Naples employed men to dig perpendicularly eighty feet deep; whereupon not only the city made its appearance, but also the bed of the river which ran through it. In the Temple of Jupiter were found a statue of gold, and the inscription that decorated the great doors of the entrance. Many curious appendages of opulence and luxury have since been discovered in various parts of the city, and were arranged in a wing of the palace of Naples, among which are statues, busts, and altars; domestic, musical, and surgical instruments; tripods, mirrors of polished metal, silver kettles, and a lady's toilet furnished with combs, thimbles, rings, earrings, &c. A large quantity of manuscripts was also found among the ruins; and very sanguine hopes were entertained by the learned, that many works of the ancients would be restored to light, and that a new mine of science was on the point of being opened; but the difficulty of unrolling the burnt parchments, and of deciphering the obscure letters, has proved such an obstacle that very little progress has been made in the work. The streets of Herculaneum seem to have been perfectly straight and regular; the houses well-built, and generally uniform; and the rooms paved, either with large Roman bricks, mosaic work, or fine marble. It appears that the town was not filled up so unexpectedly with the melted lava, as to prevent the greatest part of the inhabitants from escaping with their richest effects, for there were not more than a dozen skeletons found, and but little gold or precious stones. The town of Pompeii was involved in the same dreadful catastrophe; but was not discovered till near forty years after the discovery of Herculaneum. Few skeletons were found in the streets of Pompeii, but in the houses there were many, in situations which plainly proved that they were endeavouring to escape when the tremendous torrent of burning lava intercepted their retreat. 1. What happened to the city of Herculaneum ? and when? 2. When, and how, were the ruins discovered? 3. What have since been found? 4. Name the other town that was involved in the same dreadful catastrophe-and the time of its discovery. LESSON CCXLI. -AUGUST THE TWENTY-NINTH. Thomas Blood. On this day, in 1680, died the infamous Thomas Blood, one of Cromwell's officers, who, in 1671, formed the design of carrying off the crown and regalia from the Tower, a design to which he was prompted, as well by the boldness of the enterprise, as by his views of profit. It appears that he was very near succeeding, for he had bound and wounded Edwards, the keeper of the jewel office, and had got out of the Tower with his prize, but was overtaken and seized, with some of his associates. One of them was known to have been concerned in the attempt upon the life of the Duke of Ormond; and Blood was immediately concluded to be the ringleader. When questioned, he frankly avowed the enterprise, but refused to discover his accomplices. "The fear of death," he said, "should never induce him either to deny a guilt or betray a friend." All these extraordinary circumstances made him the general subject of conversation; and the king was induced by an idle curiosity to see and speak with a person so noted for his courage and his crimes. Blood might now consider himself secure of pardon; and he wanted not address to improve the opportunity. He told Charles that he had been engaged with others in a design to kill him with a carabine above Battersea, where His Majesty often went to bathe; that the cause of this resolution was the severity exercised over the consciences of the godly, in restraining the liberty of their religious assemblies; that when he had taken his stand among the reeds, full of these bloody resolutions, he found his heart checked with an awe of majesty; and he not only relented himself, but diverted his associates from their purpose; that he had long ago brought himself to an entire indifference about life, which he now gave up for lost; yet he could not forbear warning the king of the danger which might attend his execution; that his associates had bound themselves, by the strictest oaths, to revenge the death of any of their confederacy, and that no precaution nor power could secure any one from the effects of their desperate resolutions. Whether these considerations excited fear or admiration in the king, they confirmed his resolution of granting a pardon to Blood; and what is yet more extraordinary, Charles carried his kindness so far as to grant him an estate of 500l. a year. tenance; and while old Edwards, who had been wounded in defending the crown and regalia, was neglected, this man, who deserved only to be stared at and detested as a monster, became a kind of favourite. Blood enjoyed his pension about ten years, till, being charged with fixing an imputation of a scandalous nature on the Duke of Buckingham, he was thrown into prison, where he died. He also showed him great coun 1. Who died on this day, in 1680? 2. What design did he form, and how did he succeed? 3. What did he tell King Charles ? 4. How long did Blood enjoy his pension? LESSON CCXLII. -AUGUST THE THIRTIETH. On Newspapers. "To hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to Nature; to show Virtue her own feature; Scorn her own image; and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure."-SHAKSPEARE. AMONG the numerous advantages bestowed on civilized nations by the art of printing, newspapers have long formed an excellent medium of universal intelligence. Before the establishment of these paper Mercuries, the generality of mankind continued in a state of ignorance respecting each other, and the globe which they inhabited, excepting the vague knowledge communicated, at uncertain intervals, by the varying accounts of travellers. That we may be able to form some idea of the indispensable utility of newspapers, let us only consider the rapidity of their circulation, their useful communications respecting commerce, politics, new discoveries in the arts and sciences, improvements in agriculture, and advertisements of new publications. In this point of view, they may be said to convey information conducive to the wellbeing of the social body, as the blood circulates through the animal for the invigoration of its members. Advertisements on different subjects not only amuse but instruct the reader; but in this respect, it must be acknowledged that many of our public prints disseminate pernicious intelligence. False attestations in favour of nostrums often disgrace their columns; and the modesty of the reader is sometimes offended by meeting with vulgar or impure details, imperfectly obscured, perhaps, by the meretricious tinsel of hybrid verbiage. This is the more reprehensible, as we often, in the next column, find a spirited and well-timed satire on some recent immoral transaction. Thus, like every other human institution, our public prints are tinctured with imperfection, though of general utility; as the same fertile soil is at once productive of nutritious grain and poisonous plants. Till the legislature shall deem it proper to suppress quackery, the editors of our journals (with a few honourable exceptions) will accept money from empirics for the publication of their advertisements. Our newspapers exhibit a lively and interesting view of the busy and the gay world, nor are the ridiculous freaks of fashion overlooked by the writers. The foibles of the vain and the great are commonly too light to be corrected by serious admonition from the pulpit, and too evanescent to allow the satirist time to attack them in a volume; but our ephemeral censors, like eagles on the wing, instantly perceive and pursue their prey, which is seldom able to elude or survive their grasp. A newspaper is, indeed, a tremendous inquisitorial instrument; and the most abandoned character in high life would tremble at the idea of being publicly exposed through its magnifying medium. By them we obtain general ideas of the state of the civilized world, affecting incidents which exhibit new views of human nature, and the perpetual vicissitudes of the nations of the earth. Newspapers are confessedly the best vehicles of political information, and, as such, will ever be highly prized in all free countries. Their suppression might therefore be considered as a preliminary step towards despotism; for it is a well-authenticated fact, that, among those unhappy nations subjugated by tyranny, newspapers are either unknown, or those in circulation are under the influence of the ruling despot. Whoever suspects that newspapers are not the best registers of facts relative to the progress of civilization, arts, and sciences, would do well to enquire whence the materials of our annals are supplied, which furnish the historian with a regular series of interesting facts, arranged in chronological order;-certainly from newspapers. Thus a combination of materials, collected from the quarry, the mine, and the forest, in the hands of a skilful architect, is reared into a magnificent temple, that will endure for ages. 1. Repeat the motto from Shakspeare, at the head of this lesson 2. In what respect may newspapers be said to convey information conducive to the well-being of society? 3. Why is a newspaper a tremendous inquisitorial instrument? A TROPICAL SKY. LESSON CCXLIII. -AUGUST THE THIRTY-FIRST. A Tropical Sky. 347 Ar the Tropics the clouds roll themselves into enormous masses, as white as snow, turning their borders into the forms of hills, piling themselves upon each other, and exhibiting the shapes of mountains, caverns, and rocks. There, as we collect from St. Pierre, may be perceived, amid endless ridges, a multitude of valleys, whose openings are distinguished by shades of purple and vermilion. These celestial valleys exhibit, in their various colours, matchless tints of white, melting into shades of different colours. Here and there may be observed torrents of light, issuing from the dark sides of the mountains, and pouring their streams, like ingots of gold and silver, over rocks of coral. These appearances are not more to be admired for their beauty than for their endless combinations, since they vary every instant. What, a moment before, was luminous becomes coloured; what was coloured mingles into shade; forming singular and most beautiful representations of islands and hamlets, arched bridges stretched over wide rivers, immense ruins, huge rocks, and gigantic mountains. The clouds frequently among the Highlands of Scotland display the finest outlines, and assume the most lovely characters; more especially when viewed from the cones of their wild and magnificent summits. To these landscapes, sketched with such boldness in the heavens, Dr. Beattie finely alludes in his poem of "The Minstrel." "Oft when the wintry storm had ceased to rave, 1. Describe, as nearly as you can remember, what is said of the clouds, &c., of the Tropics. 2. What is said of the Highlands of Scotland? 3. From what poem are the concluding lines taken? |