NOTES FOR THE MONTH:

MARCH.

March 1.-SIR SAMUEL ROMILLY: taught himself Latin; called to the bar, and became an eminent lawyer and politician; a distinguished public speaker: born in London, 1757; died 1818.

Mar. 2.-SIR THOMAS BODLEY: a student of Oxford; employed by Queen Elizabeth in several embassies; founded and endowed one of the largest libraries in the world, now called the "Bodleian," at Oxford: b. at Exeter, 1544; d. 1612.

Mar. 8.-SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON: a son of Dr. Hamilton, a professor in the university of Glasgow; wrote valuable books on mental philosophy: b. 1788; d. 1856.

Mar. 8.-AUSTEN HENRY LAYARD: a traveller in the East; discoverer of many ruins and sculptures in

Assyria which throw much light on Bible-history; now the English ambassador to Spain: b. 1817.

Mar. 8.-WILLIAM ROSCOE: the son of a market-gardener; made himself master of Greek and Latin, French and Italian; wrote the life of Pope Leo X.; became a Member of Parliament: b. near Liverpool, 1753; d. 1831.

Mar. 18.-JOHN WALKER: a teacher of elocution; the author of a well-known Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language: b. in the parish of Friern-Barnet, near London, 1732; d. 1807.

Mar. 21.-DAVID NASMITH: an active originator of associations for promoting the moral and religious welfare of large towns; formed a "City Mission" in New York; the founder of the "London City Mis-▾ sion:" b. at Glasgow, 1799; d. at Guildford, 1839.

Mar. 21.-HENRY KIRKE WHITE: a poet; the son of a butcher at Nottingham; put to learn the hosiery business; articled to an

He cleansed the leper, raised the dead;

He fed the hungry crowd with bread;

into wine.

Mar. 22.-SIR ANTONY VANDYCK: a great portrait painter; the son of a glass-painter; a pupil of Rubens; received a pension from King Charles I. b. at Antwerp, 1599; d. in London, and buried in Old St. Paul's Cathedral, 1641.

Mar. 26.-THOMAS CLARKSON: a scholar of St. Paul's school, London; gained a prize at Cambridge for a Latin essay on the question, "Is it right to make slaves of others against their will?" Spent many years of arduous toil in procuring the abolition of the slave-trade and of slavery in the British West Indies: b. at Wisbeach, 1760; d. 1846.

As present everywhere His power

A PRIZE NOBLY LOST.

RIZES were to be given in Willie's school, and he was very anxious to merit one of them. Willie had never had much opportunity to learn, and he was behind the other boys in all his studies except writing. As he had no hope to excel in anything but writing, he made up his mind to try, with all his] might, for the special prize for that. And he did try; his copy-book would have done honour to a boy twice his age. When the prizes were awarded, the chairman of the committee held up two copy-books, and said, "It would be difficult to say which of these two books is better than the other, but for one copy in Willie's, which is not only superior to Charlie's, but to every other copy in the same book. This, therefore, gains the prize."

Willie's heart beat high with hope, which was not unmixed with fear. Blushing to his temples, he said: "Please, Sir, may I see that copy."

"Certainly," replied the chairman, looking somewhat surprised.

Willie glanced at the page, and then, handing the book back, said, "Please, Sir, that is not my writing. It was written by an upper-class boy, who took my book by mistake, one day, instead of his own."

"O, O!" said the chairman, "that may alter the case."

The two books went back to the committee, who, after comparing them carefully, awarded the prize to Charlie. The boys laughed at Willie. One said he was silly to say anything about the mistake.

"I wouldn't have told," said another.

"Nor I," added a third boy. "The copy was in your book, and you had a right to enjoy the benefit of it."

But, in spite of all their quizzing, Willie felt that he was right. "It would not have been the truth," he replied, "if I had not told who wrote the copy. I would rather hold fast the truth than have a prize, for truth is better than gold."

D

THE RUINS OF THE COLOSSEUM AT ROME.

one

HE Colosseum was of the most stupendous buildings ever reared by man. It was commenced by the Emperor Flavius Vespasian, in the year 72 of the Christian era, and was composed of Travertine marble. Three rows of arches, supported by half-columns, surrounded it, each row numbering eighty arches, and the edifice was terminated by four rows of pillars, the first Doric, the second Ionic, and the third and fourth Corinthian. It was oval in shape, and had a circumference of one thousand seven hundred and two English feet, and was one hundred and sixty-three feet high. The arena, or central space, was surrounded by the Podium, on which seats were placed for the Emperor, the senators, and other great people of ancient Rome, while the space above was occupied

zens.

This immense structure had accommodation for one hundred and seven thousand spectators, there being seats in the amphitheatre for eightyseven thousand, while the piazzas, or covered passages above, would contain twenty thousand more. Imagine that vast crowd collected to witness the agonies of gladiators and wrestlers, and to feast their eyes with bull-fights and similar savage games!

The open space of the Colosseum was the scene of fearful cruelties during the ten ancient persecutions of the Christians. Ignatius, a bishop who was a Christian before Jerusalem was destroyed, was brought hither from Antioch, in the reign of the Emperor Trajan, to be torn by wild beasts. And the traditions of the Church abound in names of martyrs who perished here for the gratification of the barbarous Romans.

Coming to modern times, we find that in the year 1750, Benedict XIV. consecrated the Colosseum to the memory of the faithful men and women who suffered within its walls for the "Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ."

Among the many places I saw