he took but little delight in it at first, by degrees gives himself up so entirely to it, that it seems the only end of his being. 15. If we survey the moral character of Cromwell with that indulgence which is due to the blindness and infirmities of the human species, we shall not be inclined to load his memory with such violent reproaches as those which his enemies usually throw upon him. 16. The excuses made for William III., in connexion with the massacre of Glencoe, that he either did not read, or did not understand the warrant, seem to be contradicted by the facts, that the warrant was signed with unusual care, both at top and bottom, and that those who had been most active in the affair were subsequently favoured and promoted. 9. ABRIDGMENT. Exercise 24. Rudiments, p. 42. 1. In one of the terrible eruptions of Mount Etna, the danger of the inhabitants of the adjacent country was uncommonly great. To avoid immediate destruction, the people were obliged to retire to a considerable distance. Amidst the hurry and confusion of such a scene, two brothers, in the height of their solicitude for the preservation of their wealth and goods, suddenly recollected that their father and mother were unable to save themselves by flight. Filial tenderness triumphed over every other consideration. "Where," cried the generous youths, "shall we find a more precious treasure than they are?" Having said this, the one took up his father on his shoulders, and the other his mother. All who were witnesses of this dutiful and affectionate conduct, were struck with the highest admiration. 2. Among other excellent arguments for the immortality of the soul, there is one drawn from its perpetual progress towards perfection. How can it enter into the thoughts of a man, that the soul, which is capable of receiving new improvements to all eternity, shall fall away into nothing? A brute arrives at a point of perfection that he can never pass; and in a few years he has all the endowments of which he is capable. Were a human soul thus at a stand in her accomplishments, I could imagine she might fall away insensibly, and drop at once into a state of annihilation. But can we believe a thinking being, that is in a perpetual progress of improvement, must perish at her first setting out, and in the very beginning of her inquiries? SECTION III.-THE COMPOUND SENTENCE. Exercise 25. Rudiments, p. 45. The ground, in that dry season, was completely parched, and the grass and flowers withered from want of moisture. The people could place no reliance on the king's word, for he had often deceived them before. The ship has either gone down, as stated, or the telegram is a heartless hoax. His father was a sensible man, but he does not much resemble him. Whatever profession he may enter, he is sure to succeed, for he is industrious, provident, and cautious. One of the allies was already in the field, and the others were far advanced in their preparations. The workmen will neither gain by their obstinacy, nor will the masters lose by their firmness. The genius making me no answer, I turned about to address myself to him a second time; but I found that he had left me. Thus to relieve the wretchad was his pride; and even his failings leaned to virtue's side. His grief for the doctor is inconsolable; for he loved him like a brother. Every man knows what he is; but no man knows what he may be. Either the sentence was unjust, or the evidence was misunderstood. 2. CONTRACTION. Exercise 26. Rudiments, p. 46. Marlborough was a great general, but an unscrupulous man. Dryden and Pope were great masters of versification. The Wall of China is evidence of a rich and populous, but effeminate nation. Men of courage defend themselves by the sword, not by bulwarks. Diligence, industry, and the proper improvement of time, are material duties of the young. Man sometimes mistakes his best interests, and pursues trifles with all his energies, considering them the principal object of desire in this fleeting world. We should use the organs of speech as the instruments of understanding, not as the weapons of vice, or the tools of folly. Lying is the most criminal, the meanest, and most ridiculous of vices. 3. CONVERSION. Exercise 27. Rudiments, p. 48. If the bookseller does not exchange the book, he will return your money. Although he could not go with me, he showed me the way. Though a soldier in time of peace is like a chimney in summer, no man would pull down his chimney because it is the middle of June. If you are not a borrower, do not on that account be a lender. If a man does not himself serve, he must provide a substitute. Though he found blood on every side, he found his child nowhere. Though this be madness, yet there is method in it. There can be no peace unless every murmurer at government is prevented from diffusing discontent. So long as every dreamer of innovations may propagate his projects, there will be no settlement. Though murder has no tongue, yet it will speak with most miraculous organ. If the garrison does not wish to run the risk of starvation, it must capitulate. He is but naked, though locked up in steel, whose conscience with injustice is corrupted. 4. SYNTHESIS. Exercise 28. Rudiments, p. 48. 1. A young gentleman who attended one of the academies in Paris, ate nothing but soup and bread, and drank nothing but water. 2. The governor of the institution, attributing this singularity to excess of devotion, reproved his pupil, and endeavoured to persuade him to alter his resolution. 3. Observing, however, that his remonstrances were ineffectual, he sent for the young gentleman again, and observed to him that such conduct was highly unbecoming, and that it was his duty to conform to the rules of the academy. 4. He then endeavoured to learn the reason of his pupil's conduct; and, when the youth could not be prevailed upon to impart the secret, he threatened to send him back to his family. 5. "Sir," said the young man at last; "in my father's house I eat nothing but black bread, and very little of that; here I have good soup, and very excellent bread; but, though I might fare sumptuously, I cannot persuade myself to take anything else, when I reflect on the situation of my father and mother." 6. Johnson invades authors like a monarch; and what would be theft in other poets, is only victory in him. 7. History informs the understanding by the memory; it helps us to judge of what will happen, by showing us the like revolutions of former times. 8. The pictures drawn in our minds are laid in fading colours; and, if not sometimes refreshed, vanish and disappear. 9. The Laplander uses the milk and flesh of the reindeer for food, and its skin for clothing, tents, and bedding; its horns he converts into spoons, and its sinews into thread; it is also extremely useful to him as a beast of draught, for which purpose it is harnessed to sledges. 10. The waters of the ocean, owing to their imperfect cohesion, cannot be carried round from west to east with so great rapidity as the solid land; and the lagging waters assume the form of a current flowing from east to west, to which the name of the Equatorial Current has been given. 11. The Earl of Strafford, in passing from his apartment to Tower Hill, where the scaffold was erected, stopped under the windows of Laud, with whom he had long lived in intimate friendship, and entreated the assistance of his prayers in those awful moments which were approaching. 12. Charles I. fell in with the parliamentary forces at Edgehill, in the county of Warwick, on the 23d of October 1642; and after a desperate struggle, in which great mistakes were committed on both sides, the battle ended without either party obtaining any decisive advantage. 13. At one time workpeople were so hostile to the introduction of cotton-spinning and other machines, that they went about the country breaking them up; and, though violent measures are no longer resorted to, the introduction of a new machine in any factory or workshop is still regarded by many operatives with jealousy and alarm, from the belief that it will throw them out of work. 14. The effect of machinery is to lessen the cost of production, and so to cheapen the price of the article; the |