purpose of preventing the marriage and dethroning Mary took place, led by Sir Thomas Wyatt, who marched on London at the head of 15,000 men. His progress was, however, stopped at Ludgate Hill, and turning round he surrendered to Sir Maurice Berkeley t Temple Bar. This insurrection gave Mary an excuse for executing Lady Jane and her husband. They were both beheaded on February 12th, 1554, Lady Jane seeing from her prison window the remains of her husband being taken to be interred. THOMAS T. BRADBURY (Standard VI). Staveley Works School, near Chesterfield, 1. John Lowe George Thomas Caton J. W. Chadwick Millicent Doxey John Steene Edward Mellor Beard Emily Gush Henry G. White C. M. Jaggard R. W. Stewart 2. Mary A. E. Buxton Joseph Billington Benjamin Aston Lizzie Skinner 3. John William Beard Frances Lydia Spencer John Phillips Sarah French Alfred Bonser Emily Bailey 4. John Yates Frances West Hewitt John William Davison Ellen Hebblethwaite John William Fenton 5. Frances Lydia Spencer Robert Pallister George P. Shelton Samuel Brooks Robert Herbert Baldwin Thos. Sherwood Clarke LAST Summer I visited the Isle of Man, and I shall now give you an account of what I then saw. To get to it we had to cross the Irish Sea, by which it is surrounded. I understand that it lies at about an equal distance from England, Scotland, and Ireland. The shores of the latter are to be seen from the top of Snaefell, the highest mountain in the island. We landed at Douglas, the largest and most important town in the Isle of Man. The streets of the old part of Douglas are very narrow and irregular, but those in the new part are wider, and more like those of a modern English town. Douglas Bay is very fine. It is about two miles in extent, and in its centre there is a small rocky islet, on which is erected a stone structure, called the Tower of Refuge. In the summer months, thousands of visitors flock to Douglas from the manufacturing districts of England for the benefit of their health. Boating and bathing seem to me to be the chief attractions. Douglas has a good market, and I was much amused to see the vast quantity of herrings brought in for sale. Last summer I saw them sold at forty-eight for a shilling. The other towns are Castletown, Ramsey, and Peel, the first of which is the capital of the island. The island is mountainous, and, from what I saw, I should say that it is remarkably destitute of trees, There are several lead and copper mines in the island, those of Laxey being very productive. There is a Lieutenant-Governor, who is assisted in the government by an assembly called the House of Keys. WILLIAM T. HARVEY, aged 11 (Standard V). Wesleyan School, Leamington. THE Isle of Man is a small island in the Irish Sea, equally distant from England, Ireland, and Scotland, having an area of 209 square miles, and a population of 53,867. The island enjoyed a sort of feudal independence till 1765, under the ancestors of the Duke of Athol; but now it is under the British Government. It is mountainous, and well watered. Its principal mountain, called Snaefell, is 2,024 feet high. The coast is for the most part rocky and precipitous, but a great many herrings are caught annually round it. To the extreme south-west of the island is a small island, called the Calf of Man, famous for its rabbits. The island is divided into six sheadings, each having its own coroner or sheriff; and these six sheadings are subdivided into seventeen parishes, each having its own captain, sumner, and moar. The four towns are Castletown, Douglas, Ramsey, and Peel. Castletown has a population of 2,318. It is called the capital on account of the famous castle, called Castle Rushen, which is supposed to have been built in the fourteenth century, and used to be the residence of the governor. Douglas, a thriving watering-place, is the largest town, having a population of 13,846. Ramsey, the next in importance, has a population of 3,861, and it is engaged in ship-building. Peel is famous for a castle, called Peel Castle, which is on an island, and this island is connected with Peel by a bridge. It is said that St. Patrick was driven on this island in a storm, on his voyage to Ireland. The population is 3,496. Another important place is Laxey, which is famous for its lead mines and its immense water-wheel, one of the largest in the world. A great many strangers visit the island annually on account of its beauty. THOMAS STOWELL. Thomas Street Wesleyan School, Douglas, Isle of Man. WHY IS IT NECESSARY WE SHOULD HAVE FRESH AIR ? 1. The air we breathe. Its composition.-Air in its natural state consists of two gases-oxygen and nitrogen. The proportion is one-fifth oxygen to four-fifths of nitrogen. There is a small portion of carbonic acid gas. 2. The uses of these gases.-Oxygen gas is the supporter of life. We take it into our bodies when we breathe. It purifies the blood, and by uniting with our food gives warmth to our body. Nitrogen gas: The use of this gas is simply to dilute the oxygen gas, and render it less exciting. Carbonic acid gas is a poison, and as the oxygen gas is exhausted this gas supplies its place. 3. How the air we breathe becomes impure.-There is in all air, especially in towns and villages, a certain quantity of matter arising from vegetable and animal matter in a decomposing state: this makes the air impure. The air, after having been breathed, becomes much altered. A large quantity of the life-giving gas (oxygen) has been removed, and its place supplied by carbonic acid gas; so that if we were in a room where no, or very little, air can get in, the oxygen gas by degrees gets exhausted in the process of breathing, and carbonic acid gas, a poison, supplies its place. The presence of this poisonous gas in a room causes the room to feel close. 4. What means we should adopt to keep the air as pure as possible.— Remove from the surface all substances that would poison the air, such as manure, smoke from our houses and manufactories, either by tall chimneys or by manufactories consuming it. Our sewers, privies, &c., should not be exposed to the open air. In our rooms: Our rooms should be lofty, so as to hold plenty of fresh air. They should be warm in damp weather, so that the air can be dried; and they should be well ventilated to let in plenty of fresh air from below, and let out the impure air above. The effects of not having fresh air: We breathe poison, and our blood becomes impure; disease breaks out, and then death. WALTER EDGAR FOWKES, aged 13 (Standard VII). Serpentine Road, Harborne. By breathing pure air we get pure blood. The blood has to pass through the lungs to get purified. The lungs contain about six hundred million air cells. These air cells should constantly be filled with air to purify the blood. About eighteen pints of air and eight pints of blood enter the lungs every minute to be purified. The air we breathe consists of three gases, viz.: nitrogen, oxygen, and carbonic acid gas. When we breathe we take in these gases; the good air we keep in, and the bad air we breathe out. Persons who breathe impure air do not get that supply of oxygen which is necessary to purify the blood; thus the blood gets poisoned, and brings on disease. SARAH JANE LEES, aged 12. Roughtown School, Mossley, February 6th, 1872. THE YOUNG SCHOLAR. APRIL, 1872. Lay Sermons. No. 2.-ON WORK. S fern grows in untilled ground, and all manner of weeds, so do gross humours in an idle body. A horse in a stable that never travels, a hawk in a mew that seldom flies, are both subject to diseases; which left unto themselves are most free from any such complaints. An idle dog will be mangy; and how shall an idle person think to escape? Idleness of the mind is much worse than that of the body; wit without employment is a disease. As in a standing pool worms and filthy creepers increase; the water itself putrifies; and air likewise, if it be not continually stirred by the wind; so do evil and corrupt thoughts in an idle person. He that knows not how to spend his time, hath more business, care, grief, anguish of mind, than he that is most busy in the midst of all his business.— BURTON'S Anatomy of Melancholy. Every boy and girl should cherish a feeling of horror at the bare idea of living in idleness. There is no greater curse can befall a man or woman than this. An idle boy is almost always |