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His after-time he shall make sublime.

And be "master of his fate."

EXERCISE.-12. PARSING, ETC.

1. Write out all the adjectives in the above form, naming their degrees of comparison.

2. Give the rules for forming the comparative degrees of the words:stony, stern, noble, steady, momentous, large, late, healthy, great.

3. Parse (with reasons) the words:-game, clarion, clamour, fame, thrill, schoolboy, praise, ball, soul, life's, bat, force.

4. Write out the verbs in the whole piece, distinguishing the transitive and intransitive.

THE COMMONWEALTH.

OLIVER CROMWELL; RICHARD CROMWELL.

ex-e-cu-tion [L. ex, out; sequor, to follow], carrying into effect the sentence of the law, capital punishment. pros-e-cute [pro; sequor, to follow], to follow up, to carry on. sub-ser-vi-ent [L. sub, under; servo, to keep], subject, submissive.

On the day of the execution of Charles I. the Rump parliament passed an act, declaring it treason to proclaim any one as king, and a few days afterwards they abolished the House of Peers, appointing a council of state to govern the country. At this time there were three distinct parties in the nation, the royalists, the presbyterians, and the independents. Of these parties, the last named was weakest in point of numbers, but its deficiency in this respect was more than made up for by the talent and vigour of its leaders, while it also had the support of the army.

The mutiny of the levellers, a party of fanatics in the army, caused the first disturbance; but it was very soon subdued by Cromwell.

In Ireland, where in general the people were favourable to the royal cause, the Prince of Wales had been proclaimed king; and Cromwell, being appointed lord-lieutenant, hastened thither at once. He pursued the cruel policy of exterminating all the garrisons which did not agree to his terms, and at Drogheda and Wexford great cruelties were perpetrated without regard to age or sex. While besieging Waterford, Cromwell was recalled on account of Scottish affairs, and he left Ireton, his son-in-law, to prosecute the

war.

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In Scotland the people, indignant and awe-struck at the execution of the king, prepared at once to proclaim Prince Charles, on condition of his subscribing to the covenant; and an expedition in the royal cause was headed by the Marquis of Montrose, which however failed, and the brave royalist leader was hanged at Edinburgh.

The Scottish army was commanded by David Leslie, who, had he been allowed to follow his own policy, would have out-manœuvred Cromwell, who had crossed the border and found that the Scots had laid waste all the country through which he had to march to reach Edinburgh. The clergy, however, insisted on Leslie's giving battle, and at Dunbar the Scots sustained a terrible defeat, September 3rd, 1650. But in spite of this reverse Charles was crowned at Scone, and another army raised at Stirling, which at the instigation of the new-made king marched into England. Cromwell immediately marched southward in pursuit, and overtook the Scots at Worcester, where he defeated them on the anniversary of Dunbar, and Charles, after many adventures, escaped to France.

War was declared against Holland in consequence of the assassination of the English envoy at the Hague, and the refusal of the States to enter into an alliance with the English Commonwealth. Blake, who commanded the British fleet, defeated the Dutch Admirals, Van Tromp, De Ruyter, and De Witt; and Holland was glad to sue for peace.

Cromwell, having quarrelled with parliament about the disbanding of the army, expelled the members by military force, but judging it imprudent to rule without at least the semblance of a parliament, he selected a number of deputies, who formed a new parliament subservient to him, and which conferred on him the title of "Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland."

The states of Europe acknowledged his title; ambassadors from various powers congratulated him on his new dignity; he was thanked for the security that his navy gave to commerce on the seas; and he was courted by foreign potentates to lend them assistance against their enemies. In the midst of his triumphs, he was disturbed by conspiracies

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and plots of assassination, and being attacked by an ague he died, September 3rd, 1658.

His son Richard succeeded him in his offices; but, being indolent, and unused to business, he was no favourite with the army. The parliament, too, refused their support, and he was obliged to resign after a few brief months' authority. His brother Henry, a man of more energy, had been appointed governor of Ireland, but he was soon deprived of this dignity, and the family of Cromwell speedily sank into obscurity.

After the resignation of Richard Cromwell, the Rump parliament was invited by the leaders in the army to resume its sittings; but in less than six months the members were again expelled from the House of Commons, and the supreme authority vested in ". a committee of safety," consisting of twenty-three persons.

At this time General Monk, who had command of the army in Scotland, was an object of great interest both to royalists and republicans; but neither side could get him to declare his intentions. Carefully selecting all the men in his army on whom he could depend, he set out on his march to London, where he arrived early in 1660, and to the great joy of the country, restored the excluded members of the Long Parliament, who met on February 21st, and finally dissolved themselves on March 16th, after fixing a day for the meeting of a new assembly. In the new parliament, royalists and presbyterians were predominant, and the peers, with the exception of those who sat in Charles's parliament at Oxford, took their seats. On the 1st May, letters were received from Prince Charles, containing what has been since called the Declaration of Breda, and on the 29th of the same month he entered the capital as King Charles II., amid the rejoicings of the people.

EXERCISE.-13. MEANINGS OF WORDS.

1. Give the meanings of the words :-garrison, exterminate, instigation, assassination, obscurity, military, perpetrated, predominant, potentate, vested, resignation, committee.

2. Distinguish between :-no, know; by, buy; new, knew; in, inn; raised, razed; Hague, ague; peers, piers; died, dyed.

3. Illustrate the different meanings of :-court, interest, but, plot, march, rule.

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gal-lant [F. gallant, from gala, a show], brave, noble, in its primary sense, gay. wid-ow [L. viduus, deprived of ], a woman who has lost her husband. file [L. filum, a thread], a line of soldiers ranged behind one another. dame [F. dame, from L. domina, a mistress], a title applied to a married woman.

"O COME you from the Indies, and, soldier, can you tell Aught of the gallant 90th, and who are safe and well? O soldier, say my son is safe-for nothing else I care, And you shall have a mother's thanks-shall have a widow's prayer."

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"O I've come from the Indies-I've just come from the

war;

And well I know the 90th, and gallant lads they are; From colonel down to rank and file, I know my comrades well,

And news I've brought for you, mother, your Robert bade me tell."

"And do you know my Robert, now? O tell me, tell me true,

O soldier, tell me word for word all that he said to you! His very words-my own boy's words-O tell me every one!

You little know how dear to his old mother is my son." "Through Havelock's fights and marches the 90th were there;

In all the gallant 90th did, your Robert did his share; Twice he went into Lucknow, untouched by steel or ball, And you may bless your God, old dame, that brought him safe through all."

"O thanks unto the living God that heard his mother's prayer,

The widow's cry that rose on high her only son to spare! O blessed be God, that turned from him the sword and

shot away!

And what to his old mother did my darling bid you say ?"

"Mother, he saved his colonel's life, and bravely it was done;

In the despatch they told it all, and named and praised your son!

A medal and a pension's his: good luck to him, I say, And he has not a comrade but will wish him well today."

"Now, soldier, blessings on your tongue. O husband, that you knew

How well our boy pays me this day for all that I've gone through,

All I have done and borne for him the long years since you're dead!

But, soldier, tell me how he looked, and all my Robert said."

"He's bronzed, and tanned, and bearded, and you'd hardly know him, dame;

We've made your boy into a man, but still his heart's the same;

For often, dame, his talk's of you, and always to one tune:

But there, his ship is nearly home, and he'll be with you

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O is he really coming home, and shall I really see My boy again, my own boy, home! and when, when will it be?

Did you say soon ?"—"Well, he is home? keep cool, old dame; he's here."

"O Robert, my own blessed boy!"-"O mother-mother dear!"

EXERCISE-14. PARSING, ETC.

1. Write out the nouns in the possessive case found in the poem.

2. Form the possessive singular and plural of the words :-soldier, son, colonel, comrade, Robert, life, boy, man.

3. Explain and parse the expressions :-I've gone, he's bronzed, I've brought, a pension's his, you'd know, we've made, his heart's the same, his talk's of you, he'll be with you, he's here.

4. Write out the personal pronouns found in the lesson, and tell the case of each.

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