and accumulated in forests; and, to a great depth in our existing pine districts, the soil consists of the spiny leaves, the droppings of a thousand generations.

MILNER, "Our Home Islands."

REMARKS ON READING.

I.

We ought to be careful not to make the order of our thoughts subservient to that of our subjects; this would be to sacrifice the principal to the accessory. The use of our reading is to aid us in thinking. The perusal of a particular work gives birth perhaps to ideas unconnected with the subject of which it treats. I wish to pursue these ideas; they withdraw me from my proposed plan of reading, and throw me into a new track, and from thence, perhaps, into a second and a third. At length I begin to perceive whither my researches tend. Their result, perhaps, may be profitable; it is worth while to try; whereas had I followed the high road, I should not have been able, at the end of my long journey, to retrace the progress of my thoughts.

II.

This plan of reading is not applicable to our early studies, since the severest method is scarcely sufficient to make us conceive objects altogether new. Neither can it be adopted by those who read in order to write, and who ought to dwell on their subject till they have sounded its depths. These reflections, however, I do not absolutely warrant. On the supposition that they are just, they may be so, perhaps, for myself only. The constitution of minds differs like that of bodies; the same regimen will not suit all. Each individual ought to study his own.

To read with attention, exactly to define the expressions of our author, never to admit a conclusion without com

prehending its reason, often to pause, reflect, and interrogate ourselves, these are so many advices which it is easy to give, but difficult to follow.

GIBBON, "Abstract of my Readings."

IRRITABILITY OF TEMPER.

Upon considering the lives and fortunes of persons who had given themselves up to literature, or to the task of pleasing the public, it seemed to me that the circumstances which chiefly affected their happiness and character were those from which Horace has bestowed upon authors the epithet of the irritable race. It requires no depth of philosophic reflection to perceive, that the petty warfare of Pope with the dunces of his period, could not have been carried on without his suffering the most acute torture, such as a man must endure from mosquitoes, by whose stings he suffers agony, although he can crush them in his grasp by myriads. Nor is it necessary to call to memory the many humiliating instances in which men of the greatest genius have, to avenge some pitiful quarrel, made themselves ridiculous during their lives to become the still more degraded objects of pity to future times. Upon the whole, as I had no pretension to the genius of the distinguished persons who had fallen into such errors, I concluded there could be no occasion for imitating them in their mistakes, or what I considered as such, and in adopting literary pursuits as the principal occupation of my future life, I resolved, if possible, to avoid those weaknesses of temper which seemed to have most easily beset my more celebrated predecessors.

Sir WALTER SCOTT.

THE WILD ASS.

The allusions to the wild ass in the Old Testament, and particularly in Job xxxix., naturally excite the surprise of readers acquainted only with the dull domestic

drudge, the emblem of patience and stolidity; but to this day they are beautifully appropriate to the wild ass of "the wilderness," which has the "barren land," or "salt places" for its dwelling, and "the range of the mountains" for its pasture. The wild ass has a short mane of dark woolly hair, and a stripe of dark bushy hair runs along the ridge of the back from the mane to the tail.

It has longer legs, and carries its head higher than the domestic ass. Its troops have always a leader. It is a high-spirited animal, very fleet and very wary, trying to the utmost the powers of the hunter. It is a principal object of the chase in Persia, where its flesh is prized as venison is in Europe, and it is accounted the noblest of game. CHAMBERS'S "Encyclopædia."

THE ELM.

I.

The elm, when it has assumed the dignity and hoary roughness of age, is not excelled in grandeur and beauty by any of its brethren. It then partakes so much of the character of the oak as to be easily mistaken for it. The leaves of the elm are small, and give a natural lightness to the tree, notwithstanding its great size and closeness of construction.

In favourable situations, the common elm becomes a large timber tree, of considerable beauty and utility, naturally growing upright. It is the first tree to put forth its light and cheerful green in spring, a tint which contrasts agreeably with the foliage of the oak, whose leaf has generally in its early state more of an olive cast.

II.

The wood of the elm is hard and tough, and is greatly esteemed for pipes that are constantly under ground. In London, before iron pipes were used, the consumption of this timber for water pipes was enormous. It is also

valuable for keels, for planking beneath the water-line of ships, and for mill-wheels and water works. When long bows were in fashion it was used in their manufacture, and the statutes recommend it for that purpose. This noble tree is about fifteen feet in circumference in the bole, and still thicker at the height of four feet from the ground, where it divides into five enormous boughs, each of the size of a large tree, and gracefully descending to the ground; the whole forming a splendid mass of foliage, having a circumference of about one hundred and forty yards at the thickest part.

"Woodland Gleanings."

COPIOUSNESS AND ACCURACY IN

COMPOSITION.

The mechanical helps to the acquisition of copiousness are also important. A student must, if possible, practise translation from a foreign language into his own; read, and then write down in his own words favourite passages; describe fully objects, scenes, occurrences, characters; describe them literally and figuratively, now in a style severely chaste, till he has acquired the habit of saying the same thing in a dozen different ways—a great snare, but also a great acquisition.

Accuracy is even more important than copiousness. It teaches us to give each word its exact meaning, makes verbiage as unnecessary as it is always displeasing, and tends to produce conviction even when the mind is not disposed to be convinced. The man who says precisely what he means commends his case to our judgment no less than to our taste. He has one of the qualities of a great teacher; he seems to have insight, and he can tell what he sees.

ANGUS, "Handbook of the English Tongue."

THE INDIAN SUMMER IN CANADA.

It may be convenient here to mention how peculiarly attractive the scenery of Canada becomes towards the

early part of October, owing to the gradual changes of colour in the foliage which then present themselves. Wherever there are trees in view the leaves are seen to be tinted with various hues. Patches of wood are scattered over the surface, and especially extended masses of forest trees viewed from any eminence offer to the eye a very gorgeous spectacle, which, for brightness of colour, variety, and the charming aspect of the whole scene, would inspire disbelief if it were ever so truthfully delineated by the painter's art alone. Some of the most pleasant weather of the whole year often occurs just before the winter sets in, and the season is commonly designated as the "Indian summer." A peculiar hazy appearance skirts the distant horizon; and the soft, balmy character of the air resembles that of the real summer, as if that were indeed lingering on into, and trespassing on the confines of advanced autumn.

HEWITT, "Geography of the British Colonies."

THE BEECH.

This tree is supposed to be indigenous to England, but not to Scotland or Ireland. The branches of the beech are fantastically wreathed and disproportioned, twining awkwardly among one another, and running often into long unvaried lines without any of that strength and firmness which we admire in the oak, or of that easy simplicity which pleases in the ash. In full leaf it has the appearance of an overgrown bush. The leaves are of a pleasant green, and many of them remain on the branches during winter. In France and Switzerland they are used when dried for beds, or, instead of straw, for mattresses. "Woodland Gleanings."

MOUNTAIN CHAINS.

The mountain chains are, then, the great condensers, placed here and there along the continents, to rob the