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EXTREMES OF FANATICISM AND LICENTIOUSNESS. 493

1. How are planets distinguished from the fixed stars? 2. What calculation did Huygens make?

3. What is said of the fixed stars?

LESSON CCCLXI.

DECEMBER THE TWENTY-SEVENTH.

Extremes of Fanaticism and Licentiousness.

THERE is nothing more remarkable in the history of human nature than the fact, that extraordinary pretensions to religion often degenerate into the most extreme licentiousness of principle and practice. This fact was particularly exemplified in the opposite spirit of the English nation during the protectorship of Oliver Cromwell, and the succeeding reign of Charles II.

For a few years, while the Commonwealth existed, a rage for fanaticism pervaded all ranks of society; but no sooner was the monarchy restored, than men rushed into the opposite extreme, and the court set them the example. Every thing that had the appearance of an attention to religion, and a strict regard to morality, was ridiculed and discountenanced, as if both were unworthy any but the vulgar, the ignorant, and narrow-minded. This disregard for religious and moral decorum was carried to such a length, that not only the hireling writers of the age, but even some of its most brilliant geniuses attempted, in their writings, to turn them into ridicule and contempt.

Such is the evil influence which the vicious manners of a profligate court are too apt to have upon the body of the people. The scenes in most of our plays of that period, for instance, are such as must put even impudence, at the present day, to the blush. This infamous fashion continued even till the reign of Queen Anne, when a champion stepped forth in defence of outraged decency and morals. This was the famous Jeremy Collier, a non-conformist clergyman, who boldly attacked the writings of our most celebrated wits of that age which were most hostile to public morals.

Among these were Shadwell, Dryden, Congreve, Sir John Vanbrugh, Farquhar, and above all, Mrs. Centlivre, so well known for her dramatic licentiousness and indecorum, and whose writings are now (with the exception of "The Wonder," &c.) justly exploded by a purer taste. Almost all pleaded guilty, by their silence, under the merited lash. Congreve, not much to his honour, replied

to his antagonist in bitter and resentful terms; but he was forced at length to yield to his doughty opponent, who wielded, in this contest, the strong weapons of reason and truth. Collier was an austere man, and cut deep; but the disease was a desperate one, and required perhaps such an operation.

The celebrated Henry Fielding was an elève of this school in his dramatic performances, who, however he may be admired as a writer for his wit, fancy, and fertility of invention, certainly deserves reprobation for the licentiousness and indecency observable in many of his plays. Sir Robert Walpole brought into parliament a bill for the purpose of restraining the licentiousness of the stage, which was very properly carried. To this it is, however, said that he was first prompted by resentment against Fielding, for having caricatured him in one of his comedies. Be this as it may, it at least confirms the proverb, that "good frequently comes out of evil."

Though none of our modern dramatic writers have dared to outrage decency by impious and profligate jests on the religion and morals of the country, one of our greatest poets thought it not beneath his genius and talents to do so. While we admire that genius and those talents, we must lament and execrate the use to which he frequently applied them.

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1. What was particularly observable at the restoration of Charles II. in regard to religion and morality?

2. Who was it that stepped forth in defence of outraged decency and morals?

3. For what purpose did Sir Robert Walpole bring a bill into parliament?

LESSON CCCLXII.

DECEMBER THE TWENTY-EIGHTH.

The Troubadours.

THE Troubadours were poets who flourished in Provence from the 10th to the 13th century. They wrote poems on love and gallantry, on the illustrious characters and remarkable events of the times, &c., which they set to music and sung: they were accordingly general favourites in different courts, diffused a taste for their language and poetry over Europe, and essentially contributed towards the restoration of letters and a love for the arts.

The royal court in Provence, at Arles, was, from the time of Boso I., for nearly two centuries, the theatre of

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the finest chivalry, the centre of a romantic life. The assembly of knights and Troubadours, with their Moorish story-tellers and buffoons, and ladies acting as judges or parties in matters of courtesy, exhibit a glittering picture of a mirthful, soft, and luxurious life. The Knight of Provence devoted himself to the service of his lady-love in true poetic earnest, and made the dance and the sport of the tilt-yard the great business of his life.

Each baron, a sovereign in his own territory, invited the neighbouring knights to his castle, to take parts in tournaments and to contend in song, at a time when the knights of Germany and Northern France were challenging each other to deadly combat. There the gallant knight broke his lance on the shield of his manly antagonist; there the princess sat in the circle of ladies, listening seriously to the songs of the knights, contending in rhymes respecting the laws of love, and, at the close of the contest, pronouncing her sentence (arrêt d'amour).

Thus the life of the Provençals was lyrical in the highest degree; but it was necessarily superficial, and would lose its chief value if unaccompanied by music. In the 11th and 12th centuries it had attained its highest bloom: it had spread into Spain and Lombardy, and even German emperors (Frederic Barbarossa), and English kings (Richard Cœur de Lion), composed songs in the Provençal dialect. But the poetry of the Troubadours, as in the course of time it became more common, became degraded to mere ballad-singing; and the few specimens of it that have been preserved consist of short war-songs and lyrics of pastoral life and love.

1. What were the Troubadours ?

2. To what did the Knight of Provence devote himself?

3. What royal and illustrious warriors composed songs in the Provençal dialect?

LESSON CCCLXIII.-DECEMBER THE TWENTY-NINTH.

Tortoises.

THE Tortoise is a very harmless animal, of the genus Testudo, with a shelly covering, which sleeps through the winter, and lives to a great age. Its flesh is eaten in the West Indies, and its covering serves for combs and various articles of ornamental manufacture.

There are numerous kinds of tortoises, but we must be

satisfied with a general description of the two principal, viz. the land-tortoise and the sea-tortoise, or, as the latter is more often called, the turtle.

Tortoises are distinguished by having the body enclosed between two shields or shells, so that the head, neck, legs, and tail only appear externally. The upper shell is formed by the ribs, which are enlarged, flattened, and closely united by sutures; the under shell is the sternum, or breast-bone; and the vertebræ of the neck and tail only are movable.

The turtles far surpass the others in size, and are found chiefly within the tropics. The head and limbs are but slightly retractile, and the toes are entirely united and enveloped in the common integuments, forming a sort of paddle, as in the seals. The green turtle is well know for its delicious and wholesome flesh. They feed on seaweed at the bottom, but, at a certain season, visit the shore, for the purpose of depositing their eggs in the sand.

The instinct which leads the female turtle to the shore to lay her eggs renders her a prey to man. The fishers wait for them on shore, at the beginning of the night, especially when it is moonlight; and, either as they come from the sea, or as they return after laying their eggs, they despatch them by hard blows from a club, or turn them quickly over on their backs, not giving them time either to defend themselves or to blind their assailants by throwing up the sand with their fins.

When very large it requires the efforts of several men to turn them over, and they must often employ the assistance of handspikes or levers for that purpose. The buckler of this species is so flat as to render it impossible for the animal to recover the recumbent posture when it is once turned on its back.

1. How are tortoises distinguished ?
2. Where are turtles chiefly found?
3. How are they taken?

LESSON CCCLXIV.-DECEMBER THE THIRTIETH.

Robert Boyle.

On this day, in 1691, died Robert Boyle, a celebrated philosopher and chemist, and a zealous Christian. From all the incidents of the life of this admirable man, authors have not hesitated to place him in the first rank of philo

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sophers; a station which, indeed, he deserves. Yet it has been remarked that modern writers have been less attentive to his fame than his cotemporaries.

Many of his discoveries are so generally useful, and lead to such extensive practical results, that they have become too familiar to direct the attention towards their author.

As the loom, the plough, the pump, the mill, have become the tools of civilized society, while their inventors have been forgotten; so have the air-pump, the thermometer, the hydrometer, and numerous other instruments and processes, invented or improved by Boyle, become essential to philosophical research, and are too often used to admit of continual reference to their discoverer.

The great mental powers of this man were assisted by his moral habits. If he could have deceived himself or others, his narrations would not possess the character they do at this day. Upwards of a century has elapsed since he opened the path of philosophical chemistry to the world.

Thousands of active and intelligent operators have repeated and extended his discoveries, and every subsequent fact has proved his inviolable fidelity. He was never misled by the vanity of forming a system, nor actuated by any motive unworthy of a true philosopher.

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His laboratory was only a small part of the theatre on which he contemplated the series of natural causes. great scene of the universe, the operations which incessantly proceed around us, and that tentative science which human necessity has explored in the arts and trades, were alike the objects of his curious inquiry.

Hence it is that his writings abound with the seeds of future discovery, and are highly interesting to every friend of science. They cannot be read without improvement; and in these alone, if no life of Boyle had ever been written, the reader would behold a man truly deserving of the affection, the esteem, and the admiration of succeeding ages.

1. What celebrated philosopher died on this day, in 1691 ?
2. By what were the great mental powers of this man assisted?
3. With what did his writings abound?

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