kept invaders from her shores. In 1794 Lord Howe defeated the French fleet about 140 leagues from Ushant; in 1797, Spain having joined France, Sir John Jervis defeated the Spanish fleet off Cape St Vincent ; and a Dutch fleet, destined to attack Ireland, was defeated and captured by Lord Duncan off Camperdown. Ceylon, the Cape of Good Hope, and other colonies, passed into the hands of Great Britain. 15. Whilst the fleets of Great Britain were thus victorious on every sea, she was powerless to check the tide of French conquest on the Continent. Napoleon Bonaparte, commander of the French armies in Italy, gained a brilliant series of victories, which expelled the Austrians thence, and led them to make peace with France. The French Republic was now governed by the Directory, a body of five men, who ruled very tyrannically. They soon grew jealous of the rising fame of Bonaparte, and were by no means sorry when he started for Egypt, which he intended to seize as the first step towards an attack on English possessions and trade in the East. 16. Nelson, who had distinguished himself at Cape St Vincent, lost his right arm in an attack on Santa Cruz, Teneriffe, 1797. Disabled and suffering severely, he was afraid that he could never more be of service to his country, or win the fame he ardently coveted. But in 1798, having recovered from his wound, he was sent to look out for Bonaparte on his voyage to Egypt. The French fleet got past unperceived in a * In a previous engagement he had also suffered the loss of one eye. F fog; but in Aboukir Bay, at the mouth of the Nile, Nelson came up with them. There he gained a marvellous victory, in which the French fleet was destroyed. Only four vessels escaped. Next year Bonaparte, leaving his army in Egypt, hastened to Paris. He was received with frantic delight, and found no difficulty in upsetting the Directory, and becoming head of the French nation, under the title of First Consul, 1799. Russia and Austria, encouraged by his absence in the East, had again taken up arms, and had driven the French from Italy; but with Bonaparte's return victory returned, and Austria and Russia were compelled to submission and peace, 1801. France now ruled in Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, North Italy, and as far as the Rhine. Great Britain stood alone. In 1801 Sir Ralph Abercrombie defeated the French troops that had remained in Egypt. In the same year Russia, Sweden, and Denmark united to resist some claims put forth by England. The British fleet thereupon sailed for the Baltic, where Nelson won the battle of Copenhagen. The death of the Russian emperor, however, stopped further hostilities, as it broke up the union. In 1802 a pause ensued. France could do nothing by sea; Great Britain effect nothing on land. A treaty was signed at Amiens in 1802. 17. It was not Pitt who arranged the peace; he had retired from office in 1801. He had given great attention during his long ministry to the affairs of Ireland, where there had been much discontent, and a savage rebellion was repressed with barbarity in 1798. Pitt brought to pass the Union of Great Britain and Ireland in one Parliament in 1800. Ireland is now represented in the British Houses by 28 peers and 105 commoners. Pitt was anxious to carry out his own views further, and remove the disabilities that still lay upon Roman Catholics;* but the king would not consent, so Pitt resigned, after seventeen years of power. Nor was he sorry to avoid signing a treaty which surrendered all that England had acquired during the long and terrible war. SUMMARY.-Warren Hastings, a man of great ability and energy, but unscrupulous in many of his actions, was tried before the House of Lords, and acquitted. The French Revolution began in 1789. The king and queen were beheaded in 1793, and the Reign of Terror took place, when nobles, priests, guilty and innocent, suffered together. In 1793 France declared war against Britain; but the supremacy of this country on the seas ensured her safety. The great naval victories of Cape St Vincent and Camperdown were won by the British. Napoleon Bonaparte, a young Corsican, rose to the command of the French army, gained several brilliant victories in Italy, and led an expedition against Egypt. The French fleet was signally defeated by Lord Nelson at the mouth of the Nile. Sir Ralph Abercrombie defeated the French troops that had remained in Egypt. A treaty of peace was signed at Amiens in 1802. Mr Pitt, after seventeen years of power as prime minister, retired from office in 1801, before the signature of the treaty. QUESTIONS. What governor of India was tried before the House of Lords? When did the French Revolution begin? When were the king and queen beheaded? Who suffered during the Reign of Terror? When did France declare war against Great Britain? What great naval battles were fought? When and where was peace concluded? How long was Mr Pitt prime minister; and when did he resign? Chief amongst these was their not being oligible for election to the House of Commons. THE SOLDIER'S WIFE. AN INCIDENT IN THE BATTLE OF FONTENOY. DERIVATION. MEANING. Fr., volée, a flight. Lat., A flight of shot; the dis- Fr., escadron. Lat., quad- Originally, a body of troops Lat., mancus, mutilated. Dut., kuiveren, to tremble. stand. cause to Lat., solatium, consolation, drawn up in a square; part of a regiment of cavalry. Maimed; torn; cut. Having no care or concern. Shaking or trembling. Consolation, comfort, re- The following poem is given as a specimen of what may be done by a young man to educate himself, even in the most unfavourable circumstances. The author, John Bethune, was born in 1812, in the parish of Monimail, in Fife. His father was a farm-servant. The only education he received was from his mother and an elder brother. He was sent at eight years old to herd cows; at thirteen he was employed in breaking stones on the road, and afterwards became a day-labourer. Yet in the few hours snatched from his hard toil he so educated himself as to write English well. His stories and poems were published in several periodicals. He died in 1839. His poems, along with a life of him by his brother, are published in a volume which has been successful. Of the following poem Bethune says:-"The anecdote to which these verses owe their origin was told to the author's mother by a very old man who had been in the battle of Fontenoy." The author had heard his mother repeat the story when a boy; he never forgot it, and in after years he dashed it into irregular verse. The British banner waved on high, And British swords below: Was this a sight for woman's eye, Which melts o'er every woe? And round and round, from rank and file, And, scattering death for many a mile, The ceaseless cannonade Thunder'd with deafening shouts between Of many a glittering blade. Rank after rank was swept away, Who fell to rise no more; To rally in the rear; And when they turn'd to charge again, And friends and comrades dear, They dash'd with doubly reckless tread, And spirit-maddening cheer. Was this a part for woman's heart, That timid thing, to bear? Could aught so soft-so fearful oft— In female form, be there? Yes there a heart as kind, as true, As warm as ever shed The pearly drops of Pity's dew Above the living or the dead, |