of southern Asia, between the Indus and the borders of China.— Tiger-hunting is a favourite sport of the English in India.

8. Day is that portion of time, during which we enjoy the light of the sun this is called the natural day. It also denotes the period which the earth takes to revolve once upon its axis, and which is called the civil day. Among the ancient Jews, the civil day was reckoned from sunset to sunset; other ancient nations reckoned it from sunrise to sunrise; but, among modern nations, it is reckoned from midnight to midnight, except by astronomers and navigators, who compute from noon to noon.-The natural subdivisions of the civil day are morning, forenoon, afternoon, evening, and night. In ancient times, the night was divided into four watches, and the natural day into twelve hours; in modern times, the period between midnight and midnight is divided into twenty-four hours. Most nations subdivide this period into two portions of twelve hours each, namely, from midnight to noon, and from noon to midnight; but in Italy and one or two other countries, the hours are counted from one to twenty-four.-The regular succession of day and night is one of those arrangements, which God has promised shall continue unchanged, "while the earth remaineth."-Day is the natural season for active employment; night for repose.

9. Music is either vocal or instrumental. The former is composed of sounds produced by the human voice; the latter, of sounds produced by instruments constructed for the purpose. The sounds in music are represented by marks called notes, which are written on lines, with intermediate spaces, named a staff or stave. -Musical instruments were invented before the deluge. The triumphal song composed by Moses to celebrate the passage of the Red Sea, was sung by the Israelites, accompanied by Miriam and the other women on timbrels. The Bible mentions a great many other occasions, on which both vocal and instrumental music were introduced by the Jews. Music was also practised by the Greeks, and other ancient nations. In modern times, it has been cultivated with great success by the Germans and Italians; and in our own country it has long been considered an almost essential branch of female education among the higher and middle classes of society. Recently, attention has been directed to the best methods of cultivating a taste for music among the people generally; and it is probable that, as in Germany, singing will soon become one of the usual branches of education in public and private schools.

Music is not only a pleasing and refined recreation, but is calculated to elevate and purify the mind.

10. Pyramids are large buildings, found chiefly in Egypt and Nubia. They are broadest at the base, and contract gradually towards the summit.-The most celebrated pyramids are in lower Egypt, nearly opposite Cairo. The largest of these is about 800 feet square, and 470 feet high, and covers more than thirteen acres of ground. It is of a quadrangular form, and the corners correspond to the four cardinal points of the compass. It consists of a series of platforms, each of which is smaller than the one underneath. On the north side there is an entrance which admits into several chambers, in one of which is deposited a sarcophagus.— The other pyramids, though smaller, are similar in appearance, and were no doubt erected for a similar purpose. What that pur

pose was, has been the subject of much conjecture. Some suppose that they were built for making astronomical observations, and others that they were consecrated to the sun; but the most probable opinion is that they were erected as the tombs of kings.

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11. Abram or Abraham was the son of Terah, the eighth in descent from Shem. He was born at Ur of the Chaldees, where he spent the first seventy years of his life. Having been commanded by God to leave his country and kindred, he first removed to Haran, where his father died, and afterwards proceeded westward to Canaan, accompanied by Sarai or Sarah his wife, and Lot his nephew. A famine forced him to remove for a short time into Egypt. On his return to Canaan, it became necessary for Abraham and Lot to separate, on account of the increase of their flocks. Lot therefore settled in the plain of the Jordan, and Abraham dwelt in Mamre, whence he occasionally migrated to Beersheba. was at one or other of these two places that all the subsequent events of his interesting and instructive history occurred, except the rescue of Lot, and the offering up of Isaac. He died in the 175th year of his age.-When Abraham received the divine command to leave the land of his fathers, he did not hesitate to obey, although he knew not whither he was to go. He had reached his hundredth, and Sarah her ninetieth year, before Isaac was born; yet he never doubted that God would fulfil the promise that they should have a son, from whom was to descend a great nation. Even when God commanded him to offer up the heir of the promises as a sacrifice, he at once complied. He is therefore most justly entitled to the honourable appellation of the "Father of the faithful."

12. Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles, was born at Tarsus

in Cilicia. By birth he was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin; but he also inherited the privileges of a Roman citizen. After being liberally educated in his native city, he went to Jerusalem to study the Jewish law and traditions under Gamaliel. He made great proficiency, and became remarkable for his strict adherence to the principles and practice of the Pharisees. He was present at the martyrdom of Stephen, and afterwards took an active part in the persecution of the Christians. Having obtained authority from the high priest, he was proceeding to Damascus for the purpose of apprehending such disciples as he might find there, when he was arrested by a light and a voice from heaven. The effect of this vision was his conversion to the Christian faith, of which he became henceforth the most zealous and unwearied propagator. After having visited Arabia, Jerusalem, and Tarsus, he went to Antioch to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. From this place he made three journeys through the principal cities of Asia Minor and Greece, planting churches with eminent success. On his return from his last journey, he was apprehended at Jerusalem, and sent for trial to Cesarea, where he was detained a prisoner for upwards of two years. Having at last appealed to the emperor, he was sent by sea to Rome, with the account of his arrival at which city the Scripture narrative of his life closes. He is said to have suffered martyrdom, A. D. 66.-Besides preaching the gospel with a learning, eloquence, fortitude, zeal, and perseverance, which made him the first of the apostles, Paul wrote fourteen epistles, which form a considerable part of the New Testament.

13. The word Sabbath signifies rest, and was the name given to the seventh day, on which God rested or ceased from the work of creation. He therefore blessed and sanctified it, or set it apart for religious services, and as a day of cessation from worldly toil. We are not expressly told that it continued to be observed from its first institution till the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; but the fact of its being kept by the Israelites at least from the time they left Egypt, and the almost universal division of time into periods of seven days, seem to prove that it had never been entirely forgotten. -The obligation to sanctify the Sabbath was renewed in the fourth commandment of the moral law; and upon the transgressors of it threatenings are very frequently denounced in the Bible.After the commencement of the Christian dispensation, the Sabbath was changed from the seventh to the first day of the week, to commemorate the resurrection of our blessed Redeemer. The authority for this change is found chiefly in the practice of the

apostles, who, in every thing connected with their sacred mission, acted as well as spoke by inspiration of God. They called it the Lord's day and it was on this day, that the Holy Ghost descended upon them; that they preached, and administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper; and that they made contributions for their poor and suffering brethren.-The Christian, like the Jewish, Sabbath is a day of rest from worldly employments and amusements; but it is not a day of idleness. It is to be devoted to the public and private exercises of religion; to the worship and service of the Creator and Redeemer.

14. The Scriptures or writings are the books of the Old and New Testaments. The books of the Old Testament or Covenant were written under the Mosaic dispensation; the books of the New Testament or Covenant were written soon after the commencement of the Christian dispensation. All these books were written by inspiration of God; that is to say, the Spirit of God, not only prevented the authors of them from writing what was untrue or incorrect, but suggested to them what they were to write, how they were to write, and when they were to write. The proofs of the inspiration of the Scriptures are numerous and conclusive; the following are a few of the most obvious. 1. The subjects revealed in the Scriptures could not have been devised by human wisdom. -2. The scope of them is such that bad men could not have written them, and good men would not have written them, and given them out as inspired, unless they had really been so.-3. The style and manner of the Scriptures correspond to the dignity of the subjects, the sublimity of the doctrines, and the purity of the precepts.-4. Though written at various times, and by different authors, the Scriptures are pervaded by the most perfect harmony and unity of purpose.-5. Miracles were wrought by many of the sacred writers in proof of the truths which they taught.-6. A very great number of the prophecies contained in the Scriptures, has been fulfilled. It is the duty of all who possess the Scriptures, both to study them for their own instruction, and to diffuse them for the instruction of others.

15. The soul is that part of man, which perceives, thinks, and wills. When speaking of its nature, we sometimes call it the spirit; when speaking of its powers, we call it the mind. We generally term it the soul, when referring to its condition and character. The soul is not a material substance, like the body; and it is not subject to death. Though one and indivisible, it possesses various faculties. It was originally created pure and perfect; but it has

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become corrupt, guilty, and debased by sin. It animates the body, while the two are in connexion; but when the latter dies, it passes into a separate state of existence, in which it will continue till the resurrection, when it will be re-united with the body. It was the soul which was created in the image of God; it was the soul which the Redeemer suffered and died to deliver from condemnation, and restore to the condition from which it has fallen; and it is the soul which the Holy Spirit renews in the image of God, and sanctifies for his service.

16. Wisdom consists in choosing laudable objects, and employing the best means for accomplishing them. It is the right use and application of knowledge. This is what is generally called practical wisdom. We sometimes speak of wisdom as a faculty; as when we use the word to signify natural sagacity, quickness of intellect, or the power of judging what is most just, proper, and useful. We also speak of wisdom as an acquirement; as when we use the word to denote what has been learned by study or experience. In the Bible, wisdom very frequently means religion. History furnishes us with examples of wisdom in all these acceptations.

V.-ARRANGement of SENTENCES.

SECTION I.

VARIETY OF ARRANGEMENT.

Rudiments, p. 61.

1. In proportion to the increase of luxury, the Roman state evidently declined.

2. You must at the last day account for all that you think, and speak, and do.

3. If that greatness of mind, which shows itself in dangers and labours, wants justice, it is blamable.

4. That the paper-mill and the printing-press are inventions for which we cannot be too thankful, is a fact about which men now rarely differ.

5. It is of no small moment, in all speculations upon men and human affairs, to distinguish things of accident from permanent

causes.

6. He who from primeval darkness made light to spring, will at last, from the seeming confusion of the world, make order to arise.