ews,
glimpses. 8. Ro'se-ate, blooming, rosy. 11. Fel'on, a public criminal. 12.
En-tic'ing, attracting to evil. Spurned, rejected with disdain. 13. Lure,
to attract, to entice. 14. En-chant'ed, affected with enchantment,
bewitched.

NOTES.--8. Golconda is an ancient city and fortress of India, formerly
renowned for its diamonds. They were merely cut and polished there,
however, being generally brought from Parteall, a city farther south.

XIX. HOW TO TELL BAD NEWS.

Mr. H. and the Steward.

Mr. H. Ha! Steward, how are you, my old boy? How do things go on at home?

Steward. Bad enough, your honor; the magpie's dead.

H. Poor Mag! So he's gone. How came he to die?

S. Overeat himself, sir.

H. Did he? A greedy dog; why, what did he get he liked so well?

S. Horseflesh, sir; he died of eating horseflesh,

H. How came he to get so much horseflesh?

S. All your father's horses, sir.

H. What! are they dead, too?

S. Ay, sir; they died of overwork.

H. And why were they overworked, pray?

S. To carry water, sir.

H. To carry water! and what were they carrying water for?

S. Sure, sir, to put out the fire.

H. Fire! what fire?

S. O, sir, your father's house is burned to the ground.

H. My father's house burned down! and how came it set on fire?

S. I think, sir, it must have been the torches.

H. Torches! what torches?

S. At your mother's funeral.

H. My mother dead!

S. Ah, poor lady! she never looked up, after it.

H. After what?

S. The loss of your father.

H. My father gone, too?

S. Yes, poor gentleman! he took to his bed as soon as he heard of it.

H. Heard of what?

S. The bad news, sir, and please your honor.

H. What! more miseries! more bad news!

S. Yes, sir; your bank has failed, and your credit is lost, and you are
not worth a shilling in the world. I made bold, sir, to wait on you about
it, for I thought you would like to hear the news.

XX. THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM.

Robert Southey (b. 1774, d. 1843) was born in Bristol, England. He entered
Balliol College, Oxford, in 1793. In 1804 he established himself
permanently at Greta Hall, near Keswick, Cumberland, in the "Lake
Country," where he enjoyed the friendship and society of Wordsworth and
Coleridge, other poets of the "Lake School." He was appointed poet
laureate in 1813, and received a pension of 300 Pounds a year from the
government in 1835. Mr. Southey was a voluminous writer in both prose and
verse.