LEXINGTON is a town about eleven miles north-west from Boston. Here, on the 19th of April, 1775, was shed the first blood of the Revolutionary War.

CONCORD is one of the county seats of Middlesex County, Mass. Here, on the same day with the fight at Lexington, the first armed resistance to British power was offered.

SELECTION LXXVII.

ALEXANDER, the son and successor of Philip of Macedon, perpetuated his father's power in Greece, and achieved, by foreign conquests, a military reputation, which almost obliterates his father's fame. He set out upon his career of conquest in 334 B. C., at 22 years of age, with a small army and a slender treasury, and in less than ten years all the principal nations of the world were at his feet. But as his dominions increased, he became more and more addicted to despotic ways and luxurious living, and at last demanded to be worshiped as a god. His death, which occurred at Babylon, 323 B. C., was caused, in part at least, by his excesses.

DR. JOHN AIKIN, an English writer, was born in 1747, nd died in 1822. He was a man of excellent character, of exemplary diligence, and an ardent friend of the principles of freedom and human progress. The best-known of his works is his Evenings at Home, a selection of instructive essays and anecdotes for children. This is as popular, however, with children of a larger growth as with those for whom it was intended.

THRACE, a name formerly applied to the unexplored countries in the south-eastern part of Europe, is now applied to that part of Turkey lying between Bulgaria on the north, and the Archipelago on the south.

SELECTION LXXVIII.

FRANCIS MARION, an American Revolutionary general, was born in 1732, and died in 1795. He was one of America's truest patriots and best generals.

BANNASTRE TARLETON, an officer of the English army during the American Revolution, was born in 1754, and died in 1833. His men were among the most efficient in the British service in the Southern States.

SELECTION LXXIX.

ROBERT SOUTHEY, an English poet, was born in 1774, and died in 1843. He was a voluminous writer, remarkable for his industry, the elaborateness of his versification, the gorgeous

splendor of his imagery, and the high moral tone of his poetry. At different periods of his life, he entertained very different theories on social and political subjects, which makes his early and his later productions seem quite contradictory. He was a man of genial and kindly spirit, and was very happy in his family relations. At the time of his death, Mr. Southey was poet-laureate.

BLENHEIM, a village in Bavaria, is celebrated as the scene of a great battle fought August 13, 1704, between the French and Bavarians on one side, and the English and Austrians on the other.

PRINCE EUGENE, one of the five great generals of modern times-the other four being Napoleon, Wellington, Marlborough, and Frederic the Great-was born in Paris in 1663, and died in Vienna in 1736. He entered the Austrian service in 1683. In 1704 he served in company with Marlborough. It was then that the battle of Blenheim was fought and won. Prince Eugene's part in the action was very important. His position in Austria for many years was similar to that subsequently held in England by Wellington.

JOHN CHURCHILL, DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH, an English general, was born in 1650, and died in 1722. As a military commander he was unequaled by any of his cotemporaries. By his brilliant successes, the English, under William III. and Anne, were able to curb the power of Louis XIV. of France. But Marlborough was avaricious, immoral, and utterly unscrupulous. While commanding the English troops he was in secret communication with the enemy, or at least with the exiled James II., whose restoration was the ostensible purpose of the French king in some of his wars with England. His wife, Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough, was famous for her political intrigues and irascible temper.

SELECTION LXXXIII.

ORMSBY M. MITCHEL, an American astronomer and general, was born in Kentucky in 1810, and died at Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1862. He was a graduate of West Point, of the class of 1829. In 1834 he was appointed professor of philosophy and astronomy in the Cincinnati College. Here he rendered himself eminent by the enthusiasm and success with which he pursued astronomical investigations, and interested the public by his lectures on the science. On the breaking out of the rebellion, he entered the national army, and ultimately became a Major-General. At the time of his death, he was commander of the Department of the South.

SIR JOHN F. W. HERSCHEL, an English astronomer, was

born at Slough, near Windsor, in 1790. His father, Sir William Herschel, was an eminent astronomer, and the discoverer of the planet Uranus. Sir John has made many valuable contributions to astronomical science, having visited Southern Africa and remained there four years, for the purpose of making observations. He is also a gentleman of modesty and worth, and highly respected. He has received the highest scientific honors; and his works on astronomy, optics, and other branches of natural philosophy, are universally reckoned among the highest authorities on these subjects.

LORD ROSSE, a British astronomer, was born in York in 1800. In 1826 he erected an observatory, the instruments for which were made under his direction. Of these the most noted and important is the large reflecting telescope, which was finished in 1844, at a cost of sixty thousand dollars. It weighs more than three tons, and is the most powerful reflector in the world.

SELECTION LXXXV.

APOLLO was one of the principal gods of the classic mythology. Homer describes him as an archer, as a god of song and stringed instruments, and as a revealer of the future. He is usually represented as a beautiful youth, with long hair, crowned with the sacred bay-tree, and bearing the lyre or the bow.

PLUTUS, in ancient mythology, is represented as the god of wealth. He is said to have been blinded by Jupiter, so that he might distribute his gifts without regard to merit, he having previously given them only to the good.

PACTOLUS (now Sarabat) is the name of a small river in Lydia. When Midas requested Bacchus to take back from him the fatal gift of turning everything he touched into gold, he was told to bathe in the Pactolus, whose sands were by that act converted into precious metal.

THE HELICONIAN RILL is a stream rising in Mount Helicon, in Greece, whose waters are famous for the power attributed to them in the classic mythology, of inspiring the writers of poetry.

GRUB-STREET was a street in London, much inhabited by inferior and half-starved authors. It is now called Milton-street. A garreteer is the occupant of a garret.

ELIXIR VITÆ was the name given, in the Middle Ages, to a supposed liquid which was said to possess the virtue of transmuting common metals into gold.

SELECTION LXXXVI.

JANE TAYLOR, an English writer, was born in 1783, and died in 1824. In connection with her sister, she wrote several instructive books for children.

SELECTION LXXXVII.

REBECCA THE JEWESS, is a character in Scott's Ivanhoe. She is endowed with great purity and kindness of heart, as well as graces of person, and is one of this author's best female charac

ters.

SIR WALTER SCOTT, an eminent and voluminous writer, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1771, and died in 1832. His writings are chiefly novels, in prose and poetry, illustrative of the manners and customs of medieval and succeeding times. The scenes of many of them are laid in the author's native land. Sir Walter attained immense popularity as a writer, and enjoyed the highest respect as an upright and honorable man. He was also a gentleman of warm friendships, and took great pleasure in dispensing a generous hospitality.

ISRAEL was a name applied to Jacob after wrestling with an angel. See the account in the 32d chapter of Genesis. His descendants were also called by this name. Its meaning is, "He who prevails with God."

SELECTION LXXXVIII.

ELIJAH was a Hebrew prophet, whose history is to be found in the last chapters of the First Book of Kings and in the first chapters of the Second Book of Kings.

HOREB is a mountain in the peninsula that lies between the two northern branches of the Red Sea. It forms the northern extremity of a chain which includes Sinai. It is frequently men

tioned in Scripture.

SELECTION LXXXIX.

PERUVIANS were the ancient inhabitants of Peru; they were a comparatively civilized people at the discovery of America. They possessed more intelligence and culture than any other race found by Europeans on the Western continent.

WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT, an American historian, was born in Salem, Mass., in 1796, and died in Boston in 1859. He was a laborious and highly successful writer of history, having reference mostly to Spain and her American conquests. His style is clear and pleasing, and his temper impartial. His works are universally

regarded as valuable additions to our literature. For many of his later years he was nearly blind, on account of an accident during his college life; and his literary labor was, in consequence, performed under great disadvantages. Among his works are The Conquest of Mexico, The Conquest of Peru, and Philip II.

QUITO is a city in Ecuador, remarkable for being situated almost directly under the equator, and at an altitude of about 9,000 feet above the sea-level. It is also peculiarly liable to earthquakes.

Cuzco is a city of Bolivia, situated on an elevated table-land. It was the capital of the ancient Peruvian Empire, and the residence of the Incas.

INCA was a name applied to the ruling head of the Peruvian Empire, and also to the race or family to which he belonged. The rule of the Incas was remarkably wise and beneficent.

SELECTION XCIV.

A. K. H. BOYD is a Scottish clergyman, whose genial and instructive writings have been widely read in the United States. Many of them were contributed to the Atlantic Monthly under the name of "The Country Parson."

ROBERT BURNS, a famous Scotch Poet, was born in 1759, and died in 1796. His parents were poor people, and he himself spent most of his life in hard work and a struggle against poverty. His education was very limited, but his poetry glows with feeling, and its melody is so charming that it has become a part of the permanent literature of the English language.

DOON is a small river in south-western Scotland. Burns was born very near it, and celebrates it in his poetry.

JOHN STUART, EARL OF BUTE, was, for a short time, the prime minister of George III., King of England. He was born in 1713, and died in 1792. He was a man of limited abilities, and very unsuccessful as a statesman.

THE ISLE OF BUTE is an island in the Frith of Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. This is the island referred to in this selection. Its climate is very salubrious, and it is much resorted to by invalids.

MONT BLANC is the highest peak of the Alps, and is much visited by travelers.

CHAMOUNI is a famous valley on the north side of Mont

Blanc.

SELECTION XCV.

LORD JOHN CAMPBELL, Chief Justice of the English court of Queen's Bench, was born in Scotland in 1781. He has been a