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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

sense of the success which had already been obtained. He was now left alone, when suddenly a cry was heard on the deck that the Orient was on fire. In the confusion he found his way up, unassisted and unnoticed,

[graphic]

and, to the astonishment of every one, appeared on the quarter-deck, while he immediately gave orders that boats should be sent to the relief of the enemy.

5. It was soon after nine that the fire on board the Orient broke out. Brueys was dead; he had received three wounds, yet would not leave his post; a fourth cut him almost in two. He desired not to be carried below, but to be left to die upon deck. The flames soon mastered his ship.

Her sides had just been

painted, and the oil-jars and paint-buckets were lying on the deck. By the prodigious light of this conflagration the situation of the two fleets could now be perceived, the colours of both being clearly distinguishable. About ten o'clock the ship blew up, with a shock which was felt to the very bottom of every vessel. Many of her officers and men jumped overboard, some clinging to the spars and pieces of wreck with which the sea was strewn, others swimming to escape from the destruction which they momently dreaded. Some were picked up by our boats, and some even in the heat and fury of the action were dragged into the lower ports of the nearest British ships by the British sailors. The greater part of her crew, however, stood the danger till the last, and continued to fire from the lower deck.

6. This tremendous explosion was followed by a silence not less awful. The firing immediately ceased on both sides, and the first sound which broke the silence was the dash of her shattered masts and yards falling into the water from the vast height to which they had been exploded. It is upon record that a battle between two armies was once broken off by an earthquake such an event would be felt like a miracle; but no incident in war, produced by human. means, has ever equalled the sublimity of this pause and all its circumstances.

7. About seventy of the Orient's crew were saved by the English boats. Among the many hundreds who perished were the commodore, Casabianca, and his son, a brave boy only ten years old. They were seen floating on a shattered mast when the ship blew up.

Robert Southey.

com-mence'-ment Min'-o-taur Or'-i-ent

se-vere'-ly

as-sist'-ance con-fu'-sion

ceased

ex-plod'-ed

pos-ses'-sion

sur'-geon

re-quest-ed a-ston'-ish-ment mir'-a-cle

sec'-re-tar-y im-me'-di-ate-ly cir'-cum-stan-ces

[blocks in formation]

EXERCISES.-1. The Greek prefix (1) dia- means through; as diameter, the measure through. (2) En- or -em means on, in; as emphasise, to lay stress on; energy, inherent power of doing work.

2. Analyse and parse the following: '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.'

3. Make sentences of your own, and use in each one or more of the following words: Mortal, entreat, incident, commodore.

PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION.

[This is an extract from the well-known History of England from the Accession of James II., by Lord Macaulay, historian and essayist.]

1. Of the blessings which civilisation and philosophy bring with them, a large proportion is common to all ranks, and would, if withdrawn, be missed as painfully by the labourer as by the peer. The market-place, which the rustic can now reach with his cart in an

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