One of them was their chief, Gasbarone, who owned to the commission of many murders. What hope could they entertain of pardon? The old man took upon himself to give his priestly word that their lives would be spared; they believed that word, and surrendered to him at discretion. The city of Sezze was astonished at beholding this herd of wolves led in by a lamb.

All admired the heroic action, the self-devoting charity, of this worthy ecclesiastic, who sought no reward, and who might have received a bullet or a stab for his first welcome from those desperadoes, but had done in a few hours what troops and statesmen, in combined action, had not been able to effect in years. His word was respected, his promise fulfilled, and these brutal men spent their lives of expiation in the fortress of Civita Vecchia.

accession: the act of reaching an office.

CARDINAL WISEMAN.

Pontificate: the position

of Pope.concert: agreement in a plan. - brigandage: robbery.abbate (ab ba'tá). Sezze (set så): a title of courtesy applied to priests in Italy. -- banditti: robbers.—desperadoes: wild ruffians.—expiation: Civita Vecchia (chĕ've tȧ věk'ké ä): a town of Italy.

atonement.

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.

A Great Romance.

The history of the renowned Don Quixote presents something more stately, more romantic, and at the same time more real to the imagination, than that of any other hero upon record. His lineaments, his accouterments, his pasteboard visor, are familiar to us; and Mambrino's helmet still glitters in the sun. We not only feel the greatest love and veneration for the knight himself, but a certain respect for all those connected with him, the curate and Master Nicholas, Sancho and Dapple, and even for Rozinante's leanness and his errors.

Perhaps there is no work which combines so much whimsical invention with such an air of truth. Its popularity is almost unequaled, and yet its merits have not been sufficiently understood. The story is the least part of them, though the blunders of Sancho and the unlucky adventures of his master are what naturally catch the attention of the majority of readers. The pathos and the dignity of the sentiments are often disguised under the ludicrousness of the subject, and provoke laughter when they might well draw tears.

The character of Don Quixote himself is one of the most perfect disinterestedness. He is an enthusiast of the most amiable kind; of a nature equally open, gentle, and generous; a lover of truth and justice; and one who

had brooded over the fine dreams of chivalry and romance till they had robbed him of himself and cheated his brain into a belief of their reality.

There cannot be a greater mistake than to consider "Don Quixote" as a merely satirical work, or as a vulgar attempt to explode the "long-forgotten order of chivalry." There could be no need to explode what no longer existed. Besides, Cervantes himself was a man of the most sanguine and enthusiastic temperament; and even through the crazed and battered figure of the knight the spirit of chivalry shines out with undiminished luster, as if the author had half designed to revive the examples of past ages, and once more to "witch the world with noble horsemanship."

WILLIAM HAZLITT.

He was

accouter

William Hazlitt was an English critic and essayist. born at Maidstone, England, April 10, 1778, and died in 1830. Don Quixote (dõn kwiks'ôt). — lineaments: features. ments: dress. - Mambrino's (mam brē'nos) helmet: a Moorish king who was supposed to have a golden magic helmet. Don Quixote took possession of a barber's brass basin, which he conceived was Mambrino's helmet. the curate and Master Nicholas: friends of Don Quixote. Sancho: Don Quixote's serving-man. - Dapple: Sancho's donkey. Rozinante: Don Quixote's charger. - whimsical: singular; fanciful. pathos: a passion which awakes tender emotion. - ludicrousness: the state of being laughable. — enthusiast: a visionary. chivalry: valor and courtesy. - satirical: bitter; reproachful. — sanguine hopeful.-witch the world with noble horsemanship: Shakespeare's "Henry IV.," Act IV., Scene I.

Sancho Panza's Judgment.

After having traveled a certain distance, Governor Sancho, with his attendants, came to a town that had about a thousand inhabitants, and was one of the best in the duke's territories. They gave him to understand that the name of the place was the Island of Barataria. As soon as he came to the gates, the magistrates came out to receive him, the bells rung, and all the people gave general demonstrations of joy. They then delivered to him the keys of the gates, and received him as perpetual governor of the Island of Barataria.

Next they carried him to the court of justice. When they had placed him in his seat, "My lord governor," said the duke's steward to him, "it is an ancient custom here, that he who takes possession of this famous island must answer some difficult and intricate question that is propounded to him; and, by the return he makes, the people judge whether they ought to rejoice or be sorry for his coming."

At this instant, two men came into the court, the one dressed like a farmer; the other, who had a pair of shears in his hand, looked like a tailor.

"If it please you, my lord," said the tailor, "this honest man came to my shop yesterday; for, saving your

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presence, I am a tailor; so, my lord, he showed me a piece of cloth Sir,' quoth he, is there enough of this to make a cap?' Whereupon I measured the stuff, and answered Yes.'

"Now, I imagined, that perhaps he imagined, that I had a mind to cabbage some of his cloth-judging hard of us honest tailors. Prithee,' quoth he, 'look if there be not enough for two caps?' Now, I saw his design, and told him there was. With that he bid me look again, and see whether it would not make three; and at last, if it would not make five? I was resolved to humor my customer, and said it might; so we struck a bargain. Now that the caps are ready, he refuses to pay me for my work; and wants me either to give him his cloth again, or pay him for it."

"Is this true, honest man?" said Sancho to the farmer.

"Yes, if it please you," answered the man; "but pray let him show the five caps he has made."

"With all my heart," cried the tailor; and with that, pulling his hand from under his cloak, he held up five little tiny caps, stuck upon his four fingers and thumb, as upon so many pins. "There," quoth he, "you see. the five caps this customer asked for; and that I have not wronged him of the least shred of his cloth, let any workman be judge."