LESSON XLIX. 1. těr rå pĬns ; n. a kind of large 1. re ferred'; v. given in charge. 3. In eŎn' tro věr' ti ble; a indisputable. 8. În′tī māt ing; v. hinting; referring to obscurely. 11. Il lěģ' I ble; a. incapable of being read. Is a Turtle Fish or Game? 1. Mr. Speaker: A bill having for its object the marking and determining of the close season for catching and killing turtles and terrapins has just been introduced by the gentleman from Rockbridge, who asks that it be referred to the Committee on Game, of which I have the honor to be chairman. To this disposition of the bill the gentleman from Gloucester objects, on the ground that as turtles and terrapins are fish, and not game, it should go to the Committee on Fish and Oysters. 2. On Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, says the honorable gentleman, turtles and terrapins are frequently captured many miles out from land in nets or with hook and line, as all other members of the finny tribe are; and that, therefore, they are fish, and nothing but fish. 3. I have profound respect for the gentleman's opinion ; as a lawyer he has acquired not only a state, but a national reputation; but even I, opposing a pin's point against the shield of Pelides, take issue with him. Sir, I am no lawyer, I don't understand enough of law to keep out of its meshes, but I will answer his sophistries with a few, plain, incontrovertible facts, and, as the old saw says, "facts are stubborn things." 4. Is a turtle a fish? I imagine not. Down on the old Virginia lowlands of the Potomac River, where I come from, the colored people have dogs trained to hunt turtles when they come up on the dry land to deposit their eggs, and when they find them they bark as if they were treeing a squirrel. Now, I ask the House, did any member ever hear of a fish being hunted with dogs? 5. Who does not know that a turtle has four legs; that those legs have feet; and that those feet are armed with claws, like a cat's, a panther's, or a lion's? Has the gentleman from Gloucester ever seen a fish with talons ? I think not. 6. It is well known that a turtle can be kept in a cellar for weeks, and even months, without food or water. Can a fish live without water? Why, sir, it has grown into a proverb that it cannot. And yet the gentleman says the turtle is a fish! 7. Do we not all know that you may cut off a turtle's head, and that it won't die till the sun goes down? Suppose now a modern Joshua should point his sword at the sun and command it to stand still in the heavens; why, Mr. Speaker, the turtle would live a thousand years with its head off. And yet the gentleman says the turtle is a fish. 8. Æsop tells the fable of the race between the tortoise and the hare, and we are left to believe that it took place on dry land-the author nowhere intimating that it was a swimming-match. Did the gentleman from Gloucester ever hear of a fish running a quarter stretch and coming out winner of the silver cup? 9. I read but a short time ago, Mr. Speaker, of a man who had a lion which, he offered to wager, could whip any living thing. The challenge was accepted. A snapping turtle was then produced, which conquered the lordly king of beasts at the first bite. Can the gentleman from Gloucester bring any fish from York River that will do the same? 10. Again, a turtle has a tail; now, what nature intended him to do with that particular member I cannot divine. He does not use it like our Darwinian ancestors, the monkeys, who swing themselves from the trees by their tails; nor like a cow or mule, as a brush in fly-time; nor yet as our household pet, the dog, who wags a welcome to us with his; nor, finally, does he use it to swim with. And, sir, if the gentleman from Gloucester ever saw a fish who didn't use his tail to swim with, then he has discovered a new and most wonderful variety. 11. Mr. Speaker, I will not take up more of the valuable time of the House by further discussion of this vexed question. I will have only one more shot at the gentleman,-to prove to him that the turtle is the oldest inhabitant of the earth. Last summer, sir, I was away up in the mountains of Giles County, some two hundred miles from the ocean. One day strolling leisurely up the mountain road, I found a land tortoise or turtle, and picking him up, I saw some quaint and curious characters engraved in the shell on his back. Through lapse of time the letters were nearly illegible, but after considerable effort I made out the inscription, and read— ADAM. PARADISE. YEAR ONE. Mr. Speaker, I have done. If I have not convinced every member on this floor, except the gentleman from Gloucester, that a turtle is not a fish, then I appeal to the wisdom of this House to tell me what it is! This humorous debate occurred in the Virginia House of Delegates, and the "Mr. Speaker" (1) is the presiding officer, who is addressed in that way. Pelides is another name for Achilles; his shield, made by Vulcan, was almost impenetrable; hence the reference (3) means that the point of a pin would have as much effect on the shield of Pelides" as the speaker's arguments against those of his opponent. "Saw" (3) means an old saying or proverb. "Joshua" (7) is the Protestant spelling of Josue, at whose command, as we read in the Bible, the sun stood still, thus prolonging the day, and enabling him to win a victory over his enemies. Esop" (8) was a Greek slave and the writer of the famous fables which bear his name. 66 A quarter stretch" (8), meaning a quarter of a mile, is an expression borrowed from the race-course. "Darwinian ancestors" (10) is an allusion to the condemned theory of Prof. Darwin that man is descended from the monkey. "Adam. Paradise. Year One" (11) is a bit of pleasantry intended to convey the idea that the tortoise had lived in Paradise in the time of Adam, the first man. LESSON L. 1. sup' pli ança; n. earnest | 4. Mŏş' lĕm; n. a Mussulman; petition. 1. trỏ' phies; n. things taken 5. and preserved as evidence of victory. a Mohammedan. nûr tured; v. nourished; brought up. 5. storied; a. having a history. Marco Bozzaris. 1. At midnight, in his guarded tent, The Turk was dreaming of the hour In dreams, through camp and court he bore In dreams, his song of triumph heard; As Eden's garden bird. 2. At midnight, in the forest shades, Bozzaris ranged his Suliote band, True as the steel of their tried blades, There had the Persian's thousands stood, And now, there breathed that haunted air 3. An hour passed on; the Turk awoke; That bright dream was his last ; He woke to hear his sentries shriek, "To arms! They come-the Greek! the Greek! "Strike, till the last armed foe expires! 4. They fought, like brave men, long and well; They piled the ground with Moslem slain; They conquered, but Bozzaris fell, Bleeding at every vein. His few surviving comrades saw His smile when rang their proud hurrah |