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THE BATTLE OF LODI.

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1. In the stillness of a Sabbath morn, what faint sounds attract the ear?

2. Why is the Sabbath called peculiarly the poor man's day?
3. What does he hope?

LESSON CXXX.

MAY THE TENTH.

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The Battle of Lodi.

On this day, in 1796, Buonaparte gained one of his most splendid victories at Lodi, near Parma, in the north of Italy.

Beaulieu, the Austrian general, being driven from the Po, crossed the Adda at Lodi, Pizzighittone, and Cremona. He left some troops, however, to defend the approaches to Lodi. The advanced guard of the French attacked these on the 10th, and drove them into the town, which was entered in such close pursuit, that the Imperialists, on leaving it, had no leisure to break down the bridge over the Adda. At the other end of the bridge the imperial army was drawn up, and thirty pieces of cannon defended the passage. Buonaparte demanded of his grenadiers if they were willing to attempt to force it; they applauded the proposal, and he formed them into a close column.

Taking advantage of a cloud of smoke which issued from the hostile artillery, they rushed along the bridge, which was about a hundred yards in length, and reached the middle of it before they were discovered. Here a general discharge from the Austrians destroyed 700 men. The French column hesitated, and the carnage became terrible; but Massena, Berthier, D'Allemagne, Cervoni, Lasnes, and other officers, flying to the head of the column, urged on the soldiers, and pressing forward, broke into the ranks of the imperial army, which immediately gave way, and fled in all directions.

This exploit has been much celebrated. The intrepidity of the troops by whom it was accomplished is unquestionable; but the leader who urged them to such an enterprise is certainly not entitled to equal approbation. He had passed the Po with scarcely the loss of a man. The Adda is a very inferior stream, which has fords both above and below Lodi. The river was actually crossed at one of these by Augereau with the cavalry during the attack upon the bridge. With the delay of one day, therefore, the passage might have been effected without difficulty by the whole army, and there was no adequate motive to justify the lavish expenditure of blood which was here

made.

1. What great victory was gained by Buonaparte on this day, in 1796?

2. What did Buonaparte demand of his grenadiers?

3. What did Massena, Berthier, and other French officers?

4. Why was there no adequate motive to justify Buonaparte's lavish expenditure of blood?

LESSON CXXXI.. -MAY THE ELEVENTH.

The Earl of Chatham.

THE death of William Pitt, earl of Chatham, an illustrious British statesman, occurred on this day, in the year 1778. During his administration as prime minister, Great Britain rose to a height of prosperity and glory unknown to any former period.

Added to his character of an able statesman, a virtuous man, and a true patriot, he was also a most accomplished orator: the music and majesty of his voice, the persuasive gracefulness and irresistible force of his action, and his expressive eye, carried conviction with his argument, and formed a perfect combination of excellence. The sense of the merits of this great man was not confined to his own country; it pervaded all Europe, and was attested by some of the highest characters in it. "A great and celebrated name," says Mr. Burke, speaking of Lord Chatham; "a name that keeps the name of this country respectable in every other on the globe." It is, indeed, inseparably entwined with the glory of England at its brightest period.

The highest encomiums have been passed on the splendid abilities and noble patriotism of Lord Chatham by many distinguished men in and out of parliament; but of the numerous portraits which have been drawn of him, that of Lord Chesterfield, which appears to have been the result of close and candid observation, may with great propriety be here quoted.

"His private life was stained by no vice, nor sullied by any meanness. All his sentiments were liberal and elevated. His ruling passion was an unbounded ambition, which, when supported by great abilities, and crowned with great success, make what the world calls a great man. He was haughty, imperious, impatient of contradiction, and overbearing qualities which too often accompany, but always clog, great ones. He had manners and address, but one might discern through them too great a consciousness of his own superior talents. He was a most agreeable and lively companion in social life, and had such a versatility of wit, that he would adapt it to all sorts of conversation. He had also a most happy turn

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DESCRIPTION OF NEW ORLEANS.

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to poetry, but he seldom indulged and seldom avowed it. His eloquence was of every kind, and he excelled in the argumentative as well as in the declamatory way. But his invectives were terrible, and uttered with such energy of diction, and such dignity of action and countenance, that he intimidated those who were the most willing and the best able to encounter him."

1. To what pitch of honour did Great Britain rise during the administration of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham ?

2. What does Mr. Burke say of Lord Chatham ?

3. To whom are we indebted for the candid portraiture of Lord Chatham which is here quoted?

LESSON CXXXII. -MAY THE TWELFTH.

Description of New Orleans.

It is certainly mournful for a traveller to dwell among the monuments of Pompeii, of Herculaneum, and of Rome. There, if he feels at all, he feels, among these wrecks of past grandeur, that he is nothing. A totally different sensation possesses the mind on entering an American city. In these man beholds what he can contend with, and what he can accomplish, when his strength is not checked by the arbitrary will of despotic power. New Orleans-for eighty years the wretched asylum for the outcasts of France and Spain, who could not venture a hundred paces beyond its gates without utterly sinking to the breast in mud, or being attacked by alligators has become in the space of thirty years one of the most beautiful cities of the Union, inhabited by 50,000 persons, who trade with half the world.

The view is splendid beyond description, when you pass down the stream, which is here a mile broad, rolls its immense volumes of waters in a bed above 200 feet deep, and, as if conscious of its strength, appears to look quietly on the bustle of the habitations of man. Both its banks are lined with charming sugar plantations, from the midst of which rises the airy mansion of the wealthy planter, surrounded with orange, banana, lime, and fig trees, the growth of a climate approaching to the torrid zone. In the rear you

discover the cabins of the negroes and the sugar-houses, and just at the entrance of the port, groups of smaller houses, as if erected for the purpose of concealing the prospect of the town. As soon as the steam-boats pass these outposts, New Orleans, in the form of a half-moon, appears in all its splendour.

The river runs for a distance of four or five miles in a southern direction; here it suddenly takes an eastern course, which it pursues for the space of two miles, thus forming a semicircular bend. A single glance exhibits to view the harbour, the vessels at anchor, together with the city, situated as it were at the feet of the passenger. The first object that presents itself is the dirty and uncouth backwood's flat boat. Hams, ears of corn, apples, whiskeybarrels, are strewed upon it, or are fixed to poles, to direct the attention of buyers. Close by are the rather more decent keel-boats, with cotton, furs, whiskey, flour; next the elegant steam-boat, which, by its hissing and repeated sounds, announces either its arrival or departure, and sends forth immense columns of black smoke, that form into long clouds above the city. Farther on are the smaller merchant-vessels, the sloops and schooners from the Havannah, Vera Cruz, Tampico; then the brigs: and lastly, the elegant ships, appearing like a forest of masts. What in Philadelphia and even in New York is dispersed in several points is here offered at once to the eye- a truly enchanting prospect.

1. In what part of the world is New Orleans situated? 2. What sensation is felt on entering an American city? 3. What immense river is here alluded to?

LESSON CXXXIII.

MAY THE THIRTEENTH.

King John of England.

On this day, in 1213, the ignominious King John resigned his kingdom to Pandolf, the Pope's Legate, at Dover. The character of this prince is nothing but a complication of vices, equally mean and odious, ruinous to himself, and destructive to his people. He subjected his kingdom to a shameful vassalage under the see of Rome; he saw the prerogatives of his crown diminished by law, and still more reduced by faction; and he died at last when in danger of being totally expelled by a foreign power, and of either ending his life miserably in a prison, or seeking shelter as a fugitive from the pursuit of his enemies.

No prince in English history has been transmitted to posterity in blacker colours than John; and from the narrative of his actions, there seems no reason to suppose that even party hatred has exaggerated his vices. Ingratitude, perfidy, and cruelty, were habitual in his character; and though occasional gleams of vigour and spirit

HENRY IV. KING OF FRANCE.

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appear in his public conduct, yet they seem to have been the mere explosions of a violent temper; and soon subsided in meanness and pusillanimity. His private life was stained by licentiousness and the violation of conjugal rights and duties; nor does he seem to have entertained even those imperfect regards to religion which are often found in conjunction with dissoluteness. Indeed, the character under which religion and its ministers appeared in that age may serve as a palliation for impiety. The best part of his conduct as a sovereign was the attention he paid to commerce and maritime affairs. More charters of boroughs and incorporations for mercantile purposes date from him than from any other of our early kings; and the popular constitution of the corporation of London was his gift.

The late amiable and lamented poet-laureate, Dr. Southey, thus alludes to King John, as the monarch from whom the English barons obtained Magna Charta :— Englishmen !

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Curse not his memory. Murderer as he was,

Coward and slave, yet he it was who sign'd

That charter, which should make thee morn and night

Be thankful for thy birth-place:-Englishman!

That holy charter, which, shouldst thou permit

Force to destroy, or Fraud to undermine,

Thy children's groans will persecute thy soul,
For they must bear the burthen of thy crime."

1. What did King John on this day in 1213?

2. What was the character of King John?

3. As a sovereign, what was the best part of his conduct? 4. By whom were the concluding lines written?

LESSON CXXXIV.—MAY THE FOURTEENTH.
Henry IV. King of France.

On this day, in 1610, Henry IV. of France was assassinated at Paris by the fanatical Ravaillac. His heart and that of his queen were deposited in a chapel belonging to a college which was built by that monarch at La Fleche, which is seated on the river Loire, 22 miles north of Angers.

In the whole line of French kings there is no name so popular as that of Henry IV., and some of the most philosophical of the national historians have echoed the public voice in their deliberate judgments. He has been made the subject of the only French epic poem which

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