banks, to prevent the inundation of the cities, towns, &c. that are built on it, as well as the territories through which it passes. The streets of Ferrara are 30 feet below the bed of the river.

Turin, the capital of the kingdom of Sardinia, is situated on the left bank of the Po, and is a beautiful and well-built city. The streets are wide, clean, and straight, and two of them are among the finest in Europe. From the number of literary and scientific institutions that it possesses, it takes the first rank among the cities of Italy.

8. The TIBER has its source in the Apennines, near the eastern border of Tuscany, takes a south-western direction, and enters the Mediterranean by two mouths below the city of Rome. Its length is about 150 miles. W. M'L.

(To be continued.)

SPECIMENS OF PARSING AND PARAPHRASING.

No. XVIII.

THE following questions form section three of the paper on the "English Language," proposed at the recent general examination of Female Training Schools:

Write a clear and simple paraphrase of the following passage. the rules in Syntax for the concord or government of the words in italics :

He is the happy man, whose life e'en now

Shows somewhat of the happier life to come;
Who, doomed to an obscure but tranquil state,
Is pleased with it; and, were he free to choose,

Would make his fate his choice; whom peace, the fruit
Of virtue and whom virtue, fruit of faith,
Prepare for happiness, bespeak him one
Content indeed to sojourn while he must
Below the skies, but having there his home.
The world o'erlooks him in her busy search
Of objects more illustrious in her view;
And occupied as earnestly as she,

Though more sublimely, he o'erlooks the world.
She scorns his pleasures, for she knows them not;
He seeks not hers, for he has proved them vain.
He cannot skim the ground, like summer birds
Pursuing gilded flies, and such he deems
Her honours, her emoluments, her joys.
Therefore, in contemplation is his bliss,

Whose power is such that whom she lifts from earth

She makes familiar with a world unseen,

And shows him glories yet to be revealed.

PARAPHRASE.

The man that is truly happy is he whose life, even in this world, has some resemblance to the happier life beyond the grave; who regards without discontent, and even with positive satisfaction, the quiet though humble and obscure condition allotted to him here, and would, if he were allowed to choose, make that which is his destiny his

choice; who, possessing peace as the effect of virtue, and virtue as the fruit of faith, is by such peace and virtue being trained and qualified for happiness, and shown to be one who is content, indeed, with the ordination that makes earth his temporary abode, but who regards heaven as his only home. The world, while she is busily intent on discovering the objects that in her estimation are illustrious, overlooks this humble man; while he, no less earnestly, but far more nobly occupied, overlooks the world. She scorns his enjoyments, because she understands them not; and he seeks not her pleasures, for he has proved them to be unsubstantial. Feeling the importance of his eternal existence, he cannot like a summer bird skim the ground in pursuit of glittering insects, for to these short-lived things he likens the honours, the rewards, and the enjoyments of the world. Therefore, his soul, withdrawn from the things that are "seen and temporal," seeks its happiness in spiritual contemplation, whose power is such, that they, whose thoughts she elevates above the earth, are by her made to realize familiarly a world unseen, and even now to behold glories that are not yet revealed.

SYNTACTICAL PARSING.

Whose life. The possessive case of a noun or pronoun, is governed by the name of the thing owned or possessed. Rule 4.*—The relative here is masculine.

Shows somewhat. The direct object of a transitive verb is in the objective case. Rule 7.

(Which is) to come. The infinitive mode may be governed by a verb, an adjective, or a noun.

Rule 10.

Who is pleased. A personal verb agrees with its subject in number and person. Rule 2.

(If) he were. The conjunctions if, though, unless, provided, when expressive of uncertain supposition or contingency, are said to require a verb in the subjunctive mode. P. 128.

He free. An adjective relates to the noun or pronoun which it qualifies. Rule 3.

Prepare whom. The direct object of a transitive verb is in the objective case. Rule 7.

Peace, the fruit. When two nouns, or a noun and pronoun, occur in apposition, the one serving to identify or explain the other, they are in the same case. Rule 14.

Fruit of virtue. A preposition relates its antecedent to its object or consequent. Rule 5.

Of virtue. The object of a preposition is expressed in the objective case. Rule 6.

Peace and virtue prepare. A personal verb agrees with its subject in number and person. Rule 2.

Peace and virtue bespeak. Same Rule.

To sojourn while he must (sojourn). Conjunctions combine two or more words or sentences. Rule 9.

* The rules are quoted from Hunter's Text-Book of English Grammar.

† While is an adverbial conjunction, modifying both to sojourn and must sojourn.

Must (sojourn). The infinitive mode, omitting its sign, may form a compound verb with one of the auxiliaries-may, can, shall, will, must, and do. Rule 11.

He (being) occupied. An adjective relates to the noun or pronoun, which it qualifies. Rule 3.

Earnestly occupied. An adverb relates to the verb, adjective, or adverb, which it modifies. Rule 8.

As earnestly. Same Rule.

Occupied as she (is occupied). Conjunctions combine two or more words or sentences.

Rule 9.

Seeks hers. The direct object of a transitive verb is in the objective case. Rule 7.

Birds pursuing. An adjective relates to the noun or pronoun which it qualifies. Rule 3.

Honours such. Same Rule; or, if such is considered pronominal, apply the Rule of Apposition.

Deems joys. The direct object of a transitive verb is in the objective case. Rule 7.

Whose power. The possessive case of a noun or pronoun is governed by the name of the thing owned or possessed. Rule 4.-The relative here is feminine.

Lifts whom. The direct object of a transitive verb is in the objective case. Rule 7.-The correlative of whom is them understood. Them familiar. An adjective relates to the noun or pronoun which it qualifies. Rule 3.

GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE,

No. VIII.

(Continued from p. 278.)

It

THE tribe of Judah was exalted above every other by the circumstance that "our Lord sprang out of Judah," a distinction to which the father of the tribes perhaps referred, when he said, "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise." The word Judah itself signifies praise. This tribe had other features of national importance besides the honour of being ordained to send forth the great Captain of man's salvation. was the most numerous and powerful; it was regarded as the head of the nation, after the captivity had obliterated the distinction of two Jewish kingdoms, and political power was yet lingering in its possession when the birth of Messiah was near at hand, and these words of Jacob were about to be fulfilled-"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come."

The territory allotted to Judah was a large south-eastern portion of Palestine, partly bounded on the east by the whole western shore of the Dead Sea. A considerable extent of it is called in the New Testament the hill country of Judea-the name Judea being applicable to the territories of Dan, Simeon, and Benjamin, included with that of Judah.

The principal towns of this tribe were Kadesh-barnea, Maon, Engedi, Hebron, Tekoa, and Bethlehem.

Kadesh was at the south-eastern extremity of Palestine, bordering on Edom. Here the Israelites encamped, with the intention of entering the Promised Land, should the spies who had been sent forth return with a favourable report of the land. Their account, however, excited unwarrantable murmurings among the people, and the Almighty "swore in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest." Nearly forty years afterwards, when the generation that had come out of Egypt was almost utterly cut off, the Hebrews returned to Kadesh, and attempted to enter into the possession of their inheritance; but the king of Edom would not allow them a passage through his dominions, and they were compelled to take a more circuitous route.

Near the centre of Judah's territory was Maon, which gave name to a neighbouring wilderness, where David resided for some time when afraid of the enmity of Saul. At a place called Carmel, near Maon, were the possessions of Nabal, whose churlishness towards David excited the indignation of the latter, and whose life, thereby endangered, was spared at the intercession of Abigail.

Nearly eastward from Maon, among the wild hills skirting the west of the Dead Sea, was Engedi, which also gave name to a part of the desert where David sought refuge from the hand of his great persecutor, and where, by cutting off the skirt of Saul's robe, he demonstrated the opportunity he might have taken of avenging himself, and the magnanimity which sought to "overcome evil with good."

The most important town in Judah, and now one of the most ancient in existence, was Hebron, about twenty miles south of Jerusalem, called also Kirjath-arba, that is, the city of Arba, the father of Anak, from whom the famous Anakim were descended. It also bore the name of Mamre, the Amorite who was confederate with Abraham. It was to the plain of Mamre that Abraham came to dwell, when he parted with Lot; and here, too, the patriarchs Isaac and Jacob frequently sojourned. When the land of Canaan was visited with that famine from which so many circumstances of peculiarity and importance in the fortunes of Israel originated, it was at Hebron that Jacob, "the Syrian ready to perish," awaited the return of his children, and the supply of food from Egypt; it was from Hebron that the patriarchal family removed to their settlement in Goshen; and Jacob, when he beheld death's shadow descending upon him in the land of Egypt, had his faith directed towards Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac with their wives were buried; and his desire was that his mortal remains should be gathered to his fathers "in the cave of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan." Hebron afterwards became a Levitical city, and one of the cities of refuge. It was the capital of the kingdom of Judah in the earlier part of the reign of David, who, when he was made king over all Israel, transferred the seat of royalty from Hebron to Jerusalem. It was as a pontifical town that Hebron became the residence of Zacharias and Elizabeth, both of Aaronic descent; and in this part of the hill country of Judea they reared that wondrous child who was sent to bear witness of the baptismal consecration and the sin-absolving mission of the Son of God.

Hebron is still adorned with nature's beauty; the vine and the olive are there luxuriant, and sheep and oxen find abundance of rich pas

ture.

But the faith of the Moslem has the unrighteous guardianship of the tombs of the Jewish patriarchs, a small and mean portion of the town being allowed as a residence for Jewish families who have resorted thither, that at their death they may be interred near the sepulchres of their illustrious ancestors. There are no Christians resident in the town, and it is a matter of great difficulty for Christian travellers to obtain access to its scenes of hallowed memory.

On the road from Hebron to Jerusalem is the now desolate site of Tekoa, where Amos the prophet was born. It is chiefly remembered as the residence of the wise woman who interceded with David for the restoration of his son Absalom.

About six miles to the north of Tekoa, and the same distance south of Jerusalem, is Bethlehem. To distinguish it from a place of the same name in Zebulon, it was called Bethlehem-Judah, or BethlehemEphratah, the latter name signifying fruitful. This was the birthplace of David, and in the plains around it he kept his father's flocks. It was amidst the same pastures that those shepherds were occupied, to whom the angel of the Lord announced that mysterious nativity which fulfilled the prediction, "Thou Bethlehem-Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel." The predominating population in this town is Christian; and a considerable trade is carried on by the inhabitants in the beads and crosses which are here manufactured. There is a building attributed to the Empress Helena, called the Church of the Nativity, connected with a convent at the extremity of the town; but there is strong reason for refusing to regard the cave called the grotto of the nativity as the precise place of the Saviour's birth, although we can imagine with what interest St. Jerome, who lived a long while in the convent here, committed to writing the thoughts which occurred to his mind in a situation so hallowed by its proximity at least to the birth-place of man's Redeemer. Tradition professes to identify also the valley in which the shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night, and the fountain from which the three men, at the hazard of their lives, brought water to David. There is perhaps no error in the representations by which the voice of modern time declares the ancient sanctity of that valley and its refreshing stream. But every Christian who visits Bethlehem must be prompted to think with livelier gratitude of the spiritual fountain there "opened for sin and for uncleanness," and to feel with increased force the propriety of our emulating the shepherds, "not only with our lips but in our lives," in rendering "glory to God in the highest," for the peace bestowed on earth, and the good-will shown towards men.

J. H.

PRACTICAL HINTS FOR THE SCHOOLROOM.

BOTANY AND THE VEGETABLE WORLD.

I. The Use and Application of Botany as a Principle of Education. IT must seem passing strange to the student of nature that, in the many and various systems of education now in vogue, which embrace