us briefly to notice the third family, or HYDROSTATIC ACALEPHE. These have atFig. 4. tained the appellation "hydrostatic" from their peculiar buoyancy, and the power they possess of floating at ease on the surface of the water, or of sinking and rising again, by means of one or more air-vessels with which they are furnished. Figure 4 represents the Physalia, or, as it is commonly called, the Portuguese man-of-war. This animal is provided with a large airbladder, of an oval shape, placed on the upper part of the body; and also with a membrane of a beautiful purple colour, which serves as a sail. These zoophytes (says Roget, in his Bridgewater Treatise) are met with in great numbers in the Atlantic Ocean, and more especially in its warmest regions, and at a considerable distance from land. In calm weather they float on the surface of the sea, rearing their purple crests, and appearing at first like large bubbles, but distinguishable by the vivid hues of the tentacula which hang down beneath them. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the spectacle presented by a numerous fleet of these animals, quietly sailing in the tropical seas. Whenever the surface is ruffled by the slightest wind, they suddenly absorb the air from their vesicles, and becoming thus specifically heavier than the water, immediately disappear, by diving into the still depths of the ocean. By what process they effect these changes of absorption and of reproduction of air, yet remains to be discovered. With this brief sketch of the class Acalephæ, we must close our present artilce, leaving it to our readers to seek further information respecting these wondrous and interesting animals in records more immediately devoted to the subject. THE RAVEN. II. ILL-omened bird! as legends say, THE faculty by which the Raven is enabled to discern at a great distance the dead or dying animal, on which it is about to feed, is one of which we can have little conception. We can just imagine it possible that the effluvia from substances in a state of putrefaction might be conveyed to the nice discernment of the bird at the distance of several miles; but when we are assured that the weak and sickly animal also attracts the notice of these birds, and occasions them to take long flights, high up in the air, until they reach the distant spot on which such animal is to be found, we are obliged to confess that this is beyond our comprehension, and that we have no idea of the extension of the faculties of sight or smell to the degree necessary for the communication of this knowledge. The mystery thus attending the habits of the raven, together with the deportment of the bird, both grave and cunning, and its reputation for longevity, have made it an object of much interest, and even of superstitious veneration, from the remotest periods. The character given to it (not altogether unfounded) of being able "to smell death" has made its presence appear to be an omen of evil, and thus these birds have been accounted The hateful messengers of heavy things, The changes in manners and ideas of late years have deprived the raven of much of that reverence which his almost supernatural power of discovering approaching death had given him. "I am no friend," says the author of the Journal of a Naturalist, "to the superstition of converting natural transactions, or occasional events, into signs and indications of coming things; superstitions are wearing out, and shortly will waste away and be no more heard of; but, I fear, in their place deism, infidelity, impiety, have started up, the offspring of intuitive wisdom: the first belief anses from weakness and ignorance; the latter disbelief is ingratitude, pride, wickedness." In those times, when the communication of the Divine will by means of signs and omens was geneally and fully believed in, the importance of the raven, as a prophetic bird, was highly estimated. Every minute circumstance respecting the flight, the variation of the voice, and the different habits of the bird, vas attentively studied, and each had its supposed signification. Sixty-four distinct inflections of the tones of voice in ravens have been discovered; and it discover which of these were of sinister import. was matter of great anxiety among the ancients to Nor are we without instances of belief in the prophetic knowledge of ravens, even in recent times, and in our own country. Many an ignorant villager would tremble to hear the croak of this ill-omened bird on occasions of sickness, or the commission of crime, and would expect from thence a fatal result. An anecdote is related of one Thomas Elkes, of Middle, in Shropshire, and of his persecution by ravens, which shows how strongly the belief in their supernatural powers prevailed in that district, at no very distant period. We are told that this man, being left guardian to his eldest brother's child, and knowing that in the event of the child's death he should become heir to a considerable property, wickedly enticed the poor boy to a distance from his home, under the pretence of gathering field flowers, and threw him into a pond adjoining one of the fields, where the child was drowned. No sooner had Elkes committed the fatal deed than he began to be watched and followed by two ravens, who hovered near him and his dwelling from that moment. Suspicion being at length excited, and strict inquiry made after the child, Elkes fled, and took the road to London. Two horsemen were sent in pursuit of him, and, as they passed along the road near South Mims, in Hertfordshire, they saw two ravens pulling at a heap of hay, and making an unusual noise. Turning aside to ascertain the cause, they found Elkes concealed beneath the hay, and having secured him, they took him to Shrewsbury, where he was tried, condemned, and hung in chains on Knockinheath. Such is the story gathered from a manuscript of credibility, but as to the ravens' share in the transaction, we profess ourselves extremely incredulous. Sca But, leaving marvels out of the question, ravens can be trained to a great degree of self-possession and usefulness to man. Voracious as they are by nature, they can be taught to check their natural appetite, and to secure prey for the use of their owners. liger relates that Louis the Twelfth had a raven trained to join in the chase of partridges. Another author speaks of having witnessed the capture of partridges, pheasants, &c., at Naples by a raven. Aulus Gellius mentions an instance of a raven assisting his master in battle. A Gaul of gigantic stature having challenged the bravest among the Romans to single combat, was opposed by one Valerius, who, however, must have yielded to his powerful adversary, but for the aid of his raven, who continually harassed the Gaul, and always at the proper time and place, sometimes pecking his hands, at others flying up to his face and eyes-in a word, embarrassing him in such a manner that he was obliged to yield to Valerius, who thenceforth obtained the name of Corvinus. Ravens have sometimes been employed in the same way as ferrets, and with much better effect: they have been known to enter the barn with several dogs, and enjoy the sport of rat-hunting. An instance is recorded of a raven being bred up with a dog, and assisting him in hunting. On their arrival at a cover, the dog entered and drove the hares and rabbits fron the thicket, whilst the raven, posted on the outside of the cover, seized every one that came in his way, when the dog immediately hastened to his assistance, and, by their united efforts, nothing escaped. Buffon tells us that the inhabitants of the Bermuda Isles were afflicted for five years successively by a prodigious number of rats, who devoured the plants and trees, and swam from one island to another, commit. ting great devastation. All at once these rats disap. peared, and no other cause could be assigned for it but that during the last two years a great number of ravens had been seen on the islands. The inference was, that the ravens had destroyed the rats, but it is by no means certain that this was the case. These birds have a habit of accumulating fruit, nuts and other provisions, in and near their nests. These have been supposed by some to be intended for the support of the female during the period of incubation, while others think it is for a winter supply. It appears, however, that the habit of secreting articles of conve nient size, whether useful as food or otherwise, is natural to these birds. They have been known to carry off articles of considerable value, and thus to implicate innocent persons in the charge of theft. A raven at Erfurt had patience enough to take away one by one, and conceal under a stone in a garden, a number of small coins, amounting altogether to the value of five or six florins. There seems to be in all the birds of this family (Corvus) a propensity to seize on any shining or bright-coloured substance, and make it their own, and they make an election between substance and substance, for which it is very difficult to account. Of this, however, we shall have occasion to speak more fully when we describe the magpie. The boldness of the raven is fully established, both by his methods of attack and defence. The puffin, or sea-parrot, is so formidable a bird that few other ani. mals will venture to attack it in its retreat, which very much resembles a rabbit-hole, being burrowed to a considerable distance underground. The raven, however, has boldness to offer battle to this bird, and should he succeed in getting hold of the puffin's neck, he generally comes off victorious, kills the mother, and feasts on her eggs or her young. But if the puffin, on the contrary, once catches him by the throat with her beak, and sticks her claws into his breast, she keeps fast hold of him, and shakes him about till he screams with pain. Thus they both frequently fall into the sea, where the raven is drowned, and the puffin returns in triumph to her nest. The male raven is no less courageous in the defence of the female and of her young, and when he sees a bird of prey approaching, he exerts himself vigorously to secure them from its attack. He takes wing, and soaring above his antagonist, attacks him violently with his beak. If the bird of prey makes any efforts to gain the higher position, the raven renews his attempts to keep the advantage he has gained, and they thus gradually elevate themselves to such a height as to be absolutely out of view, until one or the other, exhausted by fatigue, falls rapidly to the earth. A very remarkable quality possessed by the raven and several other birds of this genus, is that of being easily taught to imitate the sounds of the human voice. Mr. Swainson heard one at St. Albans speaking so distinctly, that he was at first actually deceived in thinking it to be a human voice; and he likewise speaks of one at Chatham, which had made equal proficiency; living in the vicinity of a guard-house, it had more than once turned out the guard, who thought it was a sentinel on duty. This habit of repeating words has caused many persons to prize the birds of this family, and to keep them in cages for the pleasure of hearing them “ talk." It has also led to a great deal of cruelty; for, owing to an ignorant belief that the birds will speak more plainly if their tongues are split, they are often put to the pain and annoyance of having this operation performed. Had the persons who commit this useless act of cruelty any knowledge of the structure of birds, they would be aware that their tongues have nothing to do in the production or modulation of sounds, and that the organ of voice is at the bronchial end of the windpipe, and whatever of articulation they are enabled to give forth is produced there. THE SYRIAN COAST. VII. THE district of Kesrouan contains only 150 square miles, and is naturally the most rocky and barren part of Syria, but it is by far the best cultivated. Its population also is much more dense, amounting to at least 120,000 persons, who are the best husbandmen in the East, and even excel the Druses in forming the slopes of their mountains into terraces*, constructing water-courses and aqueducts, and cultivating the vine, olive, and mulberry; while in their moral character, and in general information, they are infinitely beyond them. Unhappily, however, though Kesrouan is an exclusively Christian district, the inhabitants are split into a variety of sects, who are described as bitterly hostile to each other. Thus there are Maronites, who own a qualified submission to the Church of Rome; Greek Catholics, who conform entirely; Armemenian Catholics, who also conform, but differ from the Greek Catholics in some points of discipline; Armenians and Greeks of the Eastern church, (both orthodox and schismatic,) who each disclaim all intercourse with any of the others, but especially detest such of their own nations as have conformed to the doctrines and practices of Rome. From this variety of sects it arises, that in this small territory there are found upwards of 200 convents, 2000 monks, and 1200 nuns, besides a numerous secu, lar clergy belonging to each denomination. There are also a few missionary establishments, supported by the court of Rome, the members of which are monks from Europe. These establishments were chiefly founded by the Jesuits, and while in their hands were useful as colleges and seminaries for youth, but they have since fallen under the charge of the Lazarists, and now serve no beneficial purpose whatever. The monks and nuns of the Kesrouan, however, Europe. In every convent all the trades necessary are very differently situated from those of Catholic the surrounding land is cultivated most diligently. In for the support of the inmates are carried on, and communion to which they belong are now printed. a few of the principal, the religious books used by the The oldest establishment of the kind, that at Mar wards of one hundred and twenty narrow shelves, each bearing a row *These terraces are described as resembling flights of stairs, upof vines or mulberry-teees, appearing upon the face of one mountain. the Motualies, a Mohammedan sect, of Persian origin, but they have + Some portions of it, as about Djebail, were formerly occupied by been expelled, and now occupy the valley of Baalbec. have profited so well by this, that they are by far the best-informed part of the population; hence they are found in great numbers in the towns on the coast, where they generally act as clerks in the government offices, or to the foreign merchants, being esteemed both industrious and trustworthy. Although differing so widely in creed and in character from the Druses, a sense of mutual interest has forages induced the Maronites to make common cause with them against any invader, and as their disposition is less warlike, the Druses, though far less numerous, have always maintained the ascendancy. Thus it is a Duse emir who collects the tribute of the mountains, and to him lies an appeal in any dispute; although in general the sheikh of each village exercises a kind of patriarchal authority, which is shared with the bishop, for every village almost is an episcopal see. Hanna-Shouair, belonging to the Greek Catholics, | duce the rudiments of learning, and the Maronites arose early in the eighteenth century, and owes its origin to the zeal and ingenuity of a scholar of the Jesuits, Abdallah Zaker. This man, by trade a jeweller, having entered into controversy with some other of the Eastern Christians, was obliged to fly from Aleppo, and sought shelter in Kesrouan. Finding it difficult to propagate his opinions as widely as he desired, by means of manuscripts, he set himself to work to establish a press, and himself cut the matrixes and founded the types, and produced so exact an imitation of Arabic writing, that even his enemies and the Mohammedans purchased his books for their beauty. He thus passed upwards of twenty years, in the course of which he printed a great number of works, (mostly translations of European books,) all of which he revised, correcting the indifferent Arabic of the missionaries, while his own style, in his numerous productions, is esteemed a model of purity and elegance. Religious freedom in its full extent prevails in the Kesrouan; the convents and churches are all furnished with bells, (a highly-valued privilege,) and all the pompous ceremonies of the Romish and Oriental churches are observed with a great degree of splendour.dered girdle, and their pistols and dagger almost inThough the priests of all the various sects mainly support themselves by manual labour, they are everywhere treated with extreme deference and respect, both high and low hastening to kiss their hands wherever they meet them, and uniformly addressing them in the humblest terms. The Maronites are much the most numerous sect in Kesrouan, and alone require any detailed notice. A mystery hangs over their national origin, as they have much of the appearance of Arabs, yet affirm themselves to be genuine Syrians, while in a religious point of view the accounts of themselves and their opponents are equally contradictory. Their own statement is, that a St. Maro, about the year 400, founded several monasteries in Lebanon, to which their forefathers, who remained untainted by the Monothelite heresy*, retired from the persecution of the Greek emperors, in the seventh century, and that their union with Rome only arises from their each having held fast by the truths which the Greeks have departed from. On the other hand it is alleged that they are in reality the descendants of the Monothelites, who took refuge in Lebanon when their distinguishing tenet was solemnly condemned by the Greek church, (A.D. 680,) and held it until the year 1182, when they renounced it, and were formally admitted into the communion of Rome. They are also said to have relapsed a century afterwards, when the Latin patriarch of Antioch, to whom they were immediately subject, was expelled, and to have been reconverted in 1450, by some Franciscan missionaries. At the present day they pay but a qualified submission to the pope, and differ in many points of discipline from the Romish church; whence the hatred with which they and the Greek Catholics regard each other. The Maronites have a patriarch of their own, (styled, of Antioch,) and a secular clergy, who are allowed to marry, but who cannot attain the dignity of bishop or patriarch, these appointments belonging to the regulars exclusively; and they observe a still greater number both of festivals and fasts than the Romanists. Indeed, until the year 1736, they used to administer the sacrament in both kinds, like the Greek church, but in that year the canons of the Council of Trent were formally adopted, and the Romish mode substituted. The influence of the Holy See is, however, very great among them, and in one respect it has been beneficial; for the Jesuits especially laboured to intro • This consisted in the assertion of the unity of will of our Lord. The dress of the Maronite women is much the sime as that of the Druses, but the men are far more gaily attired. They wear garments of various gaudy colours, a small turban terminating in a conical cap with a tassel, have usually an embroi variably silver-mounted. They are a taller and finer rice of men than the Druses, and have a stronglynarked Arabian physiognomy. They retain the Arab practice of blood-revenge, in cases where death ensues from any of their quarrels, but they are in general a peaceable race. The life and property of the stranger are safe among them, though they are esteemed less hospitable, and less firm in affording shelter to fugitives who endanger their safety, than the Druses. From the era of the Crusades to the present day the history of the Maronites is much the same as that of the Druses, except that, from their less martial character, their privileges have been more frequently tampered with by the Mohammedan governors; to avert the consequences of which, they have usually resorted to the expedient of paying large sums of money, and have thus laid themselves open to further exactions. When Mehemet Ali obtained pos. session of Syria, the Maronites received his officers with great coldness, and they were in consequence very harshly dealt with on the occasion of the general disarming of the population of Lebanon in 1836, a large body of troops living at free quarters among them for some time, and committing every atrocity, burning numerous villages at their departure. Hence it was that the allied camp was recently established at Djournie, in their territory, and that they readily cooperated in the capture of the several Egyptian garrisons upon their coast. There are no towns of any importance in Kesrouan, but there are certain convents which serve as the ecclesiastical capitals of the various sects. In these places the patriarchs and the principal clergy reside, and there is usually a college for the education of priests. Thus, Kanobin, near the Cedars, Zouk Mykayl, at the back of the Bay of Djournie, and Bezommar, near the Nahr-el-Kelb, are respectively the seats of the Maronite, the Greek Catholic, and Armenian Catholic patriarchs; the last, the most handsome and commodious building in the country, as the sect it belongs to is the wealthiest. The principal missionary establishments are the Lazarist convent, college, and nunnery, at Antoura, about five miles from the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kelb; the Franciscan convent of Harissa, in its neighbourhood; and the Carmelite monastery of St. Sergius, near Kanobin. From Tripoli to Jebilee extends a wide, well-watered, and fertile plain, backed by the northern part of the chain of Lebanon, which bears the name of the Ansary Mountains, being occupied by the Ansarians and Ismaelians, sects somewhat resembling the Druses, and believed to be the descendants of the Assassins, whose name so frequently occurs in the history of the middle ages. Olive, mulberry, orange, and citron trees, occur in groves; vines, tobacco, cotton, and wheat, are also produced, and the cochineal insect has been introduced by the Egyptian government; but this favoured plain is far worse cultivated than the rocks of Kesrouan, and the population, chiefly Mohammedan, very scanty. It is crossed by several streams, the most considerable of which, styled Nahr-el-Kebir (Great River*), is supposed by some travellers to be the ancient Eleutherus, the northern boundary of that tract of coast termed SyPhoenicia. Another stream nearer Tripoli is the Abrosh, the Sabbatum of antiquity, of which Josephis relates an idle story that it flowed regularly during sx days, but uniformly became dry on the Sabbath, the resumed its course for six days more, &c. On the bank of another stream, the Nahr-Akkar, is a hill called Tel Arka, supposed to mark the site of Arca Cæsaris, the birth-place of Alexander Severus, and a strong town at the time of the first Crusade. It is is occupied by numerous piles of rubbish, among which many squared blocks of stone and broken granite columns are distinguishable. The Nahr-el-Kebir is about twenty miles to the north of Tripoli, and here the coast rises into hills for a few miles. When the plain is again reached, the small rocky isle of Rouad is seen, about a league distant from the shore, and nearly opposite to the modern town of Tortosa. Rouad, which is less than a mile in circumference, is strewed with ruined foundations which run into the sea, and numerous cisterns cut out of the solid rock occur in every direction. It has now a few inhabitants, who reside in huts of a wretched description, but it was once covered with strong and stately buildings, for it is the site of the famous Arvad, or Aradus, one of the most considerable of the Phoenician commercial republics, which is said to have established a colony bearing its own name, on the Red Sea. It is mentioned in Scripture as one of the cities that supplied mariners to Tyre, (Ezek. xxvii. 8,) and its king and its gods are among those that Sennacherib boasted of overthrowing. (Isai. xxxvii. 13.) In after-times it had a strip of territory on the mainland, about forty miles in length, and was an independent state in the Roman era. was long possessed by the Crusaders, and in 1185 repulsed a fleet of fifty ships sent against it by Saladin; in the middle of the seventeenth century it was seized, and for some time retained, by the Knights of Malta, but it was taken from them by surprise, and has since sunk into utter desolation. Large portions of a lofty double wall by which it was surrounded are still to be seen, constructed of stones of huge dimensions, and many of them bearing the cross, the crosier, and other Christian emblems, for it was once a bishop's see. It Tortosa, or Tartous, (thirty miles north of Tripoli,) is supposed to occupy a portion of the site of Antaradus, traces of the ancient city extending along the shore for a considerable distance. Among them may be mentioned a number of square towers, under which are sepulchral caves cut in the rock, the dead bodies from Aradus being brought here for interment, as the isle was completely covered with buildings. Shapeless masses of masonry abound, but many other memorials of the ancient population are of a more enduring description. In some places the rock is fashioned into walls; in others, numerous deep cisterns have been sunk into it; in another place, a large mass left standing in the middle of an excavation has As already stated, the Nahr-el-Kebir is the northern boundary of Kesrouan, but that district does not here extend to the coast. been worked into the form of a house, with numerous doors and windows. Not far from this house occurs another excavation, 150 feet square, and 10 deep, with an ornamented throne and canopy 20 feet high, standing in the middle: this is presumed to have been an open temple of Baal, and the throne to have been once occupied by an idol. A work of greater magnitude is what seems to have been an amphitheatre: this also is cut out of the rock, and is near 700 feet long, 100 wide, and 20 deep; it runs in a straight line east and west, and has seven rows of seats on each side through its entire length. The modern town of Tartous is enclosed within the walls of the ancient castle, a stately edifice with a double moat, and double walls of coarse marble, fifty feet high, and half a mile in circumference. The western wall is washed by the sea, and many remains of the old city occur on the south and east, the only edifice at all perfect being a church of Corinthian architecture, which, with another church inside the castle, is built of marble, and is a structure of great beauty. Tortosa was captured by Count Raymond of Provence in 1104, and was for a long time a of principal fortress of the counts of Tripoli. It was also a bishopric, and many sculptures of the cross, the dove, &c., and of coats of arms, are still to be seen on the walls of the churches and castle. This town was attacked in October last by a body of British marines, but the boats grounded on the ruins of some ancient edifice, and the assailants, after losing five killed and seventeen wounded, were obliged to retire. The place was, however, shortly after abandoned by the garrison, and is now in the hands of the Allies. The country in the neighbourhood of Tortosa is hilly, but to the northward lies a second fertile plain, which produces cotton and tobacco, as well as mulberry, orange, and olive-trees. This plain extends nearly fifty miles, until terminated near Ladikiyah by the hills which branch out from Djebel Akra, the Casius and Anti-Casius of ancient geographers. The present towns are few and inconsiderable, but they all bear marks of their former importance. Numerous ruined sites which cannot be satisfactorily identified, are met with, as well as a chain of fortresses which once guarded the shore from the assaults of the Cilician pirates. At the distance of twenty miles from Tortosa, is a village called Baneas, the Balanæa of Strabo, and the Valania of the middle ages. Beside numerous Roman remains, there is a strong castle on a hill, once belonging to the Knights of St. John, another castle stands on a neighbouring hill, and a third on the sea-shore: these edifices are all very large, and their walls near twenty feet thick. Two rivers, whose banks have been strongly fortified, being crossed, the little town of Jebilee is next reached. It stands on a hill near the sea, thirteen miles from Baneas, is the Gabala of antiquity, and was once a sea-port; it had a Roman amphitheatre, much of which remains in tolerable condition, though a number of houses have been built within its area. Jebilee is very beautifully situated in the midst of orangegroves, and has some trade, the goods being shipped at a pier wholly composed of fragments of granite and marble columns. The plain at length terminates at the Nahr-el-Gebir, a stream which some travellers consider as the ancient Eleutherus: beyond this river appear the lofty hills of the Djebel Akra, and the shore is lined by chalky cliffs, over which the road to Ladikiyah is carried. LONDON. JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND.: PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PARTS, PRICE SIXPENCE. IV. EXTERIOR OF THE NEW HALL. In concluding our notice of the Blue-coat School, (as it is familiarly termed,) we shall enter into a few particulars respecting the boys therein maintained, and the routine of instruction. The boys, as is well known, wear a peculiar livery, on which they pride themselves not a little on account of the associations connected with it. Their original dress was made of russet cotton, but it was afterwards changed to that which is now familiar to 'us, and which remains constant through all the fluctuations of fashion observable in common society. The dress consists of a long blue coat, reaching to the ancles, and fastened about the waist with a leathern strap; a yellow cossack or petticoat, worn only in the winter; yellow worsted stockings; a pair of white bands; and a very small black cap. One of the most remarkable customs of the boys ís, to carry their caps in their hands, rather than on their heads; and it is a significant evidence of the general health which attends the simple diet of the boys, that they rarely seem to suffer any ill effects from a degree of exposure which would be somewhat dangerous to the generality of persons. There are many particulars respecting the grades and divisions among the boys, which cannot be well understood without previously knowing the kind of education received: to this point. therefore, we will now direct our attention. It will be remembered, from the details already given, that there are different schools combined in VOL. XVII. that which we call the Blue-coat School; some of which were intended by their founders as mathematical schools, while the original school founded by King Edward the Sixth was for general instruction. This has occasioned an apparent confusion; but we will endeavour to show in what way the routine of education is managed. What are termed "grammar" schools are those in which the classics form the primary, and, indeed, almost the only objects of study; and to this class the greater number of the boys in the Blue-coat School belonged, the exceptions being those who, either on King Charles', Stone's, or Travers' foundations, were expressly instructed in mathematics; and others, who did not reach the classical standard, were merely instructed in writing and arithmetic. By the year 1815 a general opinion prevailed, that an improved and extended system of education was called for; and a committee, appointed for that purpose, drew up a plan of education, which was soon afterwards adopted, and which has, with a few modifications, been acted on to the present time. The boys in the general or grammar school are instructed in reading, writing, arithmetic, and the classics: and as the number is too large to be all instructed at one time in the same subjects, one division studies classics in the morning, and writing and arithmetic in the afternoon; while the other division studies the latter branches in the morning, and classics in the afternoon. Under the head of classics, so far as the 544 |