cattle were killed; all the "fair works of ages were speedily destroyed; and the smiling 12face of culture was turned to a dreary waste.

The poor inhabitants were driven from their warm and comfortable habitations into the open fields, to confront all the 13inclemencies of the season. Their furniture was burnt or 14pillaged, and nothing was left them but the clothes on their backs, and the few necessaries they could carry with them. The roads were covered with trembling 1fugitives, going they knew not whither, shivering with cold, and pinched with hunger. Here an old man, dropping with fatigue, lay down to die—there a woman, with a new-born infant, sank perishing on the snow, while her husband hung over them in all the horror of despair.

Os. Oh, what a scene! Poor creatures! What became of them at last?

F. Such of them as did not perish on the road went to the neighbouring towns, where they were received with all the 16hospitality that such "calamitous times would afford; but they were beggared for life. Meantime, their country, for many a league around, displayed no other sight than that of black, smoking ruins, in the midst of silence and desolation.

Os. I hope, however, that such things do not often happen in war.

F. Not often, perhaps, to the same extent; but in some degree, they must take place in every war. A village which would afford a favourable post to

the enemy is always burnt without hesitation. A country which can no longer be maintained, is cleared of all its provision and forage before it is abandoned, lest the enemy should have the advantage of them; and the poor inhabitants are left to subsist as they can. Crops of corn are trampled down by armies in their march, or devoured while green, as fodder for their horses. Pillage, robbery, and murder are always going on in the outskirts of even the best 18 disciplined camp.

Then, consider what must happen in every siege. On the first approach of the enemy, all the buildings in the suburbs of a town are demolished, and all the trees in gardens and public walks are cut down, lest they should afford shelter to the besiegers. As the siege goes on, 19bombs, hot balls, and cannonshot are continually flying about, by which the greater part of a town is ruined or laid in ashes, and many of the innocent people are killed or maimed. If the resistance be obstinate, famine and pestilence are sure to occur; and if the 20garrison hold out to the last, and the town be taken by storm, it is generally given up to be pillaged by the enraged and licentious soldiery.

It would be easy to bring too many examples of cruelty exercised upon a conquered country, even in very late times, when war is said to be carried on with so much humanity; but, indeed, how can it be otherwise? The art of war is 22essentially that of destruction, and it is impossible there should be a mild and merciful way of murdering and ruining

one's fellow-creatures. Soldiers, as men, are often humane; but war must ever be cruel. Though 23 Homer has filled his Iliad with the exploits of fighting heroes, yet he makes 24Jupiter address Mars, the God of War, in terms of the utmost abhorrence.

"Of all the gods who tread the spangled skies,
Thou most unjust, most odious in our eyes!
Inhuman discord is thy "dire delight,

The waste of slaughter, and the rage of fight;

No bound, no law, thy fiery temper quells." "Pope.

Os. Surely, as war is so bad a thing, there might be some way of preventing it.

F. Alas! I fear mankind have been too long accustomed to it, and it is too agreeable to their bad passions, easily to be laid aside, whatever miseries it may bring upon them. But, in the meantime, let us correct our own ideas of the matter, and no longer lavish admiration upon such a pest of the human race as a Conqueror, how brilliant soever his qualities may be; nor ever think that a profession which binds a man to be the 27servile instrument of cruelty and injustice is an honourable calling. War is defensible only when opposed to the aggression of an enemy by whom our country and all that is dear to us might be enslaved or destroyed.

Say what you can about Louis the Fourteenth, Homer, Pope. Explain garrison, calamitous, peremptory, courier, hereditary dominions. What countries were ruled by Alexander, and by the Cæsars? What is the Rhine? Relate the story of the war in the Palatinate. What is the Palatinate?

8

9

13

1abate, lessen; diminish. admiration, wonder mingled with pleasing emotions, as esteem, love, approbation, or veneration. Louis the Fourteenth ruled France with the strictest despotism. His famous saying, "I am the state," expressed the principle by which he governed. (see app.) hereditary dominions, territories or districts received through an ancestor or forefather. odium, hatred; dislike; destestation; abhorrence. courier, a messenger sent in haste with letters or dispatches, usually on public business; a travelling attendant. maxim, a saying or proverb. "Honesty is the best policy" is a maxim. In this instance maxim means rule, or established principle by which the conduct is governed. * sacrifice, destruction, or surrender of anything made for the sake of something else. In this case the soldiers sacrificed their feelings to their duty. peremptory, decisive; express; positive. 10 tittle, small particle; a jot. It means here that the orders were carried out even to the smallest detail. "fair works of ages, churches and public buildings of architectual beauty. 12 face of culture, cultivated districts-farms, gardens. inclemency, harshness; severity; especially that arising from severe cold, storms, etc. "pillaged, taken by open violence. fugitive, one who flees away. 16hospitality, the act of receiving and entertaining strangers without reward; also of making welcome or being kind to guests. 17 calamitous is derived from a Latin word signifying injury to crops; in this instance it means distressing, disastrous. 18 disciplined, controlled; governed. 19 bomb, hollow iron globe filled with gunpowder. 20 garrison, a body of troops in a fort or fortified town, to defend it against an enemy; it also means a strong place in which troops are quartered for its security. licentious, unruly; riotous; ungovernable; not restrained by law or morality. 22 essentially, in effect; in its first element or essence; in point of fact the same. 23 Homer, a Greek poet, writer of the Iliad and Odyssey; one of the greatest poets the world has ever known. 24 Jupiter, or Zeus, the king of the heathen gods. 25 dire, evil in a great degree; horrible; dreadful; calamitous. 26 Pope, an English poet living in the time of George the First; he translated the Iliad and Odyssey from Greek into English, and wrote many celebrated works. servile, slavish ; held in subjection. Soldiers are servile instruments, because they must obey orders, however cruel and unjust.

27

A MERRY HEART MAKES A CHEERFUL COUNTENANCE.

CONTENTMENT.

A LITTLE worm, too close that played
In contact with a gardener's spade,
'Writhing about in sudden pain,
Perceived that he was cut in twain ;
His nether half left short and free,
Much doubting its identity.
However, when the shock was past,
New circling rings were formed so fast
By Nature's hand, which fails her never,
That soon he was as long as ever;

But yet the insult and the pain
This little reptile did 'retain

In what in man is called the brain.

One fine spring evening, bright and wet,
Ere yet the April sun was set,

When slimy reptiles crawl and coil
Forth from the soft and humid soil,
He left his subterranean clay,
To move along the gravelly way;
When suddenly his course was stopt
By something on the path that dropt;
When, with 'precaution and surprise,
He straight shrunk up to half his size.
That 'twas a stone was first his notion,
But soon discovered locomotion;

He recognised the 'coat of mail

And horny antlers of a snail,

Which some young rogue (we beg his pardon) Had flung into a neighbour's garden.

The snail, all shattered and infirm, Deplored his fate, and told the worm :"Alas!" says he, "I know it well, All this is owing to my shell; They could not send me up so high, "Describing circles in the sky,