or thoughtful, hence "Melancholy"). "Cynthia" (the moon-drives a yoke of dragons attached to her chariot). II. Deign (dān), Měl'-an-ehòl-y, wan'-der-ing, plăt, rīş'-ing, eoun'ter-feit (-fit), heärth (härth), drow'-şy, gor'-ġeous, rus'-tling (růsʼling), dāunt, mys-tē'-ri-oŭs, pōr'-trai-ture, ģēn'-ius, ehoir (kwir), ĕe'-sta-sieş. III. "Less Philomel," etc. (3)-un omitted for '? “Do attain ”—why not doth attain? IV. Pensive, devout, demure, sable, stole, "wonted state," commerc ing with the skies," rapt, Philomel, Cynthia, sullen, "out watch the Bear," Hermes, Plato, element, Tragedy, "Thebes, or Pelops' line," "Jove's altar," “fall of Troy," buskined, ushered, Sylvan (-us), garish, "cloister's pale," antic (-ique), pillows, dight, hermitage. V. "Decent shoulders 99 (decent = becoming, the old Latin meaning), Forget thyself to marble" (until there is no more trace of emotion than in a marble statue). "Spare Fast" (which lets the mind soar into the heavens). "Hist along" (bring by commands of hush). "Chantress " (the nightingale). 'Thrice-great Hermes" ("Hermes Trismegistus," the famous mystical work, studied for its deeply concealed wisdom). "That hath forsook her mansion" (referring to Plato's doctrine of the descent of the soul, as presented in the "Phædo"). Rightly spell "what meaning has spell? 66 CXLI-GARDEN PLANTS. 1. Lettuce has always been loyal. Herodotus tells us that it was served at royal tables some centuries before the Christian era, and one of the Roman families ennobled its name with that of Lactucinii. So spinach, asparagus, and celery have been held in high repute among the eastern nations, as with us; and the parable of the mustard seed shows that that plant was known in Christ's time. 2. The Greeks are said to have esteemed radishes so highly that, in offering oblations to Apollo, they presented them in beaten gold. And the Emperor Tiberius held parsnips in such high repute that he had them brought annually from the Rhine for his table. The beet is still prized, but the carrot has lost the reputation it had in Queen Elizabeth's time, the leaves being used in the headdresses of the ladies of her court-whence the epithet applied to the hair is derived. 3. Peas had scarcely made their appearance at the tables of the court of Elizabeth, "being very rare," Fuller says, "in the early part of her reign, and seldom seen except they were brought from Holland; and these were dainties for ladies, they came so far and cost so dear." Nor did the currant appear much earlier in European gardens, coming first under the name of the Corinthian grape. Evelyn calls the berries Corinths. So the damson took its name from Damascus; the cherry from Cerasus, a city of Pontus; and the peach from Persia. The quince, first known as the Cydonian apple, was dedicated to the goddess of Love; and pears, like apples, are from Paradise. 4. The apple is the representative fruit, and owes most to culture in its ancient varieties of quince, pear, pomegranate, citron. peach, as it comprehended all originally. Of these, pears and peaches have partaken more largely of man's essence, and may be called creations of his, being civilized in the measure he is himself; as are the apple and the grape. These last are more generally diffused over the earth, and their history embraces that of the origin and progress of mankind, the apple being coeval with man-Eve's apple preserving the traditions of his earliest experiences; and the grape appears in connection with him not long after his story comes into clearness from the dimness of the past. 5. Fruits have the honor of being most widely diffused geographically, grown with the kindliest care, and of being first used by man as food. They still enter largely into the regimen of the cultivated nations, and are the fairest of civilizers; like Orpheus, they tame the human passions to consonance and harmony by their lyric influence. The use of them is of such universal importance, that we can not subsist in any plenty or elegance without them. And everywhere beside the cultivated man grows the orchard, to intimate his refinement in those excellences most befitting his race. 6. The Romans designated the union of all the virtues in the word we render fruit; and bread comes from Pan, the representative of Nature, whose stores we gather for our common sustenance in our pantries. Biography shows that fruit has been the preferred food of the most illuminated persons of past times, and of many of the ablest. It is friendly to the human constitution, and has been made classic by the pens of poets who have celebrated its beauty and excellence. A. B. Alcott. FOR PREPARATION.-I. Who was Herodotus ?-Apollo ?-Tiberius ?— Queen Elizabeth ?-Fuller?-Evelyn ?-Orpheus (the mythical civilizer of Greece)?-Pan? Where is Corinth ?-Damascus ?-Pontus ?-Persia? (The historical and etymological information of this piece possesses a literary interest rather than scientific value.) II. Lět'-tuçe (-tis), rẹign (rān), eŭr'-rant, ôr'-chard, es-teemed', aspăr'-a-gus, çěl'-er-y, spin'-ach (spin'aj), Eū-ro-pē'-an, pỏme-grăn'-ate (pum-grǎn'at), ěl'-e-gançe, ex'-çel-lence. III. Explain ies in berries;-iest in kindliest. Compare in meaning, subsist, consist, desist, resist, insist, assist. (Sist, from Latin sisto, to place: subsist, to place under; consist, to place together, etc.) IV. Era, loyal, repute, parable, oblations, reputation, dainties, dedicated, diffused, regimen, "lyric influence,” subsist, pantries, coeval, “illuminated" (i. e., possessing genius and insight). "Pears and V. What "epithet applied to the hair" is referred to? peaches having partaken more largely of man's essence," etc. (4), (i. e., having had more cultivation; mind being man's essence, whatever man expends thought upon, and thus modifies, may be said figuratively to partake of his essence). "Bread, from Pan" (i. e., the Latin word panis, meaning bread-from which "pantry" is derived-is conjectured here to come from Pan, the shepherd god-" Pan," in Greek, meaning all; its real derivation is possibly from the root of pasco, I feed. The English word bread is doubtless from braedan, Anglo-Saxon for roast or bake, and means baked). Note the style of this piece: its quiet self-possession and dignity reminding one of the early English prose. Compare it with one of Thoreau's (e. g., LXXX.). Note the length of the sentences, and the easy transition from clause to clause; the smoothness and rhythm, and the use of the connectives that relate one passage to the other. 1. It is an ancient mariner, And he stoppeth one of three: "By thy long gray beard and glittering eye, 2. "The bridegroom's doors are opened wide, The guests are met, the feast is set- 3. He holds him with his skinny hand: 4. He holds him with his glittering eye- And listens like a three-years' child: |