towering into the skies. Santa Cruz, the chief town, is celebrated as the scene of that enterprise in which Nelson lost his arm. We are now within the tropics, and are sailing midway between Senegambia and the West Indies. Stretching my gaze, "far as angel's ken," to the eastward, I behold, in the vicinity of the Cape Verd Islands, that singular phenomenon called the Grassy Sea, or Sea of Herbs, a vast floating meadow of seaweed, covering a surface of 260,000 square miles. Far on the west, "like the Hesperides of old," lie the Caribbees, bathed in the splendour of their glorious clime. Shortly after crossing the line, our allowance of water began to run short, and we steered for St Helena, where, to my great joy, our crew was permitted to land. Here, not having an opportunity of carrying my theory of solitude into practice, I joined a party that went to visit Bonaparte's grave, of which, as well as of Longwood, I took a sketch. Before quitting the island, which has been so often described that it is unnecessary for me to do so here, I began to think that, after all, one might not feel so very comfortable if left entirely to himself in such a place. Passing the Cape of Good Hope more closely than is usual with vessels outward bound, we witnessed that "magnificent apparition" of vapour, which, in a certain state of the atmosphere, is seen resting, as it were, on the top of Table Mountain. On our course eastward, and in the navigation of the Mozambique Channel, we experienced a succession of storms; but the old Leaky holds her own, and we weather it out. As we sailed past Madagascar, the country of the Lemurs, and the scene of the adventures of my old acquaintance, Captain Singleton, I viewed that beautiful island with intense interest, regretting exceedingly that it was not one of the objects of our voyage to land and explore its wonders. The various groups of islands forming the Ethiopian Archipelago lie in our track, and smile upon us in emerald beauty under the brilliance of a tropical sky. We passed several others in our course through the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles, famous for the production of that singular plant, the double cocoa-nut, being the most worthy of notice. Passing Ceylon far to port, and sailing up the Bay of Bengal, we at length arrive at Calcutta, where I set my foot on shore with a rapture not to be comprehended by those who have not experienced a voyage of five months. EXERCISES. St Petersburg. Rio Janeiro. Constantinople. Van Diemen's Land. 2. Write an imaginary Speech for each of the following occasions. MODEL. Harold at the Battle of Hastings. "This day, O Friends and Englishmen, sons of our common land-this day ye fight for liberty. The Count of the Normans hath, I know, a mighty army; I disguise not its strength. That army he hath collected together, by promising to each man a share in the spoils of England. Already in his court and his camp, he hath parcelled out the lands of this kingdom; and fierce are the robbers that fight for the hope of plunder! But he cannot offer to his greatest chief boons nobler than those I offer to my meanest freemanliberty, and right, and law, in the soil of his fathers! Ye have heard of the miseries endured in the old time under the Dane, but they were slight indeed to those which ye may expect from the Norman. The Dane was kindred to us in language and in law, and who now can tell Saxon from Dane? But yon men would rule ye in a language ye know not, by a law that claims the crown as the right of the sword, and divides the land among the hirelings of an army. We baptised the Dane, and the church tamed his fierce soul into peace; but yon men make the church itself their G ally, and march to carnage under the banner profaned to the foulest of human wrongs! Outscourings of all nations, they come against you: Ye fight as brothers under the eyes of your fathers and chosen chiefs; ye fight for the women ye would save from the ravisher ; ye fight for the children ye would guard from eternal bondage; ye fight for the altars which yon banner now darkens! Foreign priest is a tyrant as ruthless and stern as ye shall find foreign baron and king! Let no man dream of retreat; every inch of ground that ye yield is the soil of your native land. For me, on this field I peril all. Think that mine eye is upon you wherever ye are. If a line waver or shrink, ye shall hear in the midst the voice of your king. Hold fast to your ranks; remember, such amongst you as fought with me against Hardrada-remember that it was not till the Norsemen lost, by rash sallies, their serried array, that our arms prevailed against them. Be warned by their fatal error, break not the form of the battle; and I tell you, on the faith of a soldier who never yet hath left field without victory, that ye cannot be beaten. While I speak, the winds swell the sails of the Norse ships, bearing home the corpse of Hardrada. Accomplish this day the last triumph of England; add to these hills a new mount of the conquered dead! And when in far times and strange lands, scald and scop shall praise the brave man for some valiant deed wrought in some holy cause, they shall say, 'He was brave as those who fought by the side of Harold, and swept from the sward of England the hosts of the haughty Norman.""-From Bulwer's "Harold." EXERCISES. 1. Cæsar before crossing the Rubicon. 2. Galgacus at Mons Grampius. 3. Alfred at Ethandune. 4. Wallace's Defence before Edward I. 5. Edward the Black Prince at Poitiers. 6. Bruce at Bannockburn. SECTION VII. SUBJECTS FOR REASONING. 1. Write a short statement of the Arguments in favour of the following Doctrines. SKELETON. THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY. I.-Genuineness and Authenticity of the Bible. EXTERNAL EVIDENCES regarding the OLD TESTAMENT:-The extraordinary care taken by the Jews to preserve the Scriptures-1200 Manuscripts of the Old Testament still extant-Agreement between the Manuscripts-The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament -Universal Traditions among Heathen Nations of the Creation, Flood, and other events related in the Old Testament-Impossibility of forgery-Historical evidence of Jews and Gentiles. EXTERNAL EVIDENCES regarding the NEW TESTAMENT:-Testimony of the Apostolic and Post-Apostolic Fathers Of the earliest rejectors of Christianity--Julian the Apostate, Celsus, Porphyry-General testimony of Heathen writers regarding Christ-Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny-No objection offered by the Jews to the narrative of Christ and his sufferings-Translations of the New Testament in the second, third, and subsequent centuries-Agreement between the Manuscripts-Impossibility of forgery-Testimony from present observance of Ordinances-The Sabbath, the Sacraments. GENERAL INTERNAL EVIDENCES:-Improbability of Moses, the Prophets, Christ, and the Apostles, being impostors-Harmony and connection of the Scriptures -Coincidence of the accounts with the history of the times-No detection of falsehood-No objection from the nature of the style. II.-Inspiration of the Bible. EXTERNAL EVIDENCES:-Testimony of the Apostolic Fathers and of men in all ages-Miracles a powerful evidence of Inspiration-Testimony as to their performance-Prophecy a conclusive evidence-Enumerate those in the Old Testament regarding Ham, Ishmael, Babylon, Nineveh, the Jews, Christ-Those of our Saviour in the New-The destruction of Jerusalem in particular. INTERNAL EVIDENCES:-Arguments drawn from the life and character of Christ and the Apostles-From the perfect harmony of the Scriptures and their miraculous preservation-From the lofty morality and sublime doctrines of Christianity-From its tendency to promote the present and eternal happiness of man. EXERCISES. 1. The Existence of a God. 2. A State of Retribution. 3. The Immortality of the Soul. 4. Plurality of Worlds. 5. The High Antiquity of the Earth. 6. The Divine Origin of Language. 2. Write a short Narrative tracing the Cause of each of the following Facts or Events. SKELETON. The Revolution of 1688. Marriage of Charles I. to a Catholic Princess-Its effect upon the religious views of his children-Adherence of James Duke of York to the Catholic FaithHis accession-His determination to establish the Roman Catholic Religion in England-The unconquerable repugnance of the English people to the Roman Catholic Faith-Their dread of its ascendancy-Conduct of James not calculated to allay these feelings |