About half a mile out from Morrisville, every traveller on that road must have observed a low, unsightly pond or marsh. The water is stagnant and discolored, and looks as though it might be reeking with noisome and pestilential vapors. A more forbidding object is not to be seen between Philadelphia and Trenton. Yet from out the green slime of that vile morass, Nature sends forth some of her loveliest children to greet the sun. I think I have never seen lilies of such absolute purity, such almost dazzling whiteness, as those which bloom on the bosom of this green and slimy pool. Not more remarkable than this vegetable phenomenon is that wonderful work of the Holy Spirit, under whose quickening influences we sometimes see an angel-lily blooming into heavenly purity and sweetness in the very lowest stratum of human society, among the vilest companionship of courts and alleys reeking with moral pestilence.

OTHER SUBJECTS.

1. What I Saw this Morning, on the Way to School.

2. An Account of a Day spent in the Country by One living in the City.

3. An Account of a Day spent in the City by One living in the Country.

4. A Ride in the Street Car.

5. What we Did at our Picnic.

6. A Journey to the Delaware Water Gap.*

7. A Journey through the State of Pennsylvania. 8. Ascent of Mount Washington.

9. A Sail up the Hudson.

10. A Visit to a Coal-Mine.

11. An Excursion among the Virginia Springs.

12. A Fishing Excursion.

13. Our Nutting Party. 14. A Boating Excursion. 15. A May-day Party.

16. A Moonlight Walk at the Sea-side.

*Subjects of this kind will be varied, of course, according to the experience of the writer. The student should narrate the occurrences of some journey which he has actually made.

AFTER sufficient practice in writing personal narratives, the student should give attention to writing descriptions. In the practice of many teachers, descriptive compositions precede narratives; but I doubt the propriety of such a course. Description is in itself more difficult than narration, and it requires more matured habits of observation and expression. To describe well is indeed a rare attainment.

Taking Notes.-An essential condition to success in describing is the practice of noting down on the spot the things to be described. In personal narrative, we can trust in good measure to recollection. We usually remember with sufficient vividness transactions in which we have been ourselves the actors. But it is different in description. Here, if we wish to succeed, and to give to others a picture which will be thoroughly true and fresh, and which will bring up to their minds a scene exactly as it presented itself to ours, we must stand before it, pencil in hand, and note down its features while the eye is actually on them. This taking of notes on the spot, while in the very act of observing, is as important to one who would be a good describer, as is out-door sketching to a landscape painter. In both cases the picture must be worked up by subsequent labor and art. But the materials must be gathered while the original scene is actually before the eyes. Thus only, in either case, will the student learn to be accurate. Thus only will his pictures acquire freshness and life.

Description and Narration.-Often, as in works of history and of fiction, that which is written is partly narrative and partly descriptive. In the account of a battle, for instance, a description of the place is essential to an understanding of the transaction, and the writer who wishes to tell the story intelligently visits the spot, if possible, and takes note, while there, of every point which is to be included in his narrative. No man could give an intelligent account of the battle of Gettysburg, for instance, who had not himself stood on Cemetery Hill, and read the story with that curious panorama of hills before him, the description of which forms a necessary part of the narrative of the battle.

Example of Novelists. Many novelists observe this rule in regard to the localities involved in the plot of their story. Sir Walter Scott laid the scenes of

his stories in places with which he had been personally familiar from boyhood; and if in any instance he was in doubt about a single feature of the landscape described, he verified it by actual observation. It is recorded of him that he once rode forty or fifty miles on horseback to make sure of the correctness of one of his descriptions.

Selection Necessary.— Another condition to success in description is to make a judicious selection of the points to be described. Stand where we will, the things to be seen are numberless: we cannot undertake to name even, much less to describe, all that we see. The writer should first settle in his own mind the object of his essay. The points selected will vary according as he writes for information, for amusement, for a satisfying of the sense of the beautiful, and the like. In making observations preparatory to the description, it will be found best not to observe any particular order, at the time, but to put things down just as the eye meets them, reserving the grouping to the final process of finishing up. Avoid Generalities.- Another condition is that we particularize. Young writers are apt to deal in easy generalities, to speak of trees - not of some one tree which they know something about; of gardens, not of that particular garden which is before their eyes; of landscapes in general, not of that particular landscape which is spread out before them. Descriptions should deal with the concrete, not with the abstract; with particulars, not with generals.

Subjects. Subjects for description exist in the greatest abundance. Every man, woman, or child that one is acquainted with, every domestic animal, every house, every field, every bridge or stream, may form a subject for description; and the more familiar the object, the better, especially for elementary exercises.

Describing what we have not Seen.-We are required sometimes to describe objects with which we have become acquainted by reading and study, instead of observation. We may, for instance, be required to describe the Emperor Napoleon, or ancient Rome, or the Sandwich Islands, or the crater of Vesuvius, none of which we have seen. In such cases we should observe as nearly as possible the suggestions already made. In reading about the object, we should make notes of the several points which seem suitable to the purpose; and after thus collecting the materials, we should combine them in some orderly arrangement, as we would in describing what we have seen.

In the ordinary uses of life, description and narrative very commonly and properly go together. But in school exercises, for the purpose of cultivating the art of description, it is well occasionally to practise description apart from narrative, to assign as the subject for an essay the description of some specific person, place, scene, or thing.

Examples are given of both kinds of description, and of various degrees of maturity.

Example.-Subject, OUR CAT AND THE RABBIT.

NOTES.

Time-May 29th, afternoon.
Place-our back parlor and yard.
Mother and I were together reading.

The rabbit of a dark, mottled brown.

Eating grass- his ears - his eyes-the way he jumped.

The cat - his eyes and tail- crouching-afraid to attack.

What became of Bunny.

Goldy's cowardice.

Our excitement-throwing stones-no use.

(N. B.-These notes were jotted down after the adventure was over, not at the actual time of the occurrence.)

Description by a Boy.

One afternoon in May, as mother and I were in the back parlor, reading, we saw, all at once, in the grass-plot back of the house, only a few feet from where we were sitting, a dear little wild rabbit. The grass was rather high, and he was busy as a bee, biting off the tops, which were most inviting. He seemed to be quite particular in his fancies, picking those blades which looked most fresh and tender. We sat still and watched him for some time, with the greatest curiosity, as we could see him perfectly. After nibbling awhile, he would stop, and stand perfectly still, as if watching against surprise.

His eyes were not, like those of the cat or dog, in the front of his face, and looking forward, but on the sides of his head, so that he could look right and left without stirring; in fact, they stuck out beyond the rest of his head, so that probably he could see in every direction without turning. This may be to enable him better to protect himself, as he cannot fight, and his only chance of escape is by flight.

I noticed that he had a peculiar way of sitting upon his haunches, with his body and head erect, and his forefeet entirely free. I could not see whether or not he used his forefeet as we do our hands, for taking hold of the grass and other things, but I think he did. It had that appearance. His mode of running, also, was peculiar. He went by leaps, using chiefly his hind legs. His color was different from that of the tame rabbits which I have seen, being of a dark, mottled brown.

Our cat got sight of the rabbit, and became at once very much excited. Mr. Goldy (that is our cat's name) was standing on the porch, about seven feet from where Bunny was nibbling, and we (mother and I) were looking on from the parlor window. The cat's eye flashed, and his tail moved slightly; he crouched as if ready any moment to spring. The scene became very exciting. We expected every moment to see poor Bunny murdered in open day, right before our eyes. But just as we were going to warn him

of his danger, he caught sight of the treacherous foe, and forthwith suspended operations.

Then ensued a moment of awful suspense. Bunny stood perfectly still, as if afraid that the least motion would bring on the catastrophe. Goldy, also, cat-like, watched and waited, in hope of some more favorable moment to make the final spring. At last Bunny could stand it no longer, and, with a wild bound, started for the back part of the grounds. We expected of course to see Goldy follow and seize his victim. Instead of that, he walked composedly to the place where Bunny had been nibbling, smelled the grass and ground a little, and then sneaked away to the kitchen. The fact was, Mr. Goldy showed the white feather, and was about as glad to get off as Bunny was.

This Mr. Bunny was a cunning chap. After escaping from the yard, he went a few rods into the adjoining field, and stopped in the midst of some high grass, where he remained, head up, perfectly motionless. I threw ever so many stones at him, some of which came very near hitting him, and I shouted again and again, but he remained as still as if he had been a bush or a clump of grass; and I have no doubt he had sense enough to know that moving about and dodging would be the surest way of betraying his whereabouts to his enemies. I watched him from time to time all the afternoon, until after dark, and still he did not move.

Example.-Subject, A VIEW FROM THE Bridge.

Note. The Bridge here referred to is the New Bridge over the Delaware, at Trenton, N. J., and the time selected for the description was an afternoon in June.

Description. By a more advanced Student.

In crossing the bridge this afternoon, I saw many things that interested me, some of which I shall describe. In going over, I took the path on the north side, looking up the stream; in returning, I took the path on the south side, looking down the stream. I shall follow the same order in my description.

Looking north from the bridge, the most conspicuous object is the State Asylum for the Insane. This noble edifice, so beautiful in its architectural proportions, has a deep background of foresttrees, giving it an air of sweet and quiet repose. The building itself stands on a gentle elevation, with a lawn sloping down in front; and both building and lawn are open to the south, and consequently