the rare occurrence of his spending a day at home without company, his factotum Andrews used to have the honour of being beaten by his master in a snug game at double dumby. His mode of passing six days in the week was evident enough; but what he did with himself on Sunday occasioned me some speculation. Never in my life did I see him take up a book; and how he could possibly get through the after coffee hours on a Sunday puzzled me long. Chance solved the problem. He came to call on us after church, and agreed to dine and sleep at our house. The moment tea was over, without the slightest apology or attempt at conversation, he drew his chair to the fire, set his feet on the fender, and fell fast asleep in the most comfortable and orderly way possible. It was evidently a weekly habit. Every sense and limb seemed composed to it. Viper looked up in his face, curled himself round on the hearth-rug, and went to sleep too; and Andrews, just as the clock struck twelve, came in to wake him, that he might go to bed. It was clearly an invariable custom; a settled thing.

1. Describe the personal appearance of Mr. Sidney.

2. What marked the disconsolate condition of the old bachelor?

3. What was Mr. Sidney's ruling passion?

4. How did he pass his Sunday evenings?

LESSON CLXV.-JUNE THE FOURTEENTH.

Battles of Marengo and Friedland.

THIS day is the anniversary of the ever-memorable battle of Marengo, which was fought in 1800, between the Austrians under General Melas, and the French under Buonaparte, assisted by Generals Berthier, Desaix, Kellerman, Victor, Marmont, Monnier, and Murat. In this hard-fought battle the French, after having been thrice repulsed, and two-thirds of their army put to the rout, rallied, and by the seasonable arrival, at the critical moment, of the grenadiers of the consular guard, and of the corps de reserve under General Desaix, obtained a most complete and decisive victory over the Austrians, of whom above 9000 were killed or wounded, and 6000 taken prisoners. Among the latter were General Zagg and St. Julian, seveal other generals, and almost all the officers of the staff. Nght scarcely put a stop to the carnage and pursuit. The loss on the part of the French in killed and

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wounded could not be less. Among the former fell the brave General Desaix, by whose valour and conduct the victory was chiefly obtained. This victory decided the fate of Italy; an armistice was next day agreed to between General Melas and Buonaparte, which paved the way for the general peace in 1801-2.

A column is placed near the spot where Desaix fell, with an inscription in Italian, Latin, and French: a few skulls collected in digging the foundation, and ranged in order round the pedestal, form a savage but appropriate ornament to this monument. The plain of Marengo, entirely destitute of wood, and indeed of vegetation, presents one naked, barren extent of land, -a fit place for the demon of war to practise his horrid rites, and immolate his victims.

On the same day, in 1807, the battle of Friedland took place, in which Buonaparte defeated the Russians with great slaughter.

1. What memorable battle was fought on this day, in 1800? 2. What memorable battle was fought on this day, in 1807?

LESSON CLXVI.

JUNE THE FIFTEENTH.

On History and Chronology.

THE uses of history are as varied as they are important. Persons who read history merely for amusement, or, having in view some particular branch of learning, attend only to certain branches of history, and do not restrict themselves to that order and connection which is absolutely requisite for obtaining a proper knowledge of history; the most regular, as well as successful way of studying which is, to begin with an outline or epitome of universal history, and afterwards apply to the history of particular nations and commonwealths: for the study of particular histories is only extending the knowledge of particular parts of universal history: indeed, unless this be our plan, we shall only fill the memory with a confused assemblage of events without order or arrangement.

History is divided into sacred and profane, ancient and modern. Sacred history is that which is contained in the Bible, namely, the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament contains the history of the Jews, and the inspired writings of their prophets; and the New Testament contains the history of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Profane history is that which has not been recorded by

sacred writers; and is divided into ancient and modern. Ancient history is an account of all the kingdoms and countries in the world, to the dissolution of the Roman empire. Modern history is the account of the kingdoms and countries of the world since the destruction of the Roman empire.

The

But history, to be useful, must be accompanied by chronology and geography. Chronology determines the dates of events and the civil distinctions of time. divisions of time are either natural or artificial; the natural divisions of time are the year, month, week, day, and hour, deduced from the motions of the heavenly bodies, and suited to the purposes of common life; the artificial divisions of time are the cycle or period, and the era or epoch.

The two principal eras by which we reckon are, from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ, which was 4004 years; and from the birth of Christ to the present time; so that the two great periods, eras, or epochs, whence we date everything are the creation of the world and the birth of Jesus Christ; but it is usual to reckon the dates from the first period backward from the birth of Christ; thus, instead of saying Carthage was founded in the year of the world 2771, we more commonly say Carthage was founded in the year 1233 before Christ.

A century means one hundred years; consequently, as there have been eighteen centuries since the birth of Christ, we are now in the nineteenth century. Thus, if we speak of a thing that was done in the twelfth century, we mean that it occurred between the year 1100 and the year 1201 after the birth of Christ.

Geography and chronology have been called "the eyes of history:" without their aid history is dark and confused; and chronology without history is dry and insipid.

1. What is sacred history?

2. What does ancient history include ?

3. What are the natural divisions of time ?-and what the artificial ? 4. In what century are we now?-and why?

THUNDER is the report which accompanies the discharge of electric fluid in the clouds, or between them and the earth. It arises from the rarefaction or displacing of a

A THUNDER-STORM.

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line of the air, and its suddenly collapsing, by which vibrations or sounds are produced, with reflections or echoes from the clouds and earth. Although we are sometimes visited by lightning and thunder which do considerable damage, we are happily exempt from such dreadful explosions of electricity as are common in tropical regions, and in many parts of America.

"A thunder-storm!-the eloquence of heaven,
When every cloud is from its slumber riven,
Who hath not paused beneath its hollow groan,
And felt Omnipotence around him thrown?
With what a gloom the ush'ring scene appears!
The leaves all flutt'ring with instinctive fears,
The waters curling with a fellow dread,
A breezeless fervour round creation spread,
And, last, the heavy rain's reluctant shower,
With big drops pattering on the tree and bower,
While wizard shapes the bowing sky deform,--
All mark the coming of a thunder-storm!

"Oh! now to be alone on some vast height,
Where heaven's black curtains terrify the sight,
And watch the clouds together meet and clash,
While fierce-wing'd lightnings from their conflict flash;
To see the caverns of the sky disclose

The buried flames that in their wombs repose,

And mark the lurid meteors fall and rise,

In dizzy chase along the rattling skies,

How quakes the spirit while the echoes roll,

And God, in thunder, rocks from pole to pole!

"List! now the cradled winds have hush'd their roar,
And infant waves curl gambling to the shore,
While Nature seems to wake up fresh and clear,
As Hope emerging from the gloom of fear,-
And the bright dew-bead on the bramble lies,
Like liquid rapture upon beauty's eyes,-
How heavenly 'tis to take our pensive range,
And mark 'tween storm and calm the lovely change!

"First comes the sun, unveiling half his face,
Like a coy virgin, with reluctant grace,

While dark clouds, skirted with a slanting ray,
Roll, one by one, in azure depths away,
Till pearly shapes, like molten billows, lie
Along the tinted bosom of the sky:

Next, breezes murmur with harmonious charm,
Panting and wild, like orphans of the storm;
Now sipping flowers, now making blossoms shake,
Or weaving ripples on the grass-green lake;
And thus the tempest dies; and soft, and still,
The rainbow drops upon the distant hill."

M

1. Describe what thunder is, and from what it arises. 2. In what regions are thunder-storms most dreadful?

LESSON CLXVIII.

JUNE THE SEVENTEENTH.

The Influence of Poetry on the Mind and Affections. POETRY has a natural alliance with our best affections. It delights in the beauty and sublimity of the outward creation and of the soul. It indeed portrays with terrible energy the excesses of the passions; but they are passions which show a mighty nature, which are full of power, which command awe, and excite a deep though shuddering sympathy. Its great tendency and purpose is to carry the mind above and beyond the beaten, dusty, weary walks of ordinary life; to lift it into a purer element, and to breathe into it more profound and generous emotion. It reveals to us the loveliness of nature, brings back the freshness of youthful feeling, revives the relish of simple pleasures, keeps unquenched the enthusiasm which warmed the spring-time of our being, refines youthful love, strengthens our interest in human nature by vivid delineations of its tenderest and loftiest feelings, spreads our sympathies over all classes of society, knits us by new ties with universal being, and, through the brightness of its prophetic visions, helps faith to lay hold on the future life.

We are aware that it has been objected to poetry, that it gives wrong views and excites false expectations of life, peoples the mind with shadows and illusions, and builds up imagination on the ruins of wisdom. But we would observe that the complaint against poetry as abounding in illusion and deception is in the main groundless.

In many poems there is much more of truth than in many histories and philosophic theories. The fictions of genius are often the vehicles of the sublimest verities, and its flashes often open new regions of thought and throw new light on the mysteries of our being. In poetry the letter is falsehood, but the spirit is often profoundest wisdom. And, if truth thus dwells in the boldest fictions of the poet, much more may it be expected in his delineations of life; for the present life, which is the first stage of the immortal mind, abounds in the materials of poetry, and it is the high office of the bard to detect this