what I did, I whipped the pudding into my mouth, hot as a burning coal. It was impossible to conceal my agony; my eyes were starting from their sockets. At last, in spite of shame and resolution, I was obliged to drop the cause of torment on my plate. 13. Sir Thomas and the ladies all compassionated my misfortune, and each advised a different application. One recommended oil, another water, but all agreed that wine was the best for drawing out fire; and a glass of sherry was brought me from the sideboard, which I snatched up with eagerness. But, oh! how shall I tell the sequel? 14. Whether the butler by accident mistook or purposely designed to drive me mad, he gave me the strongest brandy, with which I filled my mouth, already flayed and blistered. Totally unused to every kind of ardent spirits, with my tongue, throat, and palate as raw as beef, what could I do? I could not swallow; and, clapping my hands upon my mouth, the liquor spurted through my fingers like a fountain, over all the dishes, and I was crushed by bursts of laughter from all quarters. In vain did Sir Thomas reprimand the servants, and Lady Friendly chide her daughters; for the measure of my shame and their diversion was not yet complete. 15. To relieve me from the intolerable state of perspiration which this accident had caused, without considering what I did, I wiped my face with that ill-fated handkerchief, which was still wet from the consequences of the fall of Xenophon, and covered all my features with streaks of ink in every direction. The baronet himself could not support the shock, but joined his lady in the general laugh; while I sprang from the table in despair, rushed out of the house, and ran home in an agony of confusion and disgrace which the most poignant sense of guilt could not have excited. FOR PREPARATION.-I. "Pitched upon a Wedgwood inkstand " (the famous earthenware invented by Josiah Wedgwood). "Saltcellar" (11) (bad omen ?). II. Com-plex'-ion (-plěk'shun), eôr'-dial (-jal), o-pin'-ion (-yun), Xĕn'o-phon, pi'-geon (pij'un), oe-eä'-şioned (-zhund). III. Change" their gates" so that each word will refer to one object. Meaning of ward in "homeward"? Should we say 66 rose up" (9)? IV. Enamored, courted, timidity, estate, prodigious, equilibrium, intrepidity, theory, punctuality, fortitude, editions, classics, fomentation, caldron, palate, flayed, intolerable, poignant, nomenclator, "ardent spirits." V. How much is thirty thousand pounds in our money? "Wondrous difficulty" and "prodigious use "-are these expressions accurate and elegant here? What is there ridiculous in the assertion that his knowledge of mathematics helped him in learning to dance? and in the fact that the baronet's opinion coincided exactly with his (8)? Relate the several steps by which these adventures reach the climax of absurdity. CX.-CURRAN'S REPLY TO THREATS OF VIOLENCE. 1. We have been told this night, in express words, that the man who dares to do his duty to his country in this house may expect to be attacked without these walls by the military gentlemen of the castle. If the army had been directly or indirectly mentioned in the course of the debate, this extraordinary declaration might be attributable to the confusion of a mistaken charge or an absurd vindication; but, without connection with the subject, a new principle of government is advanced, and that isthe bayonet. And this is stated in the fullest house, and the most crowded audience, I ever saw. 2. We are to be silenced by corruption within, or quelled by force of arms without. If the strength of numbers or corruption should fail against the cause of the public, it is to be backed by assassination. Nor is it necessary that those avowed principles of bribery and arms should come from any high personal authority; they have been delivered by the known retainers of administration, in the face of that bench, and heard even without a murmur of dissent or disapprobation. 3. For my part, I do not know how it may be my destiny to fall; it may be by chance, or malady, or violence; but, should it be my fate to perish the victim of a bold and honest discharge of my duty, I will not shun it. I will do that duty; and, if it should expose me to sink under the blow of the assassin, and become a victim to the public cause, the most sensible of my regrets would be that on such an altar there should not be immolated a more illustrious sacrifice. 4. As to myself, while I live, I shall despise the peril. I feel in my own spirit the safety of my honor; and in my own and the spirit of the people do I feel strength enough to hold that administration, which can give a sanction fo menaces like these, responsible for their consequences to the nation and the individual. John Philpot Curran. FOR PREPARATION.-I. This is an extract from a speech made by Curran in the Irish Parliament, of which he was a member, in 1790. Curran (1750–1817) was the greatest barrister of his time. He had overcome an impediment in his speech (stuttering), and had acquired a slow, distinct utterance. His powers of mimicry, ridicule, and sarcasm gave him great success in the cross examination of witnesses. In the Irish Parliament, which he entered in 1783, he took the side of the opposition, which was headed by Grattan. II. Threats, ex-traôr'-di-na-ry (eks-trôr'-), bãy'-o-net, dis-ăp-pro-bā'tion, măl'-a-dy, im'-mo-late, il-lus'-tri-ous, eon'-se-quen-çes, al'-tar. III. "Fullest house and most crowded audience"-what is the force of est in fullest? Why is most crowded used instead of crowdedest? Is to properly used after dares in such an expression as "dares to do his duty"? IV. Attributable, vindication, quelled, retainers, bench, immolated, menaces, dissent. V. What does "express" mean in the phrase "express words"? Notice the expression of contrasted points: "do his duty in this house"“attacked without [outside] these walls"; "silenced by corruption within ” -"quelled by force of arms without"; "if strength of numbers and corruption should fail"-" be backed by assassination." Apply this principle to the other sentences, and see how many contain contrasts, and how the form of the contrast is varied. "Administration "—of what king? CXI.-BUGLE SONG. The splendor falls on castle walls O hark! O hear, how thin and clear, O sweet and far from cliff and scar The horns of Elfland faintly blowing! Blow, bugle! Answer, echoes! dying, dying, dying O love, they die in yon rich sky! And grow forever and forever. Blow, bugle-blow! set the wild echoes flying! And answer, echoes-answer! dying, dying, dying Tennyson. FOR PREPARATION.-I. From the Third Part of Tennyson's "Princess." What is meant by Elfland? II. Splĕn'-dor, eǎs'-tle (kǎs'l), ĕeh'-õeş (ěk ́ōz), dý'-ing, field, bū'-gle (-gl), sum'-mits. III. Measure off a stanza of this poem into feet, and mark the ac cents. IV. Elfland, glens, cataract, scar. V. How do the echoes of one thought to another differ from the echoes of the bugle (3), as described in the metaphor of the third stanza? "Our echoes" (i. e., our thoughts go from mind to mind, and thought grows more clear and comprehensive by transmission and re-thinking). What is meant by "summits old in story"?-by "long light shakes"? (The level sun shines on the water between us and it, making a long track of light trembling with the movement of the waves on the lake.) Is there anything in this meter, and the sounds of the words, that reminds you of the sound of the bugle itself? If so, point it out. CXII. THE MOCK TURTLE'S STORY. 1. "When we were little," the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, "we went to school in the sea. The master was an old turtle; we used to call him Tortoise-" "Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?" Alice asked. "We called him Tortoise, because he taught us," said the Mock Turtle, angrily. "Really, you are very dull. 2. "Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn't believe it-" "I never said I didn't!" interrupted Alice. "You did!" said the Mock Turtle. "We had the best of educations; in fact, we went to school every day-" |