2 Ci'vis Romanus sum-I am a Roman citizen. 1 Lord Palmerston.-Henry Temple, | fleet, was ordered to blockade the Piræus, Viscount Palmerston, one of the most suc- the port of Athens-a step which led to cessful foreign ministers of England. He the debate in Parliament. was a member of nearly every Liberal Government from 1809 till his death in 1865. His firm and decided policy made the name of England be respected all over the world. Mr. Gladstone contends in this speech that the tendency of Lord Palmerston's policy was to make England be regarded with fear rather than with affection. The occasion of the speech was a rupture with Greece in 1850. Some British subjects in Athens having suffered loss by the violence of a mob, compensation was demanded. When this was refused, Admiral Parker, with the Mediterranean | the Homeric Age. 3 William Ewart Gladstone, the present (1873) Prime Minister of England; an office which he has held since 1868. He entered public life as a follower of Sir Robert Peel, under whom he took office in 1834. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1852 till 1855, and again from 1859 till 1866. The fiscal reforms accomplished during these years raised him to the first rank as a finance minister. Mr. Gladstone is also an author: chief work, Homer and PLEASURES OF KNOWLEDGE. "Not to know at large of things remote From use, obscure and subtle, but to know That which before us lies in daily life, Is the prime wisdom."-MILTON. IT is NOBLE to seek Truth, and it is BEAUTIFUL to find it. It is the ancient feeling of the human heart, that knowledge is better than riches; and it is deeply and sacredly true. To mark1 the course of human passions as they have flowed on in the ages that are past; to see why nations have risen, and why they have fallen; to speak of heat, and light, and the winds; to know what man has discovered in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; to hear the chemist unfold the 'marvellous properties that the Creator has locked up in a speck of earth; to be told that there are worlds so distant from our own, that the quickness of light, travelling since the world's creation, has never yet reached us ;—it is worth while in the days of our youth to strive hard for this great discipline. To wander in the creations of poetry, and grow warm again with that 'eloquence which swayed the 'democracies of the Old World;2 to go up with great reasoners to the First Cause of all, and to perceive, in the midst of all this 'dissolution and decay and cruel separation, that there is one thing unchangeable, indestructible, and everlasting;-it is surely worth while to pass sleepless nights for this; to give up for it laborious days ;3 to spurn for it present pleasures; to endure for it afflicting poverty; to wade for it through darkness, and sorrow, and 'contempt, as the great spirits of the world have done in all ages and in all times. I appeal to the 'experience of every man who is in the habit of exercising his mind vigorously and well, whether there is not a satisfaction in it, which tells him he has been acting up to one of the great objects of his existence? The end of nature has been answered: his faculties have done that which they were created to do-not languidly occupied upon trifles, not 'enervated by sensual gratification, but exercised in that toil which is so congenial to their nature, and so worthy of their strength. A life of knowledge is not often a life of injury and crime. Whom does such a man oppress? with whose happiness does he interfere? whom does his ambition destroy? and whom does his fraud deceive? In the pursuit of science he injures no man, and in the acquisition he does good to all. A man who dedicates his life to knowledge, becomes ⚫habituated to pleasure which carries with it no reproach: and there is one security that he will never love that pleasure which is paid for by anguish of heart-his pleasures are all cheap, all 'dignified, and all innocent; and, as far as any human being can expect 'permanence in this changing scene, he has secured a happiness which no malignity of fortune can ever take away, but which must cleave to him while he lives, ameliorating every good, and diminishing every evil of his existence...... I solemnly declare, that, but for the love of knowledge, I should consider the life of the meanest hedger and ditcher as preferable to that of the greatest and richest man in existence; for the fire of our minds is like the fire which the Persians burn on the mountains-it flames night and day, and is immortal, and not to be quenched! Upon something it must act and feed-upon the pure spirit of knowledge, or upon the foul dregs of polluting passions. Therefore, when I say, in conducting your understanding, love knowledge with a great love, with a 'vehement love, with a love coeval with life, what do I say but love innocence; love virtue; love purity of conduct; love that which, if you are rich and great, will sanctify the providence which has made you so, and make men call it justice; love that which, if you are poor, will render your poverty respectable, and make the proudest feel it unjust to laugh at the meanness of your fortunes; love that which will comfort you, adorn you, and never quit you-which will open to you the kingdom of thought, and all the boundless regions of conception, as an asylum against the cruelty, the injustice, and the pain that may be your lot in the outer world— that which will make your motives habitually great and honourable, and light up in an instant a thousand noble disdains at the very thought of meanness and of fraud? Therefore, if any young man have embarked his life in the pursuit of Knowledge, let him go on without doubting or fearing the event: let him not be intimidated by the cheerless beginnings of Knowledge, by the darkness from which she springs, by the difficulties which hover around her, by the wretched habitations in which she dwells, by the want and sorrow which sometimes journey in her train; but let him ever follow her as the Angel that guards him, and as the Genius of his life. She will bring him out at last into the light of day, and exhibit him to the world comprehensive in acquirements, fertile in resources, rich in imagination, strong in reasoning, prudent and powerful above his fellows in all the relations and in all the offices of life. To mark, &c.-The different sciences and arts referred to in the successive clauses of the sentence are-history, physics, meteorology and geology, chemistry, astronomy, poetry, oratory, and theology. 2 The democracies of the Old World. -Such were Athens and Sparta in ancient Greece, and such were Rome and Carthage in their palmiest days. The "eloquence" referred to is that of Demosthenes, the Athenian, and of Cicero, the Roman, orator. Laborious days.-This effect of the love of knowledge has evidently been suggested by what Milton says of the love of fame: SYDNEY SMITH. (6) habit'uated, accus'tomed., indestructible, everlast ing. intim'idated, fright'ened. lañ'guidly, fee'bly. inar vellous, won'derful. per'manence, durability. quenched, extinguished. ve'hement, powerful. "Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise (That last infirmity of noble mind) To scorn delights, and live laborious days." Lycidas, 70-72. "The fire which the Persians burn.The dominant religion in Persia was fireworship, or Parseeism, down to the seventh century, when the country was conquered by the Arabs, and Mohammedanism took its place. Many of the Parsees then fled to India, and their descendants have still their head-quarters at Bombay. Many, at the same time, submitted to the conquerors, and their descendants are called Guebres (Gwebers). THE BRITISH CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF CANADA. I TAKE the British constitutional system as the great 'original system upon which are founded the institutions of all free States. I take it as one of a family born of Christian civilization. I take it as 'combining in itself permanence and liberty; liberty in its best form-not in theory alone, but in practice; liberty which is enjoyed in fact by all the people of Canada, of every origin and of every creed. Can any one pretend to say that a chapter of accidents which we can trace for eight hundred years, and which some 'antiquaries may even trace for a much longer period, will account for the permanence of these institutions? If you say that they have not in themselves the elements of permanence which preserve the foundations of a free State from one generation to another-how do you account for their continued and prosperous existence? How do you account for it, that of all the ancient constitutions of Europe this alone remains; and remains not only with all its ancient outlines, but with great modern improvements,-improvements, however, made in harmony with the design of its first architects? Here is a form of government that has lasted, with modifications to suit the spirit of successive ages, for a period of eight hundred years. How is it that I account for the permanence of its institutions? By asserting that, in their outline plan, they combine all the good of material 'importance that has ever been discovered. The wisdom of the middle ages, and the political writers of the present time, have all laid down one maxim of government,That no unmixed form of government can satisfy the wants of a free and intelligent people; that an unmixed 'democracy, for instance, must result in anarchy or military despotism: but that the form of government which combines in itself an inviolable monarchy, popular representation, and the incitements of an 'aristocracy—a working aristocracy-an aristocracy that takes its share of toil and danger in the day of battle, of care and anxiety in the time of peace-an aristocracy of talent open to any of the people who make themselves worthy to enter it—that three-fold combination in the system of government is the highest conception of political science. Let us see if the British form, apart from any details of its practice, combines in itself these three qualities. The leading principle of the British system is, that the head of the State is 'inviolable. It is necessary to the stability of any State that there should be an inviolable authority or 'tribunal; and under the British system this is recognized in the maxim that "the King can do no wrong." Having placed the principle of inviolability in the Crown, and the principle of 'privilege in the Peerage, the founders of the State took care at the same time that the peerage should not stagnate into a small and exclusive caste. They left the House of Lords open to any of the People who might distinguish themselves in war or in peace, although they might be the children of paupers (and some have been ⚫ennobled who were unable to tell who their parents were), to enter in and take their place on an equality with the proudest there, who trace back their descent for centuries. It was for the people of Canada, with the precedent of England and the example of the American republic before them, to decide which should be the 'prevailing character of their government,—British constitutional, or republican constitutional. For my part, I prefer the British constitutional government, because it is the best; and I reject the republican constitutional government, because it is not the best. We are now witnessing a great epoch in the world's history; and the events daily 'transpiring around us should teach us not to rely too much upon our present position of secure independence, but rather to apprehend and be prepared for attempts against our liberties, and against that system of government which, I am convinced, is heartily cherished by the inhabitants of this province. anarchy, confu'sion. antiquaries, students of antiquity, apprehend', antiç'ipate. architects, design'ers. aristocracy, government by nobles. combin'ing, unit'ing. conception, ideal. democracy, government by peerage. incite'ments, attrac'tions. HON. T. D. M'GEE. inviolable, sa'cred. original, primary. permanence, durability. prevail'ing, predom'inant. privilege, immunity. prosperous, flour'ishing. recognized', acknowledged. transpiring, happening. tribu'nal, author'ity. THE SCHOOLMASTER AND THE CONQUEROR. THERE is nothing with which the 'adversaries of improvement are more wont to make themselves merry than with what is termed "the march of intellect;" and I confess that I think, as far as the phrase goes, they are in the right. It is a very absurd, because a very incorrect, expression. It is little calculated to describe the operation in question. It does not suggest an image at all resembling the proceedings of the true friends of mankind. It |