chiefly devoted to the great rebellion. Mr. Greeley was a member of Congress for a brief period in 1848-9, and distinguished himself by his opposition to the abuses of the mileage system.

EXERCISE XXI.

GEORGIUS SECUNDUS, or George the Second of England, belonged to the German family known as the house of Brunswick. German families have, by intermarriage, given princes to many European thrones.

THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE of 1755 was very destructive to that city. About sixty thousand persons lost their lives by it.

BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT was a memorable event in the French and Indian war, preceding the American Revolution. General Braddock, an English officer, unacquainted with the country and the people, was sent against the French at Fort Du Quesne, with a force of colonial militia and two regiments of British regulars, and by his arrogant self-conceit and contempt for the colonies, and for Col. (afterwards Gen.) Washington, caused the utter destruction of the whole army. The defeat occurred near the present site of Pittsburgh, Pa., July 9th, 1755.

EXERCISE XXIII.

CARTE DU PAYS (Kärt du pâ), a French phrase, signifying

a map.

VALET DE PLACE (Valâ de pläs), a French phrase, meaning a stranger's guide.

MELROSE ABBEY, a celebrated ruin, on the Tweed, in Scotland, 37 miles southeast of Edinburgh. Sir Walter Scott has described its appearance by moonlight, in the second canto of the Lay of the Last Minstrel. It is a fitting description of a scene almost unequaled for its sad beauty.

EXERCISE XXIV.

Doctor FAUSTUS, a character in the popular tales of Ger. many, is represented as having lived about the time of Luther, from 1580 to 1638. The legends say that he agreed with the Evil One, in consideration of receiving demoniac aid in securing worldly honor and sensual enjoyments for twenty-four years, that his soul should be given up at the end of that time to eternal torments. The contract was signed with his blood, and was fully carried out, although, near the close of the allotted period, he was seized by remorse, and sought to annul the bargain.

MONTGOMERY PLACE was the place of the poet's residence in Boston.

There is a story that COLUMBUS at one time evinced his superiority over a large company of savants by making an egg stand on its end when none of the others could do it. This was accomplished by striking it gently against the table. JOHN MILTON (See Note on EXERCISE XLVII.) was one of the most learned and gifted men of his time.

SOLOMON, king of Israel, came to the throne about 1015 B. C., and has ever since been famous for his wisdom.

SALMON is a fish much esteemed as an article of food, and regarded as an attractive dish at a feast.

ROGER BACON, an English monk of the thirteenth century, was famous for his knowledge of mathematics and natural science, and was supposed to be skilled in magic. He anticipated much of the learning of modern times, but was in advance of his own age. He spent most, if not all, of the last ten years of his life in prison in Paris, on a charge of heresy and magie.

For FRANCIS BACON, see Note on EXERCISE XLVI.

LOCHINVAR is a character in a song by Sir Walter Scott. On being informed that the lady he loved was to be

married to another, that was unworthy of her, the hero came to the wedding, ostensibly to "tread one more measure with his "lost love," but, really, to carry her away with him.

EXERCISE XXV.

or spoke the English with He occupied the He occupied the very highest and a writer. He was long

DANIEL WEBSTER, an American statesman and jurist, was born in New Hampshire in 1782, and died at Marshfield, Mass., in 1852. He was a man of great intellectual power, and this power was particularly conspicuous in his use of language. No man ever wrote more force and effect than he. position as a lawyer, an orator, employed in the public service. national House of Representatives from New Hampshire in 1812, and continued a member until 1816. In 1822 he was again elected to the same House from Boston. was elected to the Senate of the United States from Massachusetts, and during the remainder of his life was either a member of that body, or of the cabinet as secretary of state.

He was first elected to the

In 1827 he

THOMAS SUMTER, a general in the Revolutionary war, was born in South Carolina in 1734, and died in the same state in 1832. He exhibited great bravery, endurance, and much cheerful patience under severe trials. He was afterwards a member of the national House of Representatives, and still later of the U. S. Senate.

FRANCIS MARION was also a Revolutionary general, born in South Carolina in 1732, and died in 1795. His military career was a remarkable one. He accomplished great results. with slender means, conducted for years a partisan warfare against the British army, attacking them in unlooked-for places, and subsisting his men in a manner that seemed miraculous.

HENRY LAURENS, an American Revolutionary statesman, was born in South Carolina in 1724, and died in 1792. He

was sent as minister to Holland, during the war, but was captured by the British, and confined in the Tower of London for 15 months. On his release he was appointed one of the commissioners for negotiating peace. His associates were Franklin and Jay.

JOHN LAURENS, son of the preceding, was a brave young officer in the Revolutionary war. He was born about 1756, and was killed in battle on the Combahee in 1782, while his father was in the Tower.

JOHN RUTLEDGE, an American statesman and jurist, was born in South Carolina in 1739, and died in 1800. He rendered important services during the war, and in 1795 was appointed Chief Justice of the United States by President Washington, but the Senate, for political reasons, refused to confirm him. He had been one of the judges of the Supreme Court, and Chief Justice of South Carolina.

EDWARD RUTLEDGE was a brother of the foregoing, and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY, an American statesman, and a colonel in the Revolutionary army, was born in South Carolina in 1746, and died in 1825. In 1796 he was appointed minister to France. On his return from that country, he was appointed a major general in the United States army. In 1800 he was an unsuccessful candidate for President. There were other eminent men belonging to the Pinckney family, among whom was Thomas, a brother of Charles, who was governor of South Carolina, minister to Great Britain, &c.

BOSTON is famous for the spirited and honorable part it played in the Revolutionary war. It was marked out by the British ministry and Parliament for their especial vengeance. In 1770 occurred the Boston massacre, in which three persons were killed and eight wounded by the British soldiery.

John Hancock and Samuel Adams, citizens of Boston, were specially excepted from offers of pardon. By the Boston Port Bill an attempt was made to destroy its commerce.

CONCORD, a town of Massachusetts, is one of the three county towns of Middlesex county. Here, on the 19th of April, 1775, and on the same day at Lexington, the first blood of the Revolutionary war was shed, and the first armed resistance to British power offered.

BUNKER HILL, or more accurately Breed's Hill, in Charlestown, Mass., was the scene of the first regularly fought battle of the American Revolution. The fight occurred on the 17th of June, 1775. Although technically a defeat, it was really a victory to the Americans, inasmuch as it demonstrated their courage and cool steadiness in battle. A plain granite monument, 220 feet high, has been erected on the summit of the hill to commemorate the event. See EXERCISE

XXXIX.

EXERCISE XXVI.

HIPPOCRENE was the fabled fountain made on Mount Helicon when Pegasus struck the ground with his feet. Its waters were therefore thought to be a source of inspiration to poets.

"THE PRAYER OF AJAX" is an allusion to the fight of Ajax Telamon in defense of the dead body of Patroclus, in the seventeenth book of the Iliad. Jupiter covered Mount Ida and the Trojans with darkness so as to make them invisible to Ajax and the Greeks. Ajax prays to him to enable the Greeks to see their foes.

EXERCSE XXVII.

ORMSBY M. MITCHEL, an American astronomer and general, was born in Kentucky in 1810, and died at Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1862. He was a graduate of West