or circumstances of its formation as such; that is, on the shape of the land against which it is pressed, and on its relation to the prevailing winds, the currents, or the set of the tides; and the persistency of the pack in different places, as found by repeated experience in former Arctic voyages, has been in many instances satisfactorily explained by reference to one or the other of these causes.

SPELL AND GIVE THE MEANING

...

...

784,991
45,000

...

...

3,500

...

281,000

-the South

...

...

519,000

...

...

...

45,000

...

in 1866
Expeditions to Mexico, Cochin China, Morocco,
Paraguay, &c.

...

War of 1870 between France and Germany
Present War between Russia and Turkey

(at least) ...

Total destroyed by War

2,743,491 men.

THE BEACON.-Anonymous.

THE scene was more beautiful far, to my eye,
Than if day in its pride had array'd it;
The land-breeze blew mild, and the azure arch'd sky
Look'd pure as the spirit that made it.

The murmur arose, as I silently gazed

On the shadowy waves' playful motion:

From the dim distant isle till the beacon-fire blazed,
Like a star in the midst of the ocean.

No longer the joy of the sailor-boy's breast
Was heard in his wildly-breathed slumbers;
The sea-bird had flown to her wave-girded nest,
The fisherman sunk to his slumbers.

I sigh'd as I look'd from the hills' gentle slope:
All hushed was the billows' commotion;
And I thought that the beacon look'd lovely as hope
That star of life's tremulous ocean.

The time is long past, and the scene is afar,
Yet, when my head rests on its pillow,
Will memory sometimes rekindle the star
That blazed on the breast of the billow.

In life's closing hour, when the trembling soul flies,
And death stills the soul's last emotion,

O, then, may the Seraph of mercy arise,

Like a star on Eternity's ocean.

SPELL AND GIVE THE MEANING

trem'ulous, trembling.

slum'ber, sleep.

commo'tion, violent motion.

emo'tion, feeling.

ser'aph, a kind of angel.

eter'nity, never-ceasing duration.

THE MOUNT OF OLIVET AND ITS MEMORIES.DEAN STANLEY.

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley is the son of the late Bishop of Norwich, and was born in 1815. He has written many books, all marked by a picturesqueness of style and fullness of knowledge peculiarly his own. He is now Dean of Westminster.

1. Up that same ascent from Jericho He came, also, at the beginning of the week of His Passion.1 One night He halted in the village, as of old; the village and the desert were then all alive, as they still are once every year at the Greek Easter,2 with the crowd of Paschal3 pilgrims moving to and fro between Bethany and Jerusalem. In the morning He set forth on His journey. Three pathways lead, and probably always led, from Bethany to Jerusalem.

4

The

2. Two vast streams of people met on that day. one poured out from the city, and as they came through the gardens whose clusters of palm rose on the southern corner of Olivet, they cut down the long branches, as was their wont at the Feast of Tabernacles, and moved upwards towards Bethany, with loud shouts of welcome. From Bethany streamed forth the crowds who had assembled there on the previous night, and who came testifying to the great event at the sepulchre of Lazarus."

3. The road soon loses sight of Bethany. It is now a rough, but still a broad and well-defined mountaintrack, winding over rock and loose stones; a steep declivity below on the left; the sloping shoulder of Olivet above on the right; fig-trees below and above, here and there growing out of the rocky soil.

4. Along the road the multitude threw down the branches which they cut as they went along, or spread out a rude matting formed of the palm branches they

had already cut as they came out. The larger portion -those perhaps, who escorted Him from Bethanyunwrapped their loose cloaks from their shoulders, and stretched them along the rough path, to form a momentary carpet as He approached. The two streams met midway. Half of the vast mass, turning round, preceded; the other half followed.

5. Gradually the long procession swept up and over the ridge, where first begins "the ascent of the Mount of Olives" towards Jerusalem. At this point the first view is caught of the south-eastern corner of the city. It was at this precise point, "as He drew near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives "-may it not have been from the sight thus opening upon them ?—that the shout of triumph burst from the multitude: "HOSANNA to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the kingdom that cometh of our father David. Hosanna... peace.. glory in the highest."*

6. There was a pause as the shout ran through the long defile; and as the Pharisees who stood by in the crowd complained, He pointed to the "stones" which, strewn beneath their feet, would immediately "cry out" if "these were to hold their peace."

7. Again the procession advanced. The road descends a slight declivity, and the glimpse of the city is again withdrawn behind the intervening ridge of Olivet. A few moments, and the path mounts again; it climbs a rugged ascent, it reaches a ledge of smooth rock, and in an instant the whole city bursts into view.

8. As now the dome of the mosque El-Aksa rises like

* I have ventured to concentrate the expressions of Matt. xxi. 9, Mark xi. 9, John xii. 13, on the one precise point described by Luke xix. 37, "The whole multitude began to praise God with a loud voice."

L