repeat it, Upon what authority do you swear to the animal's age?' 'The best authority,' responded the witness, gruffly. 'Then why such evasion? Why not state it at once?' 'Well, then, if you must have it-' 'Must! I will have it,' vociferated the counsellor, interrupting the witness. 'Well, then, if you must and will have it,' rejoined the ostler, with imperturbable gravity, 'Why, then, I had it myself from the mare's own mouth.' A simultaneous burst of laughter rang through the court.

21. GREECE.

Greece would certainly have succumbed, if three great powers, England, Russia, and France had not assisted her. The commanders of the Allies destroyed the Turkish-Egyptian fleet in the battle of Navarino on the 20th of October 1827. Ultimately the Greeks wanted a king; their choice fell upon Otto, a Bavarían prince, who on a later occasion was obliged to abdicate. Greece still possesses many elements of vitality. The present king of Greece is George, a Danish prince.

22. BEFORE THE BATTLE.

The king was eager to fight; and it was obviously his interest to do so. Every hour took away something from his own strength, and added something to the strength of his enemies. It was most important, too, that his troops should be blooded. Still a great battle, however it might terminate, could not but injure the prince's popularity. All this William perfectly understood, and determined to avoid an action as long as possible. It is said, when Schomberg was told that the enemy were advancing and were determined to fight, he answered with the composure of a tactician confident1 in his skill, 'That will be just as we may choose.' It was, however, impossible to prevent all skirmishing between the advanced guards of the armies. William was desirous that in such skirmishing nothing might happen which

1 Of a tactician confident in his skill i. e. of a (gen.) in his skill confident tactician (Gen.).

could wound the pride or rouse the vindictive feelings of the nation which he meant to deliver.

3

23. MRS. PENDARVES TO HER SISTER, MRS. ANN GRANVILLE. Dublin, 3rd Feb., 1731. I am sorry my dearest sister has such frequent returns of the headache. 1 I was in hopes the mustard-seed had been of service to you; pray use a great deal of exercise, and take hartshorn constantly. I believe in time 2 you will find more benefit from that than anything; but lose no opportunity of walking or riding every day, when the weather will permit you; remember that in taking care of yourself, you preserve the life and happiness of one who, I know, is not indifferent to you. I prescribe to you the method I pursue; every day that is tolerable Phill and I walk three times round Stephen's Green, which is two English miles. I never had my health better than since being here. They make mighty good gloves here; but I shall not be able to send you any; they are prohibited. I can say no more but that in short I am for ever yours,

6

24. OCTAVIAN.

Pen.

Octavian dated the years of his imperial monarchy from the day of the battle of Actium. But it was not till two years later that he appeared in Rome, and celebrated three magnificent triumphs for his victories in Dalmatia, at Actium, and in Egypt. The temple of Janus was closed for the first time since the year 235 B.C. All men drew breath' more freely, and all, except the soldiers, looked forward to a time

1 'In hopes' must be singular in German in the hope.

2 Here not zur rechten Zeit, but in the course of time, allmälig, or früher oder später.

3 In taking care render it:

4 I know as I know.

when you take care.

5 Method I pursue, i. e. method which I pursue.

6 No more but, nichts mehr als.

7 To draw breath, atmen.

of tranquillity. Liberty and independence were forgotten words. After the terrible disorders of the last half century, the general cry was for quiet at any price. Octavian was just the man to fulfil these aspirations. His vigilant and patient mind was well fitted for the discharge of business, however onerous. He avoided shocking 1 popular feeling by assuming the title of royalty, but he enjoyed, by universal consent, an authority more than regal.

25. GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS IN THE 30 YEARS' WAR.

'We must not', Gustavus said, 'await the enemy in Sweden. For all would be lost, if we should lose a battle here; but all will be gained, if we make a successful commencement in Germany. The sea is wide, and we have an extensive coast to defend. If the imperial fleet should escape us, or our own be defeated, it would be impossible for us to prevent the enemy from landing. Everything depends upon our retaining Stralsund. So long as this port is open to us, we shall be masters of the Baltic and maintain a free communication with Germany. But to protect Stralsund, we must go over to Pomerania with an army. Let us, then, talk no longer of a defensive war, by which we should sacrifice our greatest advantages.'

26. A RURAL RETREAT.

The place of our retreat was in a little neighbourhood, consisting of farmers who tilled their own grounds, and were equal strangers to opulence and poverty. As they had almost all the conveniences of life within themselves, they seldom visited towns or cities in search of superfluities. Remote from the polite, they still retained the primeval simplicity of manners; and frugal by habit, they scarce knew that temperance was a virtue. They wrought with cheerfulness

1 He avoided shocking etc. render it: he avoided to assume the royal title and thus to shock the popular feeling

on days of labour, but observed festivals as intervals of idleness and pleasure.

27. ANGLO-SAXON.

The Anglo-Saxon, as has been already stated, forms the basis of the English language. The greater number of the words in common use belong to that tongue, and by these alone it is possible to express most of our ideas with clearness and precision. Many of our most correct and elegant prosewriters have adhered closely to the Saxon idiom, and the greatest of our poets have made it the vehicle of their happiest and noblest effusions. 'If we examine', says Ingram, 'the most simple specimens of written language, or that which is used in our colloquial intercourse with each other on ordinary occasions, we shall find the average Saxon words to be no fewer than eight out of ten, or, on the most moderate computation, fifteen out of twenty.

28. THE GROANS OF THE BRITONS.

The Scots and Picts no sooner 2 heard of the departure of the Romans than they considered the whole island as their own. One party crossed the Forth in boats made of leather, while another attacked the wall, which the Britons abandoned on the first assault, flying like timorous deer and leaving the country a prey to the enemy.

The miserable people then wrote to Etius that memorable letter entitled 'The groans of the Britons.' 'We know not,' say they, 'even which way to flee. Chased by the barbarians to the sea, and forced back by the sea upon the barbarians, we have left us only the choice of two deaths;

1 The average

to be; i. e. daß im Durchschnitt no fewer

than eight out of ten words are Saxon.

than, i. e. as soon as the Scots and Picts heard . .

...

either to be slain by the sword or be swallowed up by the waves.' What answer they received is uncertain; but it is well known they received no assistance, Rome being then threatened by Attila, the most terrible enemy that ever invaded the empire.

29. EUGENE'S VICTORY OVER THE TURKS AT ZENTA.

The Turkish infantry was still on the right bank of the river, and Eugene hastened to take advantage of this circumstance for a vigorous attack. The Turks were too much surprised and frightened to offer any determined resistance. After a few hours' fighting they gave way and rushed towards the river. As the artillery of both the Imperial wings could command the bridge, where the Turkish cavalry and infantry were thronging in wild confusion, the rout presented a frightful spectacle. The Sultan witnessed from the other bank the flight and destruction of his army. Twenty thousand men are said to have perished in the fray, and ten thousand in the waves of the Theiss.

In this famous battle of Zenta the Ottoman power was broken, and the war, which had lasted fourteen years, was soon after brought to an end.

30. THE GOD JANUS.

January was distinguished as the first month of the year by Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome. This month derived its appellation from the Latin Januarius, in honour of Janus, a pagan deity, held in the highest veneration. The first month of the year was named after him, not only on account of his great reputation for judgment respecting things that were past, and his presumed foreknowledge of events to come 2, but also because he was supposed to have the gates of heaven committed to his particular charge; from