have a strong objection to be suspected of flattering the equato Yet were it not for that little angle of 23° 27' 26", which it good enough to make with the plane of the ecliptic, the history o this earth and of "all which it inherit" would have been essen tially modified, even if it had not been altogether a blank. Ou of the obliquity of the equator has come forth our civilization It was long ago observed by one of the most thoughtful writers that ever dealt with human history, John von Herder, that it was to the gradual shading away of zones and alternation of seasons that the vigor and variety of man were attributable. -MOTLEY: Historic Progress and American Democracy.

Aristides at first was loved and respected for his surname of the Just, and afterwards envied as much; the latter chiefly by the management of Themistocles, who gave it out among the people that Aristides had abolished the courts of judicature, by drawing the arbitration of all causes to himself, and so was insensibly gaining sovereign power, though without guards and the other ensigns of it. The people, elevated with the late victory at Marathon, thought themselves capable of everything, and the highest respect little enough for them. Uneasy, therefore, at finding any one citizen rose to such extraordinary honor and distinction, they assembled at Athens from all the towns in Attica, and banished Aristides by the ostracism; disguising their envy of his character under the specious pretence of guarding against tyranny. . . .

The Ostracism (to give a summary account of it) was conducted in the following manner. Every citizen took a piece of a broken pot, or a shell, on which he wrote the name of the person he wanted to have banished, and carried it to a part of the marketplace that was enclosed with wooden rails. The magistrates then counted the number of the shells; and if it amounted not to six thousand, the ostracism stood for nothing: if it did, they sorted the shells, and the person whose name was found on the greatest number, was declared an exile for ten years, but with permission to

enjoy his estate Aristides was banished, when the people were

inscribing the names on the shells, it is reported that an illiterate burgher came to Aristides, whom he took for some ordinary person, and, giving him his shell, desired him to write Aristides upon it. The good man, surprised at the adventure, asked him "whether Aristides had ever injured him?” "No," said he, "nor do I even { know him; but it vexes me to hear him everywhere called the Just." Aristides made no answer, but took the shell, and having written his own name upon it, returned it to the man. When he quitted Athens, he lifted up his hands towards heaven, and, agreeably to his character, made a prayer, very different from that of Achilles; namely, "That the people of Athens might never see the day which should force them to remember Aristides.”—PLUTARCH: Lives.

should force them

Said Tom, "If I can't be at Rugby, I want to be at work in the world, and not dawdling away three years at Oxford."

"What do you mean by at work in the world'?" said th master, pausing, with his lips close to his saucerful of tea, and peering at Tom over it.

"Well, I mean real work; one's profession, whatever one wil have really to do, and make one's living by. I want to be doing some real good, feeling that I am not only at play in the world," answered Tom, rather puzzled to find out himself what he really did mean.

"You are mixing up two very different things in your head, I think, Brown," said the master, putting down the empty saucer, "and you ought to get clear about them. You talk of working to get your living' and 'doing some real good in the world,' in the same breath. Now, you may be getting a very good living in a profession, and yet doing no good at all in the world, but quite the contrary, at the same time. Keep the latter before you as your one object, and you will be right, whether you make a living or not; but if you dwell on the other, you'll very likely drop into mere money-making, and let the world take care of itself, for good or evil. Don't be in a hurry about finding your work in the world for yourself; you are not old enough to judge for yourself yet, but just look about you in the place you find yourself in, and try to make things a little better and honester there. You'll find plenty to keep your hand in at Oxford, or wherever else you go. And don't be led away to think this part of the world important and that unimportant. Every corner of the world is important. No man knows whether this part or that is most so, but every man may do some honest work in his own corner." And then the good man went on to talk wisely to Tom of the sort of work which he might take up as an undergraduate; and warned him of the prevalent university sins, and explained to him the many and great differences between university and school life; till the twilight changed into darkness, and they heard the truant servants stealing in by the back entrance. — HUGHES: Tom Brown's School Days.

ing, and pursued my journey. On my return in the evening, I found him fixed to the identical spot where I had left him, and again inquired if he had had any sport. Very good, sir,” said he. "Caught a great many fish?" "None at all." "Had a great many bites, though, I suppose?” glorious nibble.” — FRANKLIN.

“Not one, but I had a most

The question has been much discussed, whether there was any statesmanship, any good sense, in making the war of 1812 at all. It is true that it was resolved upon without preparation, and that it was wretchedly managed. But if war is ever justified, there was ample provocation for it. The legitimate interests of the United States had been trampled upon by the belligerent powers, as if entitled to no respect. The American flag had been treated with a contempt scarcely conceivable now. The question was whether the American people should permit themselves not only to be robbed, and maltreated, and insulted, but also to be despised, — all this for the privilege of picking up the poor crumbs of trade which the great powers of Europe would still let them have. When a nation knowingly and willingly accepts the contempt of others, it is in danger of losing also its respect for itself. Against this the national pride of Young America rose in revolt. When insulted too grievously, it felt an irresistible impulse to strike. It struck wildly, to be sure, and received ugly blows in return. But it proved, after all, that this young democracy could not be trampled upon with impunity, that it felt an insult as keenly as older nations, and that it was capable of risking a fight with the most formidable power on earth in resenting it. It proved, too, that this most formidable power might find in the young democracy a very uncomfortable antagonist. SCHURZ: Henry Clay, I, 119.

The paragraphs in Exercises 4, 7, and 19 may be employed for further practice if needed.

you breat

Writing a letter to a friend upon some topic of which h as yet knows nothing, we naturally begin by telling him what it is we are going to write about. For this purpose we generally use the opening sentence of the letter. Thus, an account of a fishing excursion might begin, "I am going to tell you about how I went fishing Saturday," or, "Last Saturday I went fishing." The writer of a paragraph often makes use of a similar device. Somewhere in the paragraph, usually at the beginning, he writes a sentence announcing his theme. Such a sentence is called a topicsentence. In the following selections the topic-sentences are in italics: