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ordinate to them.1 Great Britain, the largest, and by far2 the most important of the British islands, is divided into the kingdoms of England and Scotland; the former occupying its southern, most fruitful, and extensive,1 and the latter its 5 northern, more barren, and smaller portion. After the withdrawal of the Romans from Great Britain, these two divisions became separate and independent states, between which the most violent animosities frequently subsisted. In consequence of the marriage of Margaret, daughter of Henry VII. of England, to James IV., king of Scotland, in 1502, James VI., king of Scotland, ascended the English throne upon the demise of Queens Elizabeth in 1604. But, notwithstanding this union of the crowns, the two kingdoms had distinct and independent legislatures till 1707, when,10 under the auspices of Queen Anne, a legislative union of England and Scotland was completed. In many respects, however, the institutions of the two countries still continue peculiar.12 The common law 13 and the judicial establishments of England differ much from those of Scotland; the prevailing religion and the

1 iles qui y sont contiguës et subordonnées. 2 de beaucoup. 3 est divisée en deux parties, savoir; or, simply, comprend.

4 le premier de ces royaumes en occupe la partie méridionale, la plus fertile et la plus étendue. When speaking of things, not of persons, the French generally use the personal pronoun en ('of it,' 'of them') and the definite article, instead of the possessive pronouns son, sa, ses, leur, leurs.

5 la; en will no longer be expressed here, but will be understood elliptically, together with the verb, as it has just been used above.

6 Après que les Romains se furent retirés (or, s'en furent allés). 7 monta sur le trône d'Angleterre à.

8 See page 4, note 2.

9 eurent, not avaient, this fact being only as one point in history,

and having happened at a definite period. See page 1, note 3.

10 époque à laquelle. The French do not use quand for 'when,' in the sense of at which time,' but only in that of 'at what time?" (interrog.) and 'at the time that.' Sometimes they use que in the former acceptation.-Ex. 'ses [Pat kul's] membres coupés en quartiers restèrent exposés sur des poteaux jusqu'en 1713, qu'Auguste,' &c.VOLTAIRE, Hist. de Charles XII., Book iii. page 99. London, Bell and Daldy, 1856. See also my La FONTAINE, page 11, note 10. 11 fut accomplie.

12 sont encore propres d'eux.

chacun

'Law,' in

13 le droit coutumier. the sense of the Latin jus, is, in French, droit, while loi corresponds to 'law' in the sense of the Latin lex.

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church establishment1 of the former are also materially different from those of the latter, and the manners and customs of the two countries, though gradually assimilating, still preserve many distinguishing features.—(J. R. M'CULLOCH, Statistical Account of the British Empire.)

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66

DESCRIPTION OF ENGLAND.

FEW Countries exhibit a greater variety of surface than England, or have been more highly favoured by nature. Although," says Dr. Aikin, "its features are moulded on a comparatively minute scale, they are marked with all the agreeable interchanges which constitutes picturesque beauty. In some parts, plains clothed in the richest verdure, watered by copious streams, and pasturing innumerable cattle,9 extend as far as the eye can reach :10 in others, gently rising hills and bending vales, fertile in corn, waving with woods,12 and interspersed with flowery meadows, offer the most delightful landscapes of rural opulence and beauty. Some tracts 13 furnish prospects of the more romantic and impressive kind;14 lofty mountains, craggy rocks, deep dells, narrow ravines, and tumbling torrents: nor are there wanting, as a 16 contrast to those

1 l'église.

15

2 de la première (or, de celle-là) diffèrent aussi essentiellement.

13 de la dernière;-celles de celle-ci, would not sound well.

4 les mœurs et coutumes; or, les us et coutumes.

5 quoique se rapprochant (or, more strictly according to grammar, though not so strictly according to custom, and by no means elegantly here, quoiqu'ellesils-se rapprochent) graduellement. The adverb, in French, usually follows the verb, in a simple tense; in a compound tense, it stands between the auxiliary and the participle. 6 See page 2, note 13. 7 quoique les accidents de terrain ne s'y montrent relativement que dans de petites proportions.

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qui se précipitent en roulant; or, simply, de rapides torrents. 16 rien n'y manque, pas même, comme. See page 14, note 13.

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scenes in which every variety of nature is a different charm, the vicissitude of1 black barren 2 moors and wide inanimated heaths." Such is a vivid description of the general appearance of England. But the beauty and fertility of the country are not the only things to excite admiration. The mildness of the climate, removed alike from the extremes of heat and cold; the multitude of rivers, their depth, and the facility they afford to internal navigation; the vast beds of coal and other valuable minerals hid under the surface; the abundance and excellence of the fish in the rivers and surrounding seas; the extent of sea-coast; the number, capaciousness, and safety, of the ports and bays; and the favourable situation of the country for commerce; give England advantages that are not enjoyed in an equal degree by any other nation. (J. R. M'CULLOCH, Statistical Account of the British Empire.)

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MAHOMET'S MIRACLES.

THE votaries of Mahomet are more assured than himself of his miraculous gifts, and their confidence and credulity increase as they are further removed 10 from the time and place 11 of his spiritual exploits. They believe or affirm that trees went forth to meet him ;12 that he was saluted by stones; 13 that water gushed from his fingers; that he fed the hungry and the sick, and raised the dead ;14 that a 1 l'aspect, tour à tour, de.

2 Put the two adjectives, in French, after the substantive, with the conjunction et between both. 3 Voilà.

4 l'aspect général de; or, better, as aspect occurs just above, le coup d'oeil général que présente.

5 qui excitent; or, susceptibles d'exciter.

See page 1, note 8.

7 de littoral.

8 tout cela donne à.

9 dont nulle autre nation

ne

jouit au même degré. See page 21,

note 9.

10 à proportion qu'ils sont plus éloignés.

11 du temps (or, de l'époque) et du lieu. Remember this rule, which enjoins the repetition of the preposition, and of the article, pronoun, &c., before each of the substantives, whatever their number may be.

12 allaient au-devant de lui. Audevant de; Latin, obvium.

13 See page 16, note 2.

14 les faméliques et les malades, et ressuscitait les morts,

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beam groaned to him; that a camel complained to him;2 that a shoulder of mutton informed him of its being poisoned; and both animate and inanimate nature were equally subject to this apostle of God. His dream of a nocturnal journey is seriously described as a real and corporeal transaction.5 A mysterious animal, the Borak, conveyed him from the temple of Mecca to that of Jerusalem; with his companion Gabriel, he successively ascended the seven heavens, and received and repaid the salutations of the patriarchs, the prophets, and the angels, in their respective mansions. Beyond the seventh heaven, Mahomet alone was permitted to proceed; he passed the veil of unity, approached within two bowshots 10 of the throne, and felt a cold that pierced him to the heart, when his shoulder was touched by the hand of God. After a familiar, though important conversation,12 he again descended 13 to Jerusalem, remounted the Borak, returned to Mecca, and performed in the tenth part of a night the journey of many thousand years. 14. (GIBBON, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.)

1 lui fit entendre des gémissements. 2 se plaignit à lui. I shall explain this farther on.

3 lui fit savoir (or, l'avertit; or, le prévint) qu'elle était. This English turn, my,' 'thy,' 'his,' 'its,' &c., followed by a present participle, is not French; see page 14, note 7.

4 et les êtres animés, aussi bien que les êtres inanimés, étaient, selon eux. 'Both,' followed by 'and,' is rendered, in French, the same as in Latin, by et repeated; but here, we should have the conjunction et three times, and we must, therefore, use another turn. Before nouns, we use tant. que. Ex. 'Both English and French,' tant Anglais que Français.

5 un événement réel, un acte corporel.

6 la Mecque. The definite article is put, exceptionally, before the names of some towns; as, le Havre, le Mans (in France), le

Caire (Cairo, in Egypt), &c.
7 rendit.

8 demeures. the patriarchs,' &c.; see page 20, note 11.

9 Il fut permis à Mahomet seul d'avancer (or, simply, d'aller) audelà, &c. As permettre, as well as some other verbs, when active, does not admit, in French, of a noun of person for its object (or accusative), it does not, for an obvious reason, admit of it either, when it is passive, for its subject (or nominative), and, therefore, we must use another turn. Ex. 'You are allowed,' &c., on vous permet, &c. ; or, il vous est permis, &c. (as, in Latin, tibi permitto, tibi permittitur).

19 s'approcha jusqu'à (or, s'avança à) deux portées d'arc.

11 jusqu'au cœur.

12 Remember the general rule relative to the place of adjectives. 13 redescendit.

14 plusieurs milliers d'années.

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COLUMBUS AT BARCELONA.

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THE letter of Columbus to the Spanish monarchs, announcing his discovery, had produced the greatest sensation at court.1 The event it communicated was considered 2 the most extraordinary of their prosperous reign. The sovereigns themselves were for a time dazzled and bewildered by this sudden and easy acquisition of a new empire, of indefinite extent and apparently boundless wealth; and their first idea was 5 to secure it beyond the reach of question or competition. Shortly after his arrival in Seville, Columbus received a letter from them, expressing their great delight, and requesting him to repair immediately to court, to concert plans for a second and more extensive expedition. As the summer was already advancing, the time favourable for a voyage,9 they desired him 10 to make any arrangements at Seville, or elsewhere, that might hasten11 the expedition, and to inform them by the return of the courier what was necessary to be done on their part.1 12 This letter was addressed to him

1 à la cour une très-grande sensation. When a verb has two objects (régimes) of equal length, or nearly so, the direct is placed before the indirect object; but when the two objects are not of the same length, as is the case here, the shorter comes first, unless there is ambiguity to be feared.

2 On considéra l'événement dont elle faisait part, comme. See page 8, note 6, and page 1, note 8.

3 et comme égarés.

dont l'étendue était indéfinie et dont la richesse paraissait sans bornes. See page 1, note 3. 5 See page 1, note 3.

6 de s'en garantir la possession de telle manière qu'ils n'eussent à craindre aucune contestation ni aucune rivalité.

7 reçut d'eux une lettre, où ils lui exprimaient. Always observe, as a rule, in French, the strictest connexion of ideas: thus, reçut une lettre d'eux, où, &c., would not be

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a good French construction.

pour se concerter sur (or, pour concerter) les plans d'une seconde expédition plus vaste que la précédente. 9 See above, note 7; was already advancing,' était déjà assez avancé.

10 ils le priaient. The verb prier is here put in the imperfect indicative, as well as exprimaient, just above, and not in the preterite definite (see page 1, note 3), as reference is made here more directly to the contents of the letter, as read by the recipient, than to the act of writing them on the part of the senders.

11 de faire.... tous les arrangements propres à hâter. See above, note 7.

12 de ce qu'il fallait qu'ils fissent de leur côté. Falloir governs the subjunctive; and fissent is in the imperfect of the subjunctive, as corresponding to the imperfect of the indicative fallait.

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