took the living of Norton, which he shortly afterwards relinquished. A few years afterwards, he was presented by his uncle, the Bishop of Durham, with the valuable rectory of Houghton-le-Spring in the same county. In this situation, he discharged all the duties incumbent on his holy vocation. He was assiduous in preaching, and instant in season and out of season, in bringing before his people the saving truths of the Gospel. He instructed in private as well as in public; condescending to the weak, bearing with the passionate, and consoling the afflicted. He interposed his authority to settle the differences of his parishioners; and, blessed by Divine Providence with ample means, he was almost boundless in his benefactions.

3. The resolution with which Gilpin advocated the principles of the Protestant Religion excited the malice of the papal party against him. These men, after making several ineffectual attempts to ruin him with his uncle, proceeded with better hopes of success, to denounce him before the tribunal of Bonner. Gilpin was not insensible of his danger. He even prepared (according to a practice not uncommon in that age) a garment in which he might go decently to the stake, and put it on every day until he was apprehended. In his way to London, however, he chanced to break his leg; and, before it could be set, the death of Queen Mary released the persecuted Protestants from all danger and restraint. EXERCISE.-Read-reproduce-and compare according to

the Directions 80.

LESSON 43.

85. MODEL. THE BOYHOOD OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

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1. Isaac Newton was born at Woolsthorpe, in the parish of Colsterworth, Lincolnshire, on Christmas-day, old-style, 1642. He was remarkably small and tender, as a child, and it was a saying of his mother's that at that time she could have put him into a quart mug. As he grew up, he became robust, and enjoyed the blessing of health and a

vigorous constitution till his eightieth year. At twelve years of age, having received some previous instruction, he was sent to school at Grantham, where, like Bacon, at about the same age, he showed remarkable proofs of a gifted and thoughtful mind. Instead of playing with the other boys, he was almost always busied in forming different kinds of models in wood: for this purpose, he procured saws, hatchets, hammers, and other tools; and even succeeded in producing a wooden clock. The object, however, which chiefly engaged his attention, was a new wind-mill which was building near Grantham. Watching the progress of its construction, he made one on a very small scale, which in workmanship was considered equal to the original. When finished, he set it upon the top of the house where he lodged; and, fitting a small piece of linen to each of the sails, saw how the wind turned them. He put a mouse into the mill, and called it the miller; who, instead of helping to turn the sails, as his master wished, often stopped to eat the corn that was put in to be ground.

2. We have not room, curious as it might be, to describe all his various plans of this kind, the pursuit of which generally kept him low in his class at school. Little, therefore, did his master and schoolfellows imagine, when noticing the neat kites which he flew at Grantham, and the transparent paper lanterns with candles in them, fastened to their tails, which looked at night like so many comets, that the young inventor would one day astonish not only Europe, but the whole world, by his discovery of the intricate though harmonious laws of creation itself, and aid in evincing the wisdom of God in the most wonderful of his works! And still less did his mother dream of this mighty result, when she took him away from school, to help in keeping his late father's farm, and to attend the Saturday market at Grantham. Often, indeed, did he stop between his home and that town, to study some old book under a hedge; or, when set about watching sheep, would he sit sadly though not idly beneath a tree. It has been said, that a really clever person is seldom

altogether idle; and, doubtless, from the period at which Newton could think and reason, his mind was incessantly and profoundly at work.

EXERCISE.-Read-reproduce- and compare according to

1. Benjamin Franklin was a remarkable, rather than an accomplished man. His name in England is connected with the idea of worldly prudence and strong common sense; while in the United States of America, he is almost adored as one of the directors of their struggle for independence. He has attracted also some attention by his experiments on lightning. The ancestors of his family had been Englishmen, of Eaton, in Northamptonshire; but, at the time when the colonies of North America afforded an easy retreat for all that were dissatisfied with the government at home, his father and uncle, who were dissenters, crossed the Atlantic, to settle in New England. Here his father set up the business of soapboiler and tallow-chandler.

2. Benjamin Franklin was born in 1705, and was one of a family of thirteen. He was tried at several trades, none of which he liked; but, finally, settled to the business of printer, one not much practised at that time in the new settlement. His father seems to have contributed much to form the cha

racter of his young son. By example, he taught him to aim at high and honourable objects; by the critical correctness of his remarks, he urged him to bestow pains upon the cultivation of an accurate and just taste in composition; and, by his own necessities, taught him to pursue the task of earning his daily bread with industry and honour.

3. At seventeen, Benjamin disagreed with his elder brother, to whom he had been articled as apprentice, and set off to seek his fortune in New York. After several months of

entered a printingThis visit proved a

labour, he came to England, where he office, and worked for a year and half. great advantage to him, both directly in his business of printer, and indirectly in expanding his mind. His energy and perseverance made him finally, what was to be expected, a successful tradesman.

4. When the differences between the American colonies and the mother country commenced, Franklin was engaged as an agent in England, Canada, and France. The art of composition, in which he had become a master, was now employed in drawing up addresses and declarations in defence of the politics of the new republic. He was elected one of the delegates to the congress or temporary government, which took the first steps towards cutting off the ties binding America to the British empire. After having enjoyed many honours, he died at Philadelphia, in 1790, at the age of 84. EXERCISE.-Read-reproduce-and compare according to the Directions 80.

1. James Cook, one of the greatest navigators ever produced by Great Britain, or any other country, was the son of a farm-servant in Yorkshire, where he was born on the 27th of October, 1728. He was one of a family of nine children, and experienced great hardships in his early years. He was a common seaman at the age of thirty; but, as soon as his character and extraordinary capacity became known, he was rapidly promoted.

2. In the beginning of the reign of George the Third, a great spirit of geographical discovery was excited by the attention paid to the subject by government; and Cook, having been made lieutenant, was sent on a voyage of discovery in 1768. On the 30th of July that year, he sailed in the Endeavour, and commenced a course of discoveries, which

have not only rendered his name, but even those of his vessels, immortal. He made three voyages, to which we are indebted for the greatest part of the knowledge which, to this day, we possess of the regions scattered through the immense Pacific Ocean. Of these, several had been previously visited by other navigators; but it was a remarkable circumstance in his voyages, that, wherever he touched, every thing relative to the place was determined with such accuracy and fulness, that the comparatively vague and imperfect accounts of former discoverers seemed to go for nothing. Many places considered as being well known were thus, in a great measure, discovered by him.

3. From his third voyage, Captain Cook never returned. The circumstances of his death were of the most tragical kind, When his vessel was on the coast of the island of Owhyhee, several articles having been stolen from the ship by the natives, the Captain took the imprudent resolution of going on shore with a very few men, to compel restitution. At first, no sign of hostility appeared, but the natives were soon observed to be gathering in great numbers, and arming themselves with long spears, clubs, and daggers. The Captain beginning to think his situation dangerous, ordered his men to return to the beach, and went along with them, holding the king by the hand, whom he intended to take on board, as a hostage for the good conduct of his subjects. As they were ☛approaching the boat, an Indian threw a stone at the Captain, who returned the insult by firing at the man; but, the shot not taking effect, he knocked him down with his musket. A confused scuffle ensued; the men on board the boats fired among the natives; who, rushing among the former, drove them into the water, whence they got on board one of the boats, the Captain alone being left behind. At last, an Indian struck him on the back of the head with a club, and then hastily ran back. Captain Cook staggered a few paces, and then fell on his hand and one knee, dropping his musket. Another Indian now stabbed him in the neck with a dagger.