TRIBE.

are

For the most part the Composite are herbs, generally perennials; certain species are ligneous; indeed, a few are arborescent, constituting trees of large size. The leaves generally alternate, various as to their form, but always without stipules. The capitula, as a whole, present the appearance of a corymb; the aggregate inflorescence is therefore definite; but each capitulum entering into the corymb is indefinite, as is sufficiently made known by the order of floral development--the external florets always being the first to expand. Perhaps the best manner of studying the compound inflorescence is to regard each capitulum as a spike flattened down upon itself in such a manner that what it loses in length is gained in thickness. Upon this normal spike each floret grows from the axilla of a bract; therefore, we ought to find upon this compound spike bracts in equal number to the flowers, and situated externally to them. But the normal state is still further disturbed by the perishing, or abortion, to use a phrase common in botanical descriptions, of some of the florets, in consequence of pressure made upon them by their fellows. Hence it follows that only the bracts appertaining to the outside florets arrive at maturity, and form the general involucrum. The internal bracts are merely represented by minute scales, silk-like filaments, or hairs.

When we analyse in this manner the nature of a capitulum, the explanation is seen of the different aspect assumed by the torus, or flower-disc, in various genera of compound flowers. In the chamomile it is covered with hair; in the blue corn-flower it is silky; in the Onopordon, or cotton thistle, it is alveolar (Latin, alveolus, a socket, the diminutive of alveus, a large hollow vessel), that is to say, studded with socket-like indentations, similar to those in which are embedded the teeth of animals. Finally, in certain Composite of which the Dandelion may be taken as an example, it is absolutely naked.

In the greater number of cases, each floret of a compound flower bears stamens and pistils, as in the corn centaurea (Fig. 93, page 280, Vol. I.), the full representation of which will be given in Fig. 173; but in others the florets of the circumference alone are pistilliferous, as is seen in the chrysanthemum (Fig. 101, page 280, Vol. I.); or even sterile, or devoid of both pistils and stamens. Again, certain remaining members of the Composite order have staminiferous flowers in the centre and pistilliferous flowers on the circumference; of this kind is the marigold. Finally, there are yet others, the flowers of which are entirely staminiferous, or entirely pistilliferous; and these flowers may be on one or two separate plants.

The calyx, the tube of which is adherent to the ovary and altogether confounded with it, terminates in a limb or free portion, which is subject to numerous modifications of form; thus furnishing excellent characters for the distinction of genera. It is completely effaced in the chrysanthemum (Fig. 101); it forms a crown in the wild chamomile and tansy; and is developed in tooth-like protuberances, or lamellar scales, in the sunflower (Fig. 83, page 241, Vol. I.), French marigold, and chicory. Frequently it has the form of hairy or silk-like filaments, forming a plume, called the pappus.

a

The stamens are inserted upon the tube of the corolla, and are alternate with its divisions; the pistil is composed of single carpel; the ovary one-celled, uniovular. Certain botanists,

monly termed seeds! These fruits, which the reader will now remember are termed by botanists achania, remain upon the torus, or receptacle enclosed by the withered bracts, until ripe; they are then dispersed. Various methods are adopted to bring about this dispersion, and they are all beautiful. In some species, the torus, after the withering of the floral envelopes, shoots up in the form of a spire, thus presenting every facility for the acheniums to escape. In other species, as the colt'sfoot, the torus becomes, during the ripening of the fruit, inverted in such a manner that the fruits are emptied, as it were, out of their sockets. In the chamomile the same result is accomplished by the assumption by the torus, as the fruits ripen, of a globular instead of a plane condition. In the cotton thistle, the alveolar processes become so contracted during the ripening of the fruits, that the latter are extruded; but amongst all provisions made by Nature for the distribution of the fruit of Composite, perhaps the most beautiful consists in the plume, or aigrette, with which some are furnished. This plume is nothing else than the dried limb or free portion of the calyx. In the genera which have this appendage, it is worthy of remark, that the involucrum is supplied with long, serrated, imbricated bracts, which surround the achania, protect them, and favour their ripening. In certain species, the involucrum opens of itself as soon as the fruits arrive at maturity, thus allowing the latter to escape and float on their winged appendages. In others there is another provision. The involucrum, instead of opening spontaneously, has a tendency to remain closed; whilst the wing-like appendages of the achania are yet unripe and devoid of elasticity, there is nothing to prevent the closing tendency of the involucrum from taking effect; but no sooner do the fruits ripen than their plumes or wings, tending to expand the outermost ones to a horizontal position, force open the involucrum by their spring-like elasticity, and the fruits are now free to move in obedience to the first passing breeze. In this way the achania are transported often to the distance of several miles. Not content even with this beautiful provision in all its simplicity, the plumes of certain Composite, mindful, as it would seem, of their citizen-like traditions, aggregate to gether. In this manner occasionally a mimic cloud of dande lion fruits may be seen pursuing their devious course to some unknown spot.

Ueber.

Der Faule stirbt über seinen Wün.

schen.

Das geht über meinen Verstand'.

Sie sind schon über ein Jahr hier.

Er erhält' Brief über Brief.
Sie zog den Schleier über das
Gesicht'.

Er war über diese Antwort ganz entrüft'et.

Er hat über diesen Punkt noch nicht entschieden.

Cook's Begleiter schweigen von den Mineralien Neuhol'lands, und scheinen über den Reizen der dor'tigen Flora vergessen zu haben, daß auch der Voren, über den sie hin'eilten, tie Blicke des Kenners verdie'nte. (G. Forster.)

Laß den Herbst in schwarzen Wettern hoch über unserm Haupte ziehn. U m.

That is (goes) beyond my com. prehension.

You are (have been) here already more than a year. He receives letter upon letter. She drew the veil over her (the) face.

He was perfectly indignant at this reply.

He has not yet decided concerning this point. Cook's companions were silent respecting the minerals of New Holland, and appear, amidst the charms of the Flora of that country, to have forgotten that the soil over which they hurried was likewise deserving of the scrutiny of the philosopher. Let the autumn in dark storms sweep high above our heads.

He prohibited it on pain of death.

He has already laid money aside (up).

He took him by the hand.

Till this moment. We remain till evening. To this hour I do not know how it was possible for him to live as he did (live). He goes as far as (to) Vienna. The water reached up to his

seinen Freund.

trayed his friend.

Der Sieger hatte einen Kranz um das Haupt.

Der Feind la'gerte sich um die Statt herum'.

Sie rennen um die Wette.
Was thut man nicht um Geld?

Gr ist um halb zwei angekommen.
Es dreht sich Alles um mich.
Man hat ihn um sein Vermögen

(um sein Gelt) gebracht'.

Es muß um einen Zoll länger sein.

Sie fümmern sich mehr um den Krug, als um den Krieg. (Schil ler.)

Unter.

Die Seltaten stehen unter Waffen. Das ganze Land steht unter Waffer.

Es ist unter seiner Würte, so zu han.

deln.

about the round table. The victor had a wreath around the head.

The enemy encamped (himself) around the city. They run for a wager. What does one not (do) for money?

Everything turns about me. He arrived at half-past one. They have deprived him of (got away) his property. It must be (by) an inch longer.

They concern themselves more

about the wine (jug) than the

war.

The soldiers are under arms. The whole land is (stands) under water.

It is beneath his dignity so to act.

HISTORIC SKETCHES.-XIX.

THE DAGGER SCENE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. On the 28th of December, 1792, the English House of Commons was occupied by a very grave subject, and the foremost men of the day took part in the debate. The subject under consideration was whether or not aliens-that is to say, persons not subjects of the King of England-should not be subjected to some regulations, such as giving security for good behaviour, while resident within the realm. Among those who took part in the debate were Pitt, Fox, Sheridan, Erskine, Lord Sheffield, Grey, and Burke, and the contest among them ran high.

The Government had thought fit to bring in a bill for the regulation of aliens, to the intent it might be known who was and who was not in the country, and they justified their measure by an appeal to the existing state of public affairs. Mr. Fox, who was at the time leader of the Opposition, vehemently denounced the bill as utterly unnecessary, and quite unworthy of the Government. A few nights before, in the course of a debate on the influence of the French constitution, and more especially on a proposal of his own that the king should be requested to send a minister to Paris to negotiate with the French Provisional Government, he had used the most violent and inflammatory language, and had asserted that the country, so far from being in the unsettled condition described by the ministers, was perfectly quiet, perfectly loyal, and that there did not exist any warrant, in fact, for the exceptional legislation demanded by the Government. His proposal had been, indeed, rejected, but the same spirit which induced him to make it continued to animate him, and on the Alien Bill he spoke with his wonted warmth, eloquence, and bitterness. The year before he had not of his own will, certainly-publicly broken a friendship with Burke which had lasted for a quarter of a century; Mr. Burke having on that occasion said in the House of Commons, adverting to the effect which his altered opinions upon the current of French affairs would have upon his private friendships, alluding more especially to his friendship with Fox, "I know the value of my line of conduct; I have, indeed, made a great sacrifice. I have done my duty, though I have lost my friend. There is something in the detested French constitution that envenoms everything it touches."

Attempts were made to heal the mortal wound which the friendship of these two men had received, but to no purpose; the breach was irreparable, and on the Alien Bill, therefore, Burke and Fox were widely opposed. On the 28th of December, 1792, Burke, who did not rise till late in the evening, spoke long and eloquently on the question. He said that the ministers of a monarchy could not, and ought not, to have their hands tied behind them while the emissaries of republicanism, regicide, and atheism poured into the country with the intention to destroy it, and were yet, through the weakness of the law, to be beyond control. From discussing the principles he went on to describe the practice of those whom he called "emissaries of republicanism, regicide, and atheism," and whom he accused of trying to spread their doctrine of liberty, fraternity, and equality by the sword. Information had come to him that 3,000 daggers had been ordered from Birmingham by the friends of liberty, fraternity, and equality; and in order to make a deep impression on the house, he had resorted to the somewhat theatrical expedient of hiding a dagger under his waistcoat.

At the proper moment, when the attention of the house was concentrated on him, and when his actions, whatever they might be, were certain of being reported, he put his hand inside his waistcoat and drew forth the dagger, which he flung before him on the floor of the house. "This," said he, pointing to the dagger, "is what you are to gain by an alliance with France; wherever their principles are introduced, their practice must follow. You must equally proscribe their tenets and their persons from our shores ;" and he ended an impassioned address by begging the house to strengthen the hands, not of the ministry, not of the Opposition, but of the country, by passing the Aliens' Bill.

Happily for us, the times have passed away when such an exhibition, so theatrical, so sensational, would be tolerated in the House of Commons; happily, too, there has not, since 1792, been a recurrence of those circumstances which then made exceptional legislation of the kind mentioned desirable. But manners and customs were different then, and it would be wrong

In 1789 the French Revolution broke out-that is to say, in that year the French people, tired of the load of tyranny and legalised selfishness which had been imposed upon them for centuries, and moved by the exhortations of men who gave themselves out as, and believed themselves to be, the friends of mankind, rose in their wild strength, and, ignorant of the goal where true liberty and true national happiness were to be found, goaded on by the fierce spirits who ever come to the surface, coming and going like bubbles in time of great public disturbance, maddened by long years of suffering and oppression, conscious only of strength, unconscious how to use it, impelled forwards by the very fact that their existence depended on progress, seeing that the interests and principles of all then existing governments were directly opposed to them-this great people woke up to the conviction they were alive, and they exhibited an amount of vitality and energy that truly took the nations by surprise.

In order to give an accurate idea of the causes which led to the Revolution, it would be necessary to go back through the history of France for a period of two hundred years. We have not space to do this even in a cursory examination, but we may mention some of the principal matters which proved intolerably burdensome to the French people. The many obligations of the feudal system (general notice was taken of these in Historic Sketches, I.) were more offensively enforced, and therefore more keenly felt, in France than in any other European country, and there, too, they were exacted till a date far beyond that at which they had been quite abandoned elsewhere. This of itself was evil enough to rouse the indignation of the classes beneath; but added to it was the injury done by a system of government of which the fundamental principle was feudalism; that is to say, a principle which had regard solely to the interests of the few, who were to be supported in power and sustained in insolence at the expense of the many. And this system of government was carried very far. At one time the nobles were the exponents of it, each ruling absolutely and tyrannically on his separate estate, grinding all he could out of his villeins, as they were called, and caring nothing for their individual welfare. Against this oppression the peasantry lodged a practical and brutal protest at the time of the Jacquerie,* in 1358, when the hour of trial and humiliation had come upon the nobles of France through the hands of the Black Prince. When the English armies overran the country, and the French had been beaten with a dreadful slaughter, the French peasants rose upon their native oppressors, and slew them root and branch, often murdering, in their ignorance and blind fury, those who were really their benefactors, and being guilty of the crime of killing women and children. Only by the aid of the Black Prince and his knights was this formidable insurrection of one class against another suppressed, and the lower classes would have been relegated indefinitely to their former bondage, but for the desire of the French kings-a desire which could not be gratified without the help of the people-"to deliver the Crown from wardship," or to free it from the restraints imposed upon it by the power of the great nobles.

As a consequence of this coalition, temporary though it was, between the Crown and the people, some slight benefit accrued to the latter; but when the object for which the Crown had striven had been attained, the people found out by experience that it was unwise to put their trust in princes. Once more they were handed over, or, what had the same effect, were left to, the tender mercies of the cruel, and they had to bear the kingly tyranny as well. They had to live the lives of slaves on the estates of the landed proprietors, rising early and late taking rest,

"Barred from delight by Fate's untimely hand,

By wealthless lot, or pitiless command,"

condemned to ignorance lest they should learn to know their strength, and crushed under the weight of laws in the making of

The Jacquerie was so called from the name Jacques Bonhomme, which was the generic name given to French peasants, as John Bull is the generic name descriptive of Englishmen.

which they had no voice, and the force and object of which they knew only through suffering.

In some respects the condition of the people as regarded the lords was better than it had been before the Jacquerie, but what they gained in this direction they lost in another, for whenever they succeeded in asserting a quasi independence on the seigneurs, they became amenable to the heavy and far-reaching hand of the king, for whose service their persons were taken, and for whose prodigal expenses their little ewe lambs were killed. Nor was this all. Had the people been required to make these sacrifices in behalf of a strong government, which spent the money it drew from taxes in promoting the glory and honour of the kingdom, they might have borne their lot without doing more than murmur; but when they found that direct taxes were levied in addition to indirect taxes, which were laid upon the very necessaries of life, in order to support the king and his courtiers in riotous living-when they found that not only were they oppressed, but also that they paid for the means of oppression, they did something more than murmur, and they bided their time for the expression of their wrath.

During the long reign of Louis XIV., the Grand Monarque, as his flatterers called him, the people were blinded, though they suffered, by the magnificence to which they contributed. The honest endeavours of a few ministers to do right and justice towards the people, to improve the internal condition of the country, and to develop its resources, had also been fully appreciated; but with the death or withdrawal of these ministers, their endeavours ceased also; and what they had done remained but as a token of what might still be, and as a foil to set off the absence of further efforts in the same direction. Frenchmen almost forgave Louis XIV., Louis the Magnificent, the Grand Monarque, though men died of hunger outside his park railings, and though his lavish expenditure upon himself and his glory had drained France of money and utterly ruined her. He had a lustre borrowed from the great men who served him, and had, like our Charles II., a certain way with him which won the popular fancy. But when his grandson, Louis XV., succeeded him, and fresh demands were made on the already exhausted country, not for the glory or even the decent maintenance thereof, but for the expenses of mistresses, the wages of sin, and the support of that ignoble host who are ever found in the courts of bad princes, the people turned and listened to the voice of those seductive charmers who told them of a way by which they might be free of their burdens for ever. Mr. White, in his "History of France," says well, "Debasing tyranny like Louis the Fourteenth's, degrading viciousness like Orleans' and Dubois', and the wider and more systematic demoralisation introduced by the king who was now ready to assume the sceptre, could not fail, sooner or later, to produce fruits worthy of the altogether corrupted tree which had been planted in such soil and tended by such hands."

The storm did not burst on the heads of those who had gathered it; the offences of the fathers were visited upon the children, in whose day the system of which they were the visible representatives was ripe for destruction. Upon the mild, good-intentioned, weak Louis XVI. and his family did the storm of popular anger break. Would-be friends of the people, who thought, moreover, that they could stop the ball whenever they pleased after it had been set rolling, began the movement, and in a very short time they found, to their infinite dismay, that they could not "ride on the whirlwind and direct the storm."

Louis XVI., finding the country on the verge of bankruptcy, and that the efforts of three of the most eminent financiers of the time had been tried in succession, but in vain, to redeem the finances, resolved to make an appeal to the notables of France, the peers, nobles, and magistracy, men who for the most part contributed nothing in the shape of taxes towards the burdens of the State, though they enjoyed immense privileges-one, the most monstrous, being that as nobles they were free from taxation. The notables accordingly assembled in 1788, but separated without lending the king any help; they would not give up their pensions, they would not submit to be taxed, and they were not their brothers' keepers; what had they to do with the sufferings of the vulgar? On the 1st of May, 1789, the States-General met for the first time since 1614. In the States-General all classes were represented, the starving shopkeeper, the ruined farmer, the intellectual but untitled, and therefore despised pro

fessional man, the curé of lowly birth at ample brains, as well as the pompous prelate and the dissolute duke. The States-General were to consider the situation of France. Within a week of their meeting dissensions broke out which by their very nature were difficult to be allayed, but which hatred, long cherished during so many years, made inextinguishable as between the noble and the human classes. Louis, to gain time, and in hope of stilling the disorders, prorogued the assembly for a month; but when the Commons, wishing to enter their hall, were refused by soldiers with fixed bayonets, they adjourned to the Tennis Court of the Palace of Versailles, and took an oath not to dissolve till they should have attained the object for which they met, and they called themselves the National Assembly. A number of priests and nobles from the other section of the States-General joined them, and the king was obliged to yield. The Assembly met again, and all caste privileges were abolished, taxes were ordered to be levied on all classes alike, and the closed professions, the army and the civil service, were thrown open; restrictions were removed from the press, the public debt was secured, personal and religious liberty were promised. But the States-General would not dissolve, and when the king threatened and then withdrew his threats, they assumed supreme power, and the National Assembly was king in his stead.

On the 14th of July, 1789, the populace of Paris, excited by what had taken place, and anxious to make use of their newlygotten power, rushed in arms to the Bastille, the fortress in which so many dark deeds had been committed, and, after a brief resistance, overcame the guards, demolished the fortress, and, leading the governor and his officers to the Place de Grève, cut off their heads, which they paraded about on pikes. In the country the example of Paris was imitated; the people rose on the estates, and murdered, outraged, and destroyed; they burnt castles and title-deeds, all the relics of the old system they could come across; ousted the king's authorities in the towns, and set up their own instead. In October, Louis, who had been forced with his own hands to "undeck the pompous body of a king," and to submit himself on many occasions to the authority of the National Assembly, was driven to Paris from Versailles by a mob of hungry, unkempt folk, who had been induced to come down in consequence of some indiscretion on the part of the royal guards. In Paris the royal power was at an end; the nobles saw it and fled, they and their families, and all they could transport, into foreign countries. Thousands of people left the country, and the gold they took with them was so great in quantity that a circulating medium ceased almost entirely. In 1791 the Marquis de Mirabeau, who at one time was the fiercest denouncer of the old order, but who had veered round on beholding the excesses committed and to be committed by the popular side, died, and with him went the last chance for royalty. In all the clubs of Paris, in the churches, in every other house, was heard the voice of violence, proclaiming eternal hatred to kings, and inflaming the popular frenzy against that poor king who was really a prisoner in his palace at the Tuileries.

The king having been put on one side, foreign princes feared for themselves, and, in the name of royalty generally, took up arms against the Revolution. Thousands of French emigrants swarmed in the enemies' ranks, and there is reason to think that Louis himself authorised negotiations which had for their object his release from restraint by means of foreign troops. Once he attempted to escape, but through imperfection in the arrange ments he was detected at Varennes, and brought back to Paris; and the people, who discovered his part in bringing the foreigner into France, attacked his palace, slaughtered his guards and all his servants, and would probably have slain him, had he not taken refuge, with his family, in the Hall of the National Assembly. From the National Assembly the royal family were removed to the prison of the Temple, which the king and queen never left again till the days of their trial and execution.

On the 10th of August, 1792, when the Tuileries were attacked by an infuriated mob, monarchy was virtually abolished in France, and the National Assembly, considering itself unequal to the emergency presented by the new circumstances, called a more democratic assembly than itself, the National Convention, to take the responsibility. The guides and apostles of this assembly were those who were the fountain-head of all the violence which had taken place-Robespierre, Marat, and Danton. Under them was formed the Revolutionary Tribunal, a court erected for the