Children were seen carrying their parents; the strong, the weak; while thousands more were staggering under the loads of plunder which they had snatched from the flames. This, too, would frequently take fire in the falling shower; and the miserable creatures would be compelled to drop it and flee for their lives. O, it was а scene of woe and fear inconceivable and indescribable! A mighty and closely packed city of houses, churches and palaces, wrapped from limit to limit in flames, which are fed by a whirling hurricane, is a sight this world will seldom see. But this was within the city. To Napoleon, without, the spectacle was still more sublime and terrific. When the flames had overcome all obstacles, and had wrapped everything in their red mantle, that great city looked like a sea of rolling fire, swept by a tempest that drove it into billows. Huge domes and towers, throwing off sparks like blazing fire-brands, now disappeared in their maddening flow, as they rushed and broke high over their tops, scattering their spray of fire against the clouds. The heavens themselves seemed to have caught the conflagration, and the angry masses that swept it rolled over a bosom of fire. Columns of flame would rise and sink along the surface of this sea, and huge volumes of black smoke suddenly shoot into the air, as if volcanoes were working below. The black form of the Kremlin alone towered above the chaos, now wrapped in flame and smoke, again emerging into view, and standing amid this scene of desolation and terror, like virtue in the midst of a burning world, enveloped but unscathed by the devouring elements. Napoleon stood and gazed on the scene in silent awe. Though nearly three miles distant, the windows and walls of his apartment were so hot that he could scarcely bear his hand against them. Said he, years afterward, "It was the spectacle of a sea and billows of fire, a sky and clouds of flame; mountains of red rolling flames, like immense waves of the sea, alternately bursting forth and elevating themselves to skies of fire, and then sinking into the flame below. O, it was the most grand, the most sublime, and the most terrific sight the world ever beheld!" J. T HEADLEY. Biography.-Rev. Joel Tyler Headley was born at Walton, New York, in 1814, and graduated at Union College in 1839. After preparing for the Church, he acted as pastor of a congregation in Stockbridge, Mass., but was obliged to leave the ministry on account of the failure of his health. After spending two years in Italy, he returned home and published "A Translation from the German," in 1844, and "Letters from Italy," in 1845. His most popular works are "The Alps and the Rhine," "Napoleon and his Marshals," and his historical and biographical sketches. The sale of his books has been almost unprecedented. Notes.- Eugene is pronounced in English, either Eu'gene or Eu gene'; Berthier is pronounced Bĕr te ǎ'. Moskwa (Mosk'wa) is the name of the river on which Moscow is situated. Elocution.- Point out the quotation where calling tones may be employed. Language. - Explain each of the following figures: “A sea of fire," "Canopied by flame,' "Burning footsteps," "Fire fed by a hurricane," and "Wrapped every thing in their red mantle." Notice the climax in the last sentence of the lesson. Composition.-Select the principal points in the lesson and join them in the form of an analysis, Give rules for the marks of punctuation employed in the first paragraph of this lesson. 58.-A THANKSGIVING. mirrored, reflected as in a mir ror. ǎs pi ra' tions, strong wishes or desires. ǎm'a ranth, an imaginary flower, said never to fade or perish. mōlt'èn, glowing; melted. For the wealth of pathless forests, For the winds that haunt the branches; For the waving of the forest, For the sound of water gushing For the flowing of the rivers, For the rosebud's break of beauty N For the violet's eye that opens To bless the new-born day; For the bare twigs that in summer For the blossoming of flowers, I thank Thee, O my God! For the lifting up of mountains, For the splendor of the sunsets, For the gold-fringed clouds that curtain For the molten bars of twilight, Where thought leans glad, yet awed; For the glory of the sunsets, I thank Thee, O my God! For the earth and all its beauty; For unfading fields and prairies, For an eye of inward seeing; For these common aspirations That our high heirship prove; For the amaranth saved from Eden, For the hidden scroll, o'erwritten For the tokens of Thy presence Within, above, abroad; For Thine own great gift of Being, I thank Thee, O my God! LUCY LARCOM. Notes.- Lucy Larcom is a native of Massachusetts. She has been for many years a popular contributor to periodical literature. Break of beauty means the unfolding of the beautiful petals of the rose. Elocution. Each stanza of the poem is an elocutionary climax. An increase of force is given to each line, and the refrain at the close of every stanza should be read slowly, forcibly, and with a full, clear tone of voice. Language.-In each stanza of the poem, there is only one sentence of which the subject is "I" and the predicate "thank" and its modifiers. The first stanza is a complex sentence and the second stanza a simple sentence. What kinds of sentences are the third and fourth stanzas? 59.—THE "ARIEL" AMONG THE SHOALS. PART I. per vād'ed, overspread. ěv o lū'tion, movement. difficult to understand. mo nŏt'o noŭs, unvaried; dull. ǎp'a thy, unconcerned. der differently. ob trud'ed, thrust. păr'a lýzed, deprived of motion. ĕx'tri eāte, free; relieve. pre çiş'ion (sizh'un), exactness. The last rope was coiled and deposited in its proper place by the seamen, and for several minutes the stillness of death pervaded the crowded |