together. The principal differences between the Grecian and the English greyhound are that the former is not so large, the muzzle is not so pointed, and the limbs are not so finely formed. Greyhounds appear to have changed the nature of their hair, according to the climate they originally inhabited. The Russian and Tartar have long and shaggy hair; the hair is rough in Syria, Germany, and Hungary; it is silky in the Deccan, Persia, Natolia, and Greece; and smooth in southern India, Arabia, Egypt, the Greek islands, and southern and western Europe. In Roumelia, the Turks have a breed with smooth hair, but with long-haired ears, like those of a spaniel. But in the west, the smooth coat is the result of importation; for the native races were rugged, until the French kings, down to Louis XV., began to introduce the more graceful breeds from Constantinople, Crete, and even from Alexandria. Hormé, possessed of the greatest speed, and intelligence and fidelity, and excellent in every point.' The story of Gelert is deeply affecting. Llewellyn was at the chase of hart and hare, but it was little enjoyed, and scant and small was the booty from the absence of Very considerable differences have appeared even in the United Kingdom. According to Mr. Blaine, "Scotland, a northern locality, has long been celebrated for its greyhounds, which are known to be large and wiry-coated. They are probably types of the early Celtic greyhounds, which, yielding to the influences of a colder climate than they came from, became coated with a thick and wiry hair. In Ireland, as being milder in its climate, the frame expanded in bulk, and the coat, although not altogether, was yet less crisped and wiry. In both localities, there being at that time boars, wolves, and even bears, powerful dogs were required. In England these wild beasts were more early exterminated, and consequently the same kind of dog was not retained, but, on the contrary, was by culture made finer in coat, and of greater beauty in form. Before we pass on the question should be noticed, "Seest thou the gasehound, how with glance severe, This dog, in former times, was probably allied to, or connected with, the Irish greyhound. It hunted entirely by sight; and if the deer was lost, and then rejoined his companions, the dog unerringly selected him from all the herd. No dog of this quality is, at present, known in Europe. The greyhound has been charged with wanting attachment, so commonly discoverable in other dogs, but circumstances have, probably, been wanting to awaken and sustain it. This accords with the statement of the younger Xenophon:"I have myself bred up a swift, hard-working, courageous, sound-footed dog. He is most gentle and kindly affectioned; and never before had I any such a dog for myself, or my friend, or my fellow-sportsman. When he is not actually engaged in coursing, he is never away from me." On his return he runs before me, often looking back to see whether I had turned out of the road, and as soon as he again catches sight of me, showing symptoms of joy, and once more trotting away before me. If a short time only has passed since he has seen me or my friend, he jumps up repeatedly by way of salutation, and barks with joy as a greeting to us. He has also many different sorts of speech, and such as I never heard from any other dog. Now, really, I do not think I ought to be ashamed to chronicle the name of this dog, or to let posterity know that Xenophon, the Athenian, had a greyhound, called "The flower of all his race !" Returning home, Gelert bounded to meet his lord, but his lips and fangs ran blood, and for Llewellyn there was a fearful sight: "O'erturn'd his infant's bed, he found The blood-stained co vert rent; And all around the walls and ground With recent blood besprent. He call'd his child-no voice replied; He search'd-with ter ror wild; Blood! blood! he found on every side, But nowhere found the child! 'Hell-hound! by thee my child's devour'd!' The frantic father cried: And to the hilt, his vengeful sword He plunged in Gelert's side! Aroused by Gelert's dying yell, Nor scratch had he, nor harm, nor dread- Lay a great wolf, all torn and dead- Ah! what was then Llewellyn's pain! LESSONS IN GERMAN. - No. V SECTION XII. ADJECTIVES denoting the material of which a thing is made, Ex.: Leber, febern (leather, leathern); Gold, golden (gold, golden); Blei, are formed by suffixing to nouns the letters n, en, or ern. bleiern (lead, leaden), &c. If the root vowel be a, o, or u, it is frequently changed to its corresponding Umlaut. gläsern (glass; made of glass); Holz, hölzern (wood, wooden). (See Sect. 2. 12, ac, &c.) Ex.: Glas Reif, ripe; nor. Your silver spoon is beautiful, and my iron knife is heavy. This stone table is heavy. Das Leben des Kindes ist ein gold. ner Traum. The life of the child is a golden dream. Ist nicht ein eisernes Schiff dauerhaft ? Is not an iron ship durable? 1. Haben Sie mein reifes Obst? 2 Nein, ich habe Ihr filbernes Obst messer, und Ihr alter Freund, der Lehrer, hat das reife Obst. 3. Haben Sie meinen filbernen Bleistift? 4. Nein, der gute Lehrer hat ihn. 5. Hat rer alte Roch meinen hölzernen Lisch? 6. Nein, der Tischler hat ihn, aber der Koch hat einen marmornen Tisch. 7. Hat er auch ein hölzernes Faß? 8. Ja, und dieser fleißige Schüler hat ein schönes bleiernes Linten faß. 9. Hat er auch einen filbernen Becher? 10. Ja, und er hat auch einen fupfernen Kessel und einen eisernen Mörser. 11. Haben Sie das neue Meffer meines jungen Freundes? 12. Nein, ich habe ein neues Messer von dem guten Kaufmaune. 13. Hat dieser fleißige Schüler vas gute Buch res alten Freundes, oder den filbernen Bleistift seines guten Vetters? 14. Er hat weder ein gutes Buch, noch einen silbernen Bleistift er hat nur einen hölzernen Bleistift. 15. Wo ist der kupferne Kessel des Kochs? 16. Der arme Mann hat nur einen eisernen Kessel. einen fie печев filbernen 1. Has she my ripe fruit. 2. The old cook has my silver Kaufmann pencil. 3. Has he also a new knife? 4. The good merchant goldenes has an old marble table. 5. He has neither a golden fruitFilbernen Der Sommer eine Zeit knife nor a silver cup. 6. Summer is a golden time. 7. eisernen The diligent joiner has the iron kettle of the cook. QUESTIONS. 1. How are adjectives, denoting the material of which a thing is made, formed? 2. Can you give an example of such an adjective ending in n? 3. In en? 4. In ern? When do changes in the radical vowel occur? SECTION XIII. THE FEMININE GENDER. The articles in the feminine singular are declined thus: Nom. tie, the ; (diese) (dieser) 5. eine, a ; (meine) Gen. ter, of the; einer, of a; (meiner). Dat. ter, to or for the; (tiefer) einer, to or for a; (meiner). Acc. bie, the. (diese) eine, a. (meine). The pupil having now had in due course all the forms of the article in the singular, may note, that like biefer (which differs from the definite article only in having es instead of a 6, in the nom. and acc. neuter, Sect. 7), are declined all the words in list II., Sect. 10; and that like e in, are inflected all those in the list, ein, nein, sein, &c., Sect. 11. Feminine nouns are in the singular indeclinable; as, nom. bie Seide (the silk), gen. ber Seite, dat. der Seite, acc. die Seite. The adjective in the feminine singular has two forms. When it stands alone, or unaffected by a preceding word ($ 29), the nominative and accusative end in e, the genitive and dative in er. It is then said to be of arise. Ex.: 3ch sehe Sie, I see you; ich sehe sie, I see her. When fie is used in the nominative, the form of the verb determines the person. Ex.: Sie sehen ihn, you see him; Sie sicht in, she sees him. Whether, however, Sie (when in the accusative) stands for you or her, can only be determined by the context. The orthography of the possessive pronouns Ihr (your) and ihr (her) is, also, identical, and, in speaking, is liable to equal ambiguity. Thus, Ihr Buch ist groß, may signify, your book is large, or her book is large; and Ich habe ihr Buch, may mean, I have your book, or I have her book. The significations of fie in the accusative, and of ihr in all the cases, must of course, when spoken, be determined by the connexion. (See Declension, Sect. 18.) EXERCISE 13. America, n. America; Gläsern, glass; young lady; Freuntin, f.friend; $10 Scheere, f. scissors; Schwester, f. sister; Seite, f. silk; Sie, she; it; Tante, f. aunt; Uhr, f. watch, clock; Uhr tasche, f. watchpocket. The brother has the book of the sister. Der Vater giebt der Tochter ein The father gives the daughter Buch. a book. 1. Ist die junge Schwester dieser jungen Dame in Deutschland? 2. Nein, fie ist in Frankreich, aber ihr Bruder ist in America. 3. Wo ist meine neue goldene Feder? 4. Ihre junge Freundin, Fräulein S., hat sie (Sect. 18. III.) 5. Hat Ihre Mutter die schöne Seite Ihrer Tante? 6. Ja und auch die schöne feine Leinwand. 7. Wo ist Ihre goldene Brille? 8. Ich habe keine goltene Brille. 9. Haben Sie eine filberne, oder eine geltene Uhr? 10. Ich habe eine silberne Uhr. 11. 3ft sie eine gute Uhr? 12. 14. Sie ist in Ja, aber sie ist nicht sehr schön. 13. Wo ist Ihre Uhr? meiner Uhrtasche. 15. Hat Ihre Schwester eine goldene Uhr? 16. Ja, und sie hat auch eine schöne goldene Kette. 17. Wo ist meine neue Scheere ? 18. Ich habe sie, aber sie ist nicht sehr scharf. 19. Wo ist Ihre Schwester? 20. Sie ist bei der (Sect. 17. III.) Mutter in der Bibliothek. 21. Wo ist meine gläserne Lampe? 22. Ich habe sie. 23. Wer hat mein neues Opernglas? 24. Ich habe es und Ihre neue Brille. 1. The mother of this lady is in France. 2. Has the beauder guten goldene tiful daughter of the good aunt a golden watch? 3. My gutes diligent brother has neither a golden watch nor a good operakeine glass. 4. My good sister has no fine linen, but she has a new mit der bei glass lamp. 5. My cousin with the golden spectacles is with meinem my beautiful brother in the library. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the characteristic termination of adjective pronouns in the feminine nominative? 2. According to what two forms of declension are feminine adjectives inflected? 3. Which cases of the two declensions are alike? 4. What is said of feminine nouns in the singular? 5. How is Sie (you) always written? 6. When is fie (she or her) written with a capital letter? 7. How can ie be distinguished from fie in the nominative, when spoken? 8. How when in the accusative? 9. How is Ihr (your) in writing to be distinguished from ihr (her)? 10. How is fie in the accusative and ihr in all its cases to be distinguished when spoken? BIOGRAPHY.-No. IV. JAMES FERGUSON. ONE of the most extraordinary instances of self-culture presented to us in the annals of biography, is that of James Ferguson, who was born in the year 1710, a few miles from the village of Keith, in Banffshire, Scotland. It was the practice of his father, who was merely a day labourer, to teach his children to read and write, as they successively reached what he considered to be the proper age. But while he was instructing one of his elder children, James was secretly occupied in listening to what was going on; and it was his practice, as soon as he was left alone, to get the book and master the lesson that had thus been given. As he felt ashamed to let his father know what he was doing, he applied to an old woman who lived in a neighbouring cottage, to solve the difficulties that arose; and in this way he actually learned to read tolerably well. His father did not find out his little son's secret, till one day, to his great surprise, he caught him in the act of reading to himself. The roof of the cottage having partly fallen in, Mr. Ferguson applied to it a beam, resting on a prop, in the manner of a lever, and thus raised the roof again to its place. James was now about seven or eight years of age, and this circumstance set his mind to work. Again and again did he think of what had been done; and, after a while, it struck him that his father, in using the beam, had applied his strength to its extremity, and that this had, probably, much to do with the matter. He now thought he would see if this were so, and, having made several bars as he called them,-levers in fact, he discovered not only that he was right in supposing it to be important to apply the moving force at the point most distant from the fulcrum; but the rule or law, that the effect of any weight made to bear on a lever, is always exactly proportioned to the distance of the point on which it rests from the fulcrum. He says, in the highly-interesting and instructive narrative of his life, "I then thought that it was a great pity that by means of this bar, a weight could only be raised a very little way. On this, I soon imagined that by pulling round a wheel, the weight might be raised to any height, by tying a rope to the weight, and winding the rope round the axle of the wheel; and that the power gained must be just as great as the wheel was broader than the axle was thick; and found it to be exactly so, by hanging one weight to a rope put round the wheel, and another to the rope that coiled round the axle." Here, then, we see a mere child, by the solitary and independent movements of his own mind, not only discovering, but verifying by practical experiments, two of the most important elementary truths in the science of mechanics: the lever, and the wheel and axle. Such a child could not fail to hit on others; though he was without either book or teacher, and all the tools he had to fashion his blocks and wheels, were a little knife and a simple turning-lathe of his father's. He now proeeeded to write an account of his discoveries, and to sketch his different machines with a pen; concluding, naturally enough, that they were the first of the kind that had ever been invented. Some time after, however, he was shown them all in a printed book; when, though he found that his schemes had been anticipated, he could not fail to be gratified by their coincidence with well-established and highly-important principles. The honour that encircles the brow of this young philosopher is as great and indisputable, as it would have been had he stood absolutely alone in reaching such results. The same tendencies and feelings were displayed when as a boy, far from robust, he was employed as a shepherd in the neighbourhood of his birthplace; making models of mills, spinning-wheels and other machines by day, and, like those who kept flocks beneath the clear skies of Chaldæa, studying the stars by night. He was afterwards engaged in the service of Mr. Glashan, a respectable farmer; when he used to go at night into the fields, with a blanket about him, and a lighted candle, and there, lying down on his back, he pursued his observations on the heavenly bodies, for many successive, yet happily spent hours. "I used to stretch," he says," a thread with small beads on it, at arms-length, between my eye and the stars; sliding the beads upon it, till they hid such and such stars from my eye, in order to take their apparent distance from one another; and then, laying the thread down on a paper, I marked the stars thereon by the beads." He thus paints himself before us, as engaged in the most sublime and astounding of sciences, and not only as employed in astronomical observations, but in actually making a map of the heavens. "My master," he adds, "first laughed at me; but when I explained my meaning to him he encouraged me to go on; and that I might make fair copies in the day-time of what I had done in the night, he often worked for me himself." On Ferguson being employed by his master to carry a message to Mr. Gilchrist, the minister of Keith, he showed that gentleman the drawings he had been making. Mr. Gilchrist, in consequence, put a map into his hands, and desired him to make a copy of it, supplying him at the same time with compasses, ruler, pens, ink, and paper. "For this pleasant employment,' he says, "my master gave me more time than I could reasonably expect, and often took the threshing flail out of my hands, and worked himself, while I sat by him in the barn, remarks, "I shall always have a respect for the memory of busy with my compasses, ruler, and pen." No wonder he that man." Nor do we envy the mind that does not sympathise with him; Mr. Glashan presents a very rare example of sincere interest in the intellectual efforts of his servant, and of real concern for his advancement in life. Gilchrist, where he met Mr. Grant, of Achoynaney, who Having completed his map, Ferguson carried it to Mr. offered to take him into his house, and promised that he should have lessons from his butler. He replied that he should rejoice in being at the house of Mr. Grant, as soon as his engagement with his master expired, and respectfully declined Mr. Grant's kind offer to put some one for the time in his place. Ferguson was in his twentieth year when he went to r. Grant's, whose butler, Cantley, was what might be generally termed a selftaught, and, at the same time, an extraordinary man. profoundly conversant with mathematics; understood Greek, Latin, and French; could play on every known instrument, except the harp; and, moreover, could prescribe for diseases, and let blood. Ferguson, who had mastered vulgar arithmetic by the aid of books, received instructions from him in Decimal Fractions and Algebra, and he was about to commence geometry when Cantly removed from his situation to one in the establishment of the Earl of Fife, and Ferguson returned home. He was It will be remembered by those who have read the biographical sketch of Alexander Murray, how much he was indebted to "Salmon's Geographical Grammar;" and it is remarkable that a similar work by Gordon, a parting gift of his friend Cantley, was of great service to James Ferguson. The book contains a description of an artificial globe, and though it was not accompanied by any figure, Ferguson made a globe in three weeks, having turned the ball out of a piece of wood, covered it with paper, and delineated on it a map of the world; he also made the meridian ring and horizon of wood, covered them with paper, and traced upon them the proper degrees; and was delighted to find that by the globe he had cor structed--the first he ever saw-he could solve the problems which the book contained. That he might not remain idle at home, he engaged himself to a neighbouring miller, who, finding he could confide in his servant, spent his time at the alehouse, leaving Ferguson everything to do, while a little oatmeal mixed with cold water was often all he was allowed. At the close of a year he returned home, much the weaker for his privations. He suffered greatly also in the service of a medical man, who promised him instruction, but broke his engagement, and treated him tyrannically. A severe hurt which he had received, to which the doctor was too busy to attend, confined him to his bed after his return home. In order to amuse himself in his low state, he made a wooden clock, the frame of which was also of wood, and it kept time pretty well. The bell on which the hammer struck the hours was the neck of a broken bottle. On recovering his health, Ferguson accomplished an extraordinary work, which he thus describes:-"Having no idea how any timepiece could go but by a weight and line, I wondered how a watch could go in all positions, and was sorry I had never thought of asking Mr. Cantley, who could very easily have informed me. But happening one day to see a gentleman ride by my father's house (which was close by a public road), I asked him what o'clock it then was? He looked at his watch, and Popular Educator, No.3, p. 47, told me. As he did that with so much goodnature, I begged for having neglected it at Edinburgh, where I might have him to show me the inside of his watch, and though he was an improved my knowledge by conversing with those who were entire stranger, he immediately opened his watch, and put it, able to assist me. I began to compare the ecliptic with its into my hands. I saw the spring-box, with part of the chain twelve signs, through which the sun goes in twelve months, round it, and asked him what it was that made the box tarn to the circle of twelve hours on the dialplate of a watch, the round? He told me that it was turned round by a steel hour-hand to the sun, and the minute-hand to the moon, spring within it. Having then seen no other spring than that moving in the ecliptie, the one always overtaking the other at of my father's gun-lock, I asked him how a spring within a a place forwarder than it did at their last conjunction. On box could turn the box so often round as to wind all the chain this I contrived and finished a scheme on paper, for showing upon it? He answered, that the spring was long and thin; the motions and places of the sun and moon in the ecliptic on that one end of it was fastened to the axis of the box, and the each day of the year, perpetually; and, consequently, the days other end to the inside of the box; that the axle was fixed, of all the new and full moons. and the box was loose upon it. I told him that I did not as yet thoroughly understand the matter. "Well, my lad,' says he, take a long, thin piece of whalebone, hold one end of it fast between your finger and thumb, and wind it round your finger, it will then endeavour to unwind itself, and if you fix the other end of it to the inside of a small hoop, and leave it to itself, it will turn the hoop round and round, and wind up a thread tied to the outside of the hoop.' I thanked the gentleman, and told him that I understood the thing very well. I then tried to make a watch with wooden wheels, and made the spring of whalebone, but found that I could not make the wheel go when the balance was put on, because the teeth of the wheels were rather too weak to bear the force of a spring sufficient to move the balance, although the wheels would run fast enough when the balance was taken off. I enclosed the whole in a wooden case, very little bigger than a breakfast teacup; but a clumsy neighbour, one day looking my watch, happened to let it fall, and turning hastily about to pick it up set his foot upon it, and crushed it all to pieces; which so provoked my father that he was almost ready to beat the man, and discouraged me so much that I never attempted to make such another machine again, especially as I was thoroughly convinced I could never make one that would be of any real use.' Ferguson's attention to timepieces, however, was turned to some account; for he made some money in the neighbourhood, as a cleaner of clocks. He was now invited to reside in the house of Sir James Dunbar, of Durn, where he usefully employed his ingenuity. He converted two round stones upon the gateway into a pair of stationary globes, by painting a map of the earth on one, and a map of the heavens on the other. "The poles of the painted globes," he states, "stood towards the poles of the heavens; on each the twenty-four hours were placed around the equinoctial, so as to show the time of the day when the sun shone out, by the boundary where the half of the globe at any time enlightened by the sun, was parted from the other half in the shade; the enlightened parts of the terrestrial globe answering to the like enlightened parts of the earth at all times. So that, whenever the sun shone on the globe, one might see to what places the sun was then rising, to what places it was setting, and all the places where it was then day or night, throughout the earth." Lady Dipple, the sister of Sir James, induced him to attempt the drawing of patterns for ladies' dresses, in which he soon became an adept. He afterwards made them for other ladies, copied pictures and prints with pen and ink, and even took portraits in Edinburgh with great success. Sometimes, too, he pursued his astronomical observations; employing his beaded threads, and delineating on paper the apparent facts of the planets as thus ascertained. On such occasions he describes himself as conceiving that he saw the ecliptic lying like a broad highway across the firmament, and the planets making their way in parts like the narrow ruts made by cartwheels, sometimes on one side of a plain road, and sometimes on the other, crossing the road at small angles, but never going far from either side of it. His circumstances were now greatly improved by his artistic labours; and in a short time, he made so much money as not only to defray his own expenses, but to gratify the affectionate dispositions he constantly cherished, by contributing largely to the support of his aged parents. After Ferguson had been about two years in Edinburgh, he was seized with such a passion for the practice of medicine, that he returned to his father's, intending to carry out his design in his native village. But, not succeeding as he hoped, he went to Inverness. "When I was there," he says, "I began to think of astronomy again, and was heartily sorry "To this I wanted to add a method for showing the eclipses of the sun and moon, of which I knew the cause long before, by having observed that the moon was for one half of her period on the north side the ecliptic, and for the other half on the south. But not having observed her course long enough among the stars by my above-mentioned thread, so as to delineate her path on my celestial map, in order to find the two opposite points of the ecliptic in which her orbit crosses it, I was altogether at a loss how and where in the ecliptic, in my scheme, to place these interesting points. This was in the year 1739. "At last, I recollected that when I was with 'Squire Grant, of Auchoynaney, in the year 1730, I had read, that on the 1st of January, 1690, the moon's ascending node was in the 10th minute of the first degree of Aries, and that her nodes* moved backward through the whole ecliptic in 18 years and 224 days, which was at the rate of three minutes 11 seconds every 24 hours. But as I scarce knew in the year 1730 what the moon's nodes meant I took no further notice of it at that time. "However, in the year 1739, I set to work, at Inverness, and after a tedious calculation of the slow motion of the nodes from January 1690 to January 1740, it appeared to me that (if I was sure I remembered right) the moon's ascending node must be in 23 degrees 25 minutes of Cancer at the beginning of the year 1740. And so I added the eclipse part to my scheme, and called it the Astronomical Rotula. "When I had finished it I showed it to the Rev. Alexander Macbean, one of the ministers at Inverness; who told me he had a set of almanacks by him for several years past, and would examine it by the eclipses mentioned in them. We examined it together, and found that it agreed throughout with the days of all the new and full moons and eclipses mentioned in these almanacks, which made me think I had constructed it upon true astronomical principles. On this Mr. Macbean desired me to write to Mr. Maclaurin, professor of mathematics, at Edinburgh, and give an account of the methods by which I had formed my plan, requesting him to correct it where it was wrong. He returned me a most polite and friendly answer, although I had never seen him during my stay at Edinburgh, and informed me that I had only mistaken the radical mean place of the ascending node by a quarter of a degree." Maclaurin was indeed so much pleased with the result that he had the scheme engraved, and Ferguson was once more induced to return to Edinburgh. One day, having asked the professor to show him his orrery, Maclaurin immediately complied with his request, so far as the outward movements of the machine were concerned, but would not venture to open it-which indeed he had never done, being afraid that if he should displace any part of it, he should not be able to put it to rights again. But Ferguson saw enough to set his mind again in vigorous action. After a good deal of thinking and calculation, he found he could contrive the wheel-work for turning the planets in such a machine, and giving them their progressive motions; but considered he should be very well satisfied if he could make an orrery to show the motions of the earth and moon, and of the sun round its axis. He then employed a turner to make him a sufficient number of wheels and axles, according to patterns which he gave him in drawing; and after having cut the teeth in the wheels by a knife, and put the whole together, he Nodes in Astronomy are the two points in which the orbit of a planet intersects the plane of the ecliptic,-the great circle of the heavens which the sun appears to describe in his annual revolution. The point in which the centre of a planet passes from the south to the north side of the ecliptic is called the ascending node; the opposite point, or that in which the planet passes to the south side of the ecliptic is called the descending node. found that it answered all his expectations. It showed the sun's motion round its axis, the diurnal and annual motions of the earth on its inclined axis, keeping its parallelism in its whole course round the sun; the motions and phases of the moon, with the retrograde motion of the nodes of her orbit; and, consequently, all the variety of her seasons, the different lengths of days and nights, as well as the days of the new and full moons and eclipses. He now had the honour of reading a lecture on the orrery, to Maclaurin's pupils. He subsequently made an orrery of ivory, and, in the course of his life, he constructed six more, all unlike each other. Ferguson now resolved to visit London, hoping to find employment as a teacher of mechanics and astronomy. After his arrival, he was introduced to the Royal Society. He soon after published his first work, "A Dissertation on the Phenomena of the Harvest Moon, with the description of a new Orrery, having only four wheels." Of this work he modestly says, "Having never had a grammatical education, nor time to study the rules of just composition, I acknowledge I was afraid to put it to press; and for the same cause, I ought to have the same fears still." It was, however, well received, and this very ingenious man sent forth various other works, most of which attained high popularity. In 1748 he began to give public lectures on his favourite themes, to numerous and fashionable admirers, among whom when a boy occasionally was George III., who, soon after his accession to the throne, granted him a pension from the privy purse, of £50 per annum. He now ceased to paint portraits, in which he had been engaged for twenty-six years. In 1763 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society; the usual fees being remitted, which had only been done in two other instances-those of Newton and Thomas Simpson. He died in 1776. Ferguson," says Dr. Hutton, "must be allowed to have been a very uncommon genius, especially in mechanical contrivances and inventions. . His mathematical knowledge was little or nothing. Of algebra he understood little more than the notation; and he often told me he could never demonstrate one proposition of Euclid, his constant method being to satisfy himself as to the truth of any problem with a measurement by scale and compasses." ones. But there is much, very much, to be learnt respecting the subject-matter already set forth. For instance every separate part of speech has to be more minutely investigated. Besides there are general facts which more or less bear on all the constituent elements of speech. These facts must be set forth, and this investigation must be gone through, before we treat of the formation of compound sentences, if only, because in proceeding in this way I shall conduct the learner onward by easier steps. Before, then, we formally set about building the house, it may be desirable to consider the materials which we shall have to employ, in order that we may become familiar with their qualities and character. Let us then take what is commonly called "The Lord's Prayer," and look a little closely into the words of which it is made up. "Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."-Matt. vi. 9-13. Now at the first glance I see that here there are words of diverse origin. Father I recognise as of Saxon birth; temptation, I know to be a Latin word slightly altered; and amen is a Hebrew term in English letters. Hence, I am led to see that if I would know my mother-tongue I must study it in relation to the diverse materials which enter into its composition. In all, You are not yet sufficiently advanced to assign each word in the preceding quotation to the family to which it belongs in the great community of languages. I must, therefore, be satisfied at present with a somewhat rough division of these words into the three classes already indicated,—namely, words of Saxon origin, words of Latin origin, and words derived from other sources. there are in the Lord's Prayer 66 words. Of these 66 only eight are from sources that are not Saxon. More than seven-eighths of the words in the Lord's Prayer come from the Saxon. You may now judge to what extent the Saxon prevails in the English tongue. Of the eight words that are not Saxon, six are from the Latin, one from the French, and one from the Hebrew, as seen in this view : Latin. name debts debtors temptation power glory French. Hebrew. This analysis, however, shows that the materials of the English Saxon and the Latin. These classes have reference to the origin language may be arranged into two great classes; namely, the of the words. We can now only remark that Sir David Brewster has pronounced on Ferguson the following high but just eulogium :"He possessed a clear judgment, and was capable of thinking and writing on philosophical subjects with great accuracy and precision. He had a peculiar talent for simplifying what is complex, for rendering intelligible what is abstract, and for bringing down to the lowest capacities what is naturally The one French word might be added to the Latin column for deabove them. His unwearied assiduity in the acquisition of liver, though it comes into the English directly from the French, knowledge may be inferred from the great variety of his pub-is Latin by extraction. lications; and when we reflect upon the very unfavourable circumstances in which he was educated, and the little assistance he received from others, we cannot fail to wonder at the style in which all his works were composed. On some occasions his style is uncommonly correct and animated. When Another view may direct our attention to the condition in which admiring the displays of wisdom and beneficence in the accuthe words are. Some of the words are very short, others are someracy of nature, he often rises into a species of eloquence, cha- what long. Our has only three letters; kingdom has seven; and racterised by the most artless simplicity, and infinitely more temptation has ten letters. Our is a word of one syllable; kingaffecting than the laboured and polished periods of the pro-dom a word of two syllables; and temptation is a word of three fessed orator. In his manners he was affable and mild; in his syllables. Observing that all the words are Saxon, except the dispositions communicative and benevolent. He was distinguished by none of those peculiarities of temper, and eccen- eight specified above, you will see that the Saxon words for the tricities of conduct, which we generally observe in literary however, having more than one syllable, two kinds must be noticed. most part are short words, and words of one syllable. Of words, men. If Mr. Ferguson had any foibles, they leaned to virtue's side;' and even his wonderful simplicity of character, Take, as an instance, father and kingdom. Now father, though which, in a state of artificial manners, is too apt to be regarded consisting of two syllables, is a simple word; while kingdom is a as a failing, and exposed to ridicule and scorn, tended only to compound word. Hence arises another division. Words, whether of Saxon or of Latin origin, are either-1, simple; or 2, comheighten the respect in which he was constantly held." pound. Simple. Compound. The two compound words here presented, from the Lord's Prayer, may be resolved into their elements thus: forgive is made up of for and give, in German vergeben; deliver comes originally from de, down, from, and liber, free. Now observe, I do not put down the import of the component parts of forgive, for they are known. Words of Saxon origin are known to every Englishman. But I do assign their signification to the terms |