You are surrounded by implacable foes, who long for an opportunity to revenge upon you, and the other. planters, all the miseries they have endured; the more generous their natures, the more indignant they feel against that cruel injustice, which has dragged them hither, and doomed them to perpetual servitude.

You can rely on no kindness on your part; you have reduced them to the state of brute beasts, and they have the ferocity of beasts of prey. Superior force alone can give you security; as soon as that fails, you are at the mercy of the merciless. Such is the social bond between the master and the slave.

LESSON LXX.

ELIZABETH.-JAMES I.-CHARLES I.

Mary was succeeded by her sister, ELIZABETH, in the year 1558. Elizabeth's accession to power was hailed with joy by the people, in general, and she gave them no reason to change their opinion, for she governed the nation with great prudence, and endeavoured to improve the condition of her subjects.

On coming into power, the great object of her solicitude was to establish the Protestant religion on a firm basis, and, by her influence, act after act was passed in its favour, so that, in a single session of parliament, that form of religion, which we now enjoy, was established.

During her reign, Philip, of Spain, sent, what he called his Invincible Armada, to invade England, but without success, for his fleet was completely beaten by our brave sailors, and, of the ships that escaped, very

few reached Spain, being entirely dispersed in a violent storm, and a great part of them lost.

Although Elizabeth governed the country with great success, and was popular with her subjects, yet some parts of her conduct nothing can justify, among which may be named, her great injustice to Mary, Queen of Scotland, and her severity, and cruelty to many Roman Catholics, who, from conscientious motives, would not change their faith.

During Elizabeth's reign, which continued forty-four years, the poor laws were first enacted.-Silk stockings first worn.-Potatoes brought from South America.— Paper first made in Kent.-Telescopes were invented,— and newspapers first printed.

Elizabeth was succeeded by JAMES I., of England, but the VI. of Scotland, in the year 1603. James was favourably received by all orders of the state, his title to the crown being undisputed, and the union of the two kingdoms promising to put an end to the wars that had been so injurious to both.

The first remarkable event of James's reign, was the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, the horrid scheme of a few disaffected persons, to blow up both Houses of Parliament, when the king, the queen, and their eldest son, would be present.

Although James ascended the throne under favourable circumstances, yet he did not retain the good opinion of his subjects, on the contrary, his unbounded attachment to favourites gave great offence; these, he advanced to the highest dignities, and placed in offices of the greatest importance, regardless of their inexperience, and want of capacity.

During his reign, which continued twenty-two years, the Bible was translated in its present form.-The

circulation of the blood was discovered.-The new river was brought to London,-and the Charterhouse school was founded.

James was succeeded by his son, CHARLES I., in the year 1625. Charles was not long on the throne before he was placed in difficulties, for being bent on prosecuting the war on the continent, and the House of Commons refusing to furnish him with the necessary. means, he formed the unjustifiable resolution of levying taxes without its consent.

This led to a civil war, between him and the Parliament, which continued six years, deluging the country. with blood; in the end, the Parliament was victorious, and Charles, to avoid being taken prisoner, delivered himself up to the Scotch, who, with sordid meanness, agreed to give him up to his enemies, on receiving four hundred thousand pounds.

Charles, after a trial before a tribunal, which assumed a power not sanctioned by the law, was found guilty, and sentenced to death, and soon after beheaded, after an unhappy reign of twenty-three years.

Charles possessed many virtues which would have adorned a private life, but his want of decision and firmness, totally unfitted him for a ruler, and this, with his mistaken notions of kingly power, brought him to this untimely end.

LESSON LXXL

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

Knowledge distinguishes civilized from savage life, and renders one man superior to another; its cultivation

in youth promotes virtue, by creating habits of mental discipline, and by implanting a sense of moral obligation.

Necessary knowledge is that which simply provides man with food, and with the means of sustaining life.

Useful knowledge is that which teaches the arts of agriculture, clothing, building, restoring health, preserving social order, maintaining national independence, and rendering the produce of other climates subservient to the wants of our own.

Ornamental knowledge includes subjects of taste and intellect, as drawing, painting, poetry, grammar, geometry, eloquence, history, music, dancing, dramatic representation, and the dead and living languages.

In his unimproved and uncivilized condition, man is naked, without habitation, without means of defence or offence, and possessed of no means of subsistence, besides the wild fruits and spontaneous produce of the earth.

Knowledge creates the difference between savages and the present inhabitants of the British Islands. The useful arts improved by science, and science itself improved by philosophy, confers power on civilized and instructed man, and enables him at once to triumph over his fellows, and over nature.

Till the Romans invaded England, the Britons practised few or no useful arts, painting their bodies of various colours, bestowing partial cultivation on the soil, and depending on the mere products of the climate, and upon their skill and success in hunting and fishing.

The Romans introduced among the Britons all the arts and knowledge which they had themselves received from the Greeks, and laid the foundation of that social state in which we find ourselves in England, after the lapse of nearly two thousand years.

The greatest attainment of savage life is the procuring of fire, and this is done by the rapid friction of two

pieces of wood till they produce flame. Having no metals, they do not possess the simple method of communicating a spark to tinder, by the violent collision of flint and steel.

The clothing of savage nations has reference solely to the inclemency of the weather, and consists generally of the skins of animals, or of the natural products of vegetables that require no preparation.

A precarious mode of subsistence is so unfavourable to the human species, that savage tribes, in a series of ages, do not increase their numbers, and often become extinct.

The first step from savage towards civilized life, is the acquirement, protection, and recognition of property in land; in early ages, this consisted only of what was essential to the immediate wants of men, and land, like air, was the common property of all.

The first property consisted of sheep, goats, and oxen, and the first husbandmen were shepherds, who tended their flocks, and drove them from pasture to pasture. We have a beautiful picture of the pastoral life in the book of Genesis; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were shepherds, or husbandmen, of the earliest ages.

Security of property, is the basis of all social improvement; a man's being able to call a piece of ground his own, and to enjoy its produce and improvement, is an important step in the progress from the savage to the cultivated state.

Enclosures greatly improve the climate of a country, by protecting it from inclement winds, and they pleasantly subdivide the labours of the farmer; in France, and other countries on the continent, the lands still remain unenclosed, in very large open fields, and those countries, in consequence, present a dreary appearance, when compared with England.