at a high heat, or by sodium from its chloride. It proves to be most difficult of fusion, even more so than platinum. When obtained by the latter process, it appears in crystals of the first system. It is only of value on account of the colour of its oxides and salts, which are used as pigments. The oxides of chromium are four :-Chromous oxide (Cro); chromic oxide (Cr2O1); an intermediate oxide, which may be considered as a compound of the CrO,Cr,O,; and the only acid oxide, chromic acid (CrO,). Chromous Oxide is only obtainable as a hydrate. When caustic potash is added to a solution of chromous chloride, it falls as a brown powder. Chromic Oxide is a sesquioxide (Cr2O3). When ammonia is added to a solution of chromic chloride, this oxide falls as a hydrate. When heated to render it anhydrous, it becomes a green powder, which is used as a paint. Chromic oxide forms two sets of salts-one green, which is amorphous; the other violet, which crystallises. The emerald owes its colour to the presence of this oxide. Chromic Acid (CrO1) may be obtained in many ways-one is by mixing four measures of the solution of potassium bichromate with five of sulphuric acid. As the mixture cools, the oxide separates out into crimson needles. It exhibits an acid reaction, forming with bases chromates, which are yellow or red salts. Neutral chromates are yellow, as potassic chromate (K2O,CrO3). Potassic bichromate (K,O,2CrO) is the salt chiefly manufactured, and from which the various pigments are derived. It exists in large red transparent four-sided tables. "Chrome Yellow" is lead chromate (PbO,CrO,), and is procured by precipitation from a dilute solution of lead acetate by a solution of potassic bichromate. When chromic acid is heated with strong sulphuric acid, it gives off half its oxygen, thus 2CrO, +3H,,SO. = Cr,380, + 3H20 + 30. "This mixture affords one of the most powerful means of oxidising carbon at comparatively low temperatures." (Williamson.) The chromic sulphate formed in this reaction is the compound which forms with potassium and ammonium sulphates a series of alums. A peculiar dark strongly-fuming liquid is obtained when a mixture of a chromic salt, sodium chloride, and sulphuric acid is heated. It comes off as a red vapour, and may be considered as chromic acid, where one atom of the oxygen has been replaced by its equivalent two atoms of chlorine. Hence its formula is Cro.Cl, and its name chloro-chromic acid. There are two known chlorides-chromous chloride (CrCl), and chromic chloride (Cr2Cl ̧). The latter is obtained as violetcoloured scales, when a current of dry chlorine is passed over an intimate mixture of chromic oxide and charcoal heated to redness. This variety is insoluble; but it becomes green and loses its insolubility when a very small quantity of the chromous chloride is added to it suspended in water, or the soluble chloride is more readily obtained by boiling the solution of a chromate with hydrochloric acid and alcohol. The chromous chloride is a white powder procured by heating the chromic chloride in a current of hydrogen. The other salts of this metal do not present any great interest. Chromic oxide imparts to glass or a borax bead a good green colour. The salts of chromium give insoluble precipitates with lead and silver compounds, of a yellow colour. All the chromates, when treated with dilute sulphuric acid and a little alcohol or sugar (organic matter), become reduced to the green oxide of chromium. URANIUM. SYMBOL, U-COMBINING WEight, 120. The chief ore of this rare metal is pitch-blende. The metal is of a whitish colour, and does not oxidise when exposed to the air; but if heated in air, it burns vividly. Two oxides are known, and both are used in glass-staining. Uranous Oxide (UO), or the protoxide of this compound, appears analogous to chromous oxide. When heated in a current of hydrogen, it refuses to give up its oxygen. If this oxide be heated to bright redness, and then suddenly cooled, the intense black is furnished with which porcelain is coloured and glass stained black. Uranic Oxide (U20) is a yellow powder which is soluble in mineral acids and ammonium carbonate. This peroxide imparts to glass that peculiar yellow-greenish tint which characterises uranium glass, which is also remarkable for its fluorescence. ARSENIC. SYMBOL, AS-COMBINING WEIGHT, 75. Arsenic is considered a non-metallic element by certain French chemists, on account of its striking analogy to phosphorus and nitrogen; but seeing that it conducts electricity readily, and possesses a metallic lustre, it is generally classed among the metals. Probably its true place is between the classes, being the "transition" element. Like phosphorus, its vapour offers an exception to the rule. Its density, instead of being represented by its combining number, is just double, or 150. This may be expressed by saying, that the volume occupied by an atom of arsenic in its gaseous condition is just one-half that of the other elements. The reason of this has not yet been discovered. The metal occasionally is found native, but generally as an alloy with iron, cobalt, nickel, etc. "Realgar" is the sulphide, and "orpiment" the tersulphide, both of which are rare minerals. The metal is chiefly obtained from mispickel, an arsenical sulphide of iron. The fumes from the furnace are conducted into chambers where arsenious acid (As2O,) is condensed. When heated with charcoal, this oxide is reduced, and the metal which vaporises is got by condensation. It has a brilliant steel-like lustre, and is very brittle. It refuses to melt, but readily volatilises, the vapours condensing on the first cold surface into rhombohedra of the metal. The vapour of arsenic possesses a strong odour of garlic. When heated in air, the metal burns with a blue flame into Arsenious Acid (As2O3).—This is the virulent poison " arsenic," the white arsenic of the shops. It is obtained from the ore, as already stated, as a crystalline white powder. When heated, it fuses into a semi-transparent vitreous mass, which gradually becomes opaque, like a piece of white porcelain. It is soluble in hot hydrochloric acid or hot ammonia, and these solutions, as they cool, deposit arsenic in transparent crystals. If the process be watched in a dark room, light is emitted as each crystal is formed. Arsenious acid is soluble in alkaline solutions, soluble arsenites being formed. When to such a solution in potash copper sulphate is added, the much-used pigment "Scheele's green" is precipitated. When silver nitrate is added to the solution of potassium arsenite, the yellow silver arsenite (3Ag, AsO,) falls. When a solution of arsenious acid is acidulated with hydrochloric acid, and sulphuretted hydrogen passed through it, the yellow arsenious sulphide is precipitated. The best antidote for this violent poison is magnesia, which forms with it an insoluble arsenite, and thus the poison passes as a foreign substance through the body. Ferric oxide has the same effect. Arsenic Acid (As,O,) is obtained by oxidising arsenious acid by an excess of nitric acid, and evaporating to dryness in a platinum vessel. It is more soluble than arsenious acid, but does not volatilise when heated, being decomposed into the lower oxide and oxygen. This acid, in forming arsenates, behaves as phosphoric acid, being tri-basic (H,AsO,), and one or two or all the atoms of the hydrogen may be replaced. Arsenic may be readily distinguished from arsenious acid by the redbrown precipitate it affords with silver nitrate. Its poisonous properties are even more decided than those of arsenic. The sulphides of arsenic have been mentioned. Realgar is made artificially by heating together 198 parts of arsenious acid and 112 of sulphur. It is one of the ingredients in "white Indian fire," which is a mixture of seven parts of sulphur, two of realgar, and twenty-four of saltpetre. Orpiment is the chief ingredient in King's yellow. There is a penta-sulphide also known. Arsenic combines with chlorine, bromine, and sodium, forming compounds of but little interest. The Tests for Arsenic.-If a slip of clean copper-foil be immersed in a solution of arsenious acid in hydrochloric acid, a grey film of metallic arsenic is deposited on the copper. Marsh's Test is :-Introduce the liquid suspected of containing the poison into a bottle in which hydrogen is being generated in the usual way. Set fire to the escaping gas, and if the flame burn blue, arsenic is present. When a cold surface is depressed into the flame, a film of metallie arsenic is found upon it. The gas which thus burns is Arseniuretted Hydrogen (AsH1), which corresponds to NH, and PH,. It is capable of condensa tion, and at -40° Cent. becomes a liquid. The gas is absorbed by copper sulphate, copper arsenide being precipitated. It is a deadly poison. The inhaling of a bubble has been attended with fatal results. The metallic ring of arsenic, most conclusive of all tests, may be shown by using a tube of the shape of Fig. 52, which may be made out of an ordinary test-tube. Into Fig. 52. the bulb introduce the arsenic mixed with powdered charcoal and a little sodium carbonate. Upon heating this, the metal will deposit itself on the cool part of the tube. ANTIMONY. To extract SYMBOL, Sb-COMBINING WEIGHT, 122— SPECIFIC GRAVITY, 6·71. This metal is invariably procured from grey antimony ore, which is a native sulphide and tolerably abundant. the metal, the ore is purified and reduced to coarse powder. It is then raised to a dull red-heat on the hearth of a reverberatory furnace, by which most of the sulphur is driven off, and a red mixture of tersulphide and antimonic oxide remains. This is mixed with one-sixth of its weight of powdered charcoal, and made into a paste with a strong solution of sodium carbonate. When submitted to heat in crucibles, the reduced metal collects at the bottom. Its colour is bluish-white, and it is very brittle. Like arsenic, if heated strongly, it takes fire in air, and readily ignites in chlorine. Hydrochloric acid has no effect on it; nitric acid converts it into a white insoluble oxide; whilst strong sulphuric acid, with the aid of heat, makes it a sulphate, sulphurous acid coming off. Type metal is an alloy formed of four parts of lead and one of antimony. Antimonic Oxide (Sb,O,) may be prepared in a hydrated state by pouring a solution of the terchloride of antimony into one of sodium carbonate. Carbonic acid is given off, sodium chloride is formed, and antimonic oxide falls as a white powder. When this oxide is dissolved in cream of tartar, and the solution concentrated, crystals of tartar emetic are procured. Antimonic Acid (SbO) is the white powder formed by the action of nitric acid on metallic antimony before alluded to. It combines with the alkalies, forming antimoniates. When heated to redness, antimonic acid parts with some of its oxygen, and thus the only other oxide of antimony is produced, which may be considered as a compound of the other two (Sb2O,SbO). Antimoniuretted Hydrogen (SbH,) is produced exactly as arseniuretted hydrogen, and burns with a blue flame into antimonic oxide. If this gas be passed through a small glass tube heated to redness like arseniuretted hydrogen, it is decomposed, metallic antimony being deposited. This, however, can be distinguished from arsenic by heating it in the air; and the oxide thus formed will not dissolve in water as arsenious oxide will. Terchloride of Antimony (SbCl,) may be obtained by the action of chlorine or an excess of the metal. Water decomposes it into hydrochloric acid and a basic chloride which was known as the powder of algaroth. Perchloride or Pentachloride (SbCl,) is produced by the action of chlorine on the terchloride. It is a fuming liquid. There are also two sulphides, Sb,S, and Sb,S,. The salts of antimony in acid solutions give a characteristic orange precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen. READINGS IN FRENCH.-VIII. UN BIENFAIT N'EST JAMAIS PERDU. SECTION IV. La nuit était devenue (a) si épaisse,' qu'ils furent contraints (b) de s'arrêter. Dès que le jour parut (c), ils renouvelèrent leurs recherches, hélas! avec aussi peu de succès que la veille, quand tout à coup le son d'un cor se fit (d) entendre.3 je pensais peut-être pouvoir vous être utile dans cette douloureuse circonstance. Veuillez (5) je vous prie, me laisser faire ;12 j'ai l'espoir que nous saurons (k) bientôt ce qu'est devenu votre enfant." Auguste et Fanny étaient là; le marchand frappe dans ses mains,13 et aussitôt on entendit l'aboiement' joyeux d'un beau chien de Terre-Neuve qui bondit à ce signal. C'était Moustache, qui s'en alla tout d'abord caressers les deux enfants qu'il reconnut (1), en tournant autour d'eux et ayant l'air de se rappeler qu'il y en avait (m) un troisième. “Voilà qui va (n) bien," dit le marchand; "Moustache reconnaît les enfants; à son air inquiet, je vois qu'il s'étonne de derniers vêtements que le petit Alfred a portés." ne point voir celui qui est absent.16 Veuillez me donner les 9917 19 fit flairer; puis, prenant la maison pour centre d'un rayon, il Quand ces objets furent là, il les montra à son chien, 18 les lui décrivit (0) autour d'elle un cercle d'un quart de mille, en ordonnant à Moustache de quêter partout où il le menait. Le cercle n'était pas entièrement parcouru lorsque le chien se mit (p) à aboyer.20 Le son de sa voix rendit une lueur d'espérance au père et à la émanations du corps de l'enfant, aboya de nouveau; chacun mère, qui étaient inconsolables. Le chien, en suivant le s'empressa de le suivre, mais on le perdit bientôt dans les bois.?? heure environ, l'on n'entendit plus rien. Ce fut un moment de terrible anxiété, car pendant une demi COLLOQUIAL EXERCISE. 1. Ne faisait-il pas très-obscur? 2. Que firent-ils au point du jour? 3. Qu'entendirent-ils tout à coup? 4. Que dit M. Dérambert? 5. Qu'entendit-on encore? 6. Qu'ajouta M. Dérambert? 7. Que fit alors la troupe ? 8. Qu'aperçurent-ils en arrivant ? 9. Que se passa-t-il alors dans le cœur du pauvre père? 10. Que dit le père en reconnaissant le marchand? 11. Quelle excuse offrit le mar chand? (a) From devenir. (d) Se fit entendre, was heard, (e) A peine, scarcely. (f) Dont, of whom. 12. Que demanda-t-il au père? 17. Que demanda-t-il ? 20. Que fit alors le chien? 21. Quel fut l'effet de la voix du chien ? [bois ? 22. Put-on suivre le chien dans le NOTES. (i) From interrompre. (j) Veuillez, have the goodness to. (k) From savoir. (1) Reconnut, saw, from reconnaître. (m) Il y en avait, there was. (n) From aller. (0) From décrire. (p) Se mit, began. SECTION V. Le front du marchand était soucieux; renfermé dans un silence que personne ne songeait (a) à interrompre, il s'était mis (b) le visage contre terre et recueillait (c) les moindres bruits que la brise apportait. Tout à coup on le vit (d) tressaillir. "Le chien revient," s'écria-t-il ;3 "dans un instant il sera près de nous et nous saurons le résultat de sa course.' Quand le chien reparut, (e) sa contenance était visiblement changée, un air de gaieté et de satisfaction semblait l'animer; ses yeux brillaient, ses oreilles étaient droites; il frémissait, tous ses gestes indiquaient que ses recherches n'avaient pas été infructueuses. "Je suis sûr qu'il a retrouvé l'enfant," fit (f) son maître. "Mais vit-il (g) encore ?" s'écria la mère. Le marchand remua la tête et s'élança sur les traces de son chien, qui avait repris sa course à travers la forêt, en s'ar "D'où vient ce signal "4 s'écria aussitôt M. Dérambert en rêtant de temps à (h) autre pour donner à son maître le temps prêtant une oreille attentive. Une seconde fois le son du cor retentit.5 "Ce bruit vient de l'habitation; courons tous, mes amis." À ces mots la troupe se dirige en toute hâte vers la maison. À peine (e) y furent-ils arrivés, qu'ils aperçurent le marchand ambulants dont (f) il est parlé au commencement de cette histoire. À cette vue, l'espoir qui s'était élevé dans le cœur du pauvre père fit place (9) à un amer désappointement." 'Hélas!" lui dit-il, "je croyais (h) que c'était mon petit Alfred1 qui nous était rendu." "Pardonnez-moi, Monsieur, si j'ai interrompu (i) vos recherches,"" répondit le marchand; "mais si je l'ai fait, c'est que de le rejoindre. Enfin l'animal s'arrêta au pied d'un gros arbre, 1o et poussa (i) un long aboiement. Le marchand redoubla de vitesse, et bientôt il fut à côté de lui. Il aperçut (j) alors l'enfant couché sur un tas de feuillage" et ne donnant aucun signe de vie. Il le prit (k) dans ses bras et reconnut (1) qu'il n'était pas (m) mort, mais seulement dans un état de faiblesse tel, que quelques instants plus tard, il aurait sans aucun doute expiré. Le marchand le souleva avec précaution's dans ses bras et l'apporta à ses parents. 12 Ils étaient heureusement en quelque sorte préparés à cet événement, et s'étaient munis (n) de tout ce qui était néces saire pour le restaurer. Bientôt il ouvrit les yeux15 et tous les chagrins de cette cruelle journée furent oubliés. M. et Mme Dérambert, Auguste et Fanny étaient fous de joie ;16 c'est à peine si dans les premiers moment ils songèrent à remercier celui qui leur avait rendu leur enfant; mais après avoir baigné de larmes le visage du petit malheureux, après l'avoir pressé mille fois contre leur cœur, ils se jetèrent" au cou du marchand en le comblant de bénédictions. Mais, Moustache! de quelles caresses ne fut-il pas l'objet ! c'était à qui (o) le choierait,' le flatterait, l'embrasserait. L'intelligent animal paraissait (p) prendre part au bonheur général; il courait d'Auguste à Fanny, de Fanny à Alfred dont il léchait les petites mains avec un air de contentement inexprimable. On aurait dit qu'il se rappelait le service20 qu'auparavant, les trois enfants lui avaient rendu, et qu'aujourd'hui il se trouvait heureux d'avoir pu leur témoigner sa reconnaissance, en sauvant l'un d'eux. KEY TO EXERCISES IN LESSONS IN FRENCH. 1. Is not your niece going to be married? 2. She will be married rext year. 3. Whom will she marry? 4. She will marry General M.'s eldest son. 5. Do you know who has married that couple? 6. The Archbishop of Paris has married them. 7. Has he not also married Miss L. 8. He has married her to Mr. G. 9. Whom has your young lady married? 10. She has married Mr. L., captain in the 25th regiment of infantry. 11. Is not that old man wrong to marry 12. He is not wrong to be married, but he is wrong to marry that lady. 13. When are those princesses going to be married? 14. They will be married next month. 15. Who will marry them? 16. The Bishop of Arras will marry them. 17. Whom are they to marry? 18. The elder is to marry Mr. W., and the younger Mr. G. 19. Has not Captain G. married a relation of yours? 20. Yes, Sir, he has married a cousin of mine. 21. Who is that young lady? 22. She is a sister of mine, 23. Have you not a book of mine? 24. I have a book of yours and a pen of yours. 25. I have just spoken to one of your sisters. EXERCISE 128 (Vol. II., page 238). 1. M. votre frère va-t-il épouser Mlle. L.? 2. Oui, Monsieur, nous avons beau lui parler, il veut l'épouser. 3. M. votre père ne marierat-il pas votre sœur avec M. G. 4. Non, Monsieur, il la mariera avec M. L. 5. Le capitaine H. est-il marié? 6. Non, Monsieur, il n'est pas encore marié, mais il se mariera l'année prochaine. 7. Qui a-t-il l'intention d'épouser? 8. Il a l'intention d'épouser une de mes cousines, qui est chez mon frère. 9. Qui les mariera ? 10. Mon frère aîné a l'intention de les marier. 11. Votre plus jeune sœur est-elle mariée? 12. Non, Monsieur, elle n'est pas mariée. 13. Va-t-elle se marier? 14. Elle se mariera quand elle sera assez âgée. 15. Qui M. le colonel J. a-t-il épousé? 16. Il a épousé une de mes sœurs. 17. Combien de temps y a-t-il qu'ils sont mariés? 18. Il y a deux ans qu'ils sont mariés. 19. Cette demoiselle n'a-t-elle pas tort de se marier? 20. Elle a tort de se marier, elle est trop jeune. 21. Qui a marié M. le général S. et Mlle. N. 22. L'évêque d'Arras les a mariée. 23. L'archevêque d'York n'a-t-il pas marié ces époux? 24. L'archevêque de Paris les a mariés. 25. Votre tante ne se mariera-t-elle pas! 26. Elle ne se mariera pas? 27. Mlle. votre sœur n'est-elle pas à la maison? 23. Non, Monsieur, elle est chez une de mes tantes. 29. M. votre frère est-il chez vous? 30. Non, Monsieur, il est avec un de mes parents. 31. Est-il marié? 32. Il n'est pas marié, 33. Le capitaine 34. Il s'est marié la semaine dernière. 35. II a H. est-il marié? épousé Mille. H. EXERCISE 129 (Vol. II., page 266). 1. Is your house large? 2. It is fifty feet long and twenty-five feet wide. 3. How long is your garden? 4. It is twenty-five yards in length and twelve in breadth. 5. How large is this book? 6. It is eighteen inches long, thirteen wide, and three inches thick. 7. Is your house longer than this? 8. It is longer by two feet. 9. How deep is this well? 10. How high is that steeple? 11. It is three hundred and fifty-three feet high. 12. How tall is that officer? 13. He is tall. 14. How much taller than his brother is that Scotchman? 15. He is taller by the whole head. 16. Are you not much taller than I? 17. I am three inches taller than you. 18. How is that stuff sold a yard? 19. It is sold three francs a mètre. 20. Does not brown sugar sell dear? 21. It sells cheap. 22. How many letters do you write a week? 23. I only write six a week. 24. How much do you pay a week for your rent? 25. I pay only ten francs a week, EXERCISE 130 (Vol. II., page 266). 1. Quelle grandeur a le jardin de M. votre père? 2. Il a vingt-cinq mètres de longueur et dix de largeur. 3. La maison de votre cousin est-elle grande? 4. Elle a cinquante-six pieds de longueur et quarante de largeur. 5. Votre maison est-elle plus grande que la mienne? 6. Elle est plus grande que la vôtre de dix pieds. 7. Savez-vous quelle profondeur a ce puits? 8. Il a vingt-cinq pieds de profondeur, et six de largeur. 9. Combien ce drap se vend-il le mètre? 10. Il se vend quarante-cinq francs le mètre. 11. Combien recevez-vous par semaine pour votre travail? 12. Je reçois cinquante francs par semaine pour mon travail. 13. Combien votre ami paie-t-il par mois pour sa pension? 14. Il paie soixante-dix francs par mois. 15. Êtes-vous plus grand que votre cousin? 16. Je suis plus grand que lui de toute la tête. 17. Votre neveu n'est-il pas plus grand que votre fils? 18. Il est plus grand que mon fils, de trois pouces. 19. De quelle grandeur est cette chambre? 20. Elle a soixante pieds de long sur quarante de large. 21. De quelle taille est M. votre frère? 22. Il est de haute taille, il est plus grand que moi. 23. Combien de livres lisez-vous par semaine? 24. Je lis dix volumes par semaine. 25. Combien le beurre se vend-il la livre? 26. Le beurre se vend deux francs la livre. 27. Savez-vous combien votre fils gagne par jour? 28. Il gagne autant que le vôtre, il gagne dix francs par jour. 29. Combien cette soie vaut-elle le mètre? 30. Elle vaut six francs le mètre. 81. Notre ami est de taille moyenne. 32. Allez-vous à l'église deux fois par jour? 33. Je vais à l'église une fois par jour. 34. Votre fils va-t-il à la poste tous les jours ? 35. Il y va six fois par jour. EXERCISE 131 (Vol. II., page 267). 1. Have you forbidden that man to set his foot inside your house? 2. I have forbidden him. 3. Have you sheltered those things from the rain? 4. I have sheltered them from the rain and wind. 5. Have you acquainted your brother with that affair? 6. I have not acquainted him with it. 7. Have you not enabled him to study? & I have enabled him to instruct himself, if he wishes to do it. 9. Will 11. Would you put that aside? 10. I am going to put it in the sun. not your friend come in? 12. He would not alight. 13. Has not your dyer put on his apron wrong side out? 14. No, Sir, he has put it on right side out. 15. Have you not put that giddy person out of doors? 16. We have shut the door in his face. 17. At what hour do you sit down to table? 18. As soon as the cloth is laid. 19. Does that man dress well? 20. He always dresses after the English or the Italian fashion. 21. Did not those children commence weeping? 22. Instead of beginning to weep, they began to laugh. 23. Why do you not commence writing? 24. It is time to sit down to table. 25. Are those Sicilian ladies well dressed? 26. They are exceedingly well EXERCISE 132 (Vol. II., page 267). dressed. 1. Le monsieur a-t-il mis pied à terre ce matin ? 2. Non, Monsieur, il n'a pas voulu mettre pied à terre, il n'avait pas le temps. 3. Avezvous mis cet insolent à la porte ? 4. Non, Monsieur, mais je lui ai défendu de mettre le pied chez moi. 5. Avez-vous mis ces petits enfants à l'abri de la pluie ? 6. Je les ai mis à l'abri de la pluie et du vent. 7. Avez-vous mis votre fils à même d'apprendre la médecine? 8. Je l'ai mis à même d'apprendre la médecine, s'il désire le faire. 9. Avez-vous mis votre habit à l'envers ? 10. Je ne l'ai pas mis à l'envers, je l'ai mis à l'endroit. 11. Vous êtes-vous mis en colère ? 12. Non, Monsieur, je ne me suis pas mis en colère. 13. Vous êtes-vous mis à table, hier à quatre heures ? 14. Nous nous sommes mis à table à six heures. 15. Avez-vous l'intention de vous mettre en pension? 16. J'ai l'intention de me mettre en pension chez M. L. 17. Quand vous mettez-vous en voyage? 18. Nous nous mettons en route demain matin. 19. Votre fils s'est-il mis à rire ? 20. Non, Monsieur, il s'est mis à pleurer. 21. Pourquoi ne vous mettez-vous pas à travailler? 22. Parceque je vais me mettre à lire. 23. Cette dame se met-elle à l'anglaise ? 24. Elle se met à l'italienne. 25. Ces dames sont-elles bien mises? 26. Elles sont mises à merveille, 27. Ne voulez-vous pas vous mettre à l'ombre? 28. Je me mettrai au soleil, j'ai très-froid. 29. Votre habit est-il à l'envers ? 30. Non, Monsieur, il est à l'endroit. 1. Send for the physician, your little boy is ill. 2. We have already sent for him. 3. You do not want your pencil, lend it to me. 4. cannot lend it to you, I am using it. 5. Give it to me, or lend it to me. 6. I have promised it to your teacher. 7. If you have not said it to him, tell him of it as soon as possible. 8. Do not tell him of it 10. Have yet. 9. Speak to him about it the next time you see him. patience, my friend, your father will not be long coming. 11. Obey your instructor. 12. I always obey him. Give him a good part of it. 13. I have already given him more than two-thirds of it. 14. Have you carried that key to the locksmith ? 15. I have forgotten to give it to him. 16. Take it to him, without fail, this afternoon. 17. Have the goodness to tell me where Mr. G. lives. 18. Take the first street on the left; he lives in the second house on the right. 19. Come, young ladies, let us make haste. 20. Take them thither as soon as possible.. 21. Do not bring them back to me. 22. Send them back to 23. Let us carry them thither. 24. Let us not carry 25. Lend them to him, but do not give them to him. me to-morrow. them thither. HISTORIC SKETCHES.-XXXIII. THE INQUISITION. On the 7th of November, 1781, a nun was burned alive in a principal town of Spain, on a charge of having made a compact with the devil. She was the last victim of the Spanish Inquisition. The Inquisition was an institution as old almost as Catholicism in Spain, but its operations were not confined to the Spanish kingdom only. Indeed, originally it was called into existence because of people who were not Spaniards at all. After the breaking out of religious differences in Provence among the Albigeois or Albigenses, in A.D. 1160, and after the bloody crusade of the Count de Montfort-father to the Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who founded the English House of Commons-had crushed, not the spirit of difference, but the people who differed, it was considered a necessary thing that the people should be watched by special watches, in order to prevent the re-entry of the heresy which had so divided the church. An Inquisition was therefore established, which took cognisance of heresy of all kinds, and punished, according to its own discretion, those whom in secret court it pronounced to be guilty. The operations of this organisation were not confined to one place, though they were of course chiefly directed against the Albigenses. These unfortunate people, or such of them as escaped the fury of De Montfort, fled into Aragon, where they allied themselves with a race, the Jews, equally inimical to the Holy Office. of the rulers was at the same time excited by the prospect of wealth to be gained by confiscations; and the two influences combining, the poor Israelites had a good many bad quarters of an hour. It began to be rumoured that the Jews, in their rites, openly derided the Christian religion; that they had mock imitations of the sufferings of our Lord; and that they even instituted a grim ceremonial of crucifixion, in which a Christian child was crucified in double mockery of the great sacrifice on Calvary. Towards the close of the fourteenth century the popular ignorance and fanaticism found expression in attacks on the houses and property of the Jews, and in assaults on their persons; and so great was the persecution, which was unchecked, even encouraged, by the authorities, that the only way the Jews had by which to escape destruction was to pretend to be converted to Christianity. But these conversions were of course insincere, and the Catholic bigots watched for the time when they might catch the proselytes tripping. The numbers of the Jews, and the widespread influence they possessed, rendered it next to impossible for the old Inquisition to do the work of religious watch-dog and extirpator of heresy, and the clergy were clamorous for some more efficient machinery for advancing what they considered to be the cause of God. In spite of repeated efforts to obtain this machinery, in spite of many oppressive enactments, the Jews managed to get along pretty well till the junction of the crowns of Aragon and Castile, by Ferdinand and Isabella, in the year 1474. A year before Isabella ascended the throne, the Constable of Castile had been killed by the populace while trying to save the Jews from the fury of the people, who were hounded on by the priests to acts of violence against the race from which the Redeemer himself sprang. A priest who did not set up for being a zealot, wrote thus of the Jews:-" This accursed race were either unwilling to bring their children to be baptised, or, if they did, they washed away the stain on returning home. They dressed their stews and other dishes with oil instead of lard; abstained from pork; kept the passover; ate meat in Lent; and sent oil to replenish the lamps of their synagogues, with many other abominable ceremonies of their religion. They entertained no respect for monastic life, and frequently profaned the sanctity of religious houses by the violation or seduction of their inmates. They were an exceedingly politic and ambitious people, engrossing the most lucrative municipal offices, and preferred to gain their livelihood by traffic, in which they made exorbitant gains, rather than by manual labour or mechanical arts. They considered themselves in the hands of the Egyptians, whom it was a merit to deceive and pilfer. By their wicked contrivances they amassed great wealth, and thus were often able to ally themselves by marriage with noble Christian families." The Jews, who had early experienced the hatred of all sects of Christians, even of those who were most bitterly opposed the one Superstition, ignorance, greed, and fanaticism had their way. to the other, had materially aided the Saracens when Gebal They clamoured for the destruction of the Jews in Andalusia, and Tarik-from whom Gibraltar was called-landed on the south- declared that the machinery of the old Inquisition was quite west coast of Spain, and led his conquering hosts against the unable to cope with the difficulty. Chief among the clamourers Christians of the Peninsula. The Arabs had admitted them to was Alphonso de Ojeda, a Dominican friar of Seville. He terms of equality, in accordance with the tolerant spirit which devoted himself to the work of procuring the means for crushing led them to allow freedom of conscience to everybody, after out Judaism and heresy from Spain, and he so worked upon the they had recovered from the fever inspired by the cry of "Death weak head of Ferdinand of Castile, as to make him listen with or the Koran!" The Jews appreciated this treatment, under satisfaction to his proposals for establishing a new and more which they increased and multiplied, and grew rich, and rose to thorough-going Inquisition than existed elsewhere in Europe. many high offices of state; and they were looked upon with When Isabella heard of the plan she was much opposed to proportionate jealousy and dislike by Christians of the Roman it, intensely Catholic though she undoubtedly was. She could Church, who regarded the union of Jew and Saracen as a two- not bear to think of the persecution to which the new instituheaded form of the worst infidelity, and bided the time when tion must inevitably give rise, and she failed to be convinced by they might burst the union asunder. Meantime, the Jews flou- the arguments addressed to her on the score of necessity. Overrished exceedingly in Spain; they travelled, accumulated know-powered, however, by those to whose judgment she thought she ledge as well as money, and were foremost in the ranks of the was bound to defer, and recognising, it is said, the obligation of learned in the science and arts of those days. Medicine, a promise extorted from her when a girl by her confessor, astronomy, political economy, finance, were their special studies, Thomas de Torquemada, that "should she ever come to the and in these they so greatly excelled that even Christian princes throne she would devote herself to the extirpation of heresy, for sought their help in governing, and gave them posts of trust the glory of God, and the exaltation of the Catholic faith," she about their person. The wealth of the Jews was also so great joined with her husband Ferdinand in a petition to the as to overcome the repugnance of the Spanish Christian Pope that the Holy Office might be introduced into Castile. grandees, who were poor, to commingling the blood of the two Sixtus IV. was only too glad to comply with the request, and on races; and many marriages were made between wealthy Jews the 1st of November, 1478, he issued a bull authorising the and noble but unmoneyed Christian maidens. By the time, how- Spanish sovereigns to appoint ecclesiastical commissioners for ever, that the Albigenses fled into Aragon, the bigotry of the the detection and punishment of heresy throughout their Catholics was ready to exalt itself against all men, and every-dominions. thing that opposed it, whether actively or passively. The cupidity Averse as the queen originally was to the introduction of harsh measures, she resolved to suspend the exercise of the powers committed to her until after an effort had been made to bring the people to a sense of their supposed error. She caused the Cardinal Mendoza, Archbishop of Seville, to draw up a sort of catechism, in which the chief points of the Catholic creed were set forth; and this catechism the clergy were exhorted to bring to the notice of the people. Few conversions, if any, were effected by this process; and those Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics who saw the tempest coming, made use of the breathing time allowed them, and escaped from Spain to other countries. Many remained, and at the end of two years the Queen being informed that the faith of Judaism and heresy was as strong as before, issued a commission, under the Papal bull, to two monks of the Dominican order, who were to act as inquisitors, and two other ecclesiastics, who were to assist them in their office. prepared for each victim; and on a scaffold which commanded a view of the place, a select company assembled to witness the tragedy. Around, but at a distance, the common throng looked on, while men played "such fantastic tricks before high heaven as made the angels weep." A sermon, generally of an uncompromising and uncharitable kind, was preached by a monk, and then the auto de fé (act of faith) was commenced by reading over to each convict, in the hearing of the people, the sentence against him. Thereafter a flame-coloured smock, with devils painted all over it, was flung over the victim, who was forthwith bound to the stake; and when similar steps had been taken with regard to the others, flame was applied to the fagots, and the poor wretches, for whom also Christ died, perished miserably at the hands of the so-called ministers of God. This was what the Dominicans called delivering the body to Satan, that the soul might be saved in the day of the Lord; or, if that might not be, then the execution was a warning to others; and it was lawful to do that amount of evil that good might come of it. Horrible casuistry! Notwithstanding the plague which in this year visited Seville, sweeping off 15,000 of the inhabitants, the Inquisition still continued its fiendish work; so that by the end of the year, in the province of Andalusia, 2,000 persons, many of them the most learned and respectable of the day, had perished at the stake. Twice that number having managed to escape, were burned in effigy, and 17,000 were condemned to lesser punishments; of which the least, however, must have been a terrible infliction. Two years after the first insti On the 2nd of January, 1481, the court commenced its operations at the Dominican Convent of St. Paul, in the city of Seville, Alphonso de Ojeda being prior of the convent, by publishing an edict, requiring all who knew or suspected any to be guilty of heresy to accuse them of the same, secretly or openly, to the tribunal. To those who should confess their errors and become reconciled to the Church, the Inquisition held out the hope of pardon, if confession were made before a given date. There was thus ample employment for the new court, which soon had to move its sittings from the Convent of St. Paul to the Castle of Friana, in the suburbs of Seville. There it entertained accusations against high and low, upon pretexts the most frivolous as well as the most grave; and condemned to punish-tution of the office, Sixtus IV., who was at one time disposed ments, varying from death by fire to simple penance, delinquents who could not say they believed what to their minds was a lie. The Inquisition received evidence which, even in those days, would not have been listened to in a civil court of law, and the pretexts upon which condemnation frequently proceeded were such as to make them marvellous even in a barbaric era. Tortures of the most exquisite and excruciating kind were practised on the accused to make them confess, or to induce them to accuse other people; and the hateful system of espionage and secret prison-houses was adopted by the Inquisition at Seville, and at all its branches. For hard as the inquisitors worked at Seville, they could not get through the long lists of persons in all parts of Spain who were accused to them as shortcomers in the faith; and branch courts were formed at other places, under the superintendence of the Dominican friars. On the 2nd of January, 1481, the chief .bureau at Seville opened its commission, and by the 8th of the same month six persons had suffered death at the stake for conscience' sake. The testimony on which Jews were condemned would be simply ludicrous, had it not been so terrible in its effect. An author, to whom the writer is indebted for many of the facts here mentioned, says: "It was considered good evidence of the fact (i.e. Judaism) if the prisoner wore better clothes or cleaner linen on the Jewish Sabbath than on the other days of the week; if he had no fire in his house the preceding evening; if he sat at table with Jews, or ate the meat of certain animals, or drank a certain beverage held much in estimation by them; if he washed a corpse in warm water, or when dying turned his face to the wall; or, finally, if he gave Hebrew names to his children, a provision most whimsically cruel, since by a law of Henry II. he was prevented under severe penalties from giving them Christian names." Of course, such testimony being accepted, the number of the condemned was legion; and by the beginning of November, in the first year of the Spanish Inquisition's existence, there had perished by fire in Seville no less than 298 persons. The executions, which took place at a permanent stake-yard of stone, were attended with all the circumstances which could lend horror to the scene, and heighten, for sake of the example, the sufferings of the condemned. On a given day appointed by the Inquisition, usually one on which there was an edifying number of sinners to be roasted, a solemn procession was formed in the court-yard of the prison whence the prisoners set out to their doom. Priests went before and after, singing dirges, and in the midst walked the prisoners; those who were to die being dressed in distinctive and fantastic robes; those who were to witness the sufferings of their friends, and after supping full of horrors to be led back again to prison, in different coloured robes. On arriving at the execution-ground they found the wood to moderate the zeal of the inquisitors, appointed Torquemada, who had been Queen Isabella's confessor, to be InquisitorGeneral of Castile and Arragon, with power to frame a new constitution for the office. From this time dates the rise of the Spanish Inquisition as it got to be known and cursed. Its cruel hand reached everywhere; no one was too high in office, too learned, too brave, too true to his profession, to be exempt from it; and to be suspected was in nearly every instance to fall. Torquemada's reign was a reign of terror, but he was succeeded by one Deza, who, in the eight years he presided at Seville, caused 2,592 persons to be burned alive, to say nothing of some 35,000 condemned to various other punishments short of death, but illustrating how that the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. When the Reformation began to be preached, the work of the Inquisition increased; and several hundreds of persons, in various parts of Spain, were annually burned alive in consequence. But not in Spain only did the Inquisition work for the devil. In her colonies, especially in South America and Mexico, the hateful ensign was set up, and the Indians who escaped the cruelty of the colonists as governors, experienced the rigorous punishments of them as religionists, and destroyed themselves in large numbers rather than fall into their hands. It is wonderful that there was not any actual rebellion against the Spanish Inquisition, which continued, on the basis settled by Torquemada, till 1781. During the three centuries of its existence it is computed to have burned 31,912 persons; to have burned in effigy 17,659; and to have punished in other ways 291,450 more. Yet there was not any uprising against it. Men hated but feared a tribunal of which the spies were all around, even in the bosom of the family, and which dealt its blows so secretly and suddenly, and with such destructive effect. Though after 1781 human sacrifices ceased to be offered, the Inquisition itself continued to exist till 1813, when it was formally abolished by the Cortes, and it has not been revived on any permanent basis since. Imperfect as this sketch of so great a subject must necessarily be, enough perhaps has been shown to explain the reason why the Netherlanders resolved to shed their last drop of blood rather than suffer the Spanish Inquisition to be established among them; and why the English, under Elizabeth, were stung into a frenzy of courage at mere sight of the Armada, which was intended not only to effect the conquest of their country in behalf of the worst bigot of his day (Philip II.), but to implant what was inseparable from the power of that evil king-the authority of the devilish tribunal which sat at Seville and Valladolid, and performed in open day, and in the sight of God and man, acts at which one must think even a fallen angel would have blushed with shame, and from which the devil himself might have shrunk. |