way into the rock at all. On the flat of the green just below this hollow place, I resolved to pitch my tent. This plain was not above a hun dred yards broad, and about twice as long, and lay like a green before my door; and at the end of it, descended irregularly every way down into the low ground by the sea-side. It was on the N. W. W. side of the hill, so that it was sheltered from the heat every day, till it came to a W. and by S. sun, or thereabouts, which in those countries is near the setting.—Defoe: Robinson Crusoe.

Class discussion.

1. Note that in the above selection Robinson Crusoe had first an ideal in his mind of what the situation of his camp should be, and that the rest of the paragraph carries out his ideal. 2. What were the four necessary qualifications of the situation? 3. What reason was there for each, one? 4. How was each requirement met? Note how intimate the author seems to be with the reader. In what way does he gain this air of intimacy? Subjects for written composition.

Choose one of the following, or a subject suggested by them. In your theme give the necessary requirements and show how the requirements were met.

(1) Where I pitched my tent, (2) established my camp, (3) chose my fishing excursion, (4) my summer home, (5) built my snow-fort, (6) planned my summer wardrobe, (7) held my picnic, (8) built my out-door sleeping room.

Subjects for oral composition.

2. Tell the story

1. Read the following poem aloud. in your own words. 3. Relate some other daring deed that you have read in poetry or in history.

INCIDENT OF THE FRENCH CAMP.

You know, we French stormed Ratisbon:

A mile or so away,

On a little mound, Napoleon

Stood on our storming-day;

With neck out-thrust, you fancy how,
Legs wide, arms locked behind,
As if to balance the prone brow
Oppressive with its mind.

Just as perhaps he mused, "My plans
That soar, to earth may fall,
Let once my army-leader Lannes
Waver at yonder wall,".

Out 'twixt the battery-smokes there flew
A rider, bound on bound
Full-galloping; nor bridle drew

Until he reached the mound.

Then off there flung in smiling joy,
And held himself erect

By just his horse's mane, a boy:

You hardly could suspect

(So tight he kept his lips compressed,

Scarce any blood came through)

You looked twice ere you saw his breast

Was all but shot in two.

"Well," cried he, "Emperor, by God's grace,

We've got you Ratisbon!

The Marshal's in the market-place,

And you'll be there anon

To see your flap-bird flap his vans

Where I, to heart's desire,

Perched him!" The chief's eye flashed; his plans

Soared up again like fire.

The chief's eye flashed; but presently

Softened itself, as sheathes

A film the mother-eagle's eye

When her bruised eaglet breathes;

"You're wounded!" "Nay," the soldier's pride

Touched to the quick, he said:

"I'm killed, Sire!" And his chief beside,

Smiling the boy fell dead.

-Browning.

LESSON XIV

I. More Review Exercises in the Expression of Ideas.

Exercise 1. In the following extract find words by which Hawthorne struggles to express the idea contained in his first sentence:

No language can give an idea of the beauty and glory of the trees, just at this moment. It would be easy, by a process of worddaubing, to set down a confused group of gorgeous colors, like a bunch of tangled skeins of bright silk; but there is nothing of the reality in the glare which would thus be produced. And yet the splendor both of individual clusters and of whole scenes is unsurpassable. The oaks are now far advanced in their change of hue; and, in certain positions relatively to the sun, they light up and gleam with a most magnificent deep gold, varying according as portions of the foliage are in shadow or sunlight. On the sides which receive the direct rays, the effect is altogether rich; and in other points of view it is equally beautiful if less brilliant. This color of the oak is more superb than the lighter yellow of the maples and walnuts. The whole landscape is now covered with this indescribable pomp; it is discerned on the uplands afar off; and Blue Hill in Milton, at the distance of several miles, actually glistens with rich, dark light, no, not glistens, nor gleams, but perhaps to say, glows subduedly will be a truer expression for it.-Hawthorne: American Note Books.

Exercise 2. In the following extract, the author is trying to show a contrast. He does not describe the streams of southeastern England, and yet we can discover from his description of the Scottish streams, how they differ. What words especially show this difference?

But perhaps the feature in these Scottish lowlands which more particularly deserves notice here is the contrast to be found between their streams and those of southeastern England. Owing to the uneven form and steeper slope of the ground, the drainage runs off rapidly to the sea. The brooks are full of motion, as they tumble over waterfalls, plunge through rocky ravines, and sweep round the boulders that cumber their channels. They furnish, moreover, countless dells and dingles where the native copsewoods find their surest shelter. There the gorse and the sloe come earliest into bloom, and the wild flowers linger longest. There, too, the birds make their chief home. These strips of wild nature, winding through cultivated field or bare moor, from the hills to the sea, offer in summer scenes of perfect repose. But they furnish, too, from time to time, pictures of tumult and uproar, when rain-clouds have burst upon the uplands, and the streams come down in heavy flood, pouring through the glens with a din that can be heard from afar. -Sir Archibald Geikie: Types of Scenery.

Exercise 3.1 What effect is produced by the choice of words in the following extracts?

1.

The one common note of all this country is the haunting presence of the ocean. A great, faint sound of breakers follows you high up into the inland canons; the roar of water dwells in the clean, empty rooms of Monterey as in a shell upon the chimney; go where you will you have but to pause and listen to hear the voice of the Pacific. You pass out of the town to the southwest, and mount the hill among pine woods. Glade, thicket, and grove surround you. You follow winding, sandy tracks that lead nowhither. You see a deer; a multitude of quail arises. But the sound of the sea still follows you, as you advance, like that of wind among the trees, only harsher and stranger to the ear; and when at length you gain the summit, out breaks on every hand and with freshened vigor, that same unending, distant, whispering rumble of the ocean; for now you are

1Any one or more of Exercises 1-5 may be omitted or taken up at some other time at the discretion of the teacher.