STATE OF THE ARABS AT THE COMING OF MAHOMET. 93 smith's poetry: "His whole manner has a still depth of feeling and reflection, which gives back the image of nature unruffled and minutely. He has no redundant thoughts or false transports; but seems, on every occasion, to have weighed the impulse to which he surrendered himself. Whatever ardour or casual felicities he may have thus sacrificed, he gained a high degree of purity and self-possession. His chaste pathos makes him an insinuating moralist, and throws a charm of Claudelike softness over his descriptions of homely objects, that would seem only fit to be the subjects of Dutch painting; but his quiet enthusiasm leads the affections to humble things without vulgar association." 1. What classical explanation is there for the term Hyblam honey? 2. What works of Goldsmith are said to have a perpetual charter of existence? 3. What author's opinion of Goldsmith is quoted in the last paragraph? LESSON LXVI. MARCH THE SEVENTH. State of the Arabs at the coming of Mahomet (or Mohammed). THE Arabs are an original and unmixed race; they boast that their country has never been subdued; but the greater part of it- -as it consists of level, sandy, and arid plains, of vast extent, where there is scarcely any water or wood, and where the winds, instead of being refreshing breezes, frequently come loaded with pestilential vapours has little that could tempt the cupidity of a conqueror. In the reign of Trajan the Romans made Arabia Petræa a province: Yemen, or Arabia Felix, has been frequently subject to Persia; and about the time of Mohammed's appearance, the southern part of the peninsula (for such is the geographical character of Arabia) was subject to Ethiopia. The Arab is not very robust, but he is active and well made, able to endure great fatigue, and, both from habit and education, reckless of danger. In his mental constitution he displays quickness rather than intelligence; his imagination is warm, but his judgment is not vigorous. In all his pleasures, dangers, and fatigues, he makes the horse and camel of his deserts associates rather than servants; and these animals appear to have obtained an actual superiority in Arabia, from being elevated into the companions of their masters. The horse of Arabia is equally remarkable for speed, temper, and power of endurance; and it is remarkable that the best breeds of this animal in Europe, Asia, and Africa, have been derived from an Arabian stock. The camel and dromedary of the desert are regarded by the Arab as scarcely inferior to his horse. This patient and powerful animal supplies him with milk for his sustenance, transports his family and property from one quarter of the desert to another, and, when occasion requires, enables him to pursue or fly from his enemy with almost incredible speed. The ancient religion of the Arabs was the Sabean form of idolatry, which consisted in the worship of the sun, moon, and planets; but long before the coming of Mahomet they were distracted by a great variety of creeds; some adhered to the faith of their ancestors, others embraced Judaism, and several tribes became Christians. Unfortunately, Christianity, when introduced into the peninsula, had been deeply sullied by man's devices; the different Christian tribes were imbued with a fierce sectarian spirit, and hated each other more bitterly than Jews or pagans. The vivid imaginations of the Arabs led them to investigate questions beyond the powers of man's understanding; and the consequence was so abundant a supply of new doctrines, that one of the early fathers described Arabia as the land most fruitful in heresies. Their principal cities are Mecca and Medina. The Arabs believe that Mecca was founded by Adam, and the temple erected by Abraham. It was a place of considerable trade from the remotest times; and its early prosperity they ascribe to Ishmael, who fixed his residence there, because, as their traditions assert, the brackish well Zemzem was that to which Hagar was directed by the angel. Literature was zealously cultivated by the ancient Arabs; they were enthusiastically attached to eloquence and poetry, for both of which their rich, harmonious language affords peculiar facilities. Science was not similarly valued; their history was merely genealogical tables; their astronomy such a rude knowledge of the stars as served to mark the variation of the seasons; and the mechanical arts were almost wholly neglected. They used to say that God had given them four peculiarities,turbans instead of diadems, tents instead of houses, swords instead of fortresses, and poems instead of written laws. THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER. 1. What does the greater part of Arabia consist of? 2. What animals does the Arab make his associates? 3. Of what did the Sabean form of idolatry consist? 4. Which are the principal cities of Arabia ? 95 5. To what branches of literature were the ancient Arabs mostly attached? LESSON LXVII. MARCH THE EIGHTH. The Duke of Bridgewater. On this day, in 1803, died Francis Egerton, Duke of Bridgewater. He was the first who countenanced the plan and supported the expense of cutting a navigable canal in this kingdom. This great project he had digested before he was of age, and as soon as he came into possession of his fortune he put it into execution. For this purpose he consulted the ingenious Brindley, who having surveyed the estate at Worsley, in Lancashire, pronounced the design practicable. Accordingly, an act was passed for making a navigable canal from Salford, near Manchester, to Worsley. This succeeded so well that his Grace next obtained another to enable him to extend the line, and to pass from the river Worsley over the Irwell to Manchester. This canal begins at Worsley mill, seven miles from Manchester. The canal enters a hill by a subterraneous passage large enough for the admission of flat-bottomed boats, which are towed along by hand-rails near a mile under ground to his coal-works; then the passage divides into two, both of which may be continued at pleasure. This passage is in some places cut through the solid rock, and in others is arched with brick. Air-funnels are cut in several places to the top of the hill. The arch at the entrance is about six feet in breadth, and widens in some places for the boats to pass each other; the boats are loaded from waggons which run on railways. The canal in other places is carried over public roads by arches. But one of the most stupendous works on this canal is the aqueduct over the river Irwell, where the canal runs above forty feet above the river, and where the barges are seen passing on the canal and the vessels in the river in full sail under them. At Barton bridge, three miles from Worsley, this aqueduct begins, and is carried two hundred yards over a valley. The duke afterwards extended his canal to the Mersey. He spent prodigious sums upon these jects, and realized an immense fortune. pro 2. What did the Duke of Bridgewater countenance and support? 3. Who did he consult upon this plan, and how did it succeed? LESSON LXVIII. -MARCH THE NINTH. Lord Capel's Execution. On this day, in the year 1648, Lord Capel was beheaded. He was taken by Fairfax at the siege of Colchester, by the parliament army; and though he was, with the other officers, assured of fair quarter, as a "prisoner of war," the paramount jurisdiction of the parliament thought proper to annul this promise in respect to him; and he was accordingly impeached and brought to trial, when, refusing to acknowledge the authority of the court, he was condemned to die, and suffered the pain of his sentence on the above day. "Lord Capel," says Clarendon, 66 was a man in whom the malice of his enemies could discover very few faults, and whom his friends could not wish better accomplished. He was possessed of a noble fortune, and lived in great plenty, so that no man was more happy in his domestic concerns; yet the king's honour was no sooner violated than he threw all those blessings behind him, and frankly engaged his person and his fortune to all enterprises of the greatest hazard and danger, and continued to the end without making one false step. In a word, he was a man, that whosoever shall, after him; deserve well of the English nation, he can never think himself undervalued, when we shall hear that his courage, virtue, and fidelity are laid in the balance with, and compared to, that of Lord Capel." 1. Who suffered death on this day, in 1648? LESSON LXIX.-MARCH THE TENTH. On Novels and other Works of Fiction. FICTION has always been natural to man, and has claimed a share of his attention in every age and country. The ON NOVELS AND OTHER WORKS OF FICTION. 97 popular fictions of the English came from the North, and are derived from the Huns, who obtained them from the East, where they had existed almost from the birth of man. In passing through the coarse warlike Huns they lost something of their Oriental colouring, but nothing of their strength or exaggeration; their Eastern features are still always discernible. The golden age of fiction was among the Arabs from the ninth to the fourteenth century, when those bewitching tales, the "Arabian Nights,” were invented, or collected and burnished up by the devotees to Arabic learning. In these tales superhuman agency is employed to more than human purposes. If genii appear, they have something worthy of their powers to perform; they are mostly inclined to virtue. If a demon is called to act, he is never supreme; some talisman can control him, some good spirit is his master. A work of fiction, or a novel -to take the language of the times - is an exhibition of action or passion, and incident, such as belongs to nature, and is a dark, or bright, or beautiful picture of human life; although there never existed a precise prototype of it, still all must be after nature. In the hands of a master such a composition may be made attractive and useful. It is compounded by blending such matters as have the spirit of public or private history, with such remarks put into the mouths of those who did or did not exist; or by giving to ideal characters the air, manner, and words of real ones. Many are improved by reading the works of such a writer as Sir Walter Scott. Every reader catches more or less of his cast of thought, and learns to see carefully, and to describe with accuracy. It would be wrong to make an English education out of these novels or any other works of fiction, or to rely upon even the best of them for historical facts; but if they should be kept out of the school-room, they may be found in the library, and be suffered to lie on the work-table and the toilet, for intellectual recreation. If Sir Walter had written about half the number of works in the same period of time, it would have been as well for his fame, and better for his readers; for his works not only came too rapidly for the generality of those who read them, but with less finish than they would have had with more pains. His writings are, however, the offspring of genius and the influence of genius can never be destroyed. The gossamers of fashion pass away, but the F |