existence? Think not man was made in vain, who has such an eternity reserved for him.'

8. I gazed with inexpressible pleasure on these happy islands. At length said I: '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. Addison.

EXERCISES.-1. The Greek prefix anti- or ant- means against; as antipathy, a feeling against; antarctic, opposite to (against) the arctic; antagonist, one who contends against another; antipodes, those living on the other side of the globe, and whose feet are opposite to (against) ours. 2. Analyse and parse the following: ""What mean, "said I, "those great flights of birds that are perpetually hovering about the bridge?”' 3. Make sentences of your own, and use in each one or more of the following words: Prospect, distribute, contend, reserve.

SWISS LIFE.

[The following lesson is from the Traveller, a poem by Oliver Goldsmith.]

No zephyr fondly sues the mountain's breast,
But meteors glare, and stormy glooms invest.

Yet still, even here, content can spread a charm,
Redress the clime, and all its rage disarm.

Though poor the peasant's hut, his feasts though small, He sees his little lot the lot of all;

Sees no contiguous palace rear its head,

To shame the meanness of his humble shed;
No costly lord the sumptuous banquet deal,
To make him loathe his vegetable meal;
But calm, and bred in ignorance and toil,
Each wish contracting, fits him to the soil.
Cheerful at morn, he wakes from short repose,
Breathes the keen air, and carols as he goes;
With patient angle trolls the finny deep,

Or drives his venturous ploughshare to the steep;
Or seeks the den where snow-tracks mark the way,
And drags the struggling savage into day.
At night returning, every labour sped,
He sits him down the monarch of a shed;
Smiles by his cheerful fire, and round surveys
His children's looks, that brighten at the blaze;
While his loved partner, boastful of her hoard,
Displays her cleanly platter on the board:
And haply, too, some pilgrim thither led,
With many a tale repays the nightly bed.

re-dress', make amends for; set

right.

con-tig-u-ous, near at hand.

sump-tu-ous, rich and costly.
loathe, despise; lose taste for.
each wish con-tract'-ing, moderat-
ing his wishes; bringing his
mind to his lot.

car'-ols, sings cheerfully.

trolls, fishes with a rod, the line of which runs on a reel near the handle.

plough'-share, the part of the plough which shears or cuts the ground.

hoard, savings.

EXERCISES.-1. The Greek prefix (1) apo- means from, away; as apostle, one sent from; apostate, one who falls away from his religion, principles, or party. (2) Cata- means down; as cataract, a rushing down; catalogue, a list of names, books, &c. written down.

2. Analyse and parse the following:

'Cheerful at morn, he wakes from short repose,

Breathes the keen air, and carols as he goes.'

3. Make sentences of your own, and use in each one or more of the following words: Mansion, redress, loathe, catalogue,

NELSON AT THE BATTLE OF THE NILE.

[This extract is from the popular and interesting Life of Nelson by Robert Southey, poet-laureate (1813–1843). ]

1. The two first ships of the French line had been dismasted within a quarter of an hour after the commencement of the action, and the others had in that time suffered so severely that victory was already certain. The third, fourth, and fifth were taken possession of at half-past eight. Meantime, Nelson received a severe wound on the head. Captain Berry caught him in his arms as he was falling. The great effusion of blood occasioned an apprehension that the wound was mortal: Nelson himself thought so. A large flap of the skin of the forehead, cut from the bone, had fallen over one eye, and, the other being blind, he was in total darkness.

2. When he was carried down, the surgeon, with a

natural and pardonable eagerness, quitted the poor fellow then under his hands, that he might instantly attend the admiral. 'No!' said Nelson; 'I will take my turn with my brave fellows.' Nor would he suffer his own wound to be examined till every man who had been previously wounded was properly attended to. Fully believing that the wound was mortal, and that he was about to die, as he had ever desired, in battle and in victory, he called the chaplain, and desired him to deliver what he supposed to be his dying remembrance to Lady Nelson.

3. He then sent for Captain Louis on board from the Minotaur, that he might thank him personally for the great assistance which he had rendered to the Vanguard, and, ever mindful of those who deserved to be his friends, appointed Captain Hardy, from the brig, to the command of his own ship, Captain Berry having to go home with the news of the victory. When the surgeon came, in due time, to examine the wound (for it was in vain to entreat him to let it be examined sooner), the most anxious silence prevailed; and the joy of the wounded men, and of the whole crew, when they heard that the hurt was merely superficial, gave Nelson deeper pleasure than the unexpected assurance that his life was in no danger.

4. The surgeon requested, and, as far as he could, ordered him to remain quiet; but Nelson could not rest. He called for his secretary, Mr Campbell, to write the despatches. Campbell had himself been wounded, and was so affected at the blind and suffering state of the admiral that he was unable to write. The chaplain was then sent for; but, before he came, Nelson, with his characteristic eagerness, took the pen and contrived to trace a few words, marking his devout