leys, and counts, with honest exultation, the flocks and herds that browse in safety on the hills. The thorn has given way to the rosebush; the cultivated vine clambers over rocks where the brood of serpents used to 70 nestle; while Industry smiles at the changes she has wrought, and inhales the bland air which now has health on its wings.

And man is still in harmony with Nature, which he has subdued, cultivated, and adorned. For him the 75 rivers that flow to remotest climes mingle their waters; for him the lakes gain new outlets to the ocean; for him the arch spans the flood and science spreads iron pathways to the recent wilderness; for him the hills yield. up the shining marble and the enduring granite; for 80 him the forests of the interior come down in immense rafts; for him the marts of the city gather the produce of every clime, and libraries collect the works of genius of every language and every age.

The passions of society are chastened into purity, 85 manners are made benevolent by civilization; and the virtue of the country is the guardian of its peace. Science investigates the powers of every plant and mineral to find medicines for disease; schools of surgery rival the establishments of the Old World.

An active daily press, vigilant from party interests,

ANALYSIS.-68. Give a synonym for browse.

68, 69. The thorn has given way to the rosebush. Express the thought in different words.

71. Point out the figure in the line.

72. bland air. What is the meaning?

74-84 What extended figure in these lines?

86, 87. Point out the figure in these lines.

87, 88. Science investigates, etc. What figure? 91. Name the modifiers of press.

91, 92. Point out the figure.

90

free even to dissoluteness, watches the progress of soci ety and communicates every fact that can interest humanity; the genius of letters begins to unfold his powers in the warm sunshine of public favor. And, 95 while idle curiosity may take its walk in shady avenues by the ocean-side, conmerce pushes its wharves into the sea, blocks up the wide rivers with its fleets, and, sending its ships, the pride of naval architecture, to every clime, defies every wind, outrides every tempest, and 100 invades every zone.

ANALYSIS.-94. genius of letters. What is the meaning?
95-101. Point out the figures in these lines.

98, 99. sending its ships. What does the phrase modify?
99. With what is pride in apposition?

9. WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT,

1796-1859.

WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT, the great historian, was porn in Salem, Massachusetts, on the 4th of May, 1796. His father, William Prescott, was a distinguished jurist, and his grandfather was Colonel William Prescott, who commanded the American troops at the battle of Bunker Hill. The father having removed with his family to Boston, the son received his education in the schools of that city and at Harvard University, where he graduated with honor in 1814.

It was young Prescott's intention to follow his father's profession, but near the close of his school-life one of his fellow-collegians in throwing a bread-crust struck one of Prescott's eyes, which was at once rendered almost wholly sightless, and the sight of the other became impaired through sympathy. He now spent two years in Europe, partly in search of medical advice, visiting England, France, and Italy, but his painful infirmity was found to be beyond relief.

On his return to America he determined to become an historian, and for ten years he devoted himself assiduously to the study of the literature of France, Italy, and Spain, much of the time being compelled to employ a reader, to whom he dictated copious notes. which he afterward employed in his composition. Prescott chose for his first subject The Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. This history appeared in three volumes in 1837, and so popular was it that it was almost imme

diately translated and reprinted in France, Germany, and Spain.

In 1843 his reputation was still further extended by the publication of his History of the Conquest of Mexico, which was followed in 1847 by the History of the Conquest of Peru.

Prescott in 1850 made a second visit to England, where he was most cordially received, the University of Oxford conferring on him the honorary degree of LL.D. His travels on this tour extended also to the Continent.

In 1855, Prescott published the first two volumes of his last and probably his greatest book, The History of Philip the Second. A third volume was issued in 1858, but the great author did not live to complete the work. On the 28th of January, 1859, while sitting alone in his. library, he was smitten with paralysis, from the effects of which he died in a few hours.

In addition to his histories, Prescott published also a volume of Biographical and Critical Miscellanies, including an excellent essay on Spanish literature.

No historian has been more eagerly read than Prescott a fact due largely to the excellence of his style, in which he has the happy faculty of investing the driest details of history with the highest charms of fiction.

CRITICISM ("CHAMBERS'S CYCLOPÆDIA OF ENGLISH LITERATURE").

As an historian Prescott may rank with Robertson as a master of the art of narrative, while he excels him in the variety and extent of his illustrative researches. He was happy in the choice of his subjects. The very names of Castile and Arragon, Mexico and Peru, possess a romantic charm, and the characters and scenes he depicts have the interest and splendor of the most gor

geous fiction. To some extent the American historian fell into the error of Robertson in palliating the enormous cruelties that marked the career of the Spanish conquerors; but he is more careful in citing his authorities, in order, as he says, "to put the reader in a position for judging for himself, and thus revising, and, if Leed be, for reversing, the judgments of the historian."

QUEEN ISABELLA.

NOTE. This extract is taken from the first published of Pres. cott's works, The Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella.

HER person was of the middle height, and well proportioned. She had a clear, fresh complexion, with light-blue eyes and auburn hair—a style of beauty exceedingly rare in Spain. Her features were regular, and universally allowed to be uncommonly handsome. 5 The illusion which attaches to rank, more especially when united with engaging manners, might lead us to suspect some exaggeration in the encomiums so liberally lavished on her; but they would seem to be in a great measure justified by the portraits that remain of her, 10 which combine a faultless symmetry of features with singular sweetness and intelligence of expression.

Her manners were most gracious and pleasing. They were marked by natural dignity and modest reserve,

ANALYSIS.-1. Substitute another word for person.

1, 2. of the middle height and well proportioned. Should not these two expressions have the same construction?

3. What kind of adjective is light-blue? With what is the word style in apposition?

5. Substitute a word for express the meaning here? 6. which attaches to rank.

universally. Is allowed the best word to Give synonyms for the word handsome. Reconstruct this expression.

10. the portraits that remain of her. Criticise.

11. which combine, etc. Is the clause restrictive or non-restrictive?