haunted of yore the fabulous dragon of wantley here were fought many of the most desperate battles during the civil wars of the roses and here also flourished in ancient times those bands of gallant outlaws whose deeds have been rendered so popular in english song.

the sun was setting upon one of the rich grassy glades of the forest that has been mentioned. hundreds of broad-headed short-stemmed wide-branched oaks which had witnessed perhaps the stately march of the roman soldiery flung their gnarled arms over a thick carpet of the most delicious greensward in some places they were intermingled with beeches hellies and copsewood of various descriptions so closely as totally to intercept the level beams of the sinking sun in others they receded from each other forming those long sweeping vistas in the intricacy of which the eye delights to lose itself while imagination considers them as the paths to yet wilder scenes of sylvan solitude. here the red rays of the sun shot a broken and discolored light that partially hung upon the shattered boughs and mossy trunks of the trees and there they illuminated in brilliant patches the portions of turf to which they made their way. a considerable open space in the midst of this glade seemed formerly to have been dedicated to the rites of druidical superstition for on the summit of a hillock so regular as to seem artificial there still remained part of a circle of rough unhewn stones of large dimensions. seven stood upright the rest had been dislodged from their places probably by the zeal of some convert to christianity and lay some prostrate near their former site and others on the side of the hill. one large stone only had found its way to the bottom and in stopping the course of a small brook which glided smoothly round the foot of the emi

nence gave by its opposition a feeble voice of murmur to the placid and elsewhere silent streamlet.

the human figures which completed this landscape were in number two partaking in their dress and appearance of that wild and rustic character which belonged to the woodlands of the west riding of yorkshire at that early period."

(Here follows a description of the persons.)

LESSON LXX.

WRITE a description of the "Scene from Fort Lee Bluff," according to the nints in the following analysis. Do not use the words of the book, but express the thoughts in your own language.

I. Alone; sunrise; appearance of the sun as he gradually emerges above the eastern horizon. II. Eye rests first on the Hudson flowing at the base of the bluff; effect of water on a landscape. On

the opposite side, a fine country, hill and valley, studded with villages.

III. While in the distance many evidences of cultivation meet the eye of one looking eastward, on the west is an unbroken forest, not even an occasional house; one might suppose that he were in a wilderness far from civilization, were it not for one evidence of human industry and ingenuity, a high post for the telegraph wire, which here crosses the river. Remarks on this great enterprise.

IV. No person in view; sloops with white sails, look like large birds.

V. While the eye is thus pleased, the ear is no less

delighted; describe some of the sounds that usually meet the ear in the country on a summer morning.

VI. Feelings awakened; contrast with the excitement of a city life; the grandeur and beauty of the scene lead the mind to the Creator, and a thanksgiving goes up to Him from the heart-(for what?)

LESSON LXXI.

DESCRIPTION OF PERSONS.

In what varieties of composition is the writer most frequently called on to describe persons?

In biographical sketches, travels, history, and novels.

In describing persons, what heads is it best to take?
A selection may be made from the following:
I. Person; whether tall or short, fleshy or thin.
II. Dress.

III. Face; features; expression.

IV. Manners; whether dignified, graceful, awkward, active, indolent, haughty, or affable.

V. Any peculiarity of appearance.

EXERCISE.

Copy and punctuate the following description of "Leather-stocking," extracted from one of Cooper's

novels:

LEATHER-STOCKING.

"There was a peculiarity in the manner of the hunter that struck the notice of the young female who had been a close and interested observer of his appearance and equipments from the moment he first came into view He was tall and so meagre as to make him seem above even the six feet that he actually stood in his stockings On his head which was thinly covered with lank sandy hair he wore a cap made of fox-skin His face was skinny and thin almost to emaciation but yet bore no signs of disease on the contrary it had every indication of the most robust and enduring health The cold and the exposure had together given it a color of uniform red his gray eyes were glancing under a pair of shaggy brows that overhung them in long hairs of gray mingled with their natural hue his scraggy neck was bare and burnt to the same tint with his face though a small part of a shirt-collar made of the country check was to be seen above the over-dress he wore A kind of coat made of dressed deer-skin with the hair on was belted close to his lank body by a girdle of colored worsted On his feet were deer-skin moccasins ornamented with porcupines' quills after the manner of the Indians and his limbs were guarded with long leggings of the same material as the moccasins which gartering over the knees of his tarnished buck-skin breeches had obtained for him among the settlers the nick-name of Leather-stocking notwithstanding his legs were protected beneath in winter by thick garments of woollen duly made of good blue yarn Over his left shoulder was slung a belt of deer-skin from which depended an enormous ox-horn so thinly scraped as to discover the dark powder that it contained The

larger end was fitted ingeniously and securely with a wooden bottom and the other was stopped tight by a little plug A leathern pouch hung before him from which as he concluded his last speech he took a small measure and filling it accurately with powder he commenced reloading the rifle which as its butt rested on the snow before him reached nearly to the top of his fox-skin cap"

LESSON LXXII.

EXERCISES IN DESCRIPTION.

WRITE descriptions of

A RAIL-ROAD.

THE COUNTRY IN SUMMER.

[N. B. The pupil is expected in every case to prepare an analysis of his subject, before he proceeds to the composition itself. This will not, therefore, be repeated any more in the directions. If he meet with difficulty in drawing out his analyses, it will be well for him to review Lesson LXIII., which treats of that subject.]

LESSON LXXIII.

NARRATION.

WHAT is the third division embraced under the head of prose composition?

Narrations.

In what does narration consist?

In giving a detailed account of incidents which