great part of its value. But this texture is not homoge neous; on the contrary, it is perfectly organized. To be convinced of this we have but to break or cut a branch of coral perpendicularly to the axis, and to submit the part left bare to the action of an acid. The different parts will be unequally attached, and a radiated texture becomes at once apparent. 5. Coral exists probably in all the seas of warm and temperate regions, but the Mediterranean furnishes to commerce the greater part of this product. To gather it, there has been for a long time used a sort of dredge formed of two pieces of wood or iron, disposed in the form of a Saint Andrew's cross, upon the extremities of which, nets are fastened to receive the coral detached by the reiterated blows of the instrument. There are also, as in the search for pearls, divers who plunge to a considerable depth to gather this beautiful production. But already the modern appliances for exploring the sea-depths have been employed with complete success in the gathering of coral. 6. There enter into the composition of coral from eightyeight to one hundred parts of carbonate of lime, a little magnesia, some traces of organic matter, and about one part to the hundred of oxide of iron.-Blackie's Diamond: and Precious Stones. SEAWEED. 1 When descends on the Atlantic Storm-wind of the equinox, Landward in his wrath he scourges Laden with seaweed from the rocks: 2. From Bermuda's reefs; from edges In some far-off, bright Azore; Surges of San Salvador; 3. From the tumbling surf, that buries Answering the hoarse Hebrides; And from wrecks of ships, and drifting On the desolate, rainy seas; 4. Ever drifting, drifting, drifting Currents of the restless main; All have found repose again. 5. So when storms of wild emotion Strike the ocean Of the poet's soul, ere long From each cave and rocky fastness, Floats some fragment of a song: 6. From the far-off isles enchanted, With the golden fruit of Truth; In the tropic clime of youth; 7. From the strong will, and the endeavour Wrestles with the tides of Fate; Floating waste and desolate; 8 Ever drifting, drifting, drifting Currents of the restless heart; Household words, no more depart. -Longfellow. HISTORY OF SOCIETY DURING THE PLANTAGENETS. 1. Few subjects in history are more interesting or more important than the growth and progress of English liberty. It was by no sudden outburst of popular energy, or rapid development of the natural character, that so great a blessing was achieved. In this case its existence would have been as precarious as its birth, and it might have been lost as rapidly as it had been won. On the contrary, whole centuries of struggles were necessary, and all the sufferings as well as changes of infancy, boyhood, and youth had to be undergone before it could acquire a confirmed and permanent manhood. Such is the lesson of the epoch under consideration. The combination of the English nobility at Runnymede laid bounds to the power of royalty, while the wars with Scotland and France which succeeded, made each sovereign more dependent upon popular favour and support, than had been the case with his predecessors; and thus, energetic though they were, and capable under other circumstances of establishing a complete despotic rule, Edward I. and Edward III. were obliged not only to confirm, but also to enlarge the concessions of the weakminded King John. 2. The next era in the history of English liberty was still more favourable for its progress. This was the accession of the house of Lancaster and the wars of the Roses, events, indeed, whose immediate fruits were apparently little else than suffering and calamity, but whose substantial benefits were realized by the nation at large long after the contention of York and Lancaster had passed away. 3. No event could have been more seasonable to the liberties of England during this period than the accession of Henry IV. His predecessor having crushed both Lords and Commons, had created for himself a new Parliament that was subservient to his wishes; he had placed the administration of the kingdom in the hands of his creatures; and, being thus completely absolute, everything was to be apprehended from his weakness and extravagance. It was then that Henry ascended the throne, and ascended it, not by legitimate right, but by usurpation. He as well as his two successors ruled with caution and moderation, for being usurpers, the elder line of the house of York might at any time reassert their claims to the throne. Under these circumstances the Parliament of England was now of higher account than hitherto, while the people were more fully and equitably represented. This last fact may be understood from the character of the classes of which the Parliament was composed. It now consisted of the three estates-the nobility, the clergy, and the commons, while the last of these classes consisted of between two and three hundred members, composed of knights, citizens, and burgesses. In this way, every grade of rank in the commonalty, and every trade and profession, could find its representative and advocate in the assembled Parliament of England. These knights alone constituted a very important element in the popular representation. They were seventy-four in number, and from their birth, habits, and occupations, they were sufficiently conversant with public affairs to make their suggestions respected, as well as sufficiently high-spirited and formidable to check the aggressions of despotism. In this way every great change during the reigns of the three Lancastrian Henries advanced the cause of English liberty, by reducing the monarchical power to fixed and constitutional limits. 4. Another formidable despotism, however, remained, that threatened to rise by the limitation of monarchy, and become the worse oppression of the two. This was feudalism, whose strength mainly lay in civil commotion, and which, in the removal of one sole tyrant, could at any time have produced a hundred in his room. But this portentous danger was removed by the Wars of the Roses, in which the nobility, as the party most interested in the strife, perished by proscription and mutual exter |