bodies in this world as well as with a solemn promise of eternal damnation in the next.

Henry II. mended matters a bit when he came to the throne in 1154, and by persevering in a wise policy strove to reduce to something like order the chaos into which society had fallen; but during the crusade which was led by Richard I. in 1190, and especially during the king's captivity in Austria, selfishness and wickedness in high places at home found scope for exercise, and law became silent amid the din of arms. From the LionHearted himself, peer and commoner were content to endure much; they saw in the fearless, generous, though Normanly cruel King, qualities which commanded their affections if not their judgments, and they bore with something like satisfaction the continuous and heavy demands which he made upon their blood and treasure. But the Lion being dead was succeeded by one who had played the traitor against him during his lifetime, who had all the ferocity and all the cruelty of his brother without one of his noble qualities, and who was already known to the people by the utter depravity of his life. Here is his portrait, drawn by one of our ablest historians: "He stands before us polluted with meanness, cruelty, perjury, and murder; uniting with an ambition, which rushed through every crime to the attainment of its object, a pusillanimity which often, at the sole appearance of opposition, sank into despondency. Arrogant in prosperity, abject in adversity, he neither conciliated affection in the one, nor excited esteem in the other." Nor was this all. The man was the servant of a licentiousness which recognised no bounds. There was scarcely one family, even among the nobles, that did not smart under a keen sense of that injury which no man pardons to another. The sin for which Lucretia suffered and which drove the kings from Rome, the sin from the taint of which Virginius saved his daughter by killing her; that sin sat heavily on John's soul, and stirred to their lowest depths the hearts of all England against him.

From such an one the nation would endure nothing tamely, not even those acts which former kings had done, and which by prescription had almost obtained the semblance of law. The barons were utterly enraged, the clergy were fixedly hostile, and the people were suffering to that degree at which they sometimes turn and teach their wrongers "in some wild hour how much the wretched dare." The king was quite unable to ride on the whirlwind he had brought about him, and everything was ready, everybody was prepared, for a revolution. But one thing was wanting to make the revolution successful. There was abundance of muscle, enough and to spare of disposition to kick against the tyrant, but there was not any one to gather the headstrong passions into a focus whence they might act with effect upon the object of their wrath. The barons and those under them the wrongs the barons suffered at the king's hands taught them sympathy with those who whilom suffered wrong at their own-represented brute force as the untamed elephant represents it; they lacked the skilful guide who might gather up their strength and lead it to the goal they wished to attain. They wanted Geist.*

Before we ascertain whence Geist came, and the manner in which it worked, let us see rather more particularly what it was the barons and the people suffered that was so intolerable.

When the Conqueror obtained possession of the island, A.D. 1066, he gave the land to be divided among his followers as a reward for their services. The only condition he imposed upon them-a very necessary one to a prince who was only in military possession of the country-was, that whenever summoned they should attend him with so many men-at-arms, archers, etc., according to the extent of their fees or holdings, for six weeks at their own expense. This was the only strictly feudal obligation; but custom added a number of other obligation, which, though smaller, were more galling. If a baron died, his heir had to pay a sum of money by way of "relief," as it was called, or a fee to induce the king to accept him in his father's stead; and if the heir were under age, the king had the wardship of him, an office which enabled the king to put into his own treasure the difference between the youth's income and the cost of his keep and education, for though the situation was really one of trust, practically it was made the means of profit

* The meaning of the word Geist is hardly to be rendered by any single equivalent in our language. It embodies the meaning of Brain, Sense, Discretion, Intelligence, and Will,

to the trustee. If the ward were a woman, the warder could marry her to whom he pleased. For the purpose of making the king's eldest son a knight, and for providing a dower for his eldest daughter, custom required that all the king's tenants should subscribe; and when the king went on a journey through any part of the country, his purveyors were in the habit of taking for the royal use, cattle, provisions, horses, carts, and whatever else might be wanted. Though as a matter of prudence the feudal prince summoned the grand council of all his tenants if he wanted their advice, he was under no legal obligation to summon them; and they might not meet unless he did so. While it was not supposed that a feudal prince could want money, seeing he had large demesne lands specially reserved to him, there was not any law forbidding him either to ask for it or to take it from the tenants.

Now it is easy to see that all the above-named institutions were liable to great abuse; and as a matter of fact they were abused to an unbearable extent. Reliefs, wardship, purveyance, the expensive military attendance, or the money commutation for it-all were made the means of screwing money or money's worth out of the people, and the Church, which held a great proportion of the land in the kingdom, was subject to spoliation as well as the lay tenants. All were tarred with the same brush. The sacred trust of guarding the infant orphan was sold for a fixed sum, and the purchaser of the trust got all he could for his money out of the ward's estate; men bought the right to marry heiresses who were wards of the king, and the right was sold to the highest bidder, almost without reference to personal qualifications.

But this was not all. John gave that worst sign of an evil government-the sale of justice. Henry II. had sold decrees, but the nuisance culminated under John. On the roll of the Exchequer are numerous entries of gifts, sometimes of money, sometimes of goods, in consideration of the king's influence to get a verdict. The judges also took bribes, and that in cases where the Crown was concerned.

Lastly, there was the great grievance of the forest laws, those remote ancestors of our existing game laws. These laws, made by the cruel Conqueror, who, says a Norman monk, "loved the tall stags as if he had been their father," made it a felony; punishable with loss of limb for an unauthorised person to be found in a forest, and by the same law it was made a capital offence to kill a stag.

If all these things were done in the green tree, what could have been done in the dry? If the king so acted towards the barons, prelates, abbots, and other chief tenants, how did these in their turn behave towards those under them? Badly, it is to be feared, though they made the best recompense they could, under the dictation of Geist, by including them with themselves in the charter of liberties. With the wretched labourers, the villeins-the poor slaves who "knew not in the evening what they were to do in the morning, but they were bound to do whatever they were commanded," who were liable to beating and imprisonment at the will of their lord, who were incapable of acquiring property, or of giving freedom to their childrenwe have not now anything to do. They, alas! benefited but slightly by Magna Charta; their time of emancipation had not yet come.

Let us turn now to look at what Geist did to remedy, as regarded freemen, the wrongs from which they suffered.

Stephen de Langton was an Englishman who had been promoted to the see of Canterbury by the Pope, in defiance and in spite of the king. Before he gave John absolution, and took off the ban under which England had lain for the six years prior to 1213, he made the penitent swear to abolish all unjust practices, to do right, and to govern according to law; but a short time afterwards, the barons having refused to follow the king in an expedition to France, John turned his hired troops loose on the barons' lands, and burned and pillaged right and left. Langton met him at Northampton, and again at Nottingham, and by threatening to excommunicate every one of his followers, compelled him to desist. But Geist, in the shape of the Primate, knew that other means must be taken to prevent a repetition of violence. At a meeting of the barons in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, Langton said he had discovered a charter of liberties which Henry I. had granted when he was desirous of winning the support of the English against his brother Robert. He read the charter to them, and suggested

to the men of war that they might so combine as to compel the king to enlarge and re-grant it. This was in August, 1213. In November of the following year the barons met again at Bury St. Edmunds, Langton having in the meantime prepared a draft of the demand that should be made upon the king. His were the brains, his the Geist, that marshalled the warriors, and pointed out to them the direction in which their strength should be employed. The draft was read by the archbishop from the steps of the high altar, and was received with rapturous applause; and Langton, striking while the iron was hot, reminded the barons of all their wrongs, and swore them to keep steadfast to the cause even unto death, until they had obtained their wish; "and at length it was agreed that after the nativity of our Lord, they should come to the king in a body, to desire a confirmation of the liberties before-mentioned; and that in the meantime they were to provide themselves with horses and arms in the like manner, that if the king should perchance break through that which he had specially sworn (which they well believed), and recoil by reason of his duplicity, they would instantly, by capturing his castles, compel him to give them satisfaction."

Fully armed and in great numbers, the barons waited on the king on the 6th of January, 1215, and presented their demands. John asked for time, and they gave him till Easter to think about it. He employed the interval in attempts to break up the combination against him he offered special privileges to the churchmen, got the Pope to write in his behalf, and tried to detach the leaders from their comrades. But the nobles remained firm, and getting no reply to their demand by Easter, met in arms at Stamford, and sent thence to John for his final decision. "By God's teeth, I will not grant them liberties that will make me a slave!" he screamed to Langton, who read over the clauses of the charter to him; but the Primate read on, and when he had finished, John promised an answer speedily. None came, so the barons marched, and after getting possession of several large towns, entered London on the 24th of May, 1215. Rendered despairful, and being almost alone, John sent to say he would give what was asked. When and where should he meet the lords ? "Let the day be the 9th of June-the place Runnymede," was the answer sent back. A postponement to the 15th was agreed to, and on that day John, attended by a small retinue, met "the whole nobility of England," and negotiations were opened forthwith.

John

No tricks, no lies, no subterfuges could now avail. was absolutely in the hands of his indignant and determined lords, and he must agree to what they demanded, or take the consequences. Why need the liberty of others make him a slave? Is it that tyrants feel stifled when their fellow-men breathe? Better every way that they should feel stifled than that the alternative should present itself. But what were the stifling restraints on the royal respiration? Let us see. The Great Charter provided, first, "That the Church of England (not Rome, be it observed) shall be free, and have her whole rights, and her liberties inviolable." It then went on to fix exactly the nature and extent of the feudal obligations, not only of the barons towards the king, but of the smaller holders towards the barons; the liberties of cities and towns were confirmed; the redress of existing grievances, such as the employment of foreign troops against Englishmen, arbitrary imprisonment without trial, the exaction of ruinous fines and the spoliation of wards and heiresses, was then assured; and that power so sweet to despots, of arbitrary, irresponsible punishment, was expressly renounced. But the grand clauses which made the charter so truly great, and which are laws to this hour, are those which provided that no tax should be levied but by order of "the general council of our kingdom;" that the royal officers who acted illegally should be personally responsible; that the Court of Common Pleas should be in one fixed place, instead of following the king's person. The grandest clauses of all, however, are these

“No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or banished, or any ways destroyed; nor will we pass upon him, nor will we condemn him, unless by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny to any man, either justice or right." For four days the negotiations went on; the country between Staines and Windsor was white with the tents of the iron-clad men, who had come to demand a charter of liberties. Stephen

de Langton kept them up to their work, not permitting them to lag, but not suffering them to overbear. It was on the 15th of June, Friday, that the conference came to an end. In the royal tent sat John (Lackland as they called him), with some dozen attendants, whose hearts were not stout enough to oppose or to defend him; and round the table on which the Great Charter lay stood the mightiest of the peers, men whose names are worthily inscribed on Fame's eternal bead-roll. Langton argued for them. He spoke their minds, and patiently did he bear with all that was urged against him, for he knew the power which was ready to back up his case. Never did summer sun shine on a more splendid sight than the meadow by Runnymede presented on this day in June, 1215. The king, after vainly trying to evade, to caress, and to intimidate, was forced to give in; the unbending firmness of Langton knew of no surrender but the fullest. Not only did he insist upon and obtain the king's signature to the grant, but he compelled the royal assent-and there the shoe pinched dreadfully-to a clause empowering certain barons to assume sovereign power in the event of the king failing to keep his oath.

Thus was won for Englishmen the Great Charter of Liberties, which has been handed down with honest pride from generation to generation, and which stands out as the rock on which our air-like freedom was founded, amid the sea of violence and selfishness which beat and broke on it in vain.

POSITION OF THE BODY, THE HAND, AND THE PEN. GOOD handwriting is essential to almost all persons who have to make their way in the world. Great stress is laid upon it in the examinations for all Government appointments; it is required in every merchant's counting-house, in every office, in almost every shop. The boy who can write well obtains a situation-however humble the situation may be far more readily than the boy whose "pot-hooks and hangers" are almost as difficult to decipher as the cuneiform characters of ancient Nineveh. It is our purpose to devote a portion of our space to "Lessons in Penmanship." Our efforts, at the outset, will be directed towards the instruction of those who have never learned to write, and the improvement of those who write badly; and we shall follow these lessons by a series of papers exhibiting the different styles of handwriting required in Government offices, the merchant's counting-house, and the office of the solicitor, etc. etc., with instructions in German chirography and the ordinary kinds of ornamental writing, especially the black letter, or German text, so necessary to the solicitor's clerk in engrossing deeds and legal documents.

With these preliminary remarks, we hope our students will attend very carefully to our directions in endeavouring to acquire an elegant system of penmanship, as by this means, combined with constant practice, they will surely become good writers.

In the first place, you should sit right in front of the desk or

table at which you intend to write; then, placing your left arm on the table and your left hand on the edge of the book or paper to hold it firm, if necessary, by pressure with the fingers, take the pen in the right hand, and grasp it firmly, but not too much so, between the thumb and the two fingers next to the thumb, that is, the forefinger and the midfinger, as shown in the accompanying representation of the hand with a pen in it. In this position, remember carefully that before you can draw a stroke, the point of the pen must be placed at the distance of about five-eighths or three-quarters of an inch from the tip of the midfinger, with its face or open part downwards, and not leaning to one side or other; the pen must also be placed alongside of the nail of the midfinger, not on the nail itself, but on the fleshy part of the finger close by it. The upper part of the pen must likewise be raised above the knuckle of the fore-finger, as seen in the figure of the hand, so that a thin paper-folder might pass a little way between this part of the pen and the knuckle. It is of essential importance to observe this part of the directions as well as the preceding,

kept upright, so that the top of the pen may point to the right ear when the hand is at the commencement of a line which you are about to write, and that as you move it along it must be kept parallel to this position throughout. It will assist you very much in obtaining and keeping this position of the hand to observe that the knuckle of the little finger and the knuckle or second joint of the thumb should both be kept always as near as possible at the same distance from the paper, say about an inch and a half, while in the act of writing. It will also be of the greatest advantage

because for want of attention to these apparently trifling minutiæ, or small matters, many bad writers have arisen, and some of them even teachers, who ought to know better what they are engaged in. For it stands to reason, and any one may prove it to himself by a few trials, that if the pen be allowed to fall below the knuckle, there is an instant loss of power, and of all real command over the pen.

Another direction of equal importance with any of those we have now given, is the position of the thumb; this you bend outwards from the pen so as to cause the tip or fleshy part of the point of the thumb to rest upon the pen directly opposite the first joint of the forefinger, as shown in the figure of the hand. This completes the directions for the position of the three fingers which hold the pen. Now let us attend to the other two fingers. One of these, the little finger, must be held so as to touch the paper on which you intend to write, just on the tip of it, close by the side of the nail, while the hand itself is made to rest upon its heel, that is, close by the wrist, not pressing heavily, but as lightly as possible. In fact, the pressure on the tip of the finger should be light also, so that in writing the heel of the hand should assist the tip of the little finger, and the tip of the little finger assist the heel of the hand, by mutually bearing the weight of the hand. nd acting alternately

if, at the commencement of a line in writing, you should have the elbow of the right hand pretty close to your right side, and as you move the hand along the line, in writing, to preserve the arm parallel to this position as well as the pen to its first position; in fact, if you do the one correctly you will necessarily do the other, unless you choose to twist the wrist, which would be equally painful, absurd, and unnecessary.

As to the position of the head and shoulders, stoop as little as possible; a gentle inclination of the head is all that is necessary in general, in order that you may observe earnestly and accurately the motion of the hand and the formation of the letters. In near-sighted persons a greater inclination of the head is required than in ordinary cases; but in all cases whatsoever this rule is absolutely essential, to keep the chest entirely free of pressure on the table or desk at which you write; if once you acquire a habit of leaning on the table, or lolling upon it with your chest or stomach, you need never expect to be a good writer. We believe that many pupils have been seriously injured in their health by the practice or habit of leaning upon the chest while learning to write, and that such injury has followed them through life. What can be more absurd than to see a boy or girl sprawling on a table or desk with their arms akimbo, and their noses almost upon the paper imitating the motion of the pen ? What more foolish or disagreeable than to see every stroke of the pen imitated by the mouth or the tongue, as if the writer was approaching a state of idiocy? Let every student of penmanship sit erect while writing, and let him only stoop his head with a gentle inclination, as we said before, sufficient to enable him to see clearly what he is doing, and to produce such a specimen of writing as will do credit to his care, attention, and ingenuity. With all these directionsand we have not spared them-you will require both time and

as momentary fulcrums or resting-points, while the hand moves forward, making one stroke or letter after another. The other finger, next the little finger, usually called the ring finger, because ladies wear their rings upon it, is the most difficult to dispose of, but it must be done. Endeavour, then, to give it an elegant curvilinear form, something in the shape of part of a ring itself, so that it may lie passively between the midfinger and the little finger without interfering with their movements; it should be considerably within the little finger, and its first joint should rest very nearly upon the first joint of the little finger, in a crossing position. This completes the directions for the position of the little finger and the ring finger. Lastly, as to the position of the whole hand, you must carefully observe that while resting upon the heel of the hand and on the little finger, it must be

perseverance, and constant practice, either to learn the art of writing from the commencement, or to correct and improve the system you have already acquired. But perseverance, practice, and determination will do all that you require; and you will soon reap a rich reward for all your care, attention, and earnest application.

That those of our readers who are anxious to commence teaching themselves the art of writing may lose no time in making a beginning, we have given a copy slip, in which is shown the first stroke that demands the attention of the writer. It is a down stroke, commonly called a pothook, square at the top, and brought down with an equal or uniform pressure of the pen, until it begins to a hair line, which is turned at the bottom and carried upwards to the right.

LESSONS IN ARITHMETIC.-I.

THE term Arithmetic, which is derived from the Greek verb apieμew (pronounced a-rith'-me-o), to count, is properly applied to the science of Numbers, and the art of performing calculations by them, and investigating their relations. To a certain extent, this science must have been coeval with the history of man. As an art, arithmetic is indispensable in daily business; and the man who is best acquainted with its practical details has always the preference in every mercantile establishment. Our object in these lessons shall be twofold-to develop its principles as a science, and to show the application of its rules as an art. For this purpose, it will be necessary to begin with the first principles of Numeration and Notation, and to give such rules as will enable any one to read and write a given number correctly.

NOTATION AND NUMERATION.

1. Any single thing-as for instance, a pen, a sheep, a house -is called a unit: we say there is one such thing. If another single thing of the same kind be put with it, there are said to be two such things; if another, three; if another, four; if another, five; and so on.

Each of these collections of things of which we have spoken is a number of things; and the terms one, two, three, four, five, etc., by which we express how many single things or units are under consideration, are the names of numbers. A number therefore is a collection of units. This is also sometimes called an integer, or whole number.

It will be seen that the idea of number is quite independent of the particular kind of units, a collection of which is counted. Thus, if there are four pigs, the number of pigs is the same as if there were four pens. We can thus abstract a number from any particular unit or thing, and talk of the number four, the number five, etc. Numbers thus abstracted from their reference to any particular unit or thing are called abstract numbers. When a collection of things or objects is indicated, it is called a concrete number.

We shall treat first of abstract numbers.

2. The art of expressing numbers by symbols, or figures, is called Notation.

In the system of notation which we are about to explain, all numbers can be expressed by means of ten symbols (figures, or digits, as they are called), representing respectively the first nine numbers, and nothing, i.e., the absence of number. These

are

1 representing the number one 6 representing the number six

2

3

4

5

"

"

"

seven eight

nine

two 7 three 8 four 9 five O called a nought, a cipher, or zero. N.B.-Ten times ten is called one hundred; ten times a hundred, a thousand.

3. Numbers are represented by giving to the figures employed what is called a local value-i.e., a value depending upon the positions in which they are placed.

Let a number of columns be drawn as below, that being called the first which is on the right, and reckoning the order of the columns from right to left.

Thus |79|4|3| would denote seven thousands, nine hundreds, four tens, and three ones; or, as it would be expressed, seven thousand, nine hundred, and forty-three.

Similarly, 83 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 7 | would denote eight times a hundred thousand, three times ten thousand, no thousands, five hundreds, four tens, and seven ones; or, as it would be more briefly expressed, eight hundred and thirty thousand, five hun dred and forty-seven.

We need not, however, draw the columns: it will be the same thing if we imagine them, and, instead of columns, talk of figures being in the first, second, third, fourth places, etc.

The symbol 0 put in any place, as already indicated in the previous example, denotes that the number corresponding to the particular column or place in which it stands is net to be taken at all: the 0 only fills up the place-thus, however, answering the important purpose of increasing the figure after which it stands tenfold.

denotes the number ten; 100 means that once a hundred but Thus, 10 means that once ten and no units are taken-i.e., it

no tens and no units are taken-i.e., it denotes the number a hundred; 5001 means that five thousands, no hundreds, no tens,

and one unit, are taken, or, as it would be more briefly expressed, five thousand and one.

4. Before proceeding further, we will give the names of the successive numbers ::

The numbers between twenty and thirty are expressed thus: twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, etc., up to twenty-nine, to which succeeds thirty; and similarly between any other two of the names above given, from twenty up to a hundred: thus, 95 is called ninety-five.

After one hundred, numbers are denoted in words, by mentioning the separate numbers of units, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc., of which they are made up. For example, 134 is one hundred and thirty-four; 5,342 is five thousand three hundred and forty-two; 92,547 is ninety-two thousand five hundred and forty-seven; 84,319,652 is eighty-four millions, three hundred and nineteen thousand, six hundred and fifty-two.

5. It is useful, in reading off into words a number expressed in figures, to divide the figures into periods of three, commencing on the right, as the following example will indicate :

Thus the figures 561,234,826,479,365 would denote five hundred and sixty-one billions, two hundred and thirty-four thousand eight hundred and twenty-six millions, four hundred and seventynine thousand, three hundred and sixty-five. We have then the following

Rule for reading numbers which are expressed in figures:— Divide them into periods of three figures each, beginning at the right hand; then, commencing at the left hand, read the figures of each period in the same manner as those of the right hand period are read, and at the end of each period pronounce its name.

The art of indicating by words numbers expressed by figures is called Numeration.

EXERCISE 1.

Write down in figures the numbers named in the following exercises:

In the foreign system of numeration a thousand millions is called a billion, a thousand billions a trillion, and so on.

1. Thirty-four.

2. Four hundred and seven. 3. Two thousand one hundred and nine.

4. Twenty thousand and fifty

seven.

5. Fifty-five thousand and three. 6. One hundred and five thousand and ten.

7. Seven hundred and ten thousand three hundred and one.

8. Two millions,

sixty-three

thousand and eight.

9. Eleven thousand eleven hun

dren and eleven.

10. Fourteen millions and fifty

six.

11. Four hundred and forty millions and seventy-two. 12. Six billions, six millions, six thousand and six.

13. Ninety-six trillions, seven hundred billions and one.

EXERCISE 2.

exercises :

15. 400031256 16. 967058713

17. 20830720000 18. 8503467039

19. 450670412468

20. 58967324104325

LESSONS IN LATIN.-I.

INTRODUCTION.

IN giving to the readers of the POPULAR EDUCATOR lessons which may enable them to learn the Latin language, with no other resources than such as may be supplied by their own care and diligence, we take it for granted that they are desirous of acquiring the necessary skill, and willing to bestow the necessary labour. If the study were not recommended as a good mental discipline; if it were not recommended as giving a key to some of the finest treasures of literature; if it were not recommended as a means of leading us into communion with such minds as those of Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Livy, and Tacitus, it would have a sufficient claim on our attention, as greatly conducing to a full and accurate acquaintance with our mother-tongue-the English. The English language is, for the most part, made up of two elements-the Saxon element and the Latin element. Without a knowledge of both these elements, we cannot be said to know English. If we are familiar with both these elements, we possess means of knowing and writing English, superior to the means which are possessed by many who have received what is called a classical education, and have spent years in learned universities. In order to be in possession of both these elements, we should, for the Saxon element, study German; for the Latin element, the lessons which ensue will suffice.

In the instructions which we are to give, we shall suppose ourselves addressing a reader who, besides some general acquaintance with his mother tongue, has acquired from the English lessons in the POPULAR EDUCATOR, or from some other source, a knowledge of the ordinary terms of English grammar, such as singular, plural, noun, adjective, verb, adverb, etc. The meaning of such words we shall not explain. But everything peculiar as between the English and the Latin shall be explained, as well as any grammatical term which, though used sometimes in English grammar, the reader possibly may not understand. In these explanations we think it safer to err on the side of superfluity rather than on the side of deficiency. We have said that we shall suppose the reader to possess a general acquaintance with the English language. But it is well to suspect oneself as being probably acquainted with it but in an imperfect manner. And this advice is given in the hope that it may lead to the constant use of a good English dictionary. In every case in which there is the least doubt whether or not the exact meaning of any word used is known, the word should be looked out in a dictionary, and put down in a note-book to be kept for the purpose, with the meaning added. When there are, say, a score of words thus entered in the note-book, they must be looked at again and again until their signification is impressed on the memory. If the reader listens to this sugges. tion, and continues to make progress, he will soon find numerous exemplifications of the assertion above made-namely, that a large proportion of the words of the English language are of Latin origin. Take, for instance, the last sentence. In that sentence alone the following words are derived from the

PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN.

We may practically regard the Latin alphabet as the same as the English; and in the pronunciation, too, we may in the main follow the best English usage, remembering always that every vowel is pronounced in Latin, and that some words which in English would be words of one syllable, are words of two syllables in Latin, owing to the distinct pronunciation of every vowel. Thus the word mare in English, the feminine of horse, is pronounced ma-re in Latin, just as we pronounce the English name Mary, and means the sea. The Latin language, in short, has no silent e as we have in English.

Every modern nation pronounces the Latin as it pronounces its own tongue. Thus there are divers methods of pronunciation. This diversity would be inconvenient if the Latin were, like the French, a general medium of verbal intercourse. At one time it was so, and then there prevailed one recognised manner of pronunciation. Now, however, for the most part, Latin is read, not spoken. Consequently the pronunciation is not a matter of consequence. Even in our own country there are diversities, but such diversities are secondary matters. To one or two remarks, however, we should carefully attend. In Latin the vowels are what is called long or short. In other words, on some the accent or stress of the voice is thrown, on others it is not thrown. The vowel a, for instance, mostly long; the vowel i is mostly short. A long vowel is said to be equal to two short vowels. We English people, however, have no other way of marking a long vowel, except by throwing on it the accent or stress of the voice. It is also a fact that in Latin the same vowel is sometimes short and sometimes long-in other words, the same vowel sometimes has, and sometimes has not, the accent on it: thus the i in dominus, a lord, is without the accent, while the i in doctrina, learning, has the accent: the former, therefore, is pronounced thus, dóm-i-nus; the latter thus, doc-trí-na. Now observe that these words are trisyllables, or words of three syllables. Of these three syllables the lastnamely, us-is called the ultimate; the second, in, is called the penult; the first, or dom, is called the antepenult. And the general rule for pronouncing Latin words is, that the accent is thrown on the penult, or if not on the penult, then on the antepenult. In doctrína the accent is on the penult, or last syllable but one. In dóminus, the accent is on the antepenult, or last syllable but two. In order to indicate where to lay the stress of the voice, we shall mark, as in dóminus and doctrína, on which syllable the accent lies. It will then be understood that when we put a mark thus over a vowel, we mean thereby that the voice should rest, as it were, on that vowel. example, in the word incur, the accent falls on the last syllable, for the stress of the voice is thrown on the syllable cur. This is indicated thus, incúr. So in the Latin amicus, a friend, the accent is on the i, and the word is to be pronounced

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