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bright sun are so exhilarating that a walk is then quite enjoyable.

A memorable day was February 26th, when the crew of the Fox opened the skylight, and let in daylight below, where they had been living for four months by the light of their solitary dips. The change was indeed wonderful, and, at first uncomfortable, for it exposed the manner in which they had been content to live. With proper clothing you may laugh at the climate, if not exposed too long without food. It is not the cold outside that is to be feared, but the damp, and plague-engendering state of things below. This can only be guarded against by having good fires and plenty of light.

The breaking up of the ice was attended with considerable danger. On March 25th, a wide fissure, which had been opening and closing during the previous fortnight, closed with such force as to pile up tons and tons of ice within forty yards of the ship, and shattered the floe in a line with the deck. The nipping continued, and on the following night a huge block was hurled within thirty yards of the ship. Another such a night, and the little Fox would have been knocked into lucifer matches, and the crew would have been turned out upon the floe.

The Fox did not get free of the ice until April 25th, when a swell entered into the pack, and gradually increased, until the ice commenced churning up round the vessel and dashing against her sides. These violent shocks continued throughout the morning, and seemed as if they would destroy the ship. However, by the power of steam, the vessel's head was got towards the swell, and, with a strong fair wind the crew commenced pushing out.

On the following day not a piece of ice could be seen, save a few distant bergs. The little vessel was dancing on the waters, surrounded by innumerable sea-birds, seals, and whales. On April 28th, she was safely moored in Holsteinborg harbour. Her anchors had not been down, nor had any of the crew stood on the land since August 3rd in the preceding year. Ice-bound and imprisoned, they had drifted upwards of 1200 miles. Need it be added how thankful they were to that kind Providence who had watched over

them, and under Him, to their gallant captain, to whose unremitting attentions to their comforts and safety they owed their health and deliverance.

EXERCISE.-67. MEANING OF WORDS.

1. Give the meaning of the following:-auxiliary, survived, anxiety, refracted, equipages, hummocks, ordinary, unconsciously, contrast, recreation, exhilarating, zero.

2. Distinguish between:-chase, chaise; boys, buoys; bear, bare; place, plaice; owed, ode.

3. Illustrate the different meanings of:-chase, feed, tell, deck, ordinary, air, crew.

THE WIND.

ROBERT BUCHANAN.

grips [A.-S. gripan, to seize], grasps, seizes and holds fast. clatters [A.-S. clatrung, anything that makes a rattling noise], strikes so as to produce a rattling sound.

THE wind, wife, the wind; how it blows, how it blows; It grips the latch, it shakes the house, it whistles, it screams, it crows;

It dashes on the window-pane, then rushes off with a cry, Ye scarce can hear your own loud voice, it clatters so loud and high;

And far away upon the sea it floats with thunder-call,
The wind, wife; the wind, wife; the wind that did it all.

The wind, wife, the wind; how it blew, how it blew ;
The very night our boy was born, it whistled, it screamed,

it crew;

And while you moaned upon your bed, and your heart was dark with fright,

I swear it mingled with the soul of the boy you bore that night;

* ROBERT BUCHANAN, the author of the above stanzas, is a young and rising writer, who must one day stand in the first rank of British poets. His chief works are his "Idylls and Legends of Inverburn," "Undertones,"" London Poems," and "Ballad Stories of the Affections," translated from the Scandinavian. Speaking of "London Poems," a writer in the Athenæum says,-"They are true and genuine work; the result of real observation and personal emotion. Nothing is here derived from the moral consciousness; no make-believes, no dreams, and no composing. These verses have been lived before they were written down."

It scarcely seems a winter since, and the wind is with us still,

The wind, wife; the wind, wife; the wind that blew us ill!

The wind, wife, the wind; how it blows, how it blows; It changes, shifts, without a cause, it ceases, it comes and goes;

And David ever was the same; wayward, and wild, and bold

For wilful lad will have his way, and the wind no hand can

hold;

But ah! the wind, the changeful wind, was more in the blame than he;

The wind, wife; the wind, wife; that blew him out to sea!

The wind, wife, the wind; now 'tis still, now 'tis still; And as we sit I seem to feel the silence shiver and thrill; 'Twas thus the night he went away, and we sat in silence here,

We listened to our beating hearts, and all was weary and

drear;

We longed to hear the wind again, and to hold our David's hand

The wind, wife; the wind, wife; that blew him out from land.

The wind, wife, the wind; up again, up again!

It blew our David round the world, yet shrieked at our window-pane ;

And ever since that time, old wife, in rain, and in sun, and in snow,

Whether I work or weary here, I hear it whistle and blow, It moans around, it groans around, it wanders with scream

and cry

The wind, wife; the wind, wife; may it blow him home to die.

EXERCISE.-68. COMPOSITION.

1. Give other expressions for: wayward and wild; weary and drear: dark with fright.

2. Select six sentences from this poem describing what the wind did.

8. Select the expressions in which the wind is personified.

4. Write out the last verse, forming each proposition into a separate sentence.

THE CRIMEAN WAR.

in-vin-ci-ble [L. in, negative; vinco, to conquer], not to be conquered or subdued. in-ter-fe-rence [L. inter, between; fero, to bring], interposition, the act of taking part in the affairs of others. prin-ci-pal-i-ties [L. princeps, chief], the territories of a prince, or Countries which give a title to a prince. pro-gress [L. progressus, from pro, forward; gradior, to walk], advance, a moving forward. pre-vented [L. præ, before; venio, to come], hindered, stopped.

FROM the days of Peter the Great, Russia has longed to possess Turkey. That sagacious ruler was fully alive to the advantages to be gained by having the seat of government in the sunny south instead of among the snows of the north. With St. Petersburg as his capital, he knew that he would be powerful, but with Constantinople, he would be invincible.

He accordingly enjoined his successors to get possession of Turkey by all means, if they could, and well have they striven to do so. And none more so than Nicholas, the father of the present Czar Alexander.

About the year 1853, Nicholas saw with pleasure that the Porte interfered too much with its population of the Greek Church, which looked upon him as its spiritual head, just as those of the Roman Catholic faith look upon the pope as theirs. The opportunity for interference was promptly taken, and an army occupied the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, in the rich valley of the Danube.

England remonstrated, and France threatened, but he heeded not. So good an opportunity was not to be lost. He had waited too long and too patiently for that. The sultan did what he could to prevent the spoliation of his territory, but soon saw that he was powerless unless aided by Western Europe.

France and England did their utmost in his behalf, in a peaceful tone at first, as they had no wish to rush into war;

but as the Russian government paid no attention to the remonstrances of the allied powers, war was formally declared on the 28th March, 1854, and fleets were without delay despatched to the Baltic and Black Seas. Soon Odessa was bombarded in the south of Russia, and much valuable property destroyed; while, in the north, Sir Charles Napier completely levelled the batteries at Bomarsund.

After some further exploits, Sir Charles reconnoitred Cronstadt, which guards the Russian capital, but found its artillery too formidable for his wooden walls; for ships had not yet made such progress in the art of defence, as gunnery had made in that of offence. He did good service, however, in effectually keeping the Russian fleet behind their batteries, which prevented them from preying on our shipping, and thus crippling our trade.

A council of war having been held, the allied generals decided that the most effective blow could be struck against the enemy by taking the fortress of Sebastopol, in the Crimea, with the army that had meanwhile been preparing for immediate active service. Upon this fortress Russia had expended millions, and considered it nearly as impregnable and of as much importance as Gibraltar to us. She was proud of this gem of engineering skill, and no wonder that she hastened to defend it with all the mighty resources of the empire.

The allies landed 56,000 troops at Eupatoria, a place to the north of Sebastopol, on the 14th September, 1854. The French were commanded by Marshal St. Arnaud, and the English by Lord Raglan. The intention was to attack the place from the land side, as it was impregnable from the

sea.

The allied fleet kept the Russian ships under cover of their batteries, and thus prevented the troops from being harassed during the landing-a matter of very great consequence.

To oppose the advance of the allies, the Russians posted 50,000 chosen troops on the high banks of a river, named the Alma. For troops to march up the heights was even a matter of difficulty, but to fight up against well-laid guns and sure musketry appeared almost impossible. The attack

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