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to the men of war that they might so combine as to compel the king to enlarge and re-grant it. This was in August, 1213. In November of the following year the barons met again at Bury St. Edmunds, Langton having in the meantime prepared a draft of the demand that should be made upon the king. His were the brains, his the Geist, that marshalled the warriors, and pointed out to them the direction in which their strength should be employed. The draft was read by the archbishop from the steps of the high altar, and was received with rapturous applause; and Langton, striking while the iron was hot, reminded the barons of all their wrongs, and swore them to keep steadfast to the cause even unto death, until they had obtained their wish; "and at length it was agreed that after the nativity of our Lord, they should come to the king in a body, to desire a confirmation of the liberties before-mentioned; and that in the meantime they were to provide themselves with horses and arms in the like manner, that if the king should perchance break through that which he had specially sworn (which they well believed), and recoil by reason of his duplicity, they would instantly, by capturing his castles, compel him to give them satisfaction."

Fully armed and in great numbers, the barons waited on the king on the 6th of January, 1215, and presented their demands. Joln asked for time, and they gave him till Easter to think about it. He employed the interval in attempts to break up the combination against him: he offered special privileges to the churchmen, got the Pope to write in his behalf, and tried to detach the leaders from their comrades. But the nobles remained firm, and getting.no reply to their demand by Easter, met in arms at Stamford, and sent thence to John for his final decision. "By God's teeth, I will not grant them liberties that will make me a slave!" he screamed to Langton, who read over the clauses of the charter to him; but the Primate read on, and when he had finished, John promised an answer speedily. None came, so the barons marched, and after getting possession of several large towns, entered London on the 24th of May, 1215. Rendered despairful, and being almost alone, John sent to say he would give what was asked. When and where should he meet the lords? "Let the day be the 9th of June-the place Runnymede," was the answer sent back. A postponement to the 15th was agreed to, and on that day John, attended by a small retinue, met "the whole nobility of England," and negotiations were opened forthwith.

John

No tricks, no lies, no subterfuges could now avail. was absolutely in the hands of his indignant and determined lords, and he must agree to what they demanded, or take the consequences. Why need the liberty of others make him a lave? Is it that tyrants feel stifled when their fellow-men breathe? Better every way that they should feel stifled than that the alternative should present itself. But what were the stifling restraints on the royal respiration? Let us see. The Great Charter provided, first, "That the Church of Englend (not Rome, be it observed) shall be free, and have her whole rights, and her liberties inviolable." It then went on to fix exactly the nature and extent of the feudal obligations, not only of the barons towards the king, but of the smaller holders towards the barons; the liberties of cities and towns were confirmed; the redress of existing grievances, such as the employment of foreign troops against Englishmen, arbitrary imprisonment without trial, the exaction of ruinous fines and the spoliation of wards and heiresses, was then assured; and that power so sweet to despots, of arbitrary, irresponsible punishment, was expressly renounced. But the grand clauses which made the charter so truly great, and which are laws to this hour, are those which provided that no tax should be levied at by order of "the general council of our kingdom;" that ne royal officers who acted illegally should be personally responsible; that the Court of Common Pleas should be in one fixed place, instead of following the king's person. The grandest clauses of all, however, are these

"No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or banished, or any ways destroyed; nor will we pass upon him, nor will we condemn him, unless by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny to any man, either justice or right." For four days the negotiations went on; the country between Staines and Windsor was white with the tents of the iron-clad men, who had come to demand a charter of liberties. Stephen

de Langton kept them up to their work, not permitting them to lag, but not suffering them to overbear. It was on the 15th of June, Friday, that the conference came to an end. In the royal tent sat John (Lackland as they called him), with some dozen attendants, whose hearts were not stout enough to oppose or to defend him; and round the table on which the Great Charter lay stood the mightiest of the peers, men whose names are worthily inscribed on Fame's eternal bead-roll. Langton argued for them. He spoke their minds, and patiently did he bear with all that was urged against him, for he knew the power which was ready to back up his case. Never did summer sun shine on a more splendid sight than the meadow by Runnymede presented on this day in June, 1215. The king, after vainly trying to evade, to caress, and to intimidate, was forced to give in; the unbending firmness of Langton knew of no surrender but the fullest. Not only did he insist upon and obtain the king's signature to the grant, but he compelled the royal assent-and there the shoo pinched dreadfully-to a clause empowering certain barons to assume sovereign power in the event of the king failing to keep his oath.

Thus was won for Englishmen the Great Charter of Liberties, which has been handed down with honest pride from generation to generation, and which stands out as the rock on which our air-like freedom was founded, amid the sea of violence and selfishness which beat and broke on it in vain.

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POSITION OF THE BODY, THE HAND, AND THE PEN. GOOD handwriting is essential to almost all persons who have to make their way in the world. Great stress is laid upon it in the examinations for all Government appointments; it is required in every merchant's counting-house, in every office, in almost every shop. The boy who can write well obtains a situation-however humble the situation may be far more readily than the boy whose "pot-hooks and hangers" are almost as difficult to decipher as the cuneiform characters of ancient Nineveh. It is our purpose to devote a portion of our space to "Lessons in Penmanship." Our efforts, at the outset, will be directed towards the instruction of those who have never learned to write, and the improvement of those who write badly; and we shall follow these lessons by a series of papers exhibiting the different styles of handwriting required in Government offices, the merchant's counting-house, and the office of the solicitor, etc. etc., with instructions in German chirography and the ordinary kinds of ornamental writing, especially the black letter, or German text, so necessary to the solicitor's clerk in engrossing deeds and legal documents.

With these preliminary remarks, we hope our students will attend very carefully to our directions in endeavouring to acquire an elegant system of penmanship, as by this means, combined with constant practice, they will surely become good writers.

In the first place, you should sit right in front of the desk or

table at which you intend to write; then, placing your left arm
on the table and your left hand on the edge of the book or
paper to hold it firm, if necessary, by pressure with the fingers,
take the pen in the right hand, and grasp it firmly, but not too
much so, between the thumb and the two fingers next to the
thumb, that is, the forefinger and the midfinger, as shown in
the accompanying representation of the hand with a pen in it.
In this position, remember carefully that before you can draw
a stroke, the point of the pen must be placed at the distance
of about fire-eighths or
three-quarters of an inch
from the tip of the mid-
finger, with its face or
open part downwards, and
nos leaning to one side or
other; the pen must also
be placed alongside of
the mail of the midfinger,
not on the mail itself, but
en the fleshy part of the
nager close by it. The
upper part of the pen
must likewise be raised

love the knuckle of the fore finger, as seen in the 1 care of the hand, so that arm paner-folder might **** way ww This part of the pen and The Ark It is of essen 14. Ne to serve This part of the directions * was the prosting.

kept upright, so that the top of the pen may point to the right ear when the hand is at the commencement of a line which you are about to write, and that as you move it along it must be kept parallel to this position throughout. It will assist you very much in obtaining and keeping this position of the hand to observe that the knuckle of the little finger and the knuckle or second joint of the thumb should both be kept always as near as possible at the same distance from the paper, say about an inch and a half, while in the act of writing. It will also be of

Potter er r HAND WHEN HOLDING THE PEN.

vse for want of attention to these apparently triding minutie, or small matters many had writers have arisen, and some of Them eren teachers who ought to know better what they are ཝཱཏྟཱ ཎཔུནྣཾ ཀནྟི ནི ཝི, For it stands to reason, and any one may prove it To by a few trails that if the pen be allowed to fall Teow the lanolin there is an instant loss of power, and of all n. amand over the pe

Another direction of equal importance with any of these we awww ga is the post of the thumb, this you bend out with the peso as to case the top or fleshy part of the boot the tand to rest upon the pen direct oppose the find sort of ide sorger, as shown in the figure of the hand. This wasnotes the doctions for the position of the now dagers o bad the p Now it as attend to the other two One of theen the te gee, must be held so as to foul the poverty and to mast on the tof by these what the hand and smarte

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the greatest advantage if, at the commencement of a line in writing, you should have the elbow of the right hand pretty close to your right side, and as you move the hand along the line, in writing, to preserve the arm parallel to this position as well as the pen to its first position; in fact, if you do the one correctly you will necessarily do the other. unless you choose to hicist the wrist, which would be equally painful, absurd, and unnecessary.

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As to the position of the head and shoulders, stoop as little as possible: a gentle inclination of the head is all that is necessary in general. in order that you may observe earnestly and accurately the motion of the hand and the formation of the letters. In near-sighted persons a greater inclination of the head is required than in ordmary cases: but in all cases whatsoever this rule is absolately essential to keep the chest entinly five of pressing on the table or desi at vi ya mt; if once you acquire a habit of leaming on the table, or lolling upon it with your chest or stomach you need never expect to be a good wer. We beirre that many popis have been servosy red in their health by the practice or habit of leaning upon the chest while learning to write and that soch gay has followed them through What can be more absurd than to see a by org spearing on a table or desk with their arms akimba and ther noses almost upon the paper manng the momon of the pot. What more folsh ar sagreeable than to we ever stroke of the pen med by the mouth or the somon as of the water was approaching a state of blogy: Let every sondena of penmanship si erect vir wing, and los most has band with a grate mina been suffernt to mable him to see and we produce such a specimen of his run semn and mELN

of the tiger as the bee of the han wing the weight of the hand and acting achat and we har nu sad um

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LESSONS IN ARITHMETIC.-I.

THE term Arithmetic, which is derived from the Greek verb apieμew (pronounced a-rith'-me-o), to count, is properly applied to the science of Numbers, and the art of performing calculations by them, and investigating their relations. To a certain extent, this science must have been coeval with the history of man. As an art, arithmetic is indispensable in daily business; and the man who is best acquainted with its practical details has always the preference in every mercantile establishment. Our object in these lessons shall be twofold-to develop its principles as a science, and to show the application of its rules as an art. For this purpose, it will be necessary to begin with the first principles of Numeration and Notation, and to give such rules as will enable any one to read and write a given number correctly.

NOTATION AND NUMERATION.

1. Any single thing-as for instance, a pen, a sheep, a house -is called a unit: we say there is one such thing. If another single thing of the same kind be put with it, there are said to be two such things; if another, three; if another, four; if another, five; and so on.

Each of these collections of things of which we have spoken is a number of things; and the terms one, two, three, four, five, etc., by which we express how many single things or units are under consideration, are the names of numbers. A number therefore is a collection of units. This is also sometimes called an integer, or whole number.

It will be seen that the idea of number is quite independent of the particular kind of units, a collection of which is counted. Thus, if there are four pigs, the number of pigs is the same as if there were four pens. We can thus abstract a number from any particular unit or thing, and talk of the number four, the number five, etc. Numbers thus abstracted from their reference to any particular unit or thing are called abstract numbers. When a collection of things or objects is indicated, it is called a concrete number.

We shall treat first of abstract numbers.

2. The art of expressing numbers by symbols, or figures, is called Notation.

In the system of notation which we are about to explain, all numbers can be expressed by means of ten symbols (figures, or digits, as they are called), representing respectively the first nine numbers, and nothing, i.e., the absence of number. These

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Thus 7943 would denote seven thousands, nine hundreds, four tens, and three ones; or, as it would be expressed, seven thousand, nine hundred, and forty-three.

Similarly, 830|54|7|would denote eight times a hundred thousand, three times ten thousand, no thousands, fivo hundreds, four tens, and seven ones; or, as it would be moro briefly expressed, eight hundred and thirty thousand, five hundred and forty-seven.

We need not, however, draw the columns: it will be the same thing if we imagine them, and, instead of columns, talk of figures being in the first, second, third, fourth places, etc. The symbol 0 put in any place, as already indicated in tho previous example, denotes that the number corresponding to tho particular column or place in which it stands is not to be taken at all: the 0 only fills up the place-thus, however, answering the important purpose of increasing the figure after which it stands tenfold.

Thus, 10 means that once ten and no units aro taken-i.e., it denotes the number ten; 100 means that once a hundred but no tens and no units aro taken-i.c., it denotes the number a

hundred; 5001 means that five thousands, no hundreds, no tens, and one unit, are taken, or, as it would be more briefly expressed, five thousand and one.

4. Before proceeding further, we will give the names of tho successive numbers :

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The numbers between twenty and thirty are expressed thus: twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, etc., up to twenty-nine, to which succeeds thirty; and similarly between any other two of the names above given, from twenty up to a hundred: thus, 95 is called ninety-five.

After one hundred, numbers are denoted in words, by mentioning the separate numbers of units, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc., of which they are made up. For example, 134 is one hundred and thirty-four; 5,342 is five thousand three hundred and forty-two; 92,547 is ninety-two thousand five hundred and forty-seven; 84,319,652 is eighty-four millions, three hundred and nineteen thousand, six hundred and fifty-two.

5. It is useful, in reading off into words a number expressed in figures, to divide the figures into periods of three, commencing on the right, as the following example will indicate:Billions. Thousands of Millions. Millions. Thousands. Units. 561 234 826 479 365

Thus the figures 561,234,826,479,365 would denote five hundred and sixty-one billions, two hundred and thirty-four thousand eight hundred and twenty-six millions, four hundred and seventynine thousand, three hundred and sixty-five.

We have then the following

Rule for reading numbers which are expressed in figures :Divide them into periods of three figures each, beginning at the right hand; then, commencing at the left hand, read the figures of each period in the same manner as those of the righthand period are read, and at the end of each period pronounce its name.

The art of indicating by words numbers expressed by figures is called Numeration.

EXERCISE 1.

Write down in figures the numbers named in the following exercises :

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In the foreign system of numeration a thousand millions is called a billion, a thousand billions a trillion, and so on.

1. Thirty-four.

2. Four hundred and seven.

3. Two thousand one hundred and nine.

4. Twenty thousand and fifty

seven.

5. Fifty-five thousand and three. 6. One hundred and five thousand and ten.

7. Seven hundred and ten thousand three hundred and one.

8. Two millions, sixty-three thousand and eight.

9. Eleven thousand eleven hun

dred and eleven.

10. Fourteen millions and fifty11. Four hundred and forty mil

six.

lions and seventy-two. 12. Six billions, six millions, six

thousand and six.

13. Ninety-six trillions, seven hundred billions and one.

EXERCISE 2.

from the Latin: I mean suggestion, continue, progress, numerous, exemplification, assertion, proportion, language, Latin, origin. Of the two-and-forty words of which the sentence consists, ten are from the Latin. Should you ever possess an acquaintance with the science of philology, or the science of languages, you will know that in the sentence there are other words which are found in the Latin as well as in other ancient languages. Independently of this, you now learn that about one-fourth of our English words have come to us from the people who spoke Latin, that is, the Romans and other nations of Italy. In reality, the proportion of Latin words in the English is much greater, as in time you may know. Observe, too, that these Latin words in the sentence are the long and the hard words,

Read off into words the numbers which occur in the following and what perhaps you may call "dictionary words." These are

exercises :

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BEING about to give you, reader, some lessons which may enable you to learn the Latin language, with no other resources than such as may be supplied by your own care and diligence, I take it for granted that you are desirous of acquiring the necessary skill, and willing to bestow the necessary labour. If the study were not recommended as a good mental discipline; if it were not recommended as giving a key to some of the finest treasures of literature; if it were not recommended as a means of leading you into communion with such minds as those of Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Livy, and Tacitus, it would have a sufficient claim on your attention, as greatly conducing to a full and accurate acquaintance with your mother tongue-the English. The English language is, for the most part, made up of two elementsthe Saxon element and the Latin element. Without a knowledge of both these elements, you cannot be said to know English. If you are familiar with both these elements, you possess means of knowing and writing English, superior to the means which are possessed by many who have received what is called a classical education, and have spent years in learned universities. In order to be in possession of both those elements, you must, for the Saxon element, study German, and for the Latin element, study the lessons which ensue.

In the instructions which I am to give you, I shall suppose my self addressing a friend, who, besides some general acquaintance with his mother tongue, has acquired from the English Lessons in the POPULAR EDUCATOR, or from some other source, a knowledge of the ordinary terms of English grammar, such as singular, plural, noun, adjective, verb, adverb, etc. The meaning of such words I shall not explain. But everything peculiar as between the English and the Latin I shall explain. I shall also explain any grammatical term, which though used sometimes in English grammar, you possibly may not understand. In my explanations I think it safer to err on the side of superfluity rather than on the side of deficiency. I have said that I shall suppose you to possess a general acquaintance with the English language. But I advise you to suspect yourself as being probably acquainted with it but in an imperfect manner. And this advice I give you in the hope that it may lead you to the constant use of a good English dictionary. In every case in which you have the least doubt whether or not you know the exact meaning of any word I use, look out the word in your dictionary, and put it down in a note-book to be kept for the purpose. Having written it in the note-book, add the meaning. When you have, say, a score of words thus entered in your note-book, look them over again and again until their signification is impressed on your memory. If you listen to this suggestion, and continue to make progress with me, you will soon find numerous exemplifications of the assertion I made but now-namely, that a large proportion of the words in the English language are of Latin origin. Take, for instance, the last sentence. In that sentence alone the following words are derived

the very words which give you trouble when you read an English classic, or first-rate author. But they give me no trouble. With me, they are as easy to be understood as any common Saxon term, such as father, house, tree. The reason why they have long ceased to give me trouble, is, that I am familiar with their roots, or the elements of which they each consist. Having this familiarity, I have no occasion to consult the dictionary. There are thousands of English words of Latin origin, the meaning of which I know, though I have never looked them out in a dictionary. I wish to assist you in putting yourself into a similar position; and although you may have no aid but such as these pages afford you, I do not despair of success, if only you will strictly observe my requirements.

PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN.

You may practically regard the Latin alphabet as the same as the English; and in the pronunciation, too, you may in the main follow the best English usage, remembering always that every vowel is pronounced in Latin, and that words which in English would be words of one syllable, are words of two sylla bles in Latin, owing to the distinct pronunciation of every vowel. Thus the word mare in English, the feminine of horse, is pronounced ma-re in Latin, just as we pronounce the English name Mary, and means the sea. The Latin language, in short, has no silent e as we have in English.

Every modern nation pronounces the Latin as it pronounces its own tongue. Thus there are divers methods of pronunciation. This diversity would be inconvenient, if the Latin were, like the French, a general medium of verbal intercourse. At one time it was so, and then there prevailed one recognised manner of pronunciation. Now, however, for the most part, Latin is read, not spoken. Consequently the pronunciation is not a matter of consequence. Even in our own country there are diversities, but such diversities are secondary matters. To one or two remarks, however, you should carefully attend. In Latin the vowels are what is called long or short. In other words, on some the accent or stress of the voice is thrown, on others it is not thrown. The vowel a, for instance, is mostly long; the vowel i is mostly short. A long vowel is said to be equal to two short vowels. We English people, however, have no other way of marking a long vowel, except by throwing on it the accent or stress of the voice. It is also a fact, that in Latin the same vowel is sometimes short and sometimes long; in other words, the same vowel sometimes has, and sometimes has not, the accent on it; thus the i in dominus, a lord, is without the accent, while the i in doctrina, learning, has the accent; the former, therefore, is pronounced thus, dóm-in-us, the latter thus, doc-trí-na. Now observe that these words are trisyllables, or words of three syllables. Of these three syllables the lastnamely, us-is called the ultimate; the second, in, is called the penult; the first, or dom, is called the antepenult. And the general rule for pronouncing Latin words is, that the accent is thrown on the penult, or if not on the penult, then on the antepenult. In doctrína the accent is on the penult, or last syllable but one. In dóminus, the accent is on the antepenult, or last syllable but two. In order that you may know where to lay the stress of your voice, I shall mark, as in dóminus and doctrína, on which syllable the accent lies. You will then understand that when I put a mark thus over a vowel, I mean thereby that you should let your voice rest, as it were, on that vowel. For example, in the word incur, the accent you know is on the last syllable, for you throw the stress of the voice on the syllable This is indicated thus, incúr. So in the Latin amicus, a friend, the accent is on the , and the word is to be pronounced

cur.

thus amicus, the accent being on the penult. There is another way of marking the same fact; it is by the use of a short straight line, as, and a curve, as . The former denotes a long or accented syllable, for instance, doctrina; the latter denotes a short or unaccented syllable, for instance, dominus. You thus see that doctrina and doctrína, dóminus and dominus point out the same thing-namely, that in pronouncing doctrína you must lay the stress of the voice on the i, and in pronouncing dóminus you must lay it on the o.

I must point out to you another practice. In Latin, as you will presently learn, the endings of words have a good deal to do with their meanings. It is, on that account, usual to pronounce them at least very distinctly. Indeed, I might say, that on every terminating syllable a sort of secondary accent is laid. Thus, dominus is pronounced dóminús. So in other forms of the word: thus, dóminí, dóminó, dóminúm. The object is to mark the distinction between, say, dominus and domino, a distinction of great consequence. Another form of this word is dominos. For the same reason a stress is laid on the termination os, which accordingly is pronounced as if it were written case. Words, too, which end in es have a secondary accent on the e; as vulpes, a for, pronounced vulpees. In a few cases the vowel is what we call doubtful, that is, it is sometimes short and sometimes long. This peculiarity is marked thus, as in tenebrae, darkness, when the accent may be on the penult, as tenébras, or on the antepenult, as tenebrae. Observe, also, that a vowel at the end of a word is always pronounced in Latin. Take, as an example, docéré, to teach, which is pronounced as it is marked, that is, with an accent on the last syllable no less than on the last syllable but one. And be sure that you pronounce docéré as a word of three syllables, do-ce-re, and not do-gere, as if it were a word of two syllables only, remembering, as I have told you before, that the Latin language has no silent e, as we have for instance, in wife. Practise yourself, according to these rules, in pronouncing thus the opening lines of that fine poem, Virgil's "Eneid." As I am anxious that you should not pass anything without knowing its meaning, I subjoin the translation made by the English poet Dryden.

"Arma virúmque canó, Trójaé quí prímus ab óris
Italiam, fátó profugús, Lávinia vénit
Littora; múlt[um] ill[e] ét térrís jáctátus et álto,
Vi superúm, saévaé memorém Júnónis ob íram;
Múlta quoqu[e] ét bélló pássús dúm cónderet úrbem,
Inférrétque Deós Latió; genus únde Latinum,
Albáníque patrés, átqu[e] áltaé móenia Rómae."
"Arms and the man I sing, who, forced by fate,
And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate,
Expelled and exiled, left the Trojan shore.
Long labours, both by sea and land, he bore,
And in the doubtful war, before he won

The Latin realm, and built the destined townHis banished gods restored to rites divine, And settled sure succession in his line, From whence the race of Alban fathers came, And the long glories of majestic Rome." In the above piece of Latin poetry you will have noticed some letters enclosed by brackets. By certain rules, which you will meet with in Latin prosody, these letters are dropped, or not sounded, under certain conditions of position in Latin poetry, although they are sounded distinctly in Latin prose. In pronouncing the third line, you must cut off the um in multum before the vowel i in ille; and the e in ille before the e in et. Also in the fifth line drop the e in quoque before the e in et. In the last line, too, the e in atque is dropped or elided before the vowel a in altae, and the two words are run into one, and pronounced as if written atqualtae. Accuracy of pronunciation, however, is not easily acquired from any written or printed directions. The living tongue is the only adequate teacher. And it will be well if you can get some grammar-schoolboy to read to you and hear you read the passage I have given above from Virgil, and the exercises, or some of them, which you will find in future lessons. Although the pronunciation of Latin is of secondary importance, yet you must try to be as correct as you can, if only from the consideration that what is worth doing at all, is worth doing well. But should you, as you justifiably may, hope by these lessons to prepare yourself for becoming even a teacher of Latin-say in a school-you would in that capacity find the pronunciation considered as a matter of consequence; indeed, a disproportionate value is, especially

in the old grammar schools, attached to the established methods of pronunciation. After all, we cannot pronounce the Latin as it was pronounced by the Latins themselves, nor can the be sttrained lips pronounce their poetry so as to reproduce its music.

OUR HOLIDAY.-I.

As the possession of a healthful frame and strength of muscle and sinew is absolutely necessary to all who desire to make the most of their mental powers, we have thought it desirable to devote a portion of the POPULAR EDUCATOR to a series of papers on what is generally termed Physical Education, or, in other words, the culture of the powers of the body. We intend, therefore, to take "Our Holiday" at regular intervals, and invite our readers on these occasions to dismiss all thoughts of graver studies for a while, and enter heartily into the consideration of the art of developing the strength, endurance, and agility of the human form by properly regulated gymnastic exercises and athletic sports and games. The most recent addition to those of our pastimes which must be practised in the open air is

LA CROSSE, THE NATIONAL GAME OF CANADA, a game lately introduced into this country from the "New Dominion," where it occupies a position like that so long held by cricket in England. It is of Indian origin, and has been played here by a party of Indians brought over for the purpose. It is a ball game, and derives its name from the implement used in striking the ball, which is a long hickory stick bent at one end like a crosse, or bishop's crosier. Across this curve of the stick stout network is stretched, and extends nearly half-way down its length. The "crosse" has, therefore, something of the appearance of a racket-bat, but is much longer.

It

To the spectator the game presents the appearance of a combination of football and hockey, with some striking variations from both. It is a very animated game, interesting to the lookeron, and highly exciting to those engaged in the contest. requires a large space of ground, not less, as a rule, than about 400 yards square, and tolerably level. Towards the two ends of this ground goal-posts are fixed, as at football, and the players are divided into two parties, each having its own goal. Each goal consists of two poles about six feet high and seven feet apart, ornamented with flags of the colour-say red or blue-chosen by the party who may take that side in the game. The distance between the two goals is optional, depending upon the space of ground in which the game may be played, and other conditions either accidental or the subject of agreement between the contending parties. The number of persons who may play is optional also, but they are usually equally divided, as in other field amusements.

The object which is pursued by either party throughout the game is to drive the ball through the opponents' goal-that is, between their goal-posts. When this is done the game is over,

having been won by that side which has succeeded in the attempt. The ball used is made of hollow india-rubber, and must not be more than nine nor less than eight inches in circumference. It must, as a rule, be touched only with the "crosse," and it may either be struck with this implement or carried upon it. The crosse is about four feet long, and the network with which it is provided is nearly tight, but just sufficiently loose to hold the ball when resting on it. It is not allowed to assume the shape of a bag. Thus fashioned the ball may be readily picked up from the ground and carried upon the crosse, or flung from it towards the opponents' goal.

The principal players engaged on either side occupy the following stations:-1. Goal-keeper, who places himself near the goal, it being his duty to defend it when in imminent danger. 2. Point, some twenty or thirty yards in front of the goal-keeper. 3. Cover-point, about the same distance in advance of point. 4. Centre, who faces the centre of the field; and, 5. Home, who is stationed nearest the opponents' goal. The remaining players are called the fielders, and have no fixed position.

The game is commenced midway between the two goals, the ball being struck off by the captain of one side, as may have been decided by lot. The struggle at once ensues, one party endeavouring, by striking and following up the ball, to carry it

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