the infidels, atones by his death for all the sins of his life, and passes at once to the garden of the Houris. It was at this time that Rajah Sahib determined to assault Arcot. Stimulating drugs were employed to aid the effect of religious zeal, and the besiegers, drunk with enthusiasm, drunk with bang, rushed furiously to the attack.

Clive had received secret intelligence of the design, had made his arrangements, and, exhausted by fatigue, had thrown himself on his bed. He was awakened by the alarm, and was instantly at his post. The enemy advanced, driving before them elephants whose foreheads were armed with iron plates. It was expected that the gates would yield to the shock of these living battering-rams. But the huge beasts no sooner felt the English musket-balls than they turned round, and rushed furiously away, trampling on the multitude which had urged them forward. A raft was launched on the water which filled one part of the ditch. Clive, perceiving that his gunners at that post did not understand their business, took the management of a piece of artillery himself, and cleared the raft in a few minutes. Where the moat was dry, the assailants mounted with great boldness; but they were received with a fire so heavy and so well-directed, that it soon quelled the courage even of fanaticism and of intoxication. The rear ranks of the English kept the front ranks supplied with a constant succession of loaded muskets, and every shot told on the living mass below. After three desperate onsets, the besiegers retired behind the ditch.

Four hundred of the

The struggle lasted about an hour. assailants fell. The garrison lost only five or six men. The besieged passed an anxious night, looking for a renewal of the attack. But when day broke, the enemy were no more to They had retired, leaving to the English several guns

be seen.

and a large quantity of ammunition.

TO THE TEACHER. - This selection has been used chiefly to illustrate paragraphing; but it also affords excellent material for additional exercises in sentence structure. The perspicuity and incisiveness of Macaulay's style will be felt by every pupil.

SECTION 249.

THE DEFINITION OF A GENTLEMAN.1

BY NEWMAN.

Hence it is that it is almost a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never inflicts pain. This description is both refined and, as far as it goes, accurate. He is mainly occupied in merely removing the obstacles which hinder the free and unembarrassed action of those about him; and he concurs with their movements rather than takes the initiative himself. His benefits may be considered as parallel to what are called comforts or conveniences in arrangements of a personal nature: like an easy chair or a good fire, which do their part in dispelling cold and fatigue, though nature provides both means of rest and animal heat without them. The true gentleman in like manner carefully avoids whatever may cause a jar or a jolt in the minds of those with whom he is cast, - all clashing of opinion, or collision of feeling, all restraint, or suspicion, or gloom, or resentment; his great concern being to make every one at his ease and at home. He has his eyes on all his company; he is tender towards the bashful, gentle towards the distant, and merciful towards the absurd; he can recollect to whom he is speaking; he guards against unseasonable allusions, or topics which may irritate; he is seldom prominent in conversation, and never wearisome. He makes light of favors while he does them, and seems to be receiving when he is conferring. He never speaks of himself except when compelled, never defends himself by a mere retort; he has no ears for slander or gossip, is scrupulous in imputing motives to those who interfere with him, and interprets everything for the best. He is never mean or little in his disputes, never takes unfair advantage, never mistakes personalities or sharp sayings for arguments, or insinuates evil which he dare not

1 From "The Idea of a University."

say out.

From a long-sighted prudence, he observes the maxim of the ancient sage, that we should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend. He has too much good sense to be affronted at insults, he is too well employed to remember injuries, and too indolent to bear malice. He is patient, forbearing, and resigned, on philosophical principles; he submits to pain, because it is inevitable, to bereavement, because it is irreparable, and to death, because it is his destiny.

If he engages in controversy of any kind, his disciplined intellect preserves him from the blundering discourtesy of better, perhaps, but less educated minds; who, like blunt weapons, tear and hack instead of cutting clean, who mistake the point in argument, waste their strength on trifles, misconceive their adversary, and leave the question more involved than they find it. He may be right or wrong in his opinion, but he is too clear-headed to be unjust; he is as simple as he is forcible, and as brief as he is decisive. Nowhere shall we find greater candor, consideration, indulgence: he throws himself into the minds of his opponents, he accounts for their mistakes. He knows the weakness of human reason as well as its strength, its province and its limits.

If he be an unbeliever, he will be too profound and largeminded to ridicule religion or to act against it; he is too wise to be a dogmatist or fanatic in his infidelity. He respects piety and devotion; he even supports institutions as venerable, beautiful, or useful, to which he does not assent; he honors the ministers of religion, and it contents him to decline its mysteries without assailing or denouncing them. He is a friend of religious toleration, and that, not only because his philosophy has taught him to look on all forms of faith with an impartial eye, but also from the gentleness and effeminacy of feeling, which is the attendant on civilization.

SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES.

SUBJECTS FOR COMPOSITIONS.

(1) A Page in a Diary. (2) A Day at the Lake. (3) A HalfHoliday in May. (4) My First Impressions of the High School. (5) The Character of Sir Galahad. (6) A Country Road in Spring. (7) Longfellow's "Evangeline." (8) The Playthings of a Four-year-old. (9) How we Made our Camp. (10) How to Catch Trout. (11) The Oldest House in our Town. (12) The Destruction of St. Pierre. (13) A Bit of Human Nature. (14) Theatres in Shakspere's Time. (15) "Snow-Bound." (16) Tom Tulliver. (17) Uriah Heep. (18) The Book I Like Best. (19) A Visit to the Farm. (20) How Sugar is Made. (21) Life on a Ranch. (22) A Winter Evening. (23) Kate's Contribution to the Housekeeping. (24) How Robert Paid the Mortgage. (25) How a Boy may Earn his Living. (26) Three Good Reasons for Studying Grammar. (27) From the Oak Tree to the Library Table. (28) The Trees of our Village. (29) The Trees in the Hill Pasture. (30) Learning to Sail a Boat. (31) What the Fisherman Told me. (32) The Long Summer Vacation. (33) Why I Wish to go to College. (34) Hawthorne's Descrip

tions of Nature. (35) The Story of a Child. (36) An American Hero. (37) The Life of an Engineer. (38) The Work which is Worth Doing. (39) How Rapid Transit Affects City Life. (40) The Advantages of Travel.

The following subjects are to be assigned in advance. The pupils should prepare for the exercise by reading, observation, or study. The writing should be done in the class and should occupy

not more than five minutes. All the pupils should write upon the same subject, and the compositions should be exchanged and criticised during the same recitation period.

The composition may consist of one paragraph or of several, according to the plan of the writer.

1. What is your opinion of Maggie Tulliver?

2. Should students give any time to light reading?
3. Do you like the poems of Robert Burns, and why?
4. Which attracts you more, country life or city life?
5. Give reasons for your choice of subjects in school.

6. What kind of occupation seems most attractive to you? Give your reasons.

7. Which is of greater importance to the commonwealth, farming or manufacturing?

8. Which seems to you the higher occupation, trade or teaching? 9. What in your opinion are the essentials of good manners? 10. Give reasons for maintaining quiet demeanor and a dignified manner in public.

11. Explain one of the common campaign phrases of the day. 12. Give at least five reasons for taking regular and varied out-of-door exercise.

13. What are your chief duties to your neighbor?

14. What do you understand by a prig? a fop? an exquisite ? an epicure?

The following subjects involve narration or description, or both. They are intended to be suggestive merely.

(1) My Stroll on the Beach. (2) My First Hour in a Sailboat. (3) Our Valley at Sunset. (4) Looking Down from the Mountain. (5) The Harbor in a Fog. (6) Lost on the Prairie. (7) In Pursuit of Three Buttons and a Spool of Silk. (8) The Good Comrade in School. (9) How I Learned to Skate. (10) A Winter Morning after the Rain. (11) The Longest Way Round is the Shortest Way Home. (12) How I Wrote my First Composition. (13) How Jack Earned his Class Pin. (14) How I took Care of my Garden. (15) The Daily Mail at Smithville.