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allowed us to make our defence,-a favour not denied to the most criminal; and that we shall be tried separately. You are not in the least obliged to precipitate a sentence wherein the lives of the most illustrious citizens are concerned. It is, in some measure, to attack the gods, to make men responsible for the winds and weather. You cannot, without the most flagrant ingratitude and injustice, put to death the conquerors, to whom you ought to decree crowns and honours, or give up the defenders of your country to the rage of those who envy them. If you do so, your unjust judgment will be followed by a sudden but vain repentance, which will leave behind it the sharpest remorse, and cover you with eternal infamy."

SECTION III.

SIMPLE SENTENCES.

Rudiments, p. 47.

1. Modesty is not properly a virtue. Modesty is a very good sign of a tractable disposition. Modesty is a great preservative against vice.

2. Thousands might have attained the highest distinctions. Indolence has sunk thousands into contemptible obscurity. Idleness has frustrated the effect of all the powers of thousands.

3. At our first setting out in life, we are yet unacquainted with the world and its snares. Every pleasure enchants with its smile. Every object shines with the gloss of novelty. Let us beware of seducing appearances. Seducing appearances surround us. Let us recollect the sufferings of others. Others have suffered from the power of headstrong desire.

The Romans

4. The Romans filed in great consternation. were pursued by the enemy to the bridge. Both victors and vanquished were about to enter the city in great confusion. All now appeared to be lost. A sentinel had been placed on the bridge to defend it. The sentinel opposed himself to the torrent of the enemy. The sentinel was assisted only by two more. The sentinel for some time sustained the whole fury of the assault. The bridge was broken down behind him. He plunged with his arms into the Tiber. He swam back to his fellow-soldiers.

SECTION IV.

ABRIDGMENT OF COMPLEX SENTENCES.

Rudiments, p. 48.

The request was

1. A horse applied to a man for assistance. easily granted. The horse thanked his assistant. return in triumph." "By no means, I shall have your services." The man led the horse to his hovel.

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2. A youth went to a neighbouring city to see an exhibition of wild beasts." What is the name of that lovely animal ?" animal is called a tiger. The other beast is in the highest degree docile, affectionate, and useful. For the benefit of man, he traverses the sandy deserts of Arabia. The camel is more worthy of your admiration than the tiger."

SECTION V.

ABRIDGMENT OF COMPLEX SENTENCES (continued).
Rudiments, p. 50.

1. In one of the terrible eruptions of Mount Etna, the danger of the inhabitants of the adjacent country was uncommonly great. To avoid immediate destruction, the people were obliged to retire to a considerable distance. Amidst the hurry and confusion of such a scene, two brothers, in the height of their solicitude for the preservation of their wealth and goods, suddenly recollected that their father and mother were unable to save themselves by flight. Filial tenderness triumphed over every other consideration. "Where," cried the generous youths, "shall we find a more precious treasure than they are ?" Having said this, the one took up his father on his shoulders, and the other his mother. All who were witnesses of this dutiful and affectionate conduct, were struck with the highest admiration.

2. Among other excellent arguments for the immortality of the soul, there is one drawn from its perpetual progress towards perfection. How can it enter into the thoughts of a man, that the soul, which is capable of receiving new improvements to all eternity, shall fall away into nothing? A brute arrives at a point of perfection that he can never pass; and in a few years he has all the endowments of which he is capable. Were a human soul thus at

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a stand in her accomplishments, I could imagine she might fall away insensibly, and drop at once into a state of annihilation. But can we believe a thinking being, that is in a perpetual progress of improvement, must perish at her first setting out, and in the very beginning of her inquiries?

SECTION VI.

VARIETY OF STRUCTURE.

Rudiments, p. 52.

1. When shame is lost, all virtue is lost.

2. The king had never before committed an unjust action, yet he dismissed his ministers without inquiry.

3. Descending from his throne, and ascending the scaffold, he said, "Live, incomparable pair.”

4. Deprived of all but her innocence, and living in a retired cottage with her widowed mother, she was concealed more by her modesty than by solitude.

5. As the dry leaves rustled on the ground, and the chilling winds whistled by me, they gave me a foretaste of the gloomy desolation of winter.

6. The trees being cultivated with much care, the fruit was rich and abundant.

7. The lion and the eagle, being both possessed of great strength, exercise dominion over their fellows of the forest. They are equally magnanimous, disdaining small plunder, and pursuing only animals worthy of conquest. They are solitary, and keep the desert to themselves alone: it is as extraordinary to see two pair of eagles in the same mountain, as two lions in the same forest. As they keep separate to find a more ample supply, they consider the quantity of their game as the best proof of their dominion. They are bred for war, and are the enemies of all society; alike fierce, proud, and incapable of being easily tamed.

SECTION VII.

VARIETY OF STRUCTURE AND EXPRESSION.

Rudiments, p. 53.

1. Whatever is offensive in our manners, is corrected by gentle

ness.

2. The bitter cup which destiny has mixed, must be tasted by all mankind.

3. A multitude of delighted guests soon filled the places of those who refused to come.

4. To live continually in the bustle of the world, is to live in perpetual warfare.

5. Gentleness and affability are the genuine effects of true religion.

6. Exhibit the result of that incessant occupation which you have pleaded.

7. Industry not only promotes improvement, but produces plea

sure.

8. Even when the advantages of this world are innocently gained, they are uncertain blessings.

9. Although wicked men multiply in number, and increase in power, we are not to infer that they are particularly favoured by Providence.

10. Speculative ideas of general benevolence do not constitute the virtue of charity, for these too often float in the head, without affecting the heart.

11. The squadron was scarcely deserving of being so called, for it consisted of only three small vessels, having on board ninety sailors, and a few adventurers. Steering first for the Canary Islands, and then directing his course due west, the admiral stretched into seas altogether unknown to former navigators. The first day was very calm, and hence he made but little progress; but on the second he lost sight of land, when many of the sailors began to express their dejection and dismay by beating their breasts and shedding tears. Columbus endeavoured to console them by assuring them of success, and by describing to them the immense treasures of the countries where he hoped soon to arrive. The voyage had already lasted four weeks, when, on account of the numerous and promising presages of land, Columbus offered up public prayers for success, and ordered the sails to be furled, and strict watch to be kept, lest the vessels should be driven ashore in the night. A little after midnight, the sailor at the mast-head uttered the joyful cry of land, land; and, at day-break, they beheld a beautiful island, with verdant fields, shady woods, and glittering streams. Having armed and manned the boats, they rowed towards the shore with waving banners and martial music. Columbus, clothed in a rich dress, and with a naked sword in his hand, was the first European who set foot in the New World

which he had discovered. He was followed by his men, who all knelt down, and kissed the ground which had been so long the object of their expectations. Having next erected a crucifix, they prostrated themselves before it, and returned thanks to God for the happy issue of their voyage.

SECTION VIII.

COMPLEX SENTENCES.

Rudiments, p. 54.

1. Diligence, industry, and proper improvement of time, are material duties of the young.

2. Patience, by preserving composure within, resists the impression which trouble makes from without.

3. When our sky seems most settled and serene, in some unobserved quarter gathers the little black cloud, in which the tempest ferments, and prepares to discharge itself upon our heads.

4. Man is a rational animal, endowed with the highest capacity for happiness; but he sometimes mistakes his best interests, and pursues trifles with all his energies, considering them as the principal object of desire in this fleeting world.

5. The rational intercourse kept up by conversation, is one of our principal distinctions from brutes. We should therefore endeavour to turn this particular talent to our advantage, and consider the organs of speech as the instruments of understanding. We should be very careful not to use them as the weapons of vice, or the tools of folly.

6. The benevolent John Howard, having settled his accounts at the close of the year, and found a balance in his favour, proposed to his wife to make use of it in a journey to London, or in any other amusement she chose. "What a pretty cottage for a poor family it would build !" was her reply. This charitable hint met his cordial approbation, and the money was laid out accordingly.

7. A farmer, who had just stept into a field to mend a gap in one of the fences, found at his return the cradle, in which he had left his only child asleep, turned upside down, the clothes all torn and bloody, and his dog lying near it besmeared also with blood. Immediately conceiving that the dog had destroyed his child, he instantly dashed out his brains with the hatchet in his hand; when, turning up the cradle, he found his child unhurt, and an

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