And such, I exclaim'd, is the pitiless part
Some act by the delicate mind;

Regardless of wringing and breaking a heart,
Already to sorrow resigned.

This elegant rose, had I shaken it less,

Might have bloom'd with its owner awhile; And the tear that is wip'd, with a little address, May be follow'd perhaps by a smile.

LESSON XXXV.

Cowper.

SELECT SENTENCES.

How difficult a thing it is to persuade a man against his own interest, though he is convinced that equity is against him.

That state of life is most happy, where superfluities are not required, and necessaries are not wanting.

If I am asked who is the greatest man, I answer the best; and I am required to say who is the best? I reply, he that has deserved most of his fellow creatures.

If a man has a right to be proud of anything, it is of a good action, done as it ought to be, without any base interest lurking at the bottom of it.

Though we seem grieved at the shortness of life in general, we are wishing every period of it at an end; the minor longs to be of age; then to be a man of business; then to make up an estate; then to arrive at honours; then to retire.

Not to offend, is the first step towards pleasing; to give pain is as much an offence against humanity, as

against good breeding; and surely it is as well to abstain from an action because it is sinful, as because it is unpolite.

Justice is as strictly due between neighbour nations, as between neighbour citizens; a highwayman is as much a robber, when he plunders in a gang, as when single, and a nation that makes unjust war, is only a great gang of robbers.

There is not such a mighty difference, as some men imagine, between the poor and the rich; they enjoy the same earth, the same air, and the same heavens; hunger and thirst make the poor man's meat and drink as pleasant and relishing as all the varieties which cover a rich man's table; and the labour of a poor man is more healthful, and often more pleasant, too, than the luxurious ease of the rich.

An Italian philosopher expressed, in his motto, that time was his estate; an estate, indeed, that will produce nothing without cultivation, but will always abundantly repay the labours of industry, if no part of it be suffered to lie waste, by negligence, to be overrun by noxious plants, or laid out for show, rather than for use.

It is said of one of the Earls of Dorset, that the servants used to put themselves in his way when he was in a passion, because he was sure to recompense them for any indignity he made them suffer. This is the round of a passionate man's life; he contracts debts when he is furious, which his virtue, if he have virtue, obliges him to discharge at the return of reason.

Philosophy may be defined "the knowledge of things;" the superficial observer notices the effects produced, and is satisfied; the philosopher is not satisfied till he has ascertained the cause of these effects.

The word phil-an'-thro-pist means the friend of man; we read of Alexander the Great; we read of Peter the

Great; but these were not philanthropists; John Howard was one; he devoted his time, his talents, his money, in endeavouring to alleviate the sufferings of his erring brethren confined in prisons.

Go to the desert, my son, observe the young stork of the wilderness; let him speak to thy heart; he beareth on his wings his aged sire, he lodgeth him in safety, and supplieth him with food.

It is an old saying "that charity begins at home;" but this is no reason it should not go abroad; a man should live in the world, as a citizen of the world; he may have a preference to the particular place or town in which he resides, but he should have a generous feeling for the welfare of the whole.

LESSON XXXVI.

JOHN.-HENRY III. EDWARD I.

Richard I. was succeeded by his brother JOHN, the youngest son of Henry I., in the year 1199. John was opposed by the rightful heir, Arthur, the only son of Geoffrey, John's elder brother, then dead; when, war ensuing, Arthur, then only sixteen years of age, was taken prisoner, and put to death by his cruel uncle's own hands.

This base act, in addition to John's weakness, and tyr'anny over those he had in his power, so disgusted the barons, that they assembled together, and compelled him to sign the charter, known by the name of Magna Charta,* and this may be considered the great bulwark of English liberty.

Properly Kar'ta, but frequently pronounced Charta.

The following is a specimen of John's injustice and cruelty to those placed in his power: to assist in carrying on his wars, he demanded ten thousand marks from a Jew in Bristol; being refused, he ordered one tooth to be drawn out each day, until he should comply; the Jew lost seven teeth, and then gave in, submitting to the unjust demand.

After a reign of seventeen years, John died of a fever, brought on by over exertion, and was buried at Worcester. This worthless man was, perhaps, less regretted than any sovereign that ever swayed the English sceptre, for he does not appear to have had one redeeming good quality in his whole composition.

During John's reign, the mayor and sheriffs of London were first yearly elected.-Chimneys came into use.-Standing armies were introduced, and the Bible was first divided into chapters and verses.

John was succeeded by his eldest son, HENRY III., in the year 1216, being only nine years of age; public affairs, during the young king's minority, were conducted by the Earl of Pembroke, a nobleman of great worth.

When Henry came of age, he proved himself to be a weak prince; he was not destitute of virtues suitable to a private station in life, but he was totally unfit for a ruler in the turbulent times in which he lived; and he disgusted his subjects, by his attachment to worthless foreigners, on whom he lavished all his favours.

He attempted to regain those dominions in France which his father had lost; but, owing to his incapacity, he entirely failed, and returned in disgrace: at home, in the latter part of his time, his government was † Wors'ter.

despised, and robberies and excesses of all kinds, wère committed with impunity.

During his reign, which continued fifty-six years, the houses in the principal streets of London were ordered to be covered with slates or tiles, instead of thatch.-Coals were first used as fuel.-Candles were first made, and the Commons were first summoned to meet in Parliament.

Henry III. was succeeded by his eldest son, EDWARD I., in the year 1272. Edward, after having established order among his subjects at home, turned his attention to the Welsh, who had been very troublesome neighbours, and having mastered them, he annexed Wales to the English crown, and since that time it has given the title of prince to the eldest son of the reigning sovereign.

Edward also wished to subjugate Scotland to English sway, but in this he did not succeed, for the Scotch, under their celebrated chiefs, Wallace and Bruce, defended their country with great courage, and frequently gained the victory over the English.

Edward was on his road to Scotland, with an overwhelming force, intending to overrun the whole country, when he was struck by the hand of death, after reigning thirty-four years, and Scotland was saved.

Edward, in person, was tall and majestic; and his abilities, both for the cabinet and the field, were of a high order, but we must ever regard him rather as a great man, than as a good one.