Seas. It has three gates—three only. England holds the key to every one of these gates. Count them—Gibraltar, Malta, Aden. But she commands the entrance to the Red Sea, not by one, but by several strongholds. Midway in the narrow strait is the black, bare rock of Perim, sterile, precipitous, a perfect counterpart of Gibraltar; and on either side, between it and the mainland, are the ship-channels which connect the Red Sea with the great Indian Ocean. This England holds.

A little farther out is the peninsula of Aden, another Gibraltar, as rocky, as sterile, and as precipitous, connected with the mainland by a narrow strait, and having a harbour safe in all winds, and a central coal depôt. This England bought in 1839. And to complete her security, she has purchased from some petty sultan the neighbouring islands of Socotra and Kouri, giving, as it were, a retaining fee, so that, though she does not need them herself, no rival power may ever possess them.

As we sail a little farther on, we come to the Chinese Sea. What a beaten track of commerce is this! What wealth of comfort and luxury is wafted over it by every breeze! The teas of China! The silks of Farther India! The spices of the East! The ships of every clime and nation swarm on its waters! The stately barques of England, France, and Holland! The swift ships of America! And mingled with them, in picturesque confusion, the clumsy junk of the Chinaman, and the slender, darting canoe of the Malaysian islanders.

At the lower end of the China Sea, where it narrows into Malacca Strait, England holds the little island of Singapore—a spot of no use to her whatever, except as a commercial depot, but of inestimable value for that; a spot which, under her fostering care, is growing up to take its place among the great emporiums of the world. Half way up the sea she holds the island of Labuan,⑤ whose chief worth is this, that beneath its surface and that of the neighbouring mainland there lie inexhaustible treasures of coal, which are likely to yield wealth and power to the hand that controls them. At the upper end of the sea she holds Hong-Kong,⑥ a hot, unhealthy island, but an invaluable base from which to threaten and control the neighbouring waters.

Even in the broad, and as yet comparatively untracked Pacific, she is making silent advances towards dominion. The vast continent of Australia, which she has secured, forms its south-western boundary. And pushed out six hundred miles eastward from this lies New Zealand, like a strong outpost, its shores so scooped and torn by the waves that it must be a very paradise of commodious bays and safe havens for the mariner. The soil, too, is of extraordinary fertility; and the climate, though humid, deals kindly with the Englishman's constitution. Nor is this all; for, advanced from it, north and south, like picket stations, are Norfolk Isle, and the Auckland group, both of which have good harbours. And it requires no prophet's eye to see that, when England needs posts farther eastward, she will find them among the green coral islets that stud the Pacific.

Turn now your steps homeward, and pause a moment at the Bermudas,⑦ those beautiful isles, with their fresh verdure—green gems in the ocean, with air soft and balmy as Eden's was! They have their home uses too. They 'furnish arrow-root for the sick, and ample supplies of vegetables earlier than sterner climates will yield them. Is this all that can be said? Reflect a little more deeply. These islands possess a great military and naval depôt; and a splendid harbour, land-locked, strongly fortified, and difficult of access to strangers; —and all within a few days' sail of the chief ports of the Atlantic shores of the New World. England therefore retains them as a station on the road to her West Indian possessions; and should America go to war with her, she would use it as a base for offensive operations, where she might gather and whence she might hurl upon any' unprotected port all her gigantic naval and military power.

—Atlantic Monthly An American Magazine

WORDS

apparently, evidently.

beautiful, lovely.

challenges, claims.

commercial, mercantile.

commodious, roomy.

comparatively, relatively.

constitution, physical frame.

despite, in spite of.

distributed, disposed.

emergency, unforeseen occasion.

emporiums, depots.

fostering, cherishing.

furnish, supply.

inestimable, priceless.

inexhaustible, unlimited.

offensive, making the attack.

operations, works.

picturesque, striking.

precipitous, steep.

sagacity, wisdom.

security, safety.

settlement, colony.

splendid, magnificent.

traversed, crossed.

unprotected, unguarded.

NOTES

① The Phœnician.—The Phœnicians (natives of Phœnicia, on the sea-coast of Syria) were the most eminent navigators and traders of antiquity. They planted numerous colonies on the shores of the Mediterranean, the chief of which was Carthage, fifteen centuries before the Christian era.

② Pillars of Hercules.—The Strait of Gibraltar.

③ Rome and Carthage.—They struggled for the mastery of the Mediterranean in the three great Punic Wars (264, 218, 149 B. C.) In the last, Carthage was destroyed.

④ Overland Route.—See lesson on this subject.

⑤ Labuan, a small island in the East Indian Archipelago, on the north-west coast of Borneo.

⑥ Hong-Kong, at the mouth of Canton river, in China. It was taken by the English in 1839, and formally ceded to Britain in 1841.

⑦ Bermudas.—See lesson on Great Ocean Routes.

QUESTIONS

How do Britain's colonies strengthen her naval power? On what commanding positions has she strongholds? What are the three gates of the Overland Route? Who holds the keys to them? How does Britain command the China Sea? How the Pacific? What do the Bermudas enable her to control?

LESSON 79

KING JOHN

(ABRIDGED FROM SHAKESPEARE'S PLAY) PERSONS REPRESENTED.

KING JOHN.

HUBERT DE BURGH, Chamberlain to the King. CARDINAL PANDULPH, the Pope's legate. ARTHUR, son of Geffrey, late Duke of Bretagne, the elder brother of King John. CONSTANCE, mother to Arthur.

EARL OF SALISBURY.

SIR ROBERT FAULCONBRIDOE.

BIGOT, Earl of Norfolk.

EARL OF PEMBROKE.

PRINCE HENRY, son of King John, after wards Henry III.

PART I.

KING JOHN invades France, to chastise Philip for espousing the cause of Prince Arthur, the rightful heir to the English throne. In a battle before Angiers, Arthur is taken prisoner. Hubert, chamberlain to King John, is appointed Arthur's keeper, with instructions to find some means of depriving the young prince of life.

SCENE—King John's tent before Angiers.

K. John. Come hither, Hubert. O my gentle Hubert,

We owe thee much; ……

Give me thy hand. I had a thing to say, —

But I will tit it with some better time.

In good sooth, Hubert, I am almost ashamed

To say what good 'respect I have of thee.

Hub. I am much bounden① to your majesty.

K. John. Good friend, thou hast no cause to say so yet,

But thou shalt have: and creep time ne'er so slow,

Yet it shall come for me to do thee good.

I had a thing to say—but let it go:

The sun is in the heaven, and the proud day,

Attended with the pleasures of the world,

Is all too wanton, and too full of gawds,②

To give me audience: —If the midnight bell

Did, with his iron tongue and brazen mouth,

Sound one unto the drowsy race of night;

If this same were a churchyard where we stand.

And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs;

Or if that surly spirit, melancholy,

Had baked thy blood, and made it heavy-thick,

(Which, else, runs tickling up and down the veins,

Making that idiot, laughter, keep men's eyes

And strain their cheeks to idle' merriment,

A passion hateful to my purposes;)

Or if that thou couldst see me without eyes,

Hear me without thine ears, and make reply

Without a tongue, using conceit③ alone,

Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of words; —

Then, in despite of brooded watchful day,

I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts:

But, ah, I will not: —yet I love thee well;

And, by my troth,④ I think thou lovest me well.

Hub. So well, that what you bid me undertake,

Though that my death were adjunct to my act,⑤

Indeed, I'd do't.

K. John. Do not I know thou wouldst?

Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye

On yon young boy: I'll tell thee what, my friend,

He is a very serpent in my way;

And, wheresoe'er this foot of mine doth tread,

He lies before me: dost thou understand me?

Thou art his keeper.

Hub.　　And I will keep him so,

That he shall not offend your majesty.

K. John.　　　Death.

Hub. My lord?

K. John.　　A grave.

Hub.　　　He shall not live.

K. John.　　　Enough.

I could be merry now: Hubert, I love thee.

Well, I'll not say what I intend for thee:

Remember……

Constance, mother to Prince Arthur, is overwhelmed with grief at the capture of her son.

SCENE—The French King's tent.

Pand. Lady, you utter madness, and not sorrow.

Const. Thou art not holy, to belie me so;

I am not mad: this hair I tear is mine;

My name is Constance; I was Geffrey's⑥ wife;

Young Arthur is my son, and he is lost:

I am not mad;—I would, in sooth, I were

For then, 'tis like I should forget myself:

O, if I could, what grief should I forget! —

Preach some philosophy to make me mad……

If I were mad, I should forget my son:

I am not mad; too well, too well I feel

The different plague of each calamity.

K. Phi. Bind up those tresses. —O what love I note

In the fair multitude of these her hairs!

When but by chance a silver drop hath fallen,

Even to that drop ten thousand wiry friends

Do glue themselves in sociable grief,

Like true, inseparable, faithful lovers,

Sticking together in calamity. —

Bind up your hairs.

Const. Yes, that I will; and wherefore will I do it?

I tore them from their bonds; and cried aloud,

"O that these hands could so redeem my son,

As they have given these hairs their liberty!"

But now I envy at their liberty,

And will again commit them to their bonds,

Because my poor child is a prisoner. —

And, father cardinal, I have heard you say,

That we shall see and know our friends in heaven:

If that be true, I shall see my boy again;

For since the birth of Cain, the first male child,

To him that did but yesterday suspire,

There was not such a gracious creature born.

But now will canker⑦ sorrow eat my bud,

And cnase the native beauty from his cheek,

And he will look as hollow as a ghost;

As dim and meagre as an ague's fit;

And so he'll die; and, rising so again,

When I shall meet him in the court of heaven

I shall not know him: therefore never, never

Must I behold my pretty Arthur more.

Pand. You hold too heinous a respect of grief.

Const. He talks to me that never had a son.⑧

King Phi. You are as fond of grief as of your child.

Const. Grief fills the room up of my absent child,

Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me;

Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,

Remembers⑨ me of all his gracious parts,

Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form;

Then have I reason to be fond of grief. —

Fare you well: had you such a loss as I,

I could give better comfort than you do. —

I will not keep this form upon my head,

[Tearing it off.

When there is such disorder in my wit. —

O Lord ! my boy, my Arthur, my fair son !

My life, my joy, my food, my all the world!

My widow-comfort, and my sorrows' cure!

[Exit.

K. Phi. I fear some outrage, and I'll follow her.

[Exit

Arthur, having been sent to England, is imprisoned in Northampton Castle. (Historically this is not true. Arthur was first sent to Falaise, then to Rouen; but Shakespeare's arrangement of the play requires the scene to be laid in England.)

SCENE—A Room in Northampton Castle.

Enter HUBERT, and two Attendants.

Hub. Heat me these irons hot⑩; and, look thou stand

Within the arras⑪: when I strike my foot

Upon the bosom of the ground, rush forth,

And bind the boy, which you shall find with me,

Fast to the chair: be heedful: hence, and watch.

1st Attend. I hope your warrant will bear out the deed.

Hub. Uncleanly scruples! Fear not you: look to't.

[Exeunt Attendants.

Young lad, come forth; I have to say with you.

Enter ARTHUR.

Arth. Good morrow, Hubert.

Hub.　　　Good morrow, little prince.

Arth. As little prince⑫ (having so great a title

To be more prince) as may be. —You are sad.

Hub. Indeed, I have been merrier.

Arth.　　　Mercy on me!

Methinks nobody should be sad but I:

Yet, I remember, when I was in France,

Young gentlemen would be as sad as night,

Only for wantonness. By my Christendom,

So I were out of prison, and kept sheep,

I should be as merry as the day is long;

And so I would be here, but that I doubt

My uncle practises more harm to me:

He is afraid of me, and I of him.

Is it my fault that I was Geffrey's son?

No, indeed, is't not; and I would, in sooth,

I were your son, so you would love me, Hubert.

Hub. [Aside] If I talk to him, with his innocent prate

He will awake my mercy, which lies dead:

Therefore I will be sudden and dispatch.

Arth. Are you sick, Hubert? you look pale to-day:

In sooth, I would you were a little sick.

That I might sit all night and watch with you:

I warrant I love you more than you do me.

Hub. [Aside] His words do take possession of my bosom.

Read here, young Arthur.

[Showing a paper.

[Aside] How now, foolish rheum!

Turning dispiteous⑬ torture out of door!

I must be brief, lest resolution drop

Out at mine eyes, in tender 'womanish tears. —

Can you not read it? is it not fair writ?

Arth. Too fairly, Hubert, for so foul effect:

Must you with hot irons burn out both mine eyes?

Hub. Young boy, I must.

Arth.　And will you?

Hub　　　And I will.

Arth. Have you the heart? When your head did but ache,

I knit my handkerchief about your brows,

(The best I had—a princess wrought it for me.)

And I did never ask it you again:

And with my hand at midnight held your head;

And, like the watchful minutes to the hour,

Still and anon cheered up the heavy time;

Saying, What lack you? and, Where lies your grief?

Or, What good love may I perform for you?

Many a poor man's son would have lain still,

And ne'er have spoke a loving word to you;

But you at your sick service had a prince.

Nay, you may think my love was crafty love,

And call it cunning: do, an if⑭ you will:

If Heaven be pleased that you must use me ill,

Why then you must—Will you put out mine eyes?

These eyes, that never did, nor never shall,

So much as frown on you?

Hub.　　　I have sworn to do it;

And with hot irons must I burn them out,

Arth. Ah, none but in this iron age would do it!

The iron of itself, though heat⑮ red-hot,

Approaching near these eyes, would drink my tears,

And quench his fiery indignation

Even in the matter of mine innocence:

Nay, after that, consume away in rust,

But for containing fire to harm mine eye.

Are you more stubborn-hard than hammered iron?

An if an angel should have come to me,

And told me, Hubert should put out mine eyes,

I would not have believed him, —no tongue⑯ Hubert's.

Hub. Come forth.

[Stamps

Re-enter Attendants, with cords, irons, d. c.

Do as I bid you.

Arth. O, save me, Hubert, save me! my eyes are out,

Even with the fierce looks of these bloody men.

Hub. Give me the iron, I say, and bind him here.

Arth. Alas! what need you be so boisterous-rough?

I will not struggle, I will stand stone-still.

For pity, Hubert, let me not be bound!

Nay, hear me, Hubert! drive these men away,

And I will sit as quiet as a lamb;

I will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a word,

Nor look upon the iron angrily:

Thrust but these men away, and I'll forgive you,

Whatever torment you do put me to.

Hub. Go, stand within; let⑰ me alone with him.

1st Attend. I am best pleased to be from such a deed.

[Exeunt Attendants.

Arth. Alas! I then have chid away my friend!

He hath a stern look, but a gentle heart:

Let him come back, that his compassion may

Give life to yours.

Hub.　　Come, boy, prepare yourself.

Arth. Is there no remedy?

Hub.　　　None, but to lose your eyes.

Arth. O Hubert, were there but a mote in yours,

A grain, a dust, a gnat, a wandering hair,

Any annoyance in that precious sense!

Then, feeling what small things are boisterous there,

Your vile intent must needs seem horrible.

Hub. Is this your promise? go to, hold your tongue.

Arth. Hubert, the utterance of a brace of tongues

Must needs want pleading⑱ for a pair of eyes:

Let me not hold my tongue; let me not, Hubert; —

Or, Hubert, if you will, cut out my tongue,

So I may keep mine eyes. O, spare mine eyes;

Though to no use but still to look on you! —

Lo, by my troth, the 'instrument is cold,

And would not harm me!

Hub.　　I can heat it, boy.

Arth. No, in good sooth; the fire is dead with grief,

Being create for comfort, to be used

In undeserved extremes. See else yourself;

There is no malice in this burning coal;

The breath of heaven hath blown his spirit out,

And strewed repentant ashes on his head.

Hub. But with my breath I can revive it, boy.

Arth. And if you do, you will but make it blush

And glow with shame of your proceedings, Hubert:

Nay, it perchance will sparkle in your eyes;

And, like a dog that is compelled to fight,

Snatch at his master that doth tarre⑲ him on.

All things, that you should use to do me wrong,

Deny their office: only you do lack

That mercy which fierce fire and iron extends,

Creatures of note for mercy-lacking uses.

Hub. Well, see to live; I will not touch thine eyes

For all the treasure that thine uncle owes: ⑳

Yet am I sworn, and I did purpose, boy,

With this same very iron to burn them out.

Arth. O, now you look like Hubert! all this while

You were disguised.

Hub.　　　Peace: no more. Adieu.

Your uncle must not know but you are dead:

I'll fill these dogged spies with false reports.

And, pretty child, sleep doubtless and secure,

That Hubert, for the wealth of all the world,

Will not off end thee.

Arth.　　O Heaven! —I thank you, Hubert.

Hub. Silence; no more: go closely in with me.

Much danger do I undergo for thee.

[Exeunt

WORDS

annoyance, cause of pain.

approaching, advancing.

ashamed, abashed.

attended, followed.

audience, hearing.

boisterous, violent.

calamity, affliction.

compassion, pity.

cunning, deceit.

disguised, masked.

disorder, derangement.

dispatch, make haste.

heedful, careful.

heinous, serious.

indignation, wrath.

innocence, blamelessness.

instrument, implement.

intend, purpose.

meagre, emaciated.

melancholy, sadness.

merriment, mirth.

offend, injure.

outrage, injury.

philosophy, abstraction.

plague, stroke; trial.

practises, works.

proceedings, doings.

redeem, recover.

remedy, relief; cure.

repentant, penitent.

respect, regard.

scruples, doubts.

serpent, viper.

struggle, contend.

suspire, breathe.

torture, torment.

undergo, incur.

undertake, perform.

undeserved, unmerited.

utterance, speaking.

vacant, empty.

wantonness, playfulness.

warrant, commission.

watchful, attentive.

womanish, effeminate.

NOTES

① Bounden, obliged; beholden. [Old Eng. bindan, to bind; so obligation is from Lat. ligare, to bind.]

② Gawds, ornaments. [Old Eng. gaud; whence gaudy, showy.)

③ Conceit, thought; that which is conceived in the mind, as opposed to that which is spoken.

④ Troth, truth. Both words are connected in root with true, trust, and trow.

⑤ Adjunct to my act—dependent or consequent upon my act.

⑥ Geffrey.—King John's elder brother, Geffrey, was the third son of Henry II. In strict law, therefore, Geffrey's son, Arthur, had a better claim to the crown than his uncle King John had. King John knew this, and hence his anxiety to get rid of his nephew.

⑦ Canker, corroding, cancerous; referring to the effect of sorrow in eating away the spirit and the bloom of health.

⑧ That never had a son.—These words refer, of course, not to "me" but to "he." The meaning is, It is plain, from the way in which he speaks, that he never had a son.

⑨ Remembers, reminds.

⑩ Heat me these irons hot—that is, Make them as hot as possible, red-hot.

⑪ The arras, hangings of tapestry with which walls of rooms were covered in olden times;—so called from Arras in the north of France, where they were first made.

⑫ As little prince = I am as little of a prince, I have as little of princely power, as may be. An instance of Shakespeare's fondness for playing upon words, even in the most serious scenes.

⑬ Dispiteous, pit'iless; cruel. But the word is not a compound of dis and piteous. Its older form is despitous, meaning full of despite; which is from the French depit, contempt; and that from Latin despicere, to despise.

⑭ An if.—The two words have the same meaning. In modern English if alone is used; in earlier times an alone was sometimes used for if; but the common construction was an if. An, in this sense, is a form of and.

⑮ Heat….create, for heated, created. In Shakespeare, and in older writers, verbs ending in t and d very often had no suffix (-ed ) for the past tense or passive participle.

⑯ No tongue but Hubert's.—Supply before these words, I would have believed.

⑰ Let, leave. The root meaning is loose, slack. Let, to delay (to be loose in action), and let to hinder (to cause another to delay); late and lazy, less and least, loose and loosen, are all from the same root.

⑱ Must needs want pleading.—Want here means, fall short or be inadequate = The utterance even of a brace of tongues would be insufficient to plead for a pair of eyes.—Needs means, of necessity.

⑲ Tarre, excite, or provoke.

⑳ Owes, possesses; used in the sense of owns, which is from the same root. Owe has three different meanings in Shakespeare—to be indebted; to have a right to; and to possess.

PART II.

KINO JOHN, alarmed at the disaffection of his nobles and people, repent of his conduct towards Prince Arthur, and accuses Hubert of tempting him to accede to the murder.

SCENE. —A Room of State in the Palace.

Enter a Messenger.

K. John. A fearful eye thou hast; where is that blood

That I have seen inhabit in those cheeks?

So foul a sky clears not without a storm:

Pour down thy weather: how goes all in France?

Mess. From France to England.①—Never such a power

For any foreign preparation

Was levied in the body of a land!

The copy of your speed② is learned by them;

For when you should be told they do prepare,

The tidings come that they are all arrived.

K. John. O, where hath our intelligence been drunk?

Where hath it slept? Where is my mother's care,

That such an army could be drawn in France,

And she not hear of it?

Mess.　　　My liege, her ear

Is stopped with dust; the first of April died

Your noble mother: and, as I hear, my lord,

The Lady Constance in a frenzy died

Three days before: but this from rumour's tongue

I idly heard; if③ true, or false, I know not.

K. John. Withhold thy speed, dreadful occasion!

O, make a league with me, till I have pleased

My discontented peers!

[Exit Messenger.

My mother dead!

Enter HUBERT.

Hub. My lord, they say five moons were seen to-night;

Four fixed, and the fifth did whirl about

The other four, in wondrous motion.

K. John. Five moons!

Hub.　　Old men and beldams,④ in the streets,

Do prophesy upon it dangerously:

Young Arthur's death is common in their mouths:

And when they talk of him, they shake their heads,

And whisper one another in the ear;

And he that speaks doth gripe the hearer's wrist;

Whilst he that hears makes fearful action,

With wrinkled brows, with nods, with rolling eyes.

I saw a smith stand with his hammer, thus,

The whilst his iron did on the anvil cool,

With open mouth swallowing a tailor's news;

Who, with his shears and measure in his hand,

Standing on slippers (which his nimble haste

Had falsely thrust upon contrary feet),

Told of a many thousand⑤ warlike French

That were embattailled⑥ and ranked in Kent:

Another lean unwashed artificer

Cuts off his tale, and talks of Arthur's death.

K. John, Why seek'st thou to possess me with these fears?

Why urgest thou so oft young Arthur's death?

Thy hand hath murdered him: I had mighty cause

To wish him dead, but thou hadst none to kill him.

Hub. Had none, my lord ! why, did you not provoke me?

K. John. It is the curse of kings to be attended

By slaves, that take their humours for a warrant

To break within the bloody house of life;

And, on the winking of authority,

To understand a law; to know the meaning

Of dangerous majesty, when, perchance, it frowns

More upon humour than advised respect.

Hub. Here is your hand and seal for what I did.

K. John. O, when the last account 'twixt heaven and earth

Is to be made, then shall this hand and seal

Witness against us to damnation!

How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds

Makes deeds ill done! Hadst not thou been by,

A fellow by the hand of Nature marked,

Quoted⑦ and signed to do a deed of shame,

This murder had not come into my mind:

But, taking note of thy abhorred aspect,

Finding thee fit for bloody villany,

Apt, liable to be employed in danger,

I faintly broke with thee of Arthur's death;

And thou, to be endearëd to a king,

Made it no conscience to destroy a prince.

Hub. My lord, —

K. John. Hadst thou but shook thy head, or made a pause.

When I spake darkly what I purposed;

Or turned an eye of doubt upon my face,

And bid me tell my tale in express words;

Deep shame had struck me dumb, made me break off,

And those thy fears might have wrought fears in me:

But thou didst understand me by my signs,

And didst in signs again parley with sin;

Yea, without stop, didst let thy heart consent,

And consequently thy rude hand to act

The deed, which both our tongues held vile to name. —

Out of my sight, and never see me more!

My nobles leave me; and my state is braved,⑧

Even at my gates, with ranks of foreign powers;

Nay, in the body of this fleshly land,

This kingdom, this confine of blood and breath,

Hostility and civil tumult reigns

Between my conscience and my cousin's death.

Hub. Arm you against your other enemies,

I'll make a peace betwixt your soul and you.

Young Arthur is alive: this hand of mine

Is yet a maiden and an innocent hand,

Not painted with the crimson spots of blood.

Within this bosom never entered yet

The dreadful motion of a murderous thought;

And you have slandered Nature in my form,

Which, howsoever rude exteriorly

Is yet the cover of a fairer mind

Than to be butcher of an innocent child.

K. John. Doth Arthur live? O, haste thee to the peers,

Throw this report on their incensed rage,

And make them tame to their obedience!

Forgive the comment that my passion made

Upon thy feature; for my rage was blind,

And foul imaginary eyes of blood

Presented thee more hideous than thou art.

O, answer not, but to my closet bring

The angry lords, with all expedient haste.

I conjure thee but slowly; run more fast.

[Exeunt.

Arthur, disguised as a sailor boy, tries to escape. He leaps from the castle wall, and is killed.

SCENE.—The Castle walls

Arth. The wall is high; and yet will I leap down: —

Good ground, be pitiful, and hurt me not! —

There's few, or none, do know me; if they did,

This ship-boy's semblance hath disguised me quite.

I am afraid; and yet I'll venture it.

If I get down, an d do not break my limbs,

I'll find a thousand shifts to get away:

As good to die and go, as die and stay. —

[Leaps down.

O me ! my uncle's spirit is in these stones: —

Heaven take my soul, and England keep my bones!

[Dies.

Pembroke, Salisbury, Bigot, and Faulconbridge enter, and discover his dead body on the ground.

Enter HUBERT.

Hub. Lords, I am hot with haste in seeking you:

Arthur doth live; the king hath sent for you.

Sal. [Pointing to the body] O, he is bold, and blushes not at death. —

'Avaunt, thou hateful villain, get thee gone!

Hub. I am no villain.

Sal.　　Must I rob the law? [Drawing his sword,

Faul. Your sword is bright, sir; put it up again.

Sal. Not till I sheathe it in a murderer's skin.

Hub. Stand back, Lord Salisbury, stand back, I say;

In truth, I think my sword's as sharp as yours:

I would not have you, lord, forget yourself,

Nor tempt the danger of my true defence;

Lest I, by marking of your rage, forget

Your worth, your greatness and nobility.

Big. Out, dunghill! darest thou brave a nobleman?

Hub. Not for my life;⑨ but yet I dare defend

My innocent life against an emperor.

Sal. Thou art a murderer.

Hub.　　　Do not prove me so;⑩

Yet, I am none: whose tongue soe'er speaks false,

Not truly speaks; who speaks not truly, lies.

Pem, Cut him to pieces!

Faul.　　　Keep the peace, I say.

Sal. Stand by, or I shall gall you, Faulconbridge.

Faul. If thou but frown on me, or stir thy foot,

Or teach thy hasty spleen to do me shame,

I'll strike thee dead. Put up thy sword betime.

Big. What wilt thou do, renownëd Faulconbridge?

Second a villain and a murderer!

Hub. Lord Bigot, I am none.

Big.　　　Who killed this prince?

Hub. 'Tis not an hour since I left him well;

I honoured him, I loved him; and will weep

My date of life out for his sweet life's loss.

Sal. Trust not those cunning waters of his eyes,

For villany is not without such rheum; ⑪

And he, long traded in it, makes it seem

Like rivers of remorse and innocency.

Away, with me, all you whose souls abhor

The uncleanly savours of a slaughter-house;

For I am stifled with the smell of sin.

Big. Away, toward Bury, to the Dauphin there!

Pem. There, tell the king, he may inquire us out.

[Exeunt Lords.

Faul. Here's a good world! —Knew you of this fair work?

Beyond the infinite and boundless reach

Of mercy, if thou didst this deed of death,

Art thou doomed, Hubert.

Hub.　　　Do but hear me, sir.

Faul. Ha! I'll tell thee what;

Thou art stained as black—nay, nothing so black

As thou shalt be, if thou didst kill the child.

Hub. Upon my soul—

Faul.　　　If thou didst but consent

To this most cruel act, do but despair;

And, if thou want'st a cord, the smallest thread

That ever spider twisted from her womb

Will serve to strangle thee; a rush will be

A beam to hang thee on: or wouldst thou drown thyself.

Put but a little water in a spoon,

And it shall be as all the ocean,

Enough to stifle such a villain up. —

I do suspect thee very grievously.

Hub. I left him well.

Faul.　　　Go, bear him in thine arms. —

I am amazed, methinks; and lose my way

Among the thorns and dangers of this world. —

How easy dost thou take all England up

From forth this morsel of dead royalty,

The life, the right and truth of all this realm,

Is fled to heaven; and England now is left

To tug and scamble, and to part by the teeth

The unowed interest of proud-swelling state.

Now, for the bare-picked bone of majesty,

Doth dogged War bristle his angry crest,

And snarleth in the gentle eyes of Peace:

Now powers from home, and discontents at home,

Meet in one line; and vast confusion waits

(As doth a raven on a sick-fallen beast)

The imminent decay of wrested pomp.

Now happy he whose cloak and cincture⑫ can

Hold out this tempest. —Bear away that child,

And follow me with speed; I'll to the king:

A thousand businesses are brief in hand,

And Heaven itself doth frown upon the land.

[Exeunt

The Dauphin, aided by the disaffected nobles of England, gives battle to John at St. Edmund's-Bury. The king's troops are repulsed, and John is conveyed to Swinstead Abbey, sick of a fever. There the King dies.

SCENE. —Swinstead Abbey. ⑬

Enter BIGOT and Attendants, who bring in KING JOHN in a chair.

K. John. Ay, marry, now my soul hath elbow-room;

It would not out at windows, nor at doors.

There is so hot a summer in my bosom,

That all my bowels crumble up to dust:

I am a scribbled form, drawn with a pen

Upon a parchment, and against this fire

Do I shrink up.

P. Henry.　　How fares your majesty?

K. John. Poisoned—ill fare; —dead, forsook, cast off.

And none of you will bid the Winter come,

To thrust his icy fingers in my maw; ⑭

Nor let my kingdom's rivers take their course

Through my burned bosom, nor entreat the North

To make his bleak winds kiss my parched lips,

And comfort me with cold. I do not ask you much,

I beg cold comfort; and you are so strait,

And so ungrateful, you deny me that.

P. Henry. O that there were some virtue in my tears.

That might relieve you!

K. John.　　　The salt in them is hot.

Within me is a hell; and there the poison

Is, as a fiend, confined to tyrannize

On unreprievable condemned blood.

Enter FAULCONBRIDGE.

Faul. O, I am scalded with my violent motion,

And spleen of speed to see your majesty!

K. John. O cousin, thou art come to set mine eye. ⑮

The tackle of my heart is cracked and burned;

And all the shrouds, wherewith my life should sail,

Are turned to one thread, one little hair:

My heart hath one poor string to stay it by,

Which holds but till thy news be uttered;

And then all this thou seest is but a clod,

And module⑯ of confounded royalty.

Faul. The Dauphin is preparing hitherward;

Where Heaven He knows how we shall answer him:

For, in a night, the best part of my power,

As I upon advantage did remove,

Were in the Washes⑰ all unwarily

Devoured by the unexpected flood.

[The KING dies

Sal. You breathe these dead news in as dead an ear. —

My liege! my lord ! but now a king, now thus!

P. Henry. Even so must I run on, and even so stop.

What surety of the world, what hope, what stay,

When this was now a king, and now is clay? —

At Worcester must his body be interred,

For so he willed it.

Faul.　　Thither shall it then.

And happily may your sweet self put on

The lineal state and glory of the land!

To whom, with all submission, on my knee

I do bequeath my faithful services

And true subjection everlastingly.

Sal. And the like tender of our love we make,

To rest without a spot for evermore.

P. Henry. I have a kind soul, that would give you thanks,

And knows not how to do it, but with tears.

Faul. O let us pay the time but needful woe,

Since it hath been beforehand with our griefs. —

This England never did, (nor never shall,)

Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror,

But when it first did help to wound itself.

Now these her princes are come home again,

Come the three corners of the world in arms,

And we shall shock them! Nought shall make us rue,

If England to itself do rest but true.

[Exeunt

WORDS

abhorred, hated.

advised, intentional.

artificer, workman.

avaunt, begone.

businesses, affairs.

comment, criticism.

confounded, baffled.

confusion, tumult.

consequently, therefore.

devoured, swallowed up.

discontented, dissatisfied.

endeared, made a favourite.

expedient, prompt.

grievously, painfully.

honoured, revered.

hostility, war.

humours, whims.

imminent, threatening.

incensed, infuriated.

infinite, boundless.

inhabit, dwell.

intelligence, information.

nobility, rank.

parchment, scroll.

preparation, equipment.

prophesy, predict.

provoke, incite.

remorse, regret.

renowned, illustrious.

savours, odours.

scamble, struggle.

semblance, disguise.

slandered, defamed.

strangle, suffocate.

unreprievable, not to be respited.

NOTES

① From France to England.—That is, All in France goes from France to England.

② The copy of your speed.—Referring to the remarkable speed which had attended King John's invasion of France in the earlier part of the play, and of which the Dauphin had said,—

"So hot a speed, with such advice disposed,

Such temperate order in so fierce a cause,

Doth want example."

③ If, whether.

④ Beldams, old women; lit fine-lady; but belle is used as a prefix in French (much as grand is used in English); for example, belle-mire, mother-in-law.

⑤ A many thousand, many a thousand. A is used before many, or a word expressing number, when the whole of the things are to be regarded as one mass; for example, "An eight days." (Luke, ix. 28.)

⑥ Embattailed, marshalled in order of battle.

⑦ Quoted, marked; noted.

⑧ Braved, set at defiance. To brag, to boast, is from the same root; the primary meaning of which is to crack, and so to attract notice. Hence, also, Sc. braw, showy; Fr. brave, gay, gallant; O. E. brave, handsome; and modern brave, courageous.

⑨ Not for my life = I dare not for my life defy a nobleman; yet I dare defend my innocent life against any man, even an emperor.

⑩ Do not prove me so, by provoking me to kill you.

⑪ Rheum, tears: lit. any fluid. It comes from a Greek word meaning to flow.

⑫ Cincture, belt, or girdle; lit. any thing which binds or surrounds.

⑬ Swinstead Abbey.—The historical account gives Newark Castle in Nottinghamshire as the scene of King John's death.

⑭ Maw, mouth.

⑮ To set mine eye=To close mine eyes after I am dead.

⑯ Module, a model or image.

⑰ The Washes, between Norfolk and Lincoln, where King John lost his baggage and regalia in 1216.