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ICELAND AND ITS INHABITANTS.

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Often, where

green valleys a desolate wilderness of ice. the declivities are more abrupt, the snow suddenly loses its equilibrium, and rolls down with immense fury and a loud noise, which heard in the still night resembles distant thunder. The internal fires that still glow in the bosom of many of these jökuls frequently hasten this catastrophe by destroying the slight hold the ice has on the mountain, and, converting the under-stratum into water, float it all down into the valleys. It seems to have been in this way that the Breidamark Jökul, now twenty miles long by fifteen broad and 400 feet high, was formed. It fills a wide plain surrounded by high hills, and which, to the eleventh century, or even later, was a beautiful vale adorned with grass fields, woods, and farms.

The inhospitable climate influences every thing connected with the moral and physical life of the natives. The changes of the seasons alone bring variety to the Icelander, and nowhere is this change more sudden or complete. Summer and winter for spring and autumn are unknown-have each their appropriate occupations as diverse as the periods of the year. In winter they generally rise about six or seven in the morning, when the employments of the day begin, the family and servants equally engaging in the preparation of food and clothing. Some of the men look after the cattle, feeding those which are kept in the house; others spin ropes of wool or horse-hair, or are employed in the smithy making horse-shoes and other articles; whilst the boys remove the snow from the pastures for the sheep, which are turned out during the day to shift for themselves. The females make ready the several meals, ply the spindle and distaff, knit stockings and mittens, and occasionally embroider bedcovers and cushions.

When evening comes on, the whole family are collected into one room, which is at once bedchamber and parlour, and the lamp being lighted, they take their seats with their work in their hands. Men and women are now similarly engaged in knitting or weaving, or in preparing hides for shoes or fishing-dresses. While they are thus occupied, one of their number selected for the evening places himself near the lamp, and reads aloud, generally in a singing monotonous voice, some old saga or history. As the reading proceeds, the master of the house or some of the more intelligent of the circle pass remarks on the more striking incidents of the story, or try the ingenuity of the children by questions.

Printed books being scarce, there are many itinerating historians who gain a livelihood by wandering, like the bards of old, from house to house, and reciting their traditionary lore. For the same reason, the custom of lending books is very prevalent; the exchanges being usually made at church, where, even in the most inclement season, a few always contrive to be present. The most interesting works thus obtained are not unfrequently copied by those into whose hands they fall, most of the Icelanders writing in a correct and beautiful manner.

The most remarkable circumstance in the early history of Iceland is its literary pre-eminence from the 10th to the 14th century. It is a curious fact that the inhabitants of so barren and cheerless a spot should give their attention to letters, and should bequeath to the world such a long series of works, of so high a degree of excellence as might almost lead us to regard the early Icelanders, collectively, as a learned community.

1. What appearance does the interior of Iceland present?

2. What frequently occurs when an Icelander, who has long been absent, returns to his home?

3. How is the scarcity of printed books in a manner supplied?

4. What is the most remarkable circumstance in the early history of Iceland?

LESSON CXVII.

APRIL THE TWENTY-SEVENTH.
Sir William Jones.

On this day, in 1794, died Sir William Jones. It may convey some idea of the facility of his talents, and the exquisiteness of his memory, when it is recorded that he understood no fewer than twenty-eight languages, eight of which had been acquired with critical correctness. In respect to his literary achievements, also, they were so numerous as to exhibit an Herculean task, never before attained in an equal number of years.

His celebrity, indeed, is astonishing, and, in point of character, he is one of the fairest of the age in which he lived, both as to integrity and patriotism; while in respect to genius, general literature, and deep research, he is second to none in the annals of his country. Pious, regular, punctual in the discharge of all his duties; he was a perfect model in private life. Patient, indefatigable, uncor

ON THE NATURE AND USES OF GOLD.

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rupt, and at the same time gifted with a wonderful degree of precision and equanimity; he exhibited the perfect pattern of an upright judge. Critically acquainted with the architecture of the English constitution, he admired that noble fabric, in its ancient primeval Saxon simplicity, and lamented that its noble Gothic arch had been disfigured and undermined by the modern torrent of corruption. So pure was he in regard to his principles, that he obtained the appellation of the "English Cato;" so universal in respect to attainments, that he bore a near resemblance to the "admirable Crichton;" while a learned Dutch professor termed him "the Phoenix of his day, and the ornament of the age."

It is greatly to be lamented that Sir William Jones did not succeed in his wish to represent his alma mater, Oxford, in parliament, as it would have detained him in England, and might have preserved, for many additional years, a life so dear and precious to his country. This was the object of his highest ambition, and one for which, as he himself was accustomed to say, he would gladly have sacrificed "not only an Indian judgeship of six thousand a year, but a nabobship with as many millions." To conclude, he literally sacrificed his life to a nice sense of duty

the completion of a code of laws for our Hindoo and Mahommedan subjects in India—and was worthy to live either in the times of Harmodius and Aristogiton, to whose triumph he attuned his lyre, or of Hampden and Sidney, whose lives and whose death alike constituted the theme of his eulogium.

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1. How many languages is Sir W. Jones said to have understood? 2. What was said of Sir William by a learned Dutch professor ? 3. What was the object of his highest ambition?

4. To what did he literally sacrifice his life?

LESSON CXVIII.—APRIL THE TWENTY-EIGHTH.

On the Nature and Uses of Gold.

GOLD is the heaviest of all the metals except platina, and is of a light yellow colour, inclining to red. It is not very elastic, nor very hard, possessing a hardness between silver and tin; but where the metal would be liable to wear, it is rendered much harder by the addition of a small portion of copper. It has neither taste nor smell; it possesses less tenacity than iron, copper, platina, or silver: very

few, however, of the metals have more lustre, and it is so malleable and ductile that it may be drawn into wire of extreme fineness, and beaten out into leaves thin enough to be carried away by the slightest wind.

It melts at 1300 degrees of Fahrenheit, and when melted takes a bright green colour inclining to blue; but it is so fixed that it may be kept in this state of fusion for any length of time without suffering any diminution either in its weight or its qualities. When allowed to cool, it contracts in bulk and crystalizes in short quadrilateral pyramids. It is, however, capable of combustion; for although neither air, water, nor fire seem to have any effect upon it, it may be burnt by the action of a galvanic battery, or by exposing it in the state of wire to a stream of inflamed oxygen and hydrogen gases, whereby it becomes converted to an oxide.

Gold will form alloys with most of the metals. That with copper is the most useful, as it renders the gold harder, and when in small quantity does not impair its colour. For current coin the metal is alloyed with a mixture of gold and silver. Sterling gold is a compound of eleven parts pure gold and one part of some other metal. An alloy of silver and gold is employed in soldering the articles made with gold, as such an alloy is more fusible than the pure metal,

Gold is found native in Peru, Brazil, Siberia, North Carolina, Hungary, and in several other parts of the world. It generally occurs in a metallic state, alloyed with a little silver or copper, and commonly in the form of grains. Most of the gold of commerce is at present brought to Europe from Africa, and from the continent of America. Gold also frequently occurs in the ores of other metals, but it is chiefly found in the warmer regions of the earth. It abounds in the sands of many African rivers, in South America, and in India. Several of the rivers in France contain gold in their sands: and it has also been discovered in Sweden, Norway, and Ireland.

Near Pamplona, in South America, single labourers have collected upwards of 200l. worth of wash-gold in a day. In the province of Sonora the Spaniards discovered a plain fourteen leagues in extent, in which they found wash-gold at the depth of only sixteen inches; the grains were of such a size that some of them weighed seventytwo ounces, and in such quantities, that in a short time, with a few labourers, they collected 1000 marks (equal in value to 31,2197. 10s. sterling), even without taking time

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to wash the earth that had been dug. They found one grain which weighed 132 ounces. This is deposited in the royal cabinet of Madrid, and is worth 5007.

Gold is used for jewellery, for plate, and for current coin; but for these purposes it is generally alloyed either with copper or silver. It is employed in various ways in the arts. In a state of solution, which is effected with nitro-muriatic acid, it is used for staining ivory and ornamental feathers. It gives a beautiful purple red, which cannot be effaced; even marble may be stained with it. Gold is also spread over other metals in the process called gilding, to preserve them from tarnishing or rusting, as gold does not become oxidized by exposure to atmospheric

air.

But gold was employed by the monarchs of antiquity in much greater quantity than any of the modern nations have been accustomed to. From the tenth chaper of the First Book of Kings it appears that Solomon received twenty-seven tons weight of gold in one year; and in the same chapter it is said, "And all King Solomon's drinkingvessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver; it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon." In short, the lavish employment of gold and silver by the nations of antiquity is recorded by all the early historians.

1. What metal is heavier than gold?

2. What is said of its malleability and ductility?

3. At how many degrees of heat does it melt ?

4. Where is gold found native ?

5. Is gold ever found in the ore of other metals?

6. For what is gold chiefly used?

LESSON CXIX.-APRIL THE TWENTY-NINTH.

The Fine Arts.

THE fine arts are the study and delight of all polished nations. They disarm the spirit of man of its natural ferocity, and they elevate the mind while they soften the heart. Ignorance is but another name for barbarity, and the want of knowledge sharpens the appetite of violence. The chief object of science is the discovery of truth, and of art the development of beauty. In the former we trust to reason, and in the latter to imagination. Science clears the obstructions which impede the progress of art, and art adorns and smooths the paths of science.

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