appear at twilight, near the horizon, of a dun colour, approaching to yellow; sometimes continuing in that state for several hours, without any sensible motion; after which they break out into streams of stronger light, spreading into columns, and altering slowly into a thousand different shapes, varying their colours from all the tints of yellow to the obscurest russet. They often cover the whole hemisphere, and then make the most splendid appearance. Their motions, at all these times, are amazingly quick; and they astonish the spectator with the rapid change of their form. They break out in places where none were seen before, skimming briskly along the heavens, and are suddenly extinguished, leaving behind them a uniform dusky track. This is again illumined in the same manner, and as suddenly left a dull blank. In certain nights they assume the appearance of vast columns, on one side of the deepest yellow, on the other declining away till it becomes undistinguished from the sky. They have generally a strong tremulous motion from the end, which continues till the whole vanishes. During the winters of 1837 and 1838 the aurora borealis was several times witnessed in England; but we, who only see the extremities of this northern phenomenon, have but a faint idea of its grandeur or its motions. Various theories have existed respecting the cause of this phenomenon, but little doubt is now entertained of its being occasioned by the passage of electricity through the upper regions of the atmosphere; its appearance, in fact, exactly resembling the effects of artificial electricity when passing through rarefied air. There is the same variety of colour and intensity; the same undulating motion and coruscations; the streams exhibit the same diversity of character, at one moment minutely divided in ramifications, and at another beaming forth in one body of light, or passing in distinct broad flashes; and when the rarefaction is considerable, various parts of the stream assume that peculiar glowing colour which occasionally appears in the atmosphere, and is regarded by the uninformed observer with astonishment and fear. 1. In what part of the heavens, and at what time, do we see the aurora borealis? 2. Why have we only a faint idea of its grandeur, or its motions? 3. What is the generally received theory respecting it? DINNERS OF THE RUSSIAN NOBILITY. 399 LESSON CCLXXXVI.- Dinners of the Russian Nobility. THE curious spectacle presented at their dinners (says Dr. Clarke, in his Travels in Russia,) has not a parallel inthe rest of Europe. The dishes and the wines correspond with the rank and condition of the guests. Those who sit near the master of the house are supposed to have no connection with the fare of the tenants at the lower end of the table. In barbarous times we had something like it in England, and perhaps the custom is not even now quite extinct in Wales, or in English farm-houses, where all the family, from the master to the lowest menial, sit down together: The choicest dishes at a Russian table are carefully placed at the upper end, and are handed to those guests stationed near the owner of the mansion, according to the order in which they sit; afterwards, if any thing remain, it is taken gradually to the rest. Thus, a degree in precedency makes all the difference between something and nothing to eat; for persons at the bottom of the table are often compelled to rest satisfied with an empty dish. It is the same with regard to the wines; the best are placed near the top of the table, but in proportion as the guests are removed from the post of honour, the wine before them diminishes in quality, until at last it degenerates into simple quass. Few things can offer more repugnance to the feelings of an Englishman, than the example of a wealthy glutton, pouring forth an eulogium upon the choice wines he has set before a stranger merely out of ostentation, while a number of brave officers and dependants are sitting by him, to whom he is unable to offer a single glass. I sometimes essayed a violation of this barbarous custom, by taking the bottle placed before me, and filling the glasses of those below; but the offer was generally refused, through fear of giving offence by acceptance, and it was a mode of conduct which I found could not be tolerated even by the most liberal host. Two tureens of soup usually make their appearance, as we often see them in England; but, if a stranger should ask for that which is at the bottom of the table, the master of the house regards him with dismay, the rest all gaze at him with wonder, and when he tastes what he has obtained, he finds it to be a mess of dirty abominable broth, stationed for persons who never venture to ask for soup at the upper end of the table. The number of attendants in waiting is prodigious. In the house of the young Count Orloff were not less than 500 servants, many of them sumptuously clothed, and many others in rags. It was no unusual sight to observe behind a chair, a fellow in plumes and gold lace, like a Neapolitan running footman, and another by his side looking like a beggar from the streets. 1. What difference is observed at a Russian dinner towards those who sit at the upper and those who are at the lower end of the table? 3. What is described as being repugnant to the feelings of an Englishman? LESSON CCLXXXVII. OCTOBER THE FOURTEENTH. Battle of Hastings. On this day, in 1066, was fought the memorable battle of Hastings, which transferred the crown of England to William Duke of Normandy. At the moment when the armies were ready to engage, the Normans raised the national shout of "God is our help!" which was as loudly answered by the adverse cry of Christ's rood the holy rood!" The archers, after a discharge of their arrows, retired to the infantry, whose weak and extended line was unable to make any impression on their more numerous opponents. William ordered the cavalry to charge. The shock was dreadful; but the English in every point opposed a solid and impenetrable mass. Neither buckler nor corslet could withstand the stroke of the battle-axe, wielded by a powerful arm and with unerring aim; and the confidence of the Normans melted away at the view of their own loss and the bold countenance of their enemies. After a short pause the horse and foot of the left wing betook themselves to flight; their opponents eagerly pursued; and a report was spread that William himself had fallen. The whole army began to waver; when the duke, with his helmet in his hand, rode along the line, exclaiming, "I am still alive, and, with the help of God, I still shall conquer !" The presence and confidence of their commander revived the hopes of the Normans; and the speedy destruction of the English who had pursued the fugitives was BATTLE OF HASTINGS. 401 fondly magnified into an assurance of victory. These brave but incautious men had, on their return, been intercepted by a numerous body of cavalry, and on foot and in confusion they quickly disappeared beneath the swords or rather the horses of the enemy; not a man surviving the carnage. William led his troops again to the attack, but the English column, dense and immoveable as a rock amidst the waves, resisted every assault. Disappointed and perplexed, the Norman had recourse to a stratagem, suggested by his success in the earlier part of the day. He ordered a division of horse to retreat; they were pursued, and the temerity of the pursuers was punished with instant destruction. The same feint was tried, with equal success, in another part of the field; but though these losses diminished the numbers of the English, the main body obstinately maintained its position, and bade defiance effort of the Normans. to every During the engagement William had given the most signal proofs of personal bravery. Three horses had been killed under him, and he had been compelled to grapple on foot with his adversaries. Harold had also animated his followers both by word and example, and had displayed a courage worthy of the crown for which he was fighting. His brothers Gurth and Leofwin had perished already; but as long as he survived no man entertained the apprehension of defeat or admitted the idea of flight. A little before sunset an arrow, shot at random, entered his eye. He instantly fell, and the knowledge of his fall caused the efforts of the English to relax. Twenty Normans undertook to seize the royal banner, and effected their purpose with the loss of half their number. One of them, who maimed with his sword the dead body of the king, was afterwards disgraced by William for his brutality. At dusk the English broke up and dispersed through the wood. The Normans followed their track by the light of the moon, when ignorance of the country led them to a spot intersected with ditches, into which they were precipitated in the ardour of pursuit. The fugitives, recalled by the accident, inflicted a severe vengeance on their adversaries. As William, attracted by the cries of the combatants, was hastening to the place, he met Eustace of Boulogne and fifty knights fleeing with all their speed. He called on them to stop; but the earl, while he was in the act of whispering into the ear of the duke, received a stroke on the back, which forced the blood out of his mouth and nostrils. He was carried in a state of insensibility to his tent. William's intrepidity hurried him on to the scene of danger. His presence encouraged his men, succours arrived, and the English, after an obstinate resistance, were repulsed. Thus ended this memorable and fatal battle. On the side of the victors almost 60,000 had been engaged, and more than one-fourth were left on the field. The number of the vanquished and the amount of their loss were unknown. 1. What memorable battle was fought on this day, in 1066 ? 2. What stratagem had the Normans recourse to? 3. What happened a little before sunset ? 4. How many Normans perished on the field of battle? LESSON CCLXXXVIII. OCTOBER THE FIFTEENTH. Death of Murat. On this day, in 1815, Joachim Murat, brother-in-law to Buonaparte, and ci-devant King of Naples, was shot. He had been elevated to the throne of Naples by Napoleon, and by whose fall he also lost his kingdom. Murat had effected a landing in Naples, with a view to resume his former dominion, but was taken prisoner, and, after a short trial before a military tribunal, was executed. "And thou, too, of the snow-white plume! * Better hadst thou still been leading Than sold thyself to death and shame On thy war-horse through the ranks, Once it onward bore the brave, Like foam upon the highest wave. There, where death's brief pang was quickest, And the battle's wreck lay thickest, *Murat's remains were torn from the grave, and afterwards burnt. |