in bursts of eloquence, combining logical and rhetorical skill, and legal precision, while he triumphed over the passions and prejudices of his hearers, and moulded them to his will." He died in 1823 a.d. WILLIAM SCOTT (LORD STOWELL): the celebrated English judge, son of William Scott, coal fitter, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and elder brother of Lord Eldon; was born at Heworth, Durham, in 1745 A.D., the memorable year of the Rebellion in Scotland. Lord Stowell received the rudiments of his classical education with his brother the Earl of Eldon at the Newcastle grammar-school, and completed it at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. In 1779 he took the degree of D.C.L., and soon after commenced his career as an advocate in the civil law courts. He was appointed king's general advocate in 1787; shortly after judge of the consistory court, vicar-general of the province of Canterbury, and master of the faculties. He was knighted in 1788. In 1790 he entered parliament as member for Downton, and in the following year was unanimously elected as member for the University of Oxford. In 1798 became judge of the high court of admiralty and a privy councillor. His decisions on international law have passed into precedents, equal if not superior to those of the venerable fathers of the science, Grotius, Puffendorf, Vattel, &c. Died Jan. 28th, 1836.

JOHN SCOTT (EARL OF ELDON): a distinguished lawyer and statesman, who for twenty-five years filled the office of lord high chancellor of England, was the third son of William Scott, of Newcastle-uponTyne, and younger brother of Lord Stowell (the preceding); he was born on the 4th of June, 1751 A.D. In 1773 he was admitted a member of the Middle Temple, but he resided chiefly in or near Oxford till he was called to the bar in 1776 A.D. Years of laborious study passed away with little encouragement to him, and he had seriously resolved to quit London to practice as a provincial counsel in his native place; but his knowledge and application had not been unobserved by some of the brightest ornaments of the profession, who persuaded him to remain, assuring him his success was certain. The result proved the correctness of their predictions, and he shortly after became the leader of the northern circuit. In 1783 he was elected member of parliament for the borough of Weobly. He was made solicitor-general in 1788, received the honour of knighthood, and became attorney-general in 1793. In 1796 Sir John Scott was returned for Boroughbridge as the colleague of Sir Francis Burdett, succeeded Sir James Eyre as lord chief justice of the Common Pleas; and in July, 1799, was raised to the peerage as Baron Eldon, of Eldon, in the county of Durham. In 1801 he became lord high chancellor of England, and in the same year was elected high steward of the university of Oxford, when the degree of D.C.L. was conferred on him. In February, 1806, he resigned the great seal, but was re-appointed in April, 1807, from which period he held it until April 30th, 1827, being altogether nearly twenty-five years. At the coronation of George IV. he was promoted to the dignities of Viscount Encombe and Earl of Eldon. Died at his house in Hamilton Place, London, January 13th, 1838 a.d.

THOMAS CHATTERTON: an English poet whose precocious genius and melancholy fate gained him much celebrity; was born at Bristol in 1752 A.D. He was educated at Colston's charity school, and then articled to a solicitor; but in consequence of his taste for literature and distaste for law he was set free after serving about half his time. His father was sexton of Redcliff church, Bristol, and young Chatterton professed to have received from him several ancient manuscripts which he palmed upon the world as the poems of Rowley, a priest of Bristol, in the 15th century. In 1769 he went to London, trusting to literature for a livelihood. Having vainly endeavoured to persuade Horace Walpole and other scholars of the genuineness of the MSS., Chatterton, though still a mere boy, became a party writer. In a state of deep despondency, produced by absolute want, he destroyed himself by poison, in 1770 A.D., at the age of 18.

DUGALD STEWART: an eminent Scotch philosopher; was born at Edinburgh in 1753 A.D. He first appeared as an author in 1792, when he published the first volume of his "Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind." The second did not appear till 1814, and the third in 1827. Among his other works are, "Philosophical Essays;" "Outlines of Moral Philosophy;" a "Preliminary Dissertation, for the Encyclopædia Britannica, on the progress of Metaphysical, Ethical and Political Science," which appeared in two parts in 1815 and 1821, and had a great run. Died at Edinburgh,

1828 A.D.

GEORGE CRABBE: poet; was born at Aldborough, in Suffolk, in 1754 A.D. He studied for the medical profession, but he abandoned it and entered the church. He was for several years chaplain to the Duke of Rutland, had the curacy of Strathern and other livings, and in 1813 that of Trowbridge, where he spent the rest of his life. His principal poems are, "The Library;" "The Village;" "The Parish Register;" "The Borough," and "Tales of the Hall;" all characterized by homely truthfulness, simplicity and pathos. Died 1832 A.D.

WILLIAM WYNDHAM GRENVILLE (RT. Hon.): third son of George Grenville (See Journal, No. IV.); was born in 1759 a.D. He entered one of the Inns of Court with the intention of studying for the bar; but forming an early acquaintance with Mr. Pitt, it caused him to abandon all thoughts of the law and seek distinction in the senate. He began his parliamentary career as the representative of Buckinghamshire, filled the speaker's chair six months and then succeeded Lord Sidney as secretary for the home department. In 1790 he was raised to the peerage, and in the following year made secretary of state for foreign affairs. He signalized himself as a powerful orator on the debate following the bill for "providing for the better security of his Majesty's person;" subsequently he was made first lord of the treasury. Died 1834 A.D.

WILLIAM PITT: prime minister of England; was the second son of the Earl of Chatham, and born May 28th, 1759 A.d. After finishing his

scholastic and university education, he was entered at Lincoln's Inn, and in three years was called to the bar. In 1780 he stood as a candidate for the University of Cambridge, but was unsuccessful. He was, however, by means of Sir James Lowther, returned for the borough of Appleby, and he immediately became one of the most distinguished opponents of the ministry. In 1782 he brought in a bill for an inquiry into the state of the representation in parliament, which was rejected by a small majority. In the same year Mr. Pitt, then only twenty-three years of age, was appointed chancellor of the exchequer. On the failure of Fox's India bill, which produced the dismissal of the coalition, Pitt, although at that time only in his twenty-fourth year, assumed the position of prime minister by accepting the united posts of first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer. At the general election which followed the dissolution of parliament in 1786, Pitt was returned by the University of Cambridge. His first measure was the passing of his India bill. Pitt steered the vessel of state during the most momentous period of modern history-the French Revolution. He died January 23rd, 1806 A.D. Pitt was a minister of commanding powers, both as a financier and orator; his eloquence, though not so imaginative as that of Burke or so captivating as that of his father, was more uniformly just and impressive, while the indignant severity and keenness of his sarcasm were unequalled.

ROBERT BURNS: the national poet of Scotland; was born in Ayrshire in 1759 A.D. His father was a gardener and very poor. Robert worked on a farm taken by himself and his brother. He was early noted among his neighbours for his verses and his social qualities. In 1786 he published his poems. He was welcomed and flattered by the highest society of Edinburgh; published a second edition of his poems, for which he received a large sum. He died at Dumfries in July, 1796 a.d. The centenary of his birth was celebrated in England by a poetic competition at the Crystal Palace, when the prize was won by Miss Isa Craig.

CHAPTER V.

THE QUESTIONS ASKED AT THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION HELD ON THE 14TH AND 15TH DAYS OF FEBRUARY, 1872, WITH THE ANSWERS.

Candidates were requested to write an essay, not less than two pages in length, on one of the following subjects:

(1.) The Four Seasons: which of them you prefer, and why.
(2.) Pain.

(3.) Photography.

(4.) Chess.

(5.) Dress.

(6.) Loyalty.

1. At what periods more especially were the various elements which make up the English language introduced into this country?

II. English Language.

(1.) The people commonly known as Saxons, who formed so large a proportion of the German invaders of Britain, were so named by their neighbours and enemies the Franks, and they certainly called their new country Angle-land (England) and their language English, from about 450 to 580 A.D. The language spoken by these Anglian settlers is the mother tongue of the present English: it is commonly known as Anglo-Saxon.

(2.) As the Anglian invaders were at various times in contact with Keltic, Scandinavian and Romanised inhabitants of Britain, their language admitted and retained many words of Keltic, Scandinavian and classical origin.

(3.) The classical elements in the English language have been introduced at various periods. (1) Sparingly during the Roman occupation of the island between 43 and 418 A.D. (2) At the introduction of Christianity by the Roman missionaries, 596 A.D. (3) With the Norman French, 1042 A.D. (4) At the revival of classical learning in the sixteenth century. (5) By modern writers on science, art, social and political economy, &c.

(4.) On the accession of Edward the Confessor, who had been brought up in Normandy, Norman-French became the language of the English court. After the battle of Hastings it was the language of the Norman nobles and their retainers throughout England. In the year 1362 the English language was formally recognized by a special enactment as the language of the English people. Vide Adams's "Elements of the English Language."

2. Write down the vowel sounds in English, and show how they are represented in writ

ing.

The vowel sounds are sixteen in number, i. e., twelve simple vowel sounds; as,

1. The sound of â in fall.

3. Classsify the (a) letters of the English alphabet. (b) In what way might that alphabet be advantageously modified?

4. What is the origin of the common plural suffix s? State the principal exceptions in the formation of plurals in English.

(a) Letters of the alphabet are classed as gutturals, palatals, linguals, dentals, labials and nasals.

Besides the vowels a, e, i, o, u, there are sixteen mutes (including the two sounds of th), four liquids, 1, m, n, r, in all twenty-six letters, which represent forty-two sounds.

(b) By arranging it according to the principles of phonography, i. e. by representing each separate sound by a separate and appropriate symbol.

The suffix s is supposed to be derived from the NormanFrench s or x. We find that afterwards in A.-S. the suffix of the nominative plural in a certain class of nouns was -as. In later English this became es. In modern English the vowel is sometimes lost.

Exceptions: nouns ending in s, sh, ch (soft), x or o form the plural by adding es (the original suffix); as misses, brushes, boxes, churches. The "s" is added to those of foreign origin, as "canto-s," ," "grotto-s." When "o" final is preceded by a vowel it takes "s" only; as "folio-s."

If a noun end in "y" preceded by a consonant, "es" is added and the "y" is changed into "i"; as "ladi-es." After a vowel those in "y" follow the general rule, i. e. take “s”; as “chimney-s,' "money-s."

99.66

Nouns in f or fe of Anglo-Saxon origin add "es" to the singular and change f into v: of those in f, the exceptions are, those which end in ff, rf and f when preceded by two vowels; as roof, reef of those in fe; fife, strife: all which take s.

Several conform to the general rule: as loaf, loaves; thief, thieves.

Some plurals are formed from singulars by changes to be found only in words of Anglo-Saxon origin, e.g.:

a. By suffixing "en" (A.-S. an) to the sing.: as oxen.
b. By modifying the root-vowels: as man (mennen), men;
cow (cu), kine (obsolete); geese, &c.

c. By adding "er" (A.-S. "ru" or "ra") to the sing.: as
child-er, child-er-en, children, which is also the double
form.