W Montpelier, seat of James Madison, late President of Beneath Virginian skies, in the State or climate of Strikes, appears to, affects, acts upon, inflicts a blow. Verdure, vêr' jure, green, greenness, fresh foliage. Attic, from Attica, or Athens, a kind of architecture Copse, short wood.-Warblers. What are they? Luscious, delightful, pleasing, excessively sweet. Pheasant, a beautiful large bird of game, nearly allied in nature to common poultry. Eastern bird. To what bird does this description apply? .Jessamine, a very elegant and fragrant flower. Why is it called a curtain of the bowers? Favoring, helping, supporting, nourishing, -Spikes, ears of corn, long pointed leaves, iron nails, species of lavender. Pencil's magic art, paintings. .Chisel's-power, statues, works of the sculptor. .Vie, contest, strive as a competitor. What is the Wisdom, wise man, the abstract for the concrete. By what figure? Won, gained. Heart, love, esteem, affection. And piety, with hoary hair, Whose lustre ruthless time shall spare LESSON XIX. Pic-nic.-MRS. BARBAULD. Pray, mamma, what is the meaning of pic-nic! I have heard lately once or twice of a pic-nic supper, and I cannot think what it means; I looked for the word in Johnson's Dictionary and could not find it. I should wonder if you had; the word was not coined in Johnson's time; and if it had been, I believe he would have disdained to insert it among the legitimate words of the language. I cannot tell you the derivation of the phrase; I believe pic-nic is originally a cant word, and was first applied to a supper or other meal in which the entertainment is not provided by any one person, but each of the guests furnishes his own dish. In a pic-nic supper one supplies the fowls, another the fish, another the wine and fruit, &c.; and they all sit down together and enjoy it. "It is a very sociable way of making an entertainment." Yes, and I would have you observe, that the principle of it may be extended to many other things. No one has a right to be entertained gratis in society; he must expend, if he wishes to enjoy. Conversation is particularly a pic-nic feast, where every one is to contribute something, according to his genius and ability. Different talents and acquirements compose the different dishes of the entertainment, and the greater variety, the better; but every one must bring something, for Hoary, ho' rè, white, gray with age. By mortal steps untrod. Its happy occupants are not subject to mortality, death hath no more dominion over them. These. What? Gem, jewel, precious stone. .Coronet, crown. What is the meaning of the couplet in plain language? Ruthless, rooth' lès, cruel, pitiless. Spare, suffer to continue, save, forbear. Her page. Whose page? By what figure? Trace, that which is recorded, mark, footstep. Mamma, mâm-mả. -Pray, make petition to heaven, please, hearken. .Dictionary, lexicon, vocabulary. .Coined, made, stamped as money, made into money. Johnson's time, time when he lived, Who was Johnson ? Disdained, scorned, considered as unworthy his char acter. Insert, put in, place, put among other things. Guests, gêsts, strangers, persons entertained in the house of another. .Supplies, furnishes, relieves, fills up deficiencies, .Sociable, familiar, friendly, companionable, talka tive. -Way, method, path, course, direction. Principle, element, constituent part fundamental truth. Extended, from tend, reached out, carried. Gratis, gratuitously, without cost to one's self. .Conversation, from converse. Contribute, kon-trib'ute, bring in, furnish, give. society will not tolerate any one long who lives wholly at the expense of his neighbors. Did you not observe how agreeably we were entertained at Lady Isabella's party last night? Yes: one of the young Ladies sung, and another exhibited her drawings; and a gentleman told some very good stories. True: another lady who is very much in the fashionable world, gave us a great deal of anecdote; Dr. R., who is just returned from the continent, gave us an interesting account of the state of Germany; and in another part of the room a cluster was gathered round an Edinburgh student and a young Oxonian, who were holding a lively debate on the power of galvanism. But Lady Isabella herself was the charm of the party. I think she talked very little; and I do not recollect any thing she said which was particularly striking. That is true. But it was owing to her address and attention to her company that others talked and were heard by turns; that the modest were encouraged, and drawn out, and those inclined to be noisy restrained and kept in order. She blended and harmonised the talents of each; brought those together, who were likely to be agreeable to each other, and gave us no more of herself than was necessary to set off others. I noticed particularly her good offices to an accomplished but very bashful lady and reserved man of science, who wished much to be known to one another, but who never would have been so without her introduction. As soon as she had fairly engaged them in an interesting conversation, she left them regardless of her own entertainment, and seated herself by poor Mr. · -9 purely because he was sitting in a corner and no one attended to him. You know that in chemical preparations two substances often require a third, to enable them to mix and unite together. Lady Isabella possesses this amalgamating power-this is what she brings to the pic-nic. I should add, that two or three times I observed she dexterously changed topics, and suppressed stories which were likely to bear hard on the professions or connections of some of the company. In short, the party which was so agreeable under her harmonising influence, would have had quite a different aspect without Tolerate, endure, countenance, suffer, allow so as not to hinder. Lives, is supported. .Agreeably, from agree. Change it into a noun. Exhibited, brought forth, showed, made to appear. Drawings, from draw, delineations, representations on paper. .Fashionable, from fashion, genteel, polite. Anecdote, something yet unpublished, biographical incident. Continent, all Europe, excepting Great Britain, is called the continent. Germany. Where is Germany? see maps. Cluster, company, collection, bunch of grapes. Edinburgh. Where situate? What do you know ofit? Oxonian, student from Oxford University. .Galvanism, from Galvani, an Italian who discovered it, a name given to an influence produced by two metals on the muscles. -Striking, affecting, surprising. Talents, abilities, pieces of money, skill. Set off, make appear to advantage, show well. Chemical, relating to chemistry, an art by which substances are separated. Enable, make able, qualify, fit. From what derived? Amalgamating, uniting metals, mixing, connecting. -Power, property, influence, might, strength. Topics, subjects, heads of discourse, matters of conversation. Professions, vocations, callings, businesses. |