[JOHN WILSON (b. 1785, d. 1854) was the son of a wealthy Paisley manufacturer. He was educated at Glasgow and Oxford, and settled down at Elleray, near Windermere, where he had the company of the three lake poets. For some time he lived by his writings, which were chiefly contributed to Blackwood's Magazine, and signed "Christopher North." In 1820 he was appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh, which position he held for over thirty years. His writings display great powers of imagination. His Scotch tales, such as "The Trials of Margaret Lindsay," containing many exquisite pictures of rural life and scenery, are generally sad and melancholy in character. Genuine humour, sparkling wit, and rare good sense and judgment are among the leading characteristics of his style.]

1. An enormous thunder-cloud had lain all day over Ben Wyvis, shrouding its summit in thick darkness, blackening its sides and base, wherever they were beheld from the surrounding country, with masses of deep shadow, and especially flinging down a weight of gloom upon that magnificent glen which bears the same name as the mountain. Till now the afternoon was like twilight and the voice of all the streams was distinct in the breathlessness of the vast solitary hollow.

2. The inhabitants of all the straths, vales, glens, and dells, round and about the monarch of Scottish mountains, had, during each successive hour, been expecting the roar of thunder and the deluge of rain. The huge mass of lowering clouds would not rend asunder, although it was certain that a calm blue sky could not be restored till all that dreadful assemblage had melted away in torrents, or been driven off by a stormy wind from the sea.

3. All the cattle on the hills and in the hollows stood

still or lay down in their fear. The wild deer sought in herds the shelter of the pine-covered cliffs. The raven hushed his hoarse croak in some grim cavern, and the eagle left the dreadful silence of the upper heavens.

4. Now and then the shepherds looked from their huts, while the shadow of the thunder-clouds deepened the hues of their plaids and tartans. At every cracking of the heavy branches of the pines, or the wide-armed oaks in the solitude of their inaccessible birthplace, the hearts of the lonely dwellers quaked. They lifted up their eyes to see the first wide flash, the disparting of the masses of darkness, and paused to hear the long loud rattle of heaven's artillery, shaking the foundations of the everlasting mountains. But all was yet silent.

5. The peal came at last, and it seemed as if an earthquake had smitten the silence. Not a tree, not a blade of grass moved, but the blow stunned, as it were, the heart of the solid globe. Then was there a low, wild, whispering, wailing voice, as if of so many spirits, all joining together from every point of heaven. It died away, and then the rushing of rain was heard through the darkness.

6. In a few minutes down came all the mountain torrents in their power, and the sides of all the steeps were suddenly sheeted, far and wide, with waterfalls. The element of water was let loose to run its rejoicing race, and that of fire lent its illumination, whether sweeping in floods along the great open straths, or tumbling in cataracts from cliffs overhanging the eagle's eyrie.

7. Great rivers were suddenly flooded. The little mountain rivulets, a few minutes before only silver threads, and in whose fairy basins the minnow played, were now scarcely fordable to shepherds' feet. It was

time for the strongest to take shelter, and none would have liked to issue from it.

8. While there was real danger to life and limb in the many raging torrents and in the lightning's flash, the imagination and the soul themselves were touched with awe in the long-resounding glens, and beneath the savage scowl of the angry sky. It was such a storm as becomes an era among the mountains, and it was felt that before next morning there would be a loss of lives, not only among the beasts that perish, but among human beings overtaken by the wrath of that irresistible tempest.-Professor Wilson.

SUMMARY.-The scene of this graphic sketch is in the neighbourhood of Ben Wyvis, one of the highest mountains of northern Scotland. Thunder-clouds had hung over the summit of the Ben, and blackened all its sides to the base. All the dwellers in the glens and straths were listening for the outburst of the expected storm. The cattle on the hills stood still. The wild deer sought the shelter of the pine-covered cliffs. The raven ceased to croak, and the eagle left the great stillness of the upper air. The shepherds also in their lonely huts looked out for the lightning flash. It came at last, and the down-pouring rain was let loose to run its rejoicing race.

Dell, a small deep valley.
Dis-part-ing, parting asunder.
Ey-rie, nest of a bird, especially
of a bird of prey, as an eagle.

Shrouding, concealing with a
cover, enveloping.
Strath, an extensive valley
through which a river runs.

QUESTIONS.

What is Ben Wyvis? Where is it? What signs showed the approach of a storm? What effect was produced on the cattle? the wild deer? the raven? the eagle?

How did the shepherds spend the time? What effect was produced on the mountain torrents? the river? What was likely to be the result in human life?

EXERCISES.-1. Parse and analyse-The little mountain rivulets were now scarcely fordable to shepherds' feet.

2. Nouns are formed from other nouns, verbs, or adjectives, by adding ty, ity, ure, and y, which mean "the state of being;" as safe, safety; absurd, absurdity; temperate, temperature; honest, honesty. Make other nouns in the same way from the followingloyal, serene, moist, modest. Make interrogative sentences to show the use of these words.

1. I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once, I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils,-
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

2. Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

3. The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed-and gazed-but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

4. For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.- Wordsworth.

SUMMARY.-Wandering alone by the side of a lake, I suddenly beheld a crowd of daffodils, which fluttered and danced in the breeze. They stretched in thousands along the lake in an unbroken line. They seemed as if merrier than the sparkling waves, and I could not be otherwise than happy in such pleasing company. Even now, when I lie at home, they appear before me, and my heart is filled with gladness at the sight of the welcome daffodils. Daffodil is a corruption of the Latin word asphodelus. It is a native of England and of most parts of Europe, growing in woods and hedges or on waste ground.

Con-tin-u-ous, in an unbroken | Pen-sive, sadly thoughtful.

order.

Sol-i-tude, loneliness.

Where was the poet wandering? In what way? What suddenly appeared? What are they com

pared to? Where did they stretch? In what way was the poet made happier by the sight?

EXERCISES.-1. Parse and analyse-All at once I saw a crowd, a host of golden daffodils.

2. Nouns are formed from other nouns, adjectives, or verbs, by adding an, ant, ar, ard, which mean "the person who is or who does a thing;" as comedy, comedian; defend, defendant; lie, liar; drunk, drunkard. Make other nouns in the same way from the followinglibrary (liber, a book), combat, beg, dote. Make sentences to show the use of these words.

I.R. V.

K