i 4 jM 1 J. HENRY SENGER. | ^jj||iir-:iiHlj|inc Jiiiijlliit: :jii]ij|tiirSf j|r:]iij|jiiiii jiiji,|iiil Ifjuiic m^^i^ Jii(j,itii. :)i;ji|if :)iijijjpicii|||!irjiij|j|| LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION J. ULRICH RANSOM, B.A. (LOND.) LATE MODERN LANGUAGE MASTER AT THE ROYAL INSTITUTION SCHOOL, LIVERPOOL LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. AiSTD NEW YORK : 15 EAST i6th STREET 1894 IN MEMORIAM Vv A^SiSflrv "^ • V\^^VN^i-\ O-e-A/vp,^^^ Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty PREFACE This work on German Composition is intended to take the student from a standard of elementary prose to that of rendering the most difficult passages into German. As the majority of the pieces used in the book have been set at various University examinations, I trust that it will supply a want long felt in Upper Forms. Among the special advantages claimed for it are the following : — (1.) A comprehensive Vocabulary. — Where one word has several meanings, the number of the exercise is placed after each, to distinguish its usage. (2.) The division of the German clauses in Part I., to show how the punctuation differs from the English. (3.) The introduction of difficult verse. (4.) The various extracts are not too long (each being complete in itself), and are carefully graduated. (5.) Notes have only been added where absolutely neces- sary — grammatical rules being appended in bold type. (6.) As the pieces used have been set at examinations, they have therefore been specially selected to exemplify the German idiom. V ivil22403 vi PREFACE I have to thank the authorities of the various Univer- sities for permission to use the extracts, and my sincere obhgations are also due to Dr. A. W. Schuddekopf, Lecturer in Teutonic Language and Literature at the Yorkshire College, Leeds (Victoria University), in collaboration with whom the book has been produced. J. U. R. CONTENTS PART I. NO. PAGE \ NO. PAGE 1. Charity . 1 21. Railway Travelling . . 13 2. A Plucky Action . 2 22. Gibbon . 14 3. A Soliloquy . 3 23. English Scenery 15 4. Fraternal Love . . 3 24. A German Inn . . 15 6. Old Age . . 4 25. The Spirit of Alexander . 16 6. Henry the First . 4 26. Schiller 17 7. Louis the Great 5 27. Tom Brown's Idea of Worl : 18 8. The Defence of Kars . 5 28. On Great Men . 19 9. George Stephenson . 6 29. Frederick the Great . 19 10. Landing of William the 30. Public Duty 20 Conqueror 7 31. A Mutiny . 21 H. Alva .... 7 32. Martin Luther . 22 12. Presbyter Johannes . 8 33. A Battle Scene . . . 23 13. Loss of Memory 8 34. An Englishman's Wealth . 24 14. A Death Scene . 9 35. The Invention of Printing 24 16. An Earthquake . 9 36. Howard the Philanthropist 25 16. Out at Sea . 10 37. The Great London Fire . 26 17. The Earl of Peterborough . 11 38. Klopstock . . . . 27 18. The Crimean War . 11 39. A Sea Voyage . 28 19. The Arab and the Pearls . 12 40. LordClive 29 20. A Character Sketch from Quentin Durward . 13 PART IL 41. Thomas Parnell 30 44. Dante . . . . 32 42. Pride 31 45. Cowper's Greenhouse 33 43. Cicero . . 31 46. Town and Country . 34 CONTENTS NO. PAGE 47. Friendship . . .35 48. Spirit of Night . . . 36 49. The Royal Exchange . 37 50. The Princess ... 38 51. The English Houses of Parliament . . .39 52. Ode to a Nightingale . 40 53. Schiller .... 41 54. Bendamere . . .42 55. Death of Queen Elizabeth . 43 66. The Blind Boy ... 44 57. Discovery of America . 45 58. The Lark and the Nightin- gale . . . .46 59. Literary Ridicule . . 47 60. The Indian Summer . . 48 61. The Indian Mutiny . . 49 62. Rome . . . .50 63. The Colosseum . . .51 64. My Own Green Isle . . 52 65. Foundation of Constan- tinople . . .54 66. Character of a Happy Life 55 67. In the Fields ... 56 68. To the Skylark ... 57 69. Victor Hugo ... 58 70. Decay of Peasantry . . 60 71. Psychology . . .61 72. Liberty . . . .62 73. William Pitt . , . 63 74. The Route to Milan . . 64 75. The Feudal System . . 65 76. Caledonia . . . .66 77. Anonymous Writers 78. Hohenlinden . 79. The Importance of Method 80. The Voice of Spring 81. A Hurricane 82. Death of the Earl of Warwick 83. Example better than Precept 84. An Awakening 85. The Campagna of Rome 86. Satan to Beelzebub . 87. Letter from Mr. Gladstone to Prince Albert Victor 88. William Tell . 89. Industry, Endurance, and Character 90. In Quest of True Happi- ness .... 91. Education 92. To Victor Hugo 93. Goethe .... 94. The Holy Grail 95. Goethe {continued) . 96. The Quality of Mercy 97. The Afghan War . 98. The Beauty of Rhine Scenery 99. Peter the Hermit 100. Hidden Wonders of the Earth .... Appendix—Subjects for Essay Writing English -German Vocabulary . PAGE 67 69 70 71 72 92 93 94 95 99 PART I Note. — 1. Words in brackets to be omitted in translation. 2. Words joined by hyphens denote a compound word in German. 3. The upright lines denote the breaks in the German sentences, where the comma is necessary. 4. Before the words of a speaker, i.e. after the words said, exclaimed, etc. , a colon must be used in German ; and the inverted commas are written thus ^ . . , ", and not "...", as in English. 5. The references to L. G. G. are to Longmans' German Grammar. 1. CHARITY. An old Austrian officer, | who^ was poor, | entreated the Emperor Joseph il. for^ help, and said | that he had^ ten children alive. ^ Joseph, desirous^ of ascertaining the facts of the case,. | went in disguise to ^ the officer's house, and^ instead of ten, found eleven children there ! * Why eleven % ' * The eleventh is a poor orphan,' | replied the soldier, | * whom I took into my 1 Relative Pronouns, as well as Subordinate Conjunctions, require the Verb at the end of the clause. '-' Words denoting trouble, quarrel, anxiety, entreaty, application for, etc. , are followed by urn. 3 In Indirect Narration the Subjunctive must be used, the Present Tense, too, being preferred to the Past. ^ Say : Ten living children. Attributive Adjectives always precede the Nouns they qualify. Comp. : a man six feet high = tin fcd^S ^itfi ^o^er CDiann. ^ Say : As Joseph desired to convince himself of the truf circumstancefi, \ so loent he, etc. ^ To a place is rendered by nac^ with the Dative. ^ Say : and found there instead often, eleven children. A LONGMANS' 'ckRMAN COMPOSITION house from^ motives of charity.' The prince immediately^ ordered [a] hundred florins to be given ^^ to each^^ of the children. ^ Translate : au8 ©riinben ter 9^aci[jfienlie6c, 9 In Principal Clauses, Adverbs and Adverbial expressions must either stand at the beginning of the clause or follow the Verb, as the Subject must stand next to its Verb in a Principal Sentence. If the Adverb stands at the beginning, inversion of Subject and Predicate takes place. ^*^ Translate : to give. See L. G. G. XLi. (c). 11 The object of the Person must precede the object of the Thing. 2. A PLUCKY ACTION. Mr. Lovel^ was one morning ^ riding by himself when, dis- mounting I to^. gather a plant in^ the hedge, | his horse ^ got loose, and galloped away. He followed,^ calling'^ the horse by name, which stopped, | but^ on his approach set off again. At length a little boy in a neighbouring field, seeing^ the affair, ran across where the road made a turn, | [and] getting ^^ before the ^ Say : As Mr. Lovel . . . and was dismounting. For list of Subordinate Conjunctions see L. G. G. p. 163. 2 Time indefinitely expressed (with the exception of Feminine Nouns) is put in the Genitive Case— definitely in the Accusative. ^ When ' to ' means *in order to,' use urn . . . 5U (Inf.). ^ When the word ' in ' means 'on,' ' along ' or ' on the side of,' it must be translated by an (Dat.). 5 The Subject must be placed after the Verb in a Principal Clause when a Subordinate Clause has preceded the Principal one. ^ Say : He followed the horsey \ whilst he called it hy its name ; it (tagfelfee) stopped also. To avoid ambiguity, bcrfclj^c must be used instead of the Personal Pronoun. The Verb to follow governs the Dative : for similar Verbs see L. G. G. p. 171. 7 Present Participles denoting an action simultaneous to that of the Finite Verb must be rendered by a Subordinate Clause beginning with int>cm [whilst). 8 Say : hut set off again, \ when he approached it. Wytx [but) is not usually placed first in its clause. ^ Say : saw the affair ; he (terfetbe) ra7i across the road | ivhere it (t)tefet6c) 77iade, etc. ^^ ^scy : placed himself . LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION horse, | took him by the bridle, and held him | till his owner came up. \ 3. A SOLILOQUY. As I saw the last blue line of my native land fade away like a cloud in^ the horizon, | it seemed ^ | as if I had^ closed one' volume of the world and^ its contents, and had time for medita-., tion^ I before I opened another. ^^ That land,"^ [too,] now^ vanish- ing from my view, which ^ contained all most dear to me in life — what vicissitudes might occur in it — what changes might take place in me, | before I should visit it again ! Washington Irving. ^ See 2, 4. '^ Say : then seemed it to me. 3 Leave out the Auxiliary when it occurs again in the same clause. Use the Subjunctive after aid o^ (as //). See L.G.G. p. 141. ^ Translate : mit att ifercm Snfialt. 2111 remains uninflected in the Masc. and Neut. Singular before the Def. Article or a Possessive Adjective. ^ Translate: 3cit jum Sf^ad^tenfen. ^ Say: thefolloioing. '' Render : And what changes coidd take place in me, \ and what vicissi- tudes could occur in that land, \ which, etc. ^ Translate : fcaS je^t meinem 33li(fe entfc^iuant. ^ Say : and contained all that, \ which was dearest to me in life, \ before I, etc. 4. FRATERNAL LOVE. * Dear brother,' | said the elder, | * I cannot^ express to thee I how I enjoy these evening-hours. To^ you alone I feel | as if I were not a mere^ visionary and idler | when I talk of the uncertain future, and build [up] my palaces-of-the-air. Our parents listen to me | as if I were uttering fine things* out of a 1 Place nt^t after bit. 2 Translate : 58ct ttr aUctn ^aBc idj feaS ©cfiifet. The forms bu, i^u are used only in addressing intimate friends or relations, by grown-up persons to children or inferiors, in poetry and divine worship. ^ Say : merely a, ^ Here : @tcUc, f . LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION book; and my dear mother — Heaven bless her! — wipes her^ eyes, and says, ^' Hark, | what a scholar^ he is ! " ' — Lytton Bulwer. ^ Translate : XQ\\^i fid() tie 2lugcn. The Definite Article preceded by the Reflexive or the Dative of the Noun is used instead of the Possessive Adjective, when the latter is joined to words denoting parts of the hody. The Reflexive, however, is omitted where there is no doubt as to the possessor. ^ Translate : njte gelel^rt. 5. [OLD] AGE. Age, I that lessens the enjoyment of^ life, | increases our desire of living.'^ Those dangers | which, ^ in the vigour of youth, we had learned to despise, | assume new terrors | as we grow old. Our caution increasing^ as^ our years [increase], | fear becomes at last the prevailing passion of the mind, | and the small remainder of life is^ taken up in useless efforts to keep off our end, or provide for a continued existence. '^ — Goldsmith. ^ 2ln (Dative) is used after words denoting some special advantage or defect,— an (Ace.) is found with belief, thought, memory, application towards, accustom. 2 Use the Infinitive with ju when the Verbal Form in -ing is preceded by the words 'of,' ' without,' ' instead of,' etc. ^ After a Relative Object or Subordinate Conjunction place the Subject next, ^ Say : Whilst our caution increases. See 2, 7. ^ Translate : in kcmfelben 9Jiafte mic. ^ The Passive Voice and not fciit must be used when the action is not considered complete. '^ Translate : fiir cine Soitfe^ung teg Se6en§. 6. HENEY THE FIEST. Henry, ^ in consequence of his possession of Normandy, ^ had been frequently involved in war with France. Eobert's son, | William Clito, | claimed Normandy, | and his claim ^ was sup- 1 In Principal Clauses the Subject must not be separated from the Verb by Adverbs or Adverbial expressions. 2 The Def. Article is used with Feminine Names of Countries. 2 Use the Plural here. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION y ported by^ Louis VI., | the Fat.^ In these wars Henry was usually successful, | and at last, in^ 1127, William was killed, and Henry freed from danger. His own son, | also"^ named William, | had already been drowned on the voyage between Normandy and England in 1120. — S. R Gardiner. * The Agent is expressed by tion (Dat.), the Instrument by butd^ (Ace). ^ Use the Dative here in apposition to Louis vi. ^ Translate : tm Sa^rc. '' This must be rendered by a Relative Clause : who wobs also named William. 7. LOUIS THE GREAT. As for Louis the Great, | he is more than mortal. Lift up your^ glances respectfully | as he passes through the gallery | where Yillars, | [and] Yendome, | [and] Berwick, | [and] Bossuet, and Massill on are waiting. Can court '^ be more splendid, | nobles^ and knights more gallant and superb ? A grander monarch, or a more miserable starved wretch than the peasant, | his subject, \ you^ cannot look on. Let us bear^ both these types in mind, | if we wish to estimate the old society properly. — Thackeray. y ^ Say : the eyes. See 4, 5. ^ Say : a court. ^ Repeat the Auxiliaxy of mood when the numbers differ. ^ In an indefinite sense, meaning anybody, ' you ' must be translated by mmi, one. ^ Translate : im ®efcacl(;tni8 bcfealtcn. 8. THE DEFENCE OF KARS. The defence of Kars presents ^ rare examples of heroism. We have a faithful description of it^ from an eye-witness, | Dr. Sandwith. The English officers, | who directed the defence, | have by^ their talents, | activity, and persevering energy gained the admiration of the world ; the Turkish troops of the garrison have proved themselves brave ^ and faithful soldiers, | and the inhabitants of the town have displayed an enthusiasm and ^ Say : presents to us. ^ See 2, 6. ^ See 6, 4. •* Say : as brave, etc. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION devotednees^ to their cause | which even the most severe suffering could not extinguish. \ Though the defence ended in a surrender, | it^ merited'' and has won the honours^ of a victory. ^ Repeat the Indef. Article. Words denoting conduct or feeling towards an object, or exchange, are followed by gegen. ^ See 2, 5. "^ To mark the contrast between the Concessive and the Principal Clauses, insert bur^ after the Subject in the Principal Clause. ^ The borrowed Plural of @^re {honour) is ©^rcnbe^eugungen, f. For further list of Nouns with borrowed Plurals, see L, G. G. Appendix vi. 9. GEOEGE STEPHENSON. George Stephenson and James Watt are the two^ men | to whom we owe the speed and comfort of our present railway travelling. 2 George was born in 1781, at a colliery village^ called Wylam, | on^ the banks of the Tyne, about eight miles from^ Newcastle. He was one of six^ children | who had to be supported^ on their father's small wages | of^ twelve shillings a^ week. I Eobert Stephenson, | the father, | was an amiable man, | fond^^ of animals, and fond of telling stories, | which ^^ made him a great favourite ^^ with young people. Mabel, | his wife, I was a good, | thoughtful woman, d ^ Say : both the men. The Article always precedes in German. ^ Translate : JKeifeng mit ber ©ifenba^n. ^ Translate : in ctnem 5)orfc Bet etncm ^oMenBergti^erf. * Say : which lies on the hanks. Translate on here by an. See 2, 4. ^ Say : distant from. ^ The word * of ' before Cardinals is usually translated by tiou. "^ Here : tinter^altcn tton {on). Verbs compounded with ^uvt^, nbev,nntev, ttm are both Separable and Inseparable— the former with the literal meaning and accented prefix, the latter with a figurative meaning and unaccented prefix, ^teber^olen is the only verb compounded with ttiie^et which is both Separable and Inseparable — micbet^oleit, to fetch back, ttiiebcr^^Icn, to repeat. ^ Say : which amounted to twelve shillings a week. ^ Say : the iveek. ^^ Say : who loved animals and liked to tell (gem . . . evjdl^lte) stories. Notice this use of gcrtt {willingly) with verbs, meaning * liked to,' 'fond of,' etc. 1^ When • which ' refers to a whole clause it must be rendered by ttirt^. 1^ Translate : fel^r belicbt (:6et). LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 10. LANDING OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. The landing at Hastings is described very minutely in an old French romance. First landed the archers, | each^ having his bow in his hand, with his arrows at his side; next came the knights in full armour ; after them the workmen, j The duke himself came last. As he leapt in full armour from the boat, | his 2 foot slipt, I and he fell his^ whole length on the beach with his face downwards. A murmur arose among his men, [ and some of them^ cried out, 'A bad omen.' 'No, | by the splendour of God,' I cried William, | leaping^ to his feet, * I have seized [on] the land with^ [^y] ^^^ hands, | and you^ shall see | it^ will all be ours.' J ^ Say : of whom each had the bow in the hand and the arrows at the side. See 4, 5. ^ Translate : gtitt er mit bcm 5upc au8. ^ Translate : fo tang er tvar. ^ See 2, 6. ^ Say : ivhilst he leapt on the feet. See 2, 7. ^ Say : with both hands. ^ See 4, 2. ^ Translate : ta^ c§ gnnj unb gar iinS gcl^crcn ttjtrb. 11. ALVA. The hatred^ | Alva excited in the Netherlands | was such^ | that, I as he was*^ warned, | it was not safe for him to go out after dark.^ Placards were posted up in Brussels | menacing^ his life I if he persisted in his prosecution of Egmont. He held^ such menaces as light, as he did the entreaties of the countess or the arguments of her counsel. Far'' from being moved by 1 Say : The hatred ivhich Alva excited. The Relative cannot be omitted in German as in English. '■^ Say : so great that . . . it was dangerous for him. ^ The Passive Voice is often avoided in German by the use of the Indefinite Pronoun man, one (as here), or by a Verb used reflexively. ■* Translate : nad) bem 5)iinfeln3crben. ^ Say : which threatened him (Dative) ivith death, \ in case he should persist. See L. G. G. p. 171. ^ Say : Of (2lu§) such menaces as also of the entreaties . . . counsel, he held light (mad()tc er fid? ntdjtg). 7 Translate : SCBctt ba»on tntfernt jid^ buvc^ . . . fcecinfluffen ju laffen. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION personal considerations, | no power ^ could turn him from the )fessed to 8 See 2, 5. narrow path | which he professed to regard as the path of duty, y r 12. PEESBYTER JOHANNES. About the middle of the twelfth century a rumour circulated throughout Europe | that [there] reigned in Asia a powerful Christian Emperor, | Presbyter^ Johannes. In^ a bloody fight he had broken the power of the Mussulmans, | and was ready to come to [the] assistance of^ the Crusaders. Great was the exultation in Europe, 1 1 for of late the news from the East had been gloomy and depressing, | the power of the infidel had increased,^ | overwhelming masses-of-men had been brought into the field against the chivalry of Christendom, | and it^ was felt | that the cross must^ yield before the odious crescent. J ^ The Definite Article is required before titles. ^ Say : After he had broken . . . he was ready, etc. ^ Use the dative, and place it immediately after ' ready. ' See L.G.G. ]^.lll. * Verbs denoting change of position or state are conjugated with the Auxiliary fciit. ^ See 11, 3. ^ Say : would be obliged to yield to. 13. LOSS OF MEMOEY. Dr. Stukely, | an intimate friend of Newton, | called upon^ him^ one day, | when his^ dinner was already served up, | but before he had appeared^ in the dining-room. \ Dr. Stukely,^ having waited some time and becoming impatient, | at length removed the cover from a chicken, | which he presently ate, | putting^ the bones back into the dish, and replacing the cover. After a short interval, Newton came into the room, and, after the usual compliments, sat down to dinner^ ; ,but on*^ taking up 1 Translate : Icfetcren. ^ Use the Definite Article. See 3, 3. ^ See 12, 4. ^ Say : When Dr. S. had waited . . . and became impatient, he at length. ^ Say: whereupon he put back . . . and replaced. ^ Translate: gu 3^ifd;. 7 Say : when he hoivever took up . . . and saw. LOr^GMAlstS' GERMAN COMPOSITION the cover, and seeing only the bones of the bird [Idft], | he observed with some little surprise : * I thought | I had not dined, | but^ I now find | that I have.' i ^ Translate : abcr '\t%i fcl^c x^, fca^ id? eg f(i(|on gctl^an l^at'c. 14. A DEATH SCENE. She had been^ dead two days. They were^ all about her at the time, | knowing ^ | that the end was drawing nigh. She died soon after daybreak. They had read and talked to her in the earlier portion^* of the night ; but as the hours crept on, |* she sunk to^leep. | They could tell, by^ what she faintly uttered in her dreams, | that they^ were of her journey ings with the old man ; they were of no painful scenes, | but of people | who had''^ . helped and used them kindly, | for she often ^ said *God bless . you ! ' with [great] fervour. Waking^ | she never wandered in her mind but once, | and^^ that was of beautiful music | which ^^ | she said | was in the air.-/-C. Dickens. ^ Use the Imperfect Tense. " Say : Tliey had all been gathered. ^ Say : as they knew. * Say : in the first hours. ^ Translate : au8 il^rcn mit fci(>tt)aci?cr @ttmme gcfprod^encn SQBorticn., ^ Say: that her dreams concerned her journeys with the*old man ; they concerned, etc. "^ See 3, 3, also 12, 3. The Object must be used with each Verb when different cases are required. ^ Say : she said often and with fervour : * God bless you ! ' ^ Say : When she/trtrSSJlt. ^^ Translate ' and that was ' by namU(f>. ^^ Say : which, \ as she said, \ was hovering in the air. ^ 15. AN EARTHQUAKE. On^ the morning of the fatal day, | between the hours ^ of nine and ten, | I was sitting in my apartment, and had just finished a letter, | when the table | I^ was writing on | began to ^ See 9, 4. - Say : nine and ten 6* clock. 3 Say : on which (an tretdjcm) / was ivriting. See 11, 1. LONGMANS GERMAN COMPOSITION tremble with a gentle motion/ | which ^ surprised me, | as I could not perceive a breath-of-wind [stirring]. While I was reflecting on^ | what could "^ be the cause, | the whole house began to shake ^ from the very foundation, | which ^ at first I imputed to the rattling of coaches in the streets;} but on^^ listening more attentively, | I found | it was owing to a fright- ful noise underground, | resembling ^i the rumbling of distant thunder. All this passed in less than a minute. I now began to be alarmed, | as it occurred to me, | that the noise might possibly be the presage of an approaching earthquake. -/-Blair. 4 Translate : leife {softly). ^ See 9, 11. ^ Translate: bariibcr. S^ac^tenfcn uBcc = ^o ?'e/eci 07i. When a Preposition precedes a Dependent Sentence, it is compounded with ba (t>ar before a vowel). The Preposition iil»cr is used after words denoting an emotion of the mind. ^ The Subjunctive is used whenever a doubt, supposition, or possibility- is expressed. For the six chief uses of the Subjunctive, see L. G. G. p. 141. ® Translate : »on feinem ticfl^en ©runbbau au§ ftdj jii Betregen. ^ See 5, 3, and 9, 11. ^^ Say : when I however listened. ^^ Say : which resembled. For list of other Verbs governing the Dative, see L. G. G. p. 171. 16. OUT AT SEA. Sometimes^ a distant sail, | gliding along the edge of the ocean, | would be another theme of idle speculation. How inter- esting ^ this fragment of a world, | hastening ^ | to^ rejoin the great mass of existence !^ What a glorious monument of human invention; | which has^ in a manner triumphed over wind and wave; | has brought the ends of the world into communion; [ has established an interchange of blessings, | pouring^ into the sterile regions of the north all the luxuries of the south ; | has diffused the light of knowledge and the charities^ of cultivated^ ^ Sa,y: Sometimes was a distant sail, | which glided along on (an) the edge, etc. ^ The verb ' was ' must be inserted here in German. ^ Say : which hasteiied along. ^ See 2, 3. ^ Translate : te§ ©xifticrentcn. ^ See 3, 3. '' Say : whilst it pours. See 2, 7. ^ Use the Singular here. ^ LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION life [;] and has thus bound together those scattered portions of "n^ the human race, | between which nature seemed to have thrown^ an insurmountable barrier. -|-W. Irving. ^ Say : 'placed. 17. THE EARL OF PETERBOROUGH. The despatch left^ it free to Peterborough to join or not [to join] the expedition [as he pleased], | and he expressed ^ his wish to act upon it. Many men of no less genius have on^ decisive s occasions over-reached* themselves by^ an exaggerated estimate of their own importance; | and it is^ a hard lesson of life to learn | how little we are missed. \ Considering his talents and his services, the English commander may have thought | that he should be '^ pressed to stay.j But the very contrary happened. Unlike Marlborough, he had never understood | that conciliation • is among ^ the main duties of a chief. His bitter sarcasms, | both^ in word and writing, | had keenly offended those | with whom he acted. Soldiers and^^ civilians | all rejoiced to be rid of him. The king, above all, was welP^ pleased. — Stanhope. ^ Say : left to Peterborough the free choice. 2 Translate : er gab fciner Slbftdjt 5lugkru(f. ^ Translate : Bet. ^ Translate : ju I)od> l^tnauS gctrptlt. ^ Say : in consequence of. ^ Say : it is in life a hard lesson \ when one must learn. '' Say : that one ought to have pressed him to stay. When an Auxiliary Verb of Mood in its compound tenses is followed by another Verb, both are used in the Infinitive, and the Auxiliary Verb of Tense always precedes both. ^ Say : one of ^ Say : whether . . . or. 1^ Say : as. " Translate : fcl^r. 18. THE CRIMEAN WAR. The winter was gloomy at home as well as abroad. The news^ constantly arriving from the Crimea told only^ of devastation | ^ Say : The from the Crimea constantly arriving news* - Say : of nothing hut devastations) \ which ivere caused by foes \ ichich were far more, etc. ti LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION caused by foes | far more formidable than the Eussians — sick- ness,^ I bad weather, | bad management. The Black Sea was swept by terrible storms. The destruction of transport-ships \ laden with winter-stores for our men* | was of incalculable injury to^ the army. \ The loss^ of life among the crews-of-the-vessels was immense. On shore the sufferings of the army were un- speakable. The intensity of the cold was so great | that no one might dare'' to touch any metal substance in the open air with his^ bare hand | under penalty^ of leaving the skin behind him. The hospitals for [the] sick and wounded at Scutari were in a wretchedly 10 disorganised state.j— Justin McCarthy. 3 The Def. Article is omitted in enumerating several Nouns. See L. G. G. p. 166. ^ Say : which were laden ivithfor our soldiers intended winter -stores. ^ Say : for the army. ^ See 5, 1. ^ The word e§ should be inserted in German in reference to a following clause, which is the Object of the Verb. ^ See 4, 5. ^ Translate : fat(g er nidjt fetner <§aut tterluj^tg gel^en tuotlte. ^^ Say : i7i a state of wretched disorder. 19. THE AEAB AND THE PEARLS. An Arabian had lost his w^y in the desert. Two days ^ he had wandered 2 about | without^ finding anything to eat, | and was^ in danger of^ perishing of^ hunger. Suddenly he fell in with one of those pools-of- water | at which travellers water their camels, | and near it [there] lay upon the sand a little leathern bag.^ \ * Heaven be praised,' | said he, | after he had picked it^ up, and felt its weight. ^ I believe | it contains either dates or nuts ; and what^ a delightful treat they will be ! How they wilP refresh and comfort me!' So saying, and filled with glowing 1 The word lam is used after Nouns in the accusative implying duration of time. See L. G. G. p. 47. ^ See 12, 4. 3 See 5, 2. ^ Add er. ^ To perish from a disease is ttmf ommen (ftctBen) an, from other causes, as hunger, etc., nmtommen t>ot. ^ See 6, 1. "^ See 2, 6. s Translate : ttjaS inv etn. ^ See 3, 3. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 13 hopes, he opened the bag; but,^^ on beholding its contents, | he exclaimed, with a melancholy sigh : * Alas ! alas ! they^^ are only pearls.' / ^*^ Say : wlien lie however beheld its contents. ^^ Translate : eg. 20. A CHARACTEE SKETCH FROM ^QUENTIN DURWARD.' The exterior of this unhappy prince was in no respect dis- tinguished by^ personal advantages; and in mind he was of [a] gentle, | mild, and beneficent disposition, | qualities ^ | which were visible even through the veil of extreme dejection, | with^ which his natural character was at present obscured.— Quentin observed | that the duke studiously avoided^ even looking at the Royal Guards, | and^ when he returned their salute, | that he - kept his eyes bent on the ground, | as if he feared^ | the king's jealousy might have construed" that gesture of ordinary cour- tesy, I as arising^ from the purpose of^ establishing a separate and personal interest among ^^ them.-|-W. Scott. 1 See 6, 4. ^ Omit the Def. Article in apposition. 3 Say : through which. ^ See 18, 7. ^ Say : and that he, \ when he, etc. ^ Use the Subjunctive after Verbs of fearing, etc. See L. G. G. p. 141. ^ Say : could so explain. 8 Say : as if it arose. alS oh requires the Subjunctive. See L. G. G. p. 141. 9 See 5, 2. '^^ Translate : bei fecrfctten fur fidj. 21. RAILWAY TRAVELLING. I WISH I folks in general would keep their ^ eyes a little more open I when they travel by rail. When I see young people rolling 2 along in a luxurious carriage, | absorbed^ in a trashy 1 See 4, 5. 2 The Infinitive is used in German when the Verbal Form in -ing is used in English with another Verb. Such Verbs as ' to see,' ' to hear,' etc., are followed by the Inf. without 5U. For list see L. G. (?. p. 144 (rf). ^ Say : as they are absorbed. 14 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION shilling^ novel, and never ^ lifting^ up their eyes,yt^to^ look out of the window, [ unconscious*^ of all | that they Xi*e passing : — of the reverend antiquities, | the admirable agriculture ; | the rich and peaceful scenery, | the like^ of which n^^ 'other country upon earth can show \ unconscious, too, | [of] how much^ they might learn of botany and geology, | by^^ simpfy watching the flowers along 11 the railway-banks^ and the sections in^^ ^^Q cuttings : — then it grieves me^^ [to see] | what little use people make of the eyes and the understanding | which God has given them. C. KiNGSLEY. * Say : bought for a shilling. ^ Say : not once. ^ See 2, 3. "^ Translate : imb fid? aKeS fceffen, an fccni fic ^orbeifa^ren, unbemu^t fmt. ^ Translate : t»ie fein anbereS ?anb auf bcr ©rbe drr)a.^ 5l6nlici^cg aufjutvcifen f)at. ^ Say : hoiv much botany and geology they could learn. Use the Subjunctive, as possibility is denoted. ^^ Say : if they only would watch. 11 See 2, 4. ^^ Translate : bet. ^^ Say : that people use the eyes so little. 22. GIBBON. I WAS born at Putney, in the county [of] Surrey, the twenty- seventh [of] April, in the year one thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven [;] the^ first child of the marriage of Edward ^ Gibbon, [Esq.,] and of 2 Judith Porten. My lot might have been that of a slave, | [a] savage, or [a] peasant J nor^ can I reflect •without pleasure on the bounty of Nature,'] which ^ cast my birth in a free and civilised country, | in an age of science and philosophy, | in a family | of^ honourable rank, and decently endowed with [the] gifts-of-fortune. From^ my birth I have enjoyed the right of primogeniture ; but I was succeeded by^ five brothers and one sister, | all of whom^ were snatched away in infancy.-V-GlBBON. ^^^-.^^-^ 1 Translate : als erfteS . . \ ifttftirungpttg^ ^inb, 2 Ugg ^j^g Definite Article. ^ Say : also can I not, ^ Translate : tt?ctc^c mic^ . . . geboren ttjerbcn Ucf . ^ Say : ivhich was oj honourable rank. ^ Sb'on ... an. 7 Avoid the Passive here, and translate : abcr eg folgten mic. Intransitive Verbs and those that govern the Dative of the Person can only be used impersonally in the Passive Voice. ^ Say : who all. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 15 23. ENGLISH SCENERY. Nothing can be more imposing than the magnificence of^ English park-scenery. Vast lawns | that extend ^ like sheets of vivid green, ] with^ here and there clumps^ of gigantic trees, heaping up rich piles of foliage.J The solemn pomp of groves and woodland-glades, | with^ the deer trooping in silent herds across them ; | the hare bounding away tq^ the covert, or the pheasant bursting^ upon the wing. The brook, | taught ^ to wind 2 in natural meanderings, or expand ^ iiito a glassy lake ; , the sequestered pool, | reflecting^ the quivering trees, -I with^ the yellow leaf sleeping on its bosom, | [and] the trout roaming ^ fearlessly through its limpid waters [;] while ^^ some rustic temple or sylvan-statue, | grown ^^ green and dark with age, | gives an air of classic sanctity to the seclusion. i2_|- Washington Irving, ^ Insert the Indefinite Article. - When Transitive Verbs are used intransitively, the Reflexive (ftc^) ii required. ^ Say : wliile. ^ Translate : gewalttgc S3aumgru^^)en mcidjttgc Saubmcngcn auftilrmcn. • ^ Say : over which the deer troops along . . . while the hare, etc. ^ Say : into. ^ Translate : in tit ^o^t flicgt. ^ Say : which one has taught to wind itself. . . or expand itself info (511), etc. ^ Say : which reflects . . . whilst the yellow leaf sleeps on (an), etc. ^^ Say : and a. ^^ Say : which has become with (»oc) age green and dark. 12 Translate : tern aljgcfci^lojfcncn ?(5ta^e. > 24. A GEEMAN INN. 1 AWOKE at daylight with^ the sudden stop of the carriage.' We were 2 at the low door of a German tavern, | and a cleai', | rosy, I good-humoured looking girl bade us good^ morning, | as we alighted one by one.^ The phrase was so like English, | that I asked for a basin [of] water in my mother tongue. The ^ Say : in consequence of. 2 Use the Verb fid^ iicfint)cn when the Verb ' to be ' has this sense (to happen to be). 3 Say : A good morning. The Indefinite Article is often inserted before Abstract Nouns. ^ Say : one after the other. X i6 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION similarity^ served me again. | She brought it without hesita- tion ; I but the question | she asked me, | as she set it down, | was like^ nothing that had ever before entered my ears. The count smiled at'' my embarrassment, and explained | that she wished to know | if I wanted^ soap. Breakfast was brought in immediately — eggs, | rolls, and coffee ; the latter in a glass bottle corked up tightly^ and wrapped in a snowy napkin. , It was an excellent | breakfast served^ with cleanliness and good humour. Even^^ from this single meal, [it] seemed ^^ to me | that I had entered a country of simple manners and kind feelings. -|-N. P. Willis. ^ Translate : 2Bieberum fam \\\\x. tic i\\)\SS\^\t\i ju j^atten. ^ Translate : trar fo Befdjaffen, ttjic mir nicmatg ctma§ i\^\iS\^i% jitvor ^u O^ren gcfommen iDar. ^ Words denoting an emotion of the mind, such as joy, sorrow, anger, surprise, etc., are followed by Vi\ytx (at, about). ^ See 1, 3. ^ Translate : fefloeiforften. When Participles are used in apposition to Nouns, they must be placed with their complements before the Nouns like ordinary Adjectives. Accordingly here : in a corJced-up -tightly and in a snowy napkin x(:rapped bottle. ^'^ Say : From {'Ola^) this meal alone, 1^ Translate : fci)tcn mir Ut (Sdjtu^ ertaubt. » 25. THE SPIEIT OF ALEXANDER The Governor ordered me^ to call whatever ^ persons | I would choose to name, | and in whatever numbers,^ among all [the] dead from the beginning of the world to the present time, and command them to answer any^ question | I^ should think fit to ask, I with^ this condition, | that my questions must be con- fined'' within the compass of the time | they lived in. And one ^ Say : ordered me among all . . . time whatever persons \ that /, etc. See 12, 3. ^ Translate : alle BeUe6uje|^crfonen, tic tc^, etc. ^ Translate : in beliebiger 3ci6L ^ Say : whatever. 5 Translate : ireldjc id) ju fteUcn fiir ))affent> I)a(ten folltc. ^ Translate : jebod) untcr fccr S3ebingung. "^ Use the Reflexive, which often replaces the Passive Voice, when the Subject from which the action proceeds is not mentioned. Note that the Reflexive generally follows the Subject. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 17 thing I might ^ depend upon, | that^ they would certainly tell me truth, | for lying was^ a talent of no use in the lower world. I made^^ my humble acknowledgments to him for so great a favour. We were^^ in a chamber, | from whence ^^ there was a fair prospect into the park. ^ As I was fond of pomp and magni- ficence I I desired to see Alexander at the head of his army just after the battle of Arbela. Alexander was called [up] into the room; it was^^ with great difficulty that I understood his Greek, | and^* had but little of my own. He assured me upon^^ his honour | that he was^^ not poisoned, | but died of a. bad^^ fever by excessive drinking. -vSwift. 8 Use the Pres. Subjunctive, being Indirect Narration. '^ Add ncimUcij'. ^^ Translate : \^ fccjeiigtc t:^m. ^^ See 24, 2. ^2 Translate : X^oit iuetci)cm iS). ^ Translate : benn [ic finb fid(j bcttJiipt. 6 Use the Subjunctive. See L. G. G. p. l40., '' Translate : aU ta^, njoju @ott fie gefdjaffen ^at. » ^qq 27, 7. ^ Translate : von @ott ®cfci(jaffcneS. ^^ Say : whom they meet. See 12, 3. ^^ Insert unb. 29. FREDERICK THE GREAT. Frederick had a keen eye for the foibles of others, and loved ^ to communicate his discoveries. He had some talent for^ sarcasm, and considerable skill in^ detecting the sore places ] where sarcasm would be most acutely felt. His vanity, as well as his malignity, found gratification* in the vexation and confusion of those | who smarted under his caustic jests. 1 Yet in truth his success on^ these occasions belonged [quite] as much 1 See 18, 7. 2 Translate : jum (S^jott. » gee 5, 2. ^ Say : their gratification. ^ Translate : bci. / y \ LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION to the king as to the wit.^ We read | that Commodus descended, sword '^ in hand, into the arena | against^ a wretched gladiator, armed ^ only with a foil of lead, | and^^ after shedding the blood of the helpless victim, | struck ^^ medals | to commemorate the inglorious victory. The triumphs of Frederick in the war of repartee were of much^^ ^^ same kind. How^^ to deal with him was the most puzzling of questions. -VMac AULA Y. ^ Say : io the ivitty head. '^ Say : loith a sword in the hand. ^ Say : in order to fight against. ^ See 24, 9. ^^ Say : and that he | after he had shed. 11 Translate : 2)enfmun5cn fdjtagen liep. ' To get a thing done ' is laffen, accompanied by an Infinitive. See L. G. G. p. 138. 12 Say : much (jiemlid)) of the same kind. 1^ Say : It was the most puzzling of all questions^ \ how one should deal 'ues with him (njtc man fid) i^m gcgeniiber serT;atten fotlK). 30. PUBLIC DUTY.i It is not enough | in^ a situation-of -trust in the commonwealth that a man means -^ well to* his country : it is not enough | that^ in his single person he never did an evil act, | but always voted according to his conscience, and even harangued^ against every design | which' he apprehended ] to be prejudicial to the interests of his country. This^ innoxious and ineffectual character, | that^ seems formed upon a plan of apology and disculpation, | falls ^^ miserably short of the work of public duty. / That duty demands [and requires], | that | what is right | should ^^ not only be made 1 Say : Duties of a public post. 2 Say : that a man, \ who in the commonwealth occupies a situation- of -trusty I 3 Add e§. * Say : with the. ^ See 5, 3. Say : that he himself has never done anything evil. 6 See 12, 4. ^ Say : of which he apprehended \ that it might (Subjunc.) he. ^ Say : Such an. ^ Translate : ker ju fccm 3tt)cdfc fic^ fetBft gu cntfd()ulbtgcn unb §u rcci(jtfcrttgen gefotmt ju fctn fc^cint. 1^ Say : cannot at all fulfil the tasks of a public situation. Such a situation, etc. ^ Use the Pres. Tense after another Pres. Tense. A LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 21 known, | but made prevalent, ^^ | ^^^X \ what is evil | should not only be detected, | but defeated.! When the public man^-^ omits to place himself in a situation | of doing his duty with effect, | it is an omission | that frustrates the purposes of his trust ^^ almost as much | as if^'^ he had formally betrayed itfj Ifis^^^ surely no very rational account of a man's life, | that he has always acted right [;] | but has taken special care to act in such a manner | that his endeavours could not possibly be productive i'' of any con- sequence. -J-Burke. 12 Translate : fonbcrn ba^ tl^m auci(j ©in^ang cccfdjafft trirb. ^^ Say : When a man in [a) public situation omits (see 18, 7) to place him- self so I that he, etc. 1^ Say : position-of -trust. ^^ Translate : aU totnn eu an bem t^m cjefdjenften 33cvtraiicn t^atfAc^Udj SScrrat fccgangen Htte. ' 1^ Say : It shoics surely no very rational conduct -of -life (iJebcngful^vung. f.) | if a man, etc. • ^^ Say Chave any (trgenb tucrdjc) results. 31. A MUTINY. Night came on. I retired to rest more composed than on the preceding evening. I endeavoured to convince myself | that the noises 1 1^ had heard \ were^ but the fancies of a disturbed mind[;] \ and I slept soundly. Ill-timed security ! About midnight I was awakened 2 by a scuffling, | which seemed to be^ near the place [ where I had before heard th^ whisperings.-^ J J^hastened to^ the spot; the captain and one of his officers only^ were fighting against a multitude of the ship's-crew; [in] a moment after, I saw the officer fall. Two fellows advanced to me, | and clapping^ pistols to my breast, | threatened me with instant death | if ^ I stirred ^^ or spoke. \l gazed on the bloody work ; the bodies | which lay around me, | steeped^^ingore, | testified | that ^ See 11, 1. 2 gge ^^ 3 u gg^y . / awoke in consequence of. 4 Translate * which seemed to be ' by fdjcinfcar. ^ Use the Singular. ^ See 1, 6. '' Say : were fighting alone.- ^ See 2, 7. Say : inbcm fic mir ^tflolen auf btc Sriifl fc^tcu. ^ Say : in case (Subj.). ^^ See 23, 2. ^^ Place * steeped in gore ' before 'which lay around me ' ; and see 24, 9. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION the mutineers could not accomplish their murders with impunity. A swimmingly came over my eyes, | my limbs failed ^^ me, | and I fell senseless. 4 ^2 Translate : @§ Begann mtr »or fccn 9luqcn ju fc^tuimmcn. ^^ Translate : bie ©tieter »erfagten mtr fccn 5£)tenft. 32. MAETIN LUTHEE. Luther's indignation and disgust had been excited by the hypocritical outcry for^ war against the Turks, on^ the pretext of religion, and by^h^appeals to^ the faithful for contributions | which were applied to very different purposes. I In short, | he utterly abjured* warlike fanaticism ; he would ndt bring religion into so close [a] connexion with the sword. But^ when it came to be a question of real danger, and of ^ aiding the civil-power to resist'' that danger, | he declared in the most emphatic [manner] s | that it was^ a positive duty to oppose^ the progress of the Turks, f For that cause ^^ was the empire entrusted to the emperor ; he and the princes would otherwise be guilty of the blood of their subjects, | which God would require ^^ at their hands. He thinks it strange | that the assembly was so much troubled 1" | whether people were to eat meat at certain seasons, | or whether a nun were to be allowed to get married, | while it let the Turk advance, and conquer cities and countries at^^ his pleasure.! He calls on the princes no longer to regard the banner of the emperor merely as a piece [of] silk, | but to follow it,^* | as was^^ their duty, | to the field. 1 ^tK^ is used witli words denoting a desire or striving after something. 2 Say : under. ^ See 5, 1. ^ Translate : er trollte »on . . . nidjtg ti?iffen. ^ Translate : 2110 eS fid) aBer urn tDtrfad()c ©efal^r unb fcarum ^antdtc. 6 See 5, 2. 7 gee 12, 3. ^ Use the Superlative with auf. See L. G. G. p. 156. ^ Translate : ta§ c§ gerabeju 5PfIicf)t fei. 1^ Translate : 511 kiefem Bwecf e. "^^ Translate : von t^nen jutiicfforbcin tciirbe. 1-^ Insert tarum before * troubled. ' See 15, 6, and 1, 2. 13 Translate : m^ fetnem aBelicBen. ^^ See 2, 6. 1^ Say : as it is (Subj. Pres.) their duty, \ into the field. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 23 33. A BATTLE-SCENE. It was a solemn moment, | that^ in which the devoted little band, with steadfast countenances, and their usual intrepid step, descended on 2 the plain, | to be swallowed up, as^ it were, in^ the vast ocean of their enemies. The latter rushed on with impetuosity to meet them, | making^ the mountains ring to^ their discordant yells and battle-cries, and sending forth volleys of stones and arrows, | which for a moment shut out the light- of-day. J But when the leading-files^ of the two armies closed, | the superiority of the Christians was felt, | as their antagonists, | falling^ back before the charges of cavalry, | were thrown into confusion | by their ^ own numbers | who pressed upon them from behind. The Spanish infantry followed up the blow, | and a wide lane was made in the ranks of the enemy, | who, | receding^ on all sides, | seemed willing to allow [a] free passage. f or ^ their, opponents. I But^^ it was to return upon them with accumulated force, I as 11 rallying | they poured upon the Christians, envelop- ing the little army on all sides, | which with its bristling array of long swords and javelins stood firm — in^^ the words of a con- temporary — like an islet | against which the breakers, roaring and surging, 12 spend their fury in vain.-l-PRESCOTT/'' 1 Say : when the devoted little hand. ^ Say : in. 3 Translate : fo 511 [agcn. ** Translate : «on. ^ See 2, 7, and 29, 11. ^ Say : of both the armies closed (aneinanbcr gertetcn). 7 Place the Participle at the end of its clause. ^ Translate : in folgc i^rer eigenen gro^en OJJaffcn. ^ Use the Dative. 1" Translate : 5lt)cr c8 gcfc^a^ nur, itm fic^ h)ieberiim gegcn fie mit ccrcintgtcn Stx&itcn jit tuerfcn. ^^ Say : for after they had rallied . . . and enveloped. ^2 Say : as a contemporary says. ^^ See 24, 9. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 34. AN ENGLISHMAN'S WEALTH. There is no country | in which so absolute a homage is paid to wealth. The Englishman has^ pure pride in^ his wealth, and esteems it a final certificate. There is a mixture of religion in it. They^ are under the Jewish law, and read with sonorous emphasis | that their days shall be long in the land, | they shall have sons and daughters, | flocks^ and herds, | wine and oil. In exact proportion is^ the reproach of poverty. An Englishman^ | who has lost his fortune | is said to have died of ' [a] broken heart. I - The last term of insult^ is ' [^] beggar.' And one of their recent writers speaks, in reference to a private^ and scholastic life, of nhe grave moral deterioration | which follows ^^ an empty exchequer.' You^^ shall find this sentiment, | if not so frankly put, ^2 I yg^ deeply implied, | in the novels and romances of the present ^^ century; and not only in these, | but in biography ^^ | [and] in the votes of public assemblies, | in the tone of the preachingi^ and in the table-talk. ^^-I-Emerson. ^ Say : feds a. See 24, 3. 2 2(ttf is used with words denoting a view in prospect : such as, hope, con- fidence, reliance, waiting, etc. ; further with the Adjectives envious, jealous, careful, proud, etc. See L. G. G. p. 174. ^ Say : Englishmen stand. ■* Translate : @c^af= iinb JRtnfccrfierben. ^ Translate : fcajii fter;t. ^ Say : Qyie says of an Englishman | . . . that he, etc. 7 See 19, 5. ^ Translate : tag betcibtgenbfte SBort. ^ Translate : cin juriirfge^ogencg ©eteljrten^Seben. ^^ Say : ivhich is owing to. ^^ See 7, 4. ^^ g^y . expressed. 13 Say : of our. ^^ Use the Plural. 35. THE INVENTION OF FEINTING. The invention of printing was in itself ^ a reformation, | and its benefits were chiefly felt by the great masses of the people. The clergy possessed their libraries | where they might read and study I if they chose ; the castles contained collections of manu- 1 Translate : an unt fiir fidfj fdjon. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 25 scripts, sacred and profane, ^ illuminated^ with^ the most exquisite taste; while the citizen, | the poor layman, though^ he might be able to read and to write, | was debarred from^ the use of books, I and had to satisfy his literary tastes with the sermons of travelling Franciscans, or the songs of blind beggars and pedlars.J The art-of-printing admitted that large class to the same privileges | which had hitherto been enjoyed'^ almost exclusively by clergy and nobility ; it placed in the hands of the third estate arms | more^ powerful than the swords of the knights and the thunderbolts of the priests : it was a revolution in the history of literature more eventfuP than any in the history ^^ of mankind J Poets ^^ and philosophers ^^ addressed themselves no longer to^^ emperors and noblemen, | to knights and ladies, | but to the people at large, ^^ *and especially to the middle^ classes, | in which henceforth the chief-strength of the nation resides. — Max Muller. 2 See 1, 4. ^ See 24, 9. ^ Translate : aiif ba§ gcfd^macf^oKfte. ^ Place this clause after the following one. ^ See 5, 1. '' Translate : ju gute gefommcn tuaren. Use the Dative with this. ^ Say : ichich luere more powerful. ^ Translate : tic fid) aU folgcnreictjer ermicg. 1^ Translate : in ter ®efc!?i(f)te beg menfd^licijen ©cfdjlcdfjt^. 1^ See 18, 3. ^^ gee 5, 1. ^^ Translate : im gicpcn ©anjen. 36. HOWAED THE PHILMTHEOPIST. I CANNOT name this gentleman | without remarking ^ | that his labours and writings have done much ^ | to open the eyes and hearts of all mankind. \ He has visited all Europe — not to survey the sumptuousness of palaces or the stateliness of temples ; not to make accurate measurements^ of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a scale ^ of the curiosities'* of modern art ; nor^ to collect medals, or collate manuscripts, | but to dive ^ See 5, 2. - Translate : wi fcaju beigctragen }^o^tn. ^ Say : to measure exactly. ** Translate : abjinuflgcn. •^ Say : not. \ 26 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION into the depths of dungeons, | to plunge into the infection of ^ hospitals, I to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain; | to take^ the gauge and dimensions of misery, | depression, and contempt ;| to remember ^ the forgotten, | to attend to the neglected, | to visit the forsaken, | and compare and collate the distresses^ of all men in all countries. His plan is original; it is as full of genius as of humanity. It was a voyage-of-dis- covery [;] | a circumnavigation of charity. Already, the benefit ^^ of his labour is felt more or less in every country ; I hope | he^^ will anticipate his final reward by | seeing all its effects fully realised in his own.-|-BuRKE. 6 Say : in. 7 Translate : abjiimcffcn. 8 The Genitive is required after most Reflexives, and Verbs expressing need, remembrance, sparing, etc. See L. G. G. p. 169. ^ Use the Singular. i^ Say : the salutary influence. " Translate : eg irirb i^m etn SSorgcfcfimacf fetncg cnbguttigcn Sol^nc^ baturd) ^u %t\\ ttjcrfcen, bap er. 37. THE GREAT FIRE IN LONDON. While the war continued without any decisive success on either side, | a calamity happened in London | which threw the people into great consternation. Fire,^ | breaking out in a baker's-house near the bridge, | spread itself on all sides with such rapidity, | that no efforts could extinguish it | till it laid^ in ashes a considerable part of the city, t The inhabitants, | without^ being able to provide effectually for their relief, | were reduced to be spectators of their own ruin [;] | and were pursued from street to street by the flames | which unexpectedly gathered round ^ them.**! Three days and nights did the fire advance [;] | and it was^ only by blowing up houses that it was at last extin- guished. The king andvduke used their ^ utmost endeavours | to stop*" the progress of the flames, | but all their industry was ^ Say : A fire, \ which broke out. ^ Say : it had laid. 3 Say : who were incapable. ^ Translate : rtnggl^crum umgaten. ^ Translate : eg murbc enbUc^ nur babuvd? getofcljt, ba^ man Jsdufev in bie Suft fprengte. ^ Say : made the. ^ Translate : urn bcm gcncr ©tn^att ju t^un. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 27 unsuccessful. About four hundred streets and thirteen thousand houses were reduced to ashes. The causes of the calamity were evident. The narrow streets of London, | the houses built ^ entirely of wood, | the dry season, and a violent east-wind | which ^ blew; these were so many concurring circumstances, | which rendered it easy to assign the reason of the destruction^^ that ensued. But the people were not satisfied with this obvious account. 4-HuME. ^ See 24, 9. ^ Translate : bcr gerabe me^te. ^^ Say : of the ensuing destruction. 38. KLOPSTOCK. On^ adverting to^ his own poem, | he (Klopstock) told me | he began ^ the Messiah \ when he was seventeen : | he devoted three entire years to the plan | without composing a single line. He was greatly^ at a loss | in what manner to execute his work. There were no successful specimens of versification in the German language before this time. The first three cantos he wrote in a species of measured prose. This,^ though done with much labour^ and some success, | was^ far from satisfying him. He had composed hexameters both Latin ^ and Greek as a school- exercise,^ and there -^ had been also in the German language attempts in that sty lerof -versification. | One day^^ he was struck with the idea [of] whaV could be done in this way — he kept his room a whole day, | eveh-went^^ without his dinner, and found that in the evening | he had written twenty-three hexameters, J^ ^ Say : ivhilst he. - See 34, 2. 3 Use the Perfect Subjunctive more or less throughout this piece. "* Say : in great embarrassment how he should, etc. ^ Say : Although this took place with (untcr), etc. ^ Use the Plural. '' Translate : fo ^abe e8 t!^n fcodj t>urci()aiiS ntdjt bcfrickigt. ^ See 1, 4. '^ Translate : c« feicn and^ ... in biefer SScrSart vorl^anbcn genjcfcn. 1^ Translate : ©tncS Xa^ti fci il^m tcr ©cbanfc ctngcfaflen; xvai fid) mit biefem ayietrum t^iin Ucpe. ^^ Say : had not even dieted. 28 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION versifying 12 ^ part of what | he had before written in prose. From that time,^^ | pleased ^^ with his efforts, | he composed no^^ more in prose. -^Coleridge. ^2 See 2, 7. ^^ Say : From that time had he, etc. ^'* See 33, 7. -"^ Say : nothing more. 39. A SEA VOYAGE. To^ a man of middle age | whose occupations have long con- fined him to 2 the unexhilarating atmosphere of a library, | there ^ is something unspeakably delightful in a sea-voyage. Increasing years,^ if they bring little else [that is] agreeable with them, | bring to some of us immunity from sea-sickness. iThe regularity of habit ^ on board a ship, | the absence of dinner-parties, | the exchange of the table in the close room for^ the open deck under an awning, | and the ever-blowing breeze | which the motion of the vessel forbids'' to sink into a calm, | give vigour to the tired system, | restore, the conscious enjoyment of^ elastic health, and even mock Us for the moment with the belief | that age is an illusion, | and that the wild freshness of the morning-of-life has^ not yet passed away for ever. | Above our heads is the arch of the sky, | around us the ocean, | rolling ^^ free and fresh | as it rolled a million years ago, | and our spirits ^^ catch a contagion from the elements. Our step on the boards ^^ recovers its buoyancy. We are rocked to rest at night by a gentle move- ment, I which soothes us into a dreamless sleep-of-childhood, | and we wake with the certainty, | that we are beyond the reach of the postman. We are shut off as in a Catholic retreat from the worries and anxieties of the world. 4- J. A. Froude. 1 Say : For a man in middle age (im nuttleceu 3Utcr). - See 34, 2. ^ Say : has a sea-voyage something unspeakably charming. See 27, 7. ^ Say : Though increasing years, etc. , and add bod? in the Principal Clause. 5 Use the Plural. 6 ggg g, 5. "^ Translate : iiic jur aCinfcj^ilte ttjevben ta^t. 8 gg^ £4, 3. ^ Translate : noc^ nic^t fiir immer ka^tn ift. * i^' Say : which rolls along. ^^ Say : our spirit is infected by the elements. ^2 Say : on the boards of the deck. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 29 40. LORD CLIYE. Clive was^ in a painfully anxious situation. He could place no confidence in^ the sincerity, or in the courage of his confederate ; and whatever 2 confidence he might place in his own military talents, and in the valour and discipline of his troops, | it was no^ light [thing] to engage an army | twenty^ times as numerous as his own. Before him lay a river | over^ which it was easy to- advance, | but over which, | \V things went ill, | not one of his little band would [ever] return. He called a council-of-war. The majority pronounced^ against fighting,^ | and Clive declared I his^^ concurrence with the majority. \^ Long afterwards he said that he had never ^^ called but one council-of-war^ | and that, | if he had taken ^^ \)^q advice of that council, | the British would never have been masters of Bengal. I But scarcely had the meet- ing broken up | when he was^^ himself again. He retired^ alone under ^^ the shade of some trees, and passed near an hour there in thought. I'' He came back determined to put ^^ everything to the hazards, | and gave orders | that all should be in readiness \ for^^ passing the river [on] the morrow.— ^Macaulay. 1 See 24, 2. 2 gee 12, 3. ^ Translate : fo mel SScrtraucn cr aiicfj ju feincn . . . l^abcn mod^tc. '* 4 See 27, 7, and 8, 7. ^ See 35, 8. ^ Prefix this to the verb, and say : lohich one could easily cross to the attack. 7 gay . ^^ ^^^^g ^g should have ill-lucl\ 8 See 23, 2. '^ Say : a fight. ^^ Say : that he concurred. ^^ Say : in his life. 1^ Say : followed. See 12, 4. ^^ Say : came again to himself. ^^ Say : in. i^ Translate : mtt 0lac!()tcntcn. ^^ Translate : afleg auf3 (S^tel ju fe^cn. i'' Say : in order to pass. PART II 41. THOMAS PARNELL. Thomas Parnell was descended from an ancient family that had for^ some centuries been settled at Congleton in Cheshire. Upon the Restoration his father went over to Ireland ; thither he carried a large personal fortune, which he laid out in lands in that kingdom. The estates he purchased there, as also that [of] which he [was] possessed in Cheshire, descended to our poet, who was his eldest son, and still remain in the family. Thus want, which has compelled many of our greatest men into^ the service of the Muses, had no influence upon Parnell : he^ was a poet by inclination.^ He was born in Dublin in the year 1699, and received the first rudiments of his education at the school of Doctor Jones in that city. Surprising things are told us of the greatness of his memory at that early period : as,^ of his being able to repeat by heart forty lines of any book at^ the first read- ing ; of his learning the third book of the Iliad in one night's [time], which was given ^ in order to confine him [for] some days. These" stories, which are told of almost every celebrated wit, may perhaps be true, f He was admitted a member of the college of Dublin at the age of thirteen, which is much sooner than usual, as^ at that university they are^ a great deal stricter in their examination for entrance than either at Oxford or Cambridge. Goldsmith. ^ See 19, 1. 2 Translate : in ken JDicnfi . . . ju treten. ^ Say : his personal inclination induced him to become [a] poet. ^ Translate : fo ju SBcifpiet, kaB er. ^ Say : after he had read it through once. ^ See 11, 3. ^ Say : Such stories, as they are told. ^ Say : for at (an). ^ Translate : :^3flcgt man Bet bent ©tntrttt^examen toicl jlrenger ju fetn aU fotDol^l in O. mt and) in (5. 30 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 31 42. PRIDE. Ask for^ what end the heav'nly-bodies shme, Earth 2 for whose use % Ptide answers, * 'Tis^ for mine : For me* kind Nature wakes her genial-pow'r, Suckles each herb, and spreads out ev'ry flow'r ; Annual for me, [the] grape, ^ [the] rose renew The juice-nectar eous, and the balmy dew ; For me, the mine a thousand treasures brings ; "^ For me, health gushes from a thousand springs ; Seas^ roll to waft me, suns to light me rise ; My foot-stool earth, my canopy the skies.'' But errs not nature from this gracious end; From^ burning suns when livid deaths descend, When^ earthquakes swallow, or when tempests sweep Towns to one grave, whole nations to the deep ?— Pope. / ^ Translate : gu n)etd(>cm 3n)ec!e. '•^ Translate : trem 511 SSbx^tw kic @vte ba tft. ^ Translate : SJiir ju Slu^en. ^ Translate : mtr ju frommcn. ^ Insert * and ' after ' grape.' ^ Say : for me, roll seas. ^ Use the Singular. ^ Say : When burning suns send down livid ray s-of -death, ^ Say : When earthquakes and tempests siveep towns into one grave and blow whole nations into the deep. 43. CICERO. "^ Nor were the mental endowments of Cicero less adapted to the accomplishment of his object than the spirit with which he engaged in the work. Gifted with versatility of talent, with r acuteness, quick[ness of] perception, skill in selection, art in ^-'^ • arrangement, fertility of illustration, warmth of fancy, and e xtraor dinary _t3^i^' he at once seizes on the "most effective parts of his subjects, places them in the most striking point of view, and arrays them in the liveliest and most inviting colours. \ His writings' have^ the singular felicity of combining brilliancy 2 of ^ Translate : jcidjncn fid^ burdj ken fcttencn 3>ortctt aii8, bap fic . . . wcretnigcn {combine). ^ ^ * / t/ / z ^ ?^ * brilliant execution. ^^ 32 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION execution with never-failing good sense. It must be allowed that he is deficient in depth ; that he skims over, rather^ than dives into, the various departments of literature ; that he had^ too great a command of the plausible to be a patient investi- gator or [a] sound reasoner. ^ Yet, if he has less originality of thought than others, if he does not grapple with his subject, if he is unequal to a regular and lengthened disquisition, if he is frequently inconsistent in his opinions, we must remember that mere soundness of thought, without talent for display, has few charms for those who have not yet imbibed a taste even for the outward form of knowledge, that system nearly precludes variety, and depth almost implies obscurity. It was this very absence^ of scientific exactness which constituted in Eoman^ eyes a principal charm of Cicero's compositions. -^Cardinal Newman. ^ Say : instead of diving into them. Place this clause at the end. ^ Translate : ba§ x^m ker au^erc @djetn kcr SBal^rl^cit ju fcl^c ju ©cljotc fianb, al§ fca§ cr . . . l^cittc fein fonnen. ^ Say : in the eyes of the Romans one of the principal-charms. 44. DANTE. Tuscan, that^ wanderest through the realm of gloom, With thoughtful pace, and sad majestic eyes. Stern thoughts and awful from thy soul arise, Like Farinata from his fiery tomb. Thy sacred song is like the trump of doom ; ^ Yet in thy heart what human sympathies,^ What soft compassion glows, as^ in the skies The tender stars their cloUded lamps relume ! 1 Translate : fcec bu. After a Personal Pronoun of the first or second person (or the Srd pers. plur. in the sense of ' you,') or after a Noun used instead of a Pronoun in the first or second person (as is the case here), bcr, bie, ^aS must be used, and then the Pronoun is repeated after the Relative, the Verb standing in the first or second person respectively. When the Pronoun is not repeated — which is, however, exceptional— then the Verb stands in the third person. ^ xjse the Singular. ^ Say : like the tender stars vjhich in the sJcj/, etc. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 33 Methinks I see thee stand, with pallid cheeks, By* Fra Hilario in his diocese. As up the convent-walls, in golden streaks, The ascending sunbeams mark the day's decrease ; And as he asks what there the stranger seeks, Thy voice along the cloisters whispers, ' Peace ! ' Longfellow. ^ Translate : an bcr @ctte bc§ a3ruter8 <§itano. 45. COWPER'S GREENHOUSE. My greenhouse is never so pleasant as when we^ are just on the point of being turned out of it. The gentleness of the autumnal-sun[s], and the calmness of this latter season, ^ make^ it a much more agreeable retreat than [we] ever [find it] in summer; when, the winds being generally brisk, we* cannot cool it by admitting a sufficient quantity [of] air without being at the same time incommoded by it. But now I sit^ with all the windows and the door wide open, and am regaled with the scent of every flower in a garden as full of flowers as I have ; known [how] to make it. We keep no bees, but if I lived in a hive 1 should hardly hear more of their music. I All the bees in the neighbourhood resort to a bed-of-mignonette, opposite to ^^-»»-/^ the window, and pay me for the honey they get out of it by a hum, which, though rather monotonous, is as agreeable to my ear as the whistling of my linnets. All the sounds that nature utters are delightful, at least in this Country. "^ I should not, perhaps, find the roaring of lions in Africa, or of bears in Russia, • very pleasing ; but I know no beast in England whose voice I ^ Translate : tutr gcrabc l^crauS muffcn. 2 j^^y . qJ ^^g autumn./^4^(it ^ Verbs of making, declaring, appointing, etc. , require the Predicative «/ complement in the Dative preceded by ju. ^ Translate : iinb tuic ba^felBe beg^alB ntcijt kurd() Sutaffung (Gen. ) . . . ^ Say : / sit in it, whilst all the loindows and the door are (flc'^en) ivide open ^ Say : which is as {so) fidl. '' Say : in our home, f C 34 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION do not account musical, [save and] except perhaps the braying of an ass. The notes of all our birds [and fowls] please me without one exception. 4- William Cowper. 46. TOWN AND COUNTEY. The young lambs are bleating in the meadows ; The young birds are chirping in the nest ; The young fawns are playing with the shadows ; The young flowers are blowing towards the west ; But the young, young children, [my] brothers, [They] are weeping bitterly ! They are weeping in^ the play time of the others. In the country of the free.^ For oh ! say the children, we are weary. And we cannot run or leap ; If 2 we care for any meadows, it were merely To drop down in them and sleep.j Our knees tremble sorely in^ the stooping — We^ fall upon our faces trying to go ; And, underneath our heavy eyelids drooping,^ The ruddiest flower would look as pale as snow. For all" day, we drag our burden tiring. Through s the coal-dark underground — Or, all day, we drive the wheels of iron In the factories round and round. -I-Mrs. Browning. 1 Say : nihiU the others are ^OAfing. ^ Say : of freedom. 3 Translate : Hnb ircnn vuir/ nad^ kgmb n?e((^ SBtefcn ft4»««- ,4w^fragcn, fo gcfd(jte^t c3 nur, ttjcit toxt auf ^ tufcn ^ ni n irtie tfttfl wt unb fc^Iafen fonnen. Say : when we stoop. I ^ Say : when we try to go, ivefall on the face. 6 See 24, 9. / ^ Say : the whole day (Definite Time). Say : through coal-hlcfjck underground caves. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 35 47. FEIENDSHIP. ' Of all the differences between the ancients and ourselves, none is more striking than our respective ideas of friendship. Grecian friendship was, indeed, so ethereal that it is difficult to define its essential qualities. They must be sought ^ rather in the pages of Plato, or the moral essays of Plutarch perhaps, and in some other books ^ not quite as well known, but. not less interesting and curious.^ As^ for modern friendship, it will be found in clubs. \ It is violent at a house dinner, fervent in a. cigar-shop, full of devotion at^ a cricket or a pigeon match, or in the gathering of a steeple-chase. The nineteenth century is not entirely sceptical on the head of friendship, but fears 'tis rare.J A mau'^ may have friends, but [then,] are they^ sincere [onesQ Do they not abuse you behind your back, and blackbalF you at societies where they [have] had the honour to propose you % It^^ might philosophically be suggested that it is more agreeable to be abused^ behind one's back than to one's face; and, as for^ the second catastrophe, it^^ should not be forgotten that, if the sincere friend may occasionally put^^ a successful veto on your election, he is always ready to propose you again. Generally speaking,. among ^2 sensible persons, it would .seem that a rich ^ Say : one must seek them. See 11, 3. 2 Place the word ' books ' after ' curious,' as the Noun must follow its attributes — Participial or Adjectival. ^ Translate : 2)tc Sreunfcfdjaft im moternen ©tunc feagegcn tft in ben £tuB§ ju finbcn. ^ Translate : Beim Sricfetfpielen obcr S^aubcnfc^ief en otec in ber ju eincm SBctt- rcnncn ^erfammctten SJ^enfdjenmcn^e. ^ Translate ' a man ' by man, and insert \efc()affen tjt ta^ !l-tng. ^ Say : can, 3 See 36, 8. ^ gee 18, 7. ^ Say : that lie is ivarm, ^ Say : mi/ days or nights. ^ Translate : fiir tmmer ma<^ Ucihtn, fo tticirc c8 filr mtd^. ^ Translate : JDarum txUuhtt ntci(jt, ba^ baS toa9, etc. ^ The peace of my mind. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 45 57. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. About two hours before midnight, Columbus, standing ^ on the forecastle, observed a light at a distance, and privately pointed it out to Pedro Gultierez, a page of the Queen's wardrobe. Gultierez perceived it, and calling [to] Salcedo, comptroller-of- [the]-fleet, all three saw it in motion, as if it were carried from place to place. 2 JA little ^fter midnight, the joyful sound of ' Land ! land ! ' was heard from the Finta^ which kept always ahead of the other ships. But having^ been so often deceived by fallacious appeapnces, every man was now become slow of belief, and waited in all the anguish of uncertainty and impatience for 4 return of day. I As soon as morning dawned, all doubts and fears were dispelled. From every ship an island was seen about two leagues to the north, whose flat and verdant fields, well stored with wood, and watered with many rivulets, presented the aspect of a delightful country. The crew of the Finta instantly began ^ the Te Deum, as [a] hymn-of-thanksgiving to^ God, and were joined*^ by those of the other ships with tears of joy and transports of congratulation. This^ ofiice-of-gratitude to heaven was followed by an act of justice to^ their commander. They threw themselves at the feet of Columbus^ with feelings of self-condemnation, mingled with reverence. J They implored him to pardon their ignorance, incredulity, and insolence, which had created him so much unnecessary disquiet; -and had so often obstructed the prosecution of his well-concerted plan :* and passing, ^^ in the warmth of their admiration, from one extreme ^ Use a Relative Clause. ^ Say : from one spot to the other. ^ Say : as they had been. ^ See 34, 2. Say : for the break of the next day. ^ Say : began to sing. ^ See 8, 5. . ^ Translate : kic 9J?annfci(jaftcn bcr anberen @c!?tffe fti mmtei^ greutentBranen tDcinenb unb fic^ gcgenfcittg mtt 33cgciftcrung,bcgtu(fn3unfc^cnb,^ ' ^ Say : To this . . . followed an act. ^ Translate : @oluiuBu8 ju Sufien. ^^ Say : whilst they passed. 46 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION to another, they now pronounced the man^^ whom they had so lately reviled and threatened, to be [a person] inspired by Heaven with^^ sagacity and fortitude more than human in order to accomplish a design ^^ [so] far beyond the ideas and conception of former ages. 4- Willi AM Eobertson. ^^ Say : that the man . . . was. ^^ Say : with superhuman sagacity. ^2 Say : stretching (l^inaugge^en) so far beyond (iiber). See 24, 9. 58. THE LAEK AND THE NIGHTINGALE. ' Tis sweet to hear the merry lark, That bids^ a blithe good-morrow ; But sweeter to hark in the twinkling dark, To the soothing song of sorrow. Oh nightingale ! What doth her ail ? And is she sad^ or jolly ^ For ne'er on earth was sound '^ of mirth So like to melancholy. The merry lark [he] soars on high, No worldly thought* o'ertakes him. He sings aloud to^ the clear blue sky, And the daylight that awakes him. - As sweet a lay, [as] loud, [as] gay. The nightingale is trilling ; With^ feeling bliss no less"^ than his Her little heart is thrilling. \ Yet^ ever and anon a sigh Peers through her lavish mirth ; ^ Insert ' us ' after 'bids.' ^ Translate : freub* ofccr tcibiooU. ^ Say : a to melancholy so like sound of mirth to hear. ^ Use the Plural. ^ Translate : in . . . l^inein. ^ Translate by \}Ct, which generally follows words denoting fear, protection, caution, abhorrence, etc. '' Say : ivhich is not less than that of the lark. ^ Say : hut ever and anon a sigh becomes audible through all her lavish mirth. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 47 For the lark's bold song is of the sky, And hers is of the earth. By^ night and day, she tunes her lay. To drive away all sorrow ; For^^ bliss, alas ! to-night must pass. And woe may come to-morrow. — H. Coleridge. ® Say : day and night. ^^ Say ; for alas ! joy must. 59. LITERARY RIDICULE.1 Ridicule may be considered as a species [of] eloquence ; it has all its vehemence, all its exaggeration, all its power-of-diminution ; it is irresistible. Its business ^ is not with truth, but with its ap- pearance; audit is this similitude, in perpetual comparison^ with the original, which, raising contempt, produces the ridiculous. J There is nothing real in ridicule : the more exquisite, the more it borrows from the imagination. When directed towards an individual, by preserving^ a character of unity in all its parts, it produces a fictitious personage, so modelled^ on the prototype that we know not to distinguish the true one from the false. Even^ with an intimate knowledge of the real object, the am- biguous image slides into our mind, for we are at least as much influenced in our opinions by our imagination as by our judg- ment. J Hence some great characters have come down^ to us spotted with the taints of indelible wit ; and a satirist of this class, sporting s with distant resemblances and fanciful analogies, ^ has^ made the fictitious accompany for ever the real character. ^ Say : Ridicide in Literature. ^ Translate : ©r l^at c8 nid(?t . . . gu tl^un. 3 Translate : bie jlet§ ben SSergletcfj mit kcm Original l^eraugforfccrt, ttjclc^c fcaturd(j, ba^ fic SSeradjtung crnjcdt. ^ Translate : babiirci(j, bap er . . . Bcma^rt. ^ Say : which is modelled so similar to the prototype^ that ive cannot distinguish the true from the false man. ^ Say : Even when we know intimately the true object. ^ Say : been handed down spotted by the taint of an indelible irit. 8 Say : who sported. ^ Say : has been the cause, that the fictitious remains \ound for ever to (mit) the real character. 48 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION The banterers and ridiculers possess this ^^ provoking advantage over sturdy honesty or nervous sensibility — their amusing fictions affect the world more than the plain tale that would put them down. They excite our risible emotions, ^^ while they are reduc- ing their adversary to contempt — otherwise they^^ would not be distinguished from gross slanderers. When the wit has gained over the laughers on his side, he has struck a blow which put his adversary liors de combat, t A grave reply can never wound ridicule, which, ^^ assuming all forms, has really none. Witty calumny and licentious raillery are airy nothings ^^ that float about us, invulnerable from their very nature, like^^ those chimeras of hell which the sword of ^neas could not pierce — yet these shadows of truth, these false images, these fictitious realities, have made heroism tremble, turned the eloquence of wisdom into folly, and bowed down the spirit of honour itself. I Isaac Disraeli. ^^ Say : an undeserved advantage over (vor) sturdy honesty and, etc. 1^ Translate : itnfere :?ad(jUift, hjvil^rcnt) fie tferen ©cgner ijcrad^tlidj madden. 1^ Say : one could (Subj.) not distinguish them. ^^ Say : ivhich really possesses no single form, although it assumes all possible [ones]. ^"^ Say : like an airy nothing . . , ivhich is invidnerahle. 1^ Translate : iine [tm ter '^oKc angel^origen (S^imaren. 60. THE INDIAN SUMMER. What^ is there saddening in the autumn leaves ? Have they^ that ^ green and yellow melancholy' That the sweet poet spake of ? — Had he seen Our variegated woods, when first ^ the frost Turns into beauty all October's charms — When the dread fever quits us — when the storms Of the wild equinox,^ with all its wet, ^ Say : What have the autumn leaves in themselves {an ficfj), which saddening (traurig fltmmt). ^ Translate : fic . . . an fi( 3 Say : when the frost begins to turn. ^ Say : v)hen the vnld equinoctial -storms. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 49 Have left the land, as the first Deluge left it, With^ a bright bow of many colours hung Upon the forest-tops — he had*^ not sighed. \ The moon stays longest for the hunter now : The trees cast down their fruitage, and the blithe And busy squirrel hoards his winter store : "' While man enjoys the breeze that sweeps along The^ bright, blue sky above him, and that bends Magnificently [all] the forest's pride. Or whispers through the evergreen[s], and asks, * What is there saddening in the autumn leaves % ' J. G. Brainerd. ^ Say : while. ^ Say : he, would not have. "^ Say : Htorefor the imnter. ^ Translate ; am :^e((en, blaucn ^immet cnt(ang. 61. THE INDIAN MUTINY. \ The British, now completely exhausted, threw themselves upon the ground ; and many of them, caring ^ for nothing but rest, rejected the food which was offered them. Eising^ only half-refreshed after a night of intolerable heat, they found their meat already spoiled, and threw it away in disgust. \ The rays of the sun smote them with a fierceness which they had never before experienced even in this fiery campaign : man after man reeled out of the ranks,' and fell [down] fainting on the ground ;' but Cawnpore was now only twenty-three miles off*, and those whose strength'^ held out, sustained by the hope of rescuing-* the remnant of their countrywomen, and inflicting [a] terrible ven- geance upon the Nana and his accomplices, tramped doggedly on.^ After ^ advancing sixteen miles, the General suffered his troops ^ Use a Relative Clause. ^ Say : n^lien they rose after an intolerably hot niyht . . . they found that their meat ivas, etc. ^ Use the Plural. Place ' tramped doggedly on ' after this clause. ■* See 6, 2. Say : the remxiining countrywomen. '"' Say : when they had advanced* D ^ 50 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION to rest awhile under the shade of some trees. I Presently two sepoys came in, and informed him that the Nana had marched out of Cawnpore at the head of five thousand men, to do battle for his throne. The rebeP army was drawn up in [the] form of a crescent, [with] its centre and its horns protected by fortified villages, at each end^ of which guns were posted. The Grand Trunk Eoad,^ along which the Nana believed that the British must advance, ran between the centre and the right^^ of the crescent; and his artillery, supported by the flower of his infantry, was laid so as to check their progress. Havelock, however, contrived a plan to baffle his calculations. J ^ Holmes : History of the Indian Mutiny, ' ^ ^ Say : the army of the rebels. '^ Say : at whose ends. ^ Translate : 2)tc >§aupt*Sanbj^vaf e auf ber, tuic ber Sf^ana glaublc, tie Jbrttteit, etc. ^ Say: the right side of the crescent ; and his artillery, supported by his best infantry, ivas so laid, that it should" check their progress. 62. EOME. Go thou to Kome, at once^ [the] Paradise, [The] grave, [the] city, and [the] wilderness ; And where its wrecks ^ like shattered mountains rise, [And]^ flowering weeds and fragrant copses dress The bones* of Desolation's nakedness, Pass,^ till the spirit of the spot shall lead Thy footsteps to a slope of green access,^ Where, like an infant's smile, over the dead A light of laughing flowers along the grass is spread. And grey walls moulder round, on which dull time Feeds, like slow fire upon a hoary brand ;'' 1 Say : which is at once. ^ Say : the wrecks of the town. 3 Say : where. ^ Say : skeleton of naked desolation. ^ Translate : ba \&)mti hjeitcr. ^ Say : a green slope. '' Translate : am ©reifenBrvinbe. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 51 And one keen pyramid, with^ wedge sublime Pavilioning the dust of him who planned This refuge for his memory, doth stand Like flame transformed to marble ;iand beneath A field is spread, on which a newer band Have pitched in Heaven's smile ^ their camp of death, Welcoming him we lose with scarce extinguished breath. Here, pause : these graves are all^^ too young as yet To have outgrown the sorro\f which consigned Its charge to each ; and if the seal is set Here, on one fountain of a mourning mind. Break it not thou ! . Shelley. ^ Say : ivliose sublime wedge iiavilioiiH the ditiit of the man who chose this refuge for his memory (^iir ©vinnerung an fic^). ^ Translate : unter Iddjctnbem -^tmmef. 1^ Translate : nccij ju ying i. When an Infinitive is preceded by the word ' too ' with an Adjective, it is translated by al§ bo^ followed by the Subjunctive. See L. q. G. p. 141 (6). ^ / / 63. THE COLOSSEUM. n It is no fiction, but plain, sober, honest truth to sayi — so suggestive and distinct is it at this hour — that, for a moment, actually in passing in,- they who wilP may have the whole great pile before them, as it used to be,^ with thousands of eager faces staring [down] into the arena, and such a whirl of strife and blood and dust [going on there] as^ no language can describe.^ Its solitude, its awful beauty, and its utter desolation strike^ upon the stranger, the next moment, like a softened sorrow ; and never in his life, perhaps, will he be so moved and overcome 1 Say : when I say. - Translate : gcrabc lucnn fic ^ineingc^en. ^ See 18, 7. \ Say : as it was tvont to look. ^ Say : that no language can describe it. ^ Say : 7nake in the next moment on the stranger the impression of a ■softened sorrow. 52 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION by any sight not'' immediately connected with his own affections and afflictions. To see ^ it crumbling there an inch a year ; its walls and arches overgrown with green ; its corridors open to the day ; the long grass growing in its porches ; young trees of yesterday springing up on its rugged parapets and bearing fruit — chance-produce of the seed[s] dropped^ there by the birds who build their nests within its chinks and crannies jjto see its Pit- of-Fight filled [up] with earth and the peaceful Cross planted in the centre ; to climb into its upper halls, and look down^^ on ruin, ruin, all about it ; the triumphal-arches of Constantine, Septimus^Severus, and Titus ; the Roman Forum, the palace of the Caesars, the temples of the old religion fallen and gone, is^^ to see the ghost of old Eome — wicked, ^^ wonderful old city ! — haunting the very ground [on] which ^^ its people trod. It is the most impressive, the most stately, the most solemn, grand, majestic, mournful sight conceivable.^^-J-C. Dickens. ^ Say : ivhich does not stand directly in connection with his personal affections, etc. ^ Say : ivhen one sees it every year, etc. ^ Translate : tvctdf)cn ktc SSogel . . . tort l^inetn fallen taffen. ^^ Translate : unb vtngSum aiif Shiinen unb ntdjtg n(g 9Juinen ^evafcfie^t. ^1 Translate : fo ift e^, aU fd^e man. ^^ Say : that ivicked, wonderful old city I ^^ Say : ivhich the Roman nation inhabited. ^^ Say : ivhich one can conceive. 64. MY OWN GREEN ISLE. Though 1 lofty Scotia's mountains. Where savage grandeur reigns ; Though bright be England's fountains, And fertile be her plains ; When 'mid their charms I wander, Of thee I think the while ^ Say : However lofty (ttjcigt. 58 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION To^ the last point of vision, and beyond, Mount, daring warbler ! — that^ love-promoted strain — 'Twixt thee and thine a never-failing bond — Thrills not [the] less the bosom of the plain : Yet^ might'st thou seem, proud privilege ! to sing ^ All independent of the leafy spring. Leave to the nightingale her shady wood ; A privacy of glorious light is thine, Whence dost thou pour upon the world a flood Of harmony, with instinct more divine ; Type of the wise, who soar, but never roam — True'' to the kindred points of Heaven and Home ! I WORDSWOKTH. ^ Say : a.s- \sd\far \cbs\ the eye reaches, and higher. ^ Say : therefore will that love-prompted strain (iene§ bcr Siebc entqueflcnb^ Sicb) — ivhich forms between thee and thine a never failing bond — thrill, etc. ^ Say : and yet it might (fonnte) seem, as if thou— proud privilege ! — sangest quite independent, etc. '' Translate : icncn @tgenf(^aftcn getreu, in bencn ber •^immet uiii) bic ^ctmat fid? ^?crh)anl)tfd()aftt^c^ Uxuf}vtn. J 69. YICTOE HUGO. BuTji when all this has been said, [there] remains a sum [total] of purely literary merit which suffices to place him on a level with 2 the greatest in literature. The mere fact that he is equally remarkable for the exquisite grace of his smaller lyrics, . and for the rhetorical magnificence of his declamatory passages, argues some peculiar and masterly idiosyncrasy in him. No one has"^ a rarer and more delicate [touch of] pathos, no one a more masculine or a fuller tone of indignation. The great peculiarity of Victor Hugo is that his poetry always transports, l ^ Say : Even when, however, all this has been taken into consideration. - Translate : mit ben erjten ©ro^en ber Sitteratur. ^ Say : can strike up (anjlimmen). LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 59 No one who cares for^ poetry at all, and who has mastered^ the preliminary necessity of acquaintance with the French language and [French] prosody, can read any of his better works without gradually rising to a condition of enthusiasm in which ^ the possible defects of the matter are altogether lost sight of in the unsurpassed and dazzling excellence of the manner. This is the special test of poetry, and there is none other. The technical means by which Victor Hugo produces these effects have been already hinted at. J They consist in a mastery of varied versi- fication, in an extraordinary command of pictorial language, dealing^ at once with physical and mental phenomena, and, above all, in a certain irresistible habit of never allowing the iron to grow cold. Stroke^ follows stroke in the exciting and transporting process in a manner not^ easily paralleled in other writers. Other poets ^^ are often best exhibited by very short extracts, by jewels five words long. This is not so^^ with Victor Hugo. He has such jewels, but they^^ are not his chief titles to admiration. The ardour and flow, as^*^ of molten metal, which characterise him are felt^^ oriiy in the mass, and must be sought there.y-GEORGE Saintsbury. ** Translate : liBerl^nu^t cttoag fragt (nac^). •'' Say : made himself acquainted — an essential preliminary -condition — ivith, etc. ^ Say : in ivJdch he quite loses sight of. " Say : both in the treatment of physical, etc. ^ Say : one stroke follows the other . . . and that in a manner, etc. ^ Translate : ber man Ui anbcrcn @(^nftfte((crn ntc^t leid^t cttucig nn lit ©cite ftettcn fann. 1^ Say : Of other poets one obtains often the most favourable idea by, etc. ^^ Say : the case ivith (bet). ^^ Say : his chief -titles to (aiif) admiration do not consist of these. ^•^ Say : resembling as-it-were. '^^ Say : one feels only in the mass, and there must one seel' then. 6o LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 70. DECAY OF PEASANTEY. Ill fares the land, to^ hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay ; Princes and lords may flourish or [may] fade — A breath can^ make them, as a breath has made ; But a bold peasantry, their country's pride. When once destroyed can never be supplied. A time there was, ere England's griefs began. When every rood of ground maintained its man ; For him light labour spread [her] wholesome store, Just gave what life required, but [gave] no more ; His^ best companions, innocence and health; And his best riches, ignorance of wealth.^ J But times are altered ^ ; trade's unfeeling train Usurp the land, and dispossess^ the swain ; Along'' the lawn, where scattered hamlets rose, Unwieldy wealth and cumbrous pomp repose, And every want to luxury allied. And every pang that folly pays^ to pride. Those gentle hours that^ plenty bade to bloom. Those calm desires that asked but little room. Those healthful sports that graced 'the peaceful scene. Lived in each look, and brightened [all] the green, — These, ^^ far departing, seek a kinder shore, - And rural mirth and manners are no more.-J-GoLDSMiTH. 1 Translate : e8 fciUt I^etBeiettenfecn Seiben jur SSeutc. 2 Translate : !ann iinb l^at fic entftel^cn kffen, ^ Say : iDhen Ids truest companions ivere innocence and healtli. ^ Translate : iraS 9ietrfjtum'tt*^f^VV ^ Say : have altered. ^ Say : roh the swain of his possession. ^ Translate : auf ben 2Btefen^->ldfeen, too fic^ Bie itnb fca ^orfd(?en erl^o"6en. s Say : suffers on account of, ^ Translate : too fo oiete fclii^tcn. ^^ Say : they have gone afar and seek for themselves (fic^) a shore, tvhere one sees them with more pleasure (Ucfcer). LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 6i 71. PSYCHOLOGY. On 1 whatever ground we term physiology science, ^ psychology is entitled to the same appellation ; and the method-of-investi- gation which elucidates the true relations of the one set of phenomena will discover those of the other. Hence, as philo- sophy is, in great measure, the exponent of the logical conse- quences of certain data established by psychology; and as psychology itself differs from physical science only in the nature of its subject-matter, and not in its method-of-investigation, it would seem to be an obvious conclusion that philosophers are likely to be successful in their inquiries in proportion as they are familiar with the application of scientific method to less abstruse subjects ; Vjust^ as it seems to require no elaborate demonstration that an astronomer, who wishes to comprehend the solar-system, would do^ well to acquire a preliminary acquaintance with the elements of physics. And it is accordant with this presumption that the men who have made the most important positive additions to philosophy, [such] as Descartes, Spinoza, and Kant,^ not to mention more recent examples, 'I have been deeply imbued with the spirit of physical science, and in some cases, [such] as [those] of Descartes and Kant, have been largely acquainted with its details. I On the other hand, the founder of positivism no*^ less admirably illustrates the connection of scientific incapacity with philosophical incom- petence. In truth, the laboratory is the fore-court of'' the temple of philosophy ; and whoso has not offered sacrifices and under- ^ Translate : 2luS ivaS fiir ©runten xdxt aitci(j bic ^^^i^fiologic . . . ncnnen mogcn. '^ Translate science by etnen 3metg fcer S^atmiriffenfcfjaft. The special meaning which the word science has assumed is identical with that of the German word SRaturmiffcnfd^aft. 2CiffenfcJ;aft has a more general sense. ^ Translate : gcnau fo trie eS . , , ju fceburfcu [Gen.) fdjctnt. ^ Use the Present Tense. ^ Say : examples ofmoi^e recent date. ^ Say : in no less admirable icay the connection between scientijic (natur;' w^tn\(^a^tl\d))- incapacity and incompetence in (^ur) philosophy. ^ Translate : jiim. 62 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION gone^ purification there, has little chance of admission^ into the sanctuary. -j-HuxLE Y. ^ Translate : unb fid) bort hinev ^ietnigung untcrjogen ^:j(xi. ^ Say : to he admitted. 72. LIBERTY. The fiery mountains answer each other ; Their 1 thunderings are echoed from zone to zone ; The tempestuous oceans awake one another, And the ice-rocks are shaken^ round winter's throne When the clarion of the Typhoon is blown. From a single cloud the lightning flashes, Whilst [a] thousand isles are illumined around ; Earthquake is trampling one city to ashes, [An] hundred are shuddering and tottering ; the sound Is bellowing^ underground. J But keener thy gaze than the lightning's glare. And swifter thy step than the earthquake's tramp ; Thou deafenest the rage of the ocean ; thy stare Makes blind the volcanoes, the sun's bright lamp To^ thine is a fen-fire damp. From billow^ and mountain and exhalation The sunlight is darted through vapour and blast ; From spirit to spirit, from nation to nation, From city to hamlet, thy dawning^ is cast, — And tyrants and slaves are^ like shadows of night In the van of the morning light. J Shelley. 1 ^ Say : the echo of their thunder rings from zone to zone. 2 See 25, 7. ^ Say : the thunder roars. ^ Translate : ift gegen bag bcinc mic ein @unt:pffci[)n)aten. 5 Use the Plurals of these Nouns. 6 Translate : bcine crj^cn aJiorgcnjlra^len. ^ Say : march . . . as [the] van before the morning -light. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 63 1^^ ' 73. WILLIAM PITT. The temper of Pitt harmonised admirably with the temper of the commercial England which rallied^ round him, with its energy, its self-confidence, its pride, its patriotism, its honesty, its moral earnestness. The merchant and the trader were drawn by a natural attraction to the one statesman of their time whose aims were unselfish, whose hands were clean, whose life was pure and full of tender affection for wife and child. J But there was^ a far deeper ground for their enthusiastic rever- ence, and for the reverence which his country has borne to Pitt ever since. He loved ^ England with an intense and personal love. He believed in her* power, her glory, her ftfllfliB virtue, till England learned to believe in herself. Her^ triumphs were his triumphs, her^ defeats his defeats. Her dangers^ lifted him high above ^ all thoughts of self or party-spirit. | *Be one people,' he cried to the factions who rose to bring about his fall ; * forget everything but^ the public. I set you the example!' His glowing patriotism was the real spell by which he held England. Even the faults which chequered his character told for him with the middle classes. The Whig statesmen^ who preceded him had been men whose pride expressed itself in a marked simplicity and absence of pretence. Pitt was essentially an actor, dramatic in the Cabinet, in the House, in his very office. ^ He transacted business with his clerks in full dress. His^^ letters to his family, genuine as his love for them was, are stilted and unnatural in tone. It was easy for the wits of his day to jest at his afFecta- ^ Say : rallying, and see 24, 9. '■^ Translate there was by c§ xvcix . . . vorl^anten. ^ Translate : ©r mar ©ngtanb in inBriiufttgcr unb ))crfonlid;cr Siebe crgcBcn. ^ Say: England's power , her glory . . . in herself {fdh^ taxan). ^ Say : England's. ^ Say : Tlie dangers threatening England. '^ Translate : fiber at(c JRcguitgcn ter @clBfifud(^t obcr ^artciintercffcn. ^ Translate : au^cr bcm offcntUdjen SQBo^tc. 3d? gel^c cud^ mit meincm SBcifpiclc tjoran. ^ Say : The statesmen belonging to the Whig party. ^^ Say : Although his love for the members of his family was genuine, yet his letters to them tvere of [a] stilted and unnatural, tone. 64 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMFOSIIION tion, his pompous gait, the^^ dramatic appearance [which he made] on great debates with [his] limbs swathed in flannel and his^^ crutch by his side. Early ^^ in life Walpole sneered at him for bringing into the House of Commons ^ the gestures and emotions of the stage.' But the classes to whom^* Pitt appealed were classes not easily offended '^^ by faults of taste, and saw nothing to laugh 1^ at in the statesman who was borne into the lobby amidst the tortures of the gout, or carried into the House of Lords to breathe ^^ his last in a protest against national dishonour. / Green. 11 Say : his. 12 Use the Def. Article. 1^ Say : In his youth Walpole sneered because (batiiBer, bap) he, etc. See 15, 6. 1^ Translate : um bercn ®^mpat:^tc c§ ^itt ju tf)nn toav. 1^ Use a Relative Clause. Faults of taste, SScrf^cf c gegeit ben guten ©efd^marf. 1^ Translate : ntcijtS Sac()crtid()e3 an. 1'' Say : to protest with his last h^eath against the dishonour of the country. 74. THE EOUTE TO MILAN. And ever and anon some quiet town Came into view, and through it straight they passed, Though once perhaps its name had won renown In this strange world where nothing great doth last. With^ braided hair, bronzed limbs and girded gown,^' [Ranged] round a fountain flowing clear and fast. Their eyes as bright as day, yet dark as night, Stood stalwart women washing linen white. J And round the open thresholds children fair, Happy and lithe as lizards, romped and ran. Their grandams sitting by in sunny chair ; But^ in the ways never a sign of man ; ^ Say: Round a fountain . . . fast, with braided hair . . . gown, stood stahvart ivomen, ivhose eyes were as bright . . . night, and luere ivashing white linen. ^ Translate : unb mit ©iirtcl cerfel^enem ©ertjanbe. ^ Say : but of the men loas in the ways nothing to be seen ; they had gone away, in order to drive the ploughshare drawn by oxen, or to trim, etc. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 65 He was away driving the ox-drawn share, Trimming the vine-clasped elm to shapely span, Or 'mong his maize, in many^ a trivial course Scattering the rampant torrent's forward^ force. But by degrees the black pass broadened out ; On them once more the welcome sunlight streamed ; And budding larches, dotted,^ sparse about, 'Mong the dark firs like fairy foliage^ gleamed. In smooth green valleys shepherd-boys did shout To heedless flocks, [to herds] that^ browsed and dreamed ; Torrent^ no more the stream beneath them flowed Devious ^^ yet smooth, e'en as their mountain road. . 3 Alfred Austin. ^ Translate : in cine QJicngc gcringfiigigcc SQBajfertaufe. ^ Say : forward pressing. 6 Say : which lay scattered about at a great distance (in inciter ©ntfcrnung) from one another. ^ '-^ "^ ^siy : like foliage out of fairyland.^ ^ Translate : bic bie ®))rof[cn won ben aSciumen frozen. ^ Say : the stream, lohich flowed beneath them, was no longer a torrent (!etn rei^enbcr (Strom mel^r). 10 Translate : er fd^^tdngcttc fic^, ttjic tl^r @eMrg8))fab, in Umnjegen ba^in, trug a:6er, njic biefer, ein fanfteS ©e^rftgc. 75. THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. [It is] the previous state-of-society, under the grandchildren of Charlemagne, [which] we must always keep in mind, if we would appreciate the efl'ects of the feudal system upon the wel- fare of mankind. The institutions of the eleventh century must be compared with those of the ninth, not with the advanced civilisation of modern times. The state of anarchy which we usually term feudal, was the natural result of a vast and barbarous empire feebly administered, and the cause, rather than the effect, of the general establishment of feudal tenures.\ These, ^ by pre- serving the mutual relations of the whole, kept alive the feeling ^ Say : Whilst this preserved » , , it kept, E /%-2r^rri^' 66 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION of a common country and common duties \ and settled, after the lapse of ages, 2 into the free constitution of England, the firm monarchy of France, and the federal union of Germany. If we look at the feudal polity as a scheme of civil freedom, it bears a noble countenance. To the feudal law it is owing^ that the very names [of] right and privilege were not swept away, as in Asia, by the desolating hand of power, j The tyranny which, on every favourable moment, was breaking through all barriers, would have rioted without control, if, when^ the people were poor and disunited, the nobility had not been brave and free. So far [as] the sphere of feudality extended, it diffused the spirit of liberty and the notions^ of private right. Every one will acknowledge this who considers the limitation[s]of the service[s]-of-vassalage, so^ cautiously marked in those law-books which are the record[s] of customs; the reciprocity of obligation" between the lord and his tenant;! the consent^ required in every measure of a legis- lative or general nature ; the security, above all, which every vassal found in the administration of justice by^ his peers, and even — we may in this sense say — ^in^^ the trial by combat. The bulk of the people, it is true, were degraded by servitude, j HallAm. 2 Say : after centuries. ^ Say : we have to thank it. * Say : at a time ivhen. ^ Say : a notion. ^ Say : which stands so cautiously . . . record of old customs. ^ Say : the obligations existing hetiveen. '^ Translate : baran, taf hd jcbcr QJiaprcget . . . @inmuttg!cit ^orl^antcn fein muf te. ^ Say : exercised hy his peers and even — as ive may^ etc. ^^ Translate : im ®ottc?gcridjt. 76. CALEDONIA. Breathes^ there the man with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said, ' This is my own, ^ my native land ' ; ^ Say : Can there he (gekn) a many loho has a soul so dead, that he, etc. 2 Say : land. . , . LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 67 Whose heart hath ne'er within him*^ burned, As home his footsteps he hath turned From* wandering on [a] foreign strand ? If ^ such there breathe, go, mark him well : For him no^ minstrel raptures swell ; High though his titles, proud his name, Boundless his wealth as^ wish can claim ;J Despite those titles, power, and pelf, The wretch, concentred^ all in self. Living, shall forfeit fair renown. And, doubly dying, ^ shall go down To the vile dust from whence he sprung, ^^ Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung. Caledonia ! stern and wild, ^^ Meet nurse for a poetic child ! Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, Land of the mountain ^^ ^nd the flood,^- Land of my sires ! what mortal hand Can e'er untie the filial-band ^2 That knits me to thy rugged strand ! « Sir Walter Scott. ^ Say : in his breast. ^ Say : after a. ^ Say : If there is such a one. ^ Say : the minstrel sings no inspired songs. '^ Translate : ttie cr eg fidj nur h)unfd(;cn !ann. ^ Say : xaho lives only for himself, during his life shall forfeit his good name. ^ Say : a double death (Gen.). ^^ Say : from which he has come. 1^ Say : that thou, stern and wild, art a meet nurse. ^^ Use the Plural. 77. ANONYMOUS WEITERS. . A WELL-KNOWN author once received a letter from a peer with whom he was slightly acquainted, asking him^ whether he was the author of a certain article in the Edinburgh Review. He replied that he never made communications of that kind, except ^ Translate. : mit bet 3lnfrage. 6S L ONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION to 2 intimate friends, selected by himself for the purpose when he saw fit. His refusal to answer,^ however, pointed him out — which, as it happened, he did not care for^ — as the author. But a case might occur in which the revelation of the authoF[ship] might involve a friend in [some] serious difficulties. In any such case, he might have answered [something] in this style : ^ * I have received a letter purporting to be from your lordship, but the matter of it induces me to suspect^ that it is a forgery. The writer asks whether I am the author of a certain article. J It is a sort [of] question which no one has a right to ask; and I think, therefore, that every one is bound to discourage such inquiries by^ answering them — whether one is or is not the author — with a rebuke for^ asking impertinent questions about private matters. I say "private," because, if an article be libellous or seditious, the law^ is opened and any one may proceed against the publisher, and compel him either to give up the author, or to bear the penalty. If, again, it contains false statements, these, ^^ coming from an anonymous pen, may be simply contradicted. 1 And if ^^ the argument[s] be unsound, the obvious course is to refute them ; but whc^^ wvte it, is a question of idle [or of] mischievous curiosity, as it relates to the private-concerns of an individual. If I were^^ to ask your lord- ship, "Do you spend your income ? or lay by 1^^ or outrun ^^^ Do you and your lady ever have an altercation ? " [If I were to 2 Translate to by gcgcnuBer, which is to be placed after "' friends. ' Render the participial clause beginning with selected by a relative clause. Translate ivhen he saw fit by ttjenn eg \\)m )^a^it. 2 Say : to answer the question ^ Translate : h)ag il^m jufciKig m^i gerabe angcnCi^m irar. ^ Translate : ungcfcifir fo. ^ Translate : §u bcc iScrmutiing. 7 Translate : t)at)urd() . . . tap er. ^ Say : on accou7it of such impertinent questioiis about {ii^tt) private-matters. 9 Translate : fo fitf^t icbem \a bcr Stc^tStotq offen, unb er mag, etc. ^^ Say : one can to be sure simply contradict these, since they come, etc. 11 Translate : Unb foUte . . . fo tji eg offenbar bcr ein^tg rtc^ttge SKeg, etc. 1^ Say : but the question ^who has written the article^ is a question arising from, etc. i^ Say : wished. i^ Repeat the Subject. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 69 ask you such questions,] your lordship's ^^ answer would probably be, to desire the footman to show me . out. Hoping that my conjecture is right, of^*^ the letter's being a forgery, I remain,' etc. Archbishop Whately. ^^ Say : your lordship would probably answer that (bamit , . . bafi) you direct the footman to show me the door, ^^ Say : and that the letter is a forgery. f^ €/p-n^ 78. HOHENLINDEN. On^ Linden, when the sun was low, All bloodless lay the untrodden snow. And dark as winter was the flow Of Iser, rolling rapidly. J But Linden saw another sight. When the drum beat^ at dead of night, Commanding fires ^ of death to light The darkness "^ of her scenery. By torch ^ and trumpet fast arrayed,^ Each horseman drew his battle-blade. And furious every charger neighed. To join the dreadful revelry. Then shook the hills with thunder riven. Then rushed the steed to battle driven, And louder^ than the bolts of heaven Far flashed the red artillery. ^ Say ; When the sun stood loit\ the snow lay, unmixed with blood and not yet trodden doivn by human feet, on Linden. ^ Say : luas beat at dead of night (in ttcfcv 9^acf)t). ^ Say : the death-bringing fres, * Translate : baS auf feiner Sanbfc^aft ru^cntc $I)unfet. ^ Translate : 93ei ^adtli\d)t unb burc^ JTrom^ctcnruf. ^ Say : brought i^ifirm battle-array. "^ Translate : tauter al3 bcr «§immcIgbonncr crtontcn teeit unb breit bic rotgtul^cnben ®efd()u§c. 70 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION But redder yet that light shall glow On Linden's hills ^ of stained snow, And bloodier yet the torrent flow Of Iser, rolling rapidly, j 'Tis morn, but scarce yon^ level sun Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun,i^ Where furious Frank and fiery Hun Shout in their sulphurous canopy. The combat deepens. On, ye brave. Who rush to glory, or the grave ! Wave, Munich ! all thy banners wave, And charge with all thy chivalry. — CAMPBELL. ^ Say : the hills covered with stained snoiv. ^ Translate : tic tief Uegenbc @onne. ^^ Translate : baS finfteve Ototten. 79. THE IMPOETANCE OF METHOD. As to the general importance of Method — what need [have] we to dilate on this fertile topic 1 for it is not solely in the for- mation of the Human Understanding, and in the constructions of Science and Literature, that the employment of Method is in- dispensably necessary ; but its importance is equally felt, and [equally] acknowledged, in the whole business and economy of active and domestic life. iFrom the cottager's hearth, or the work- shop of the artisan, to the Palace or the Arsenal, the^ first merit, that which admits neither substitute nor equivalent, is that every- thing is in its place. Where this charm is wanting, every other merit either loses its name,^ or becomes an additional ground of accusation and regret. Of one,^ by whom it is eminently possessed, we say proverbially, that he is like clockwork. The resemblance extends^ beyond the point of regularity, and yet 1 Translate : tfl e§ bag pd(>jle SSerfcienft imb ba^ienige, fiir teetdfjeS eg tueber @rfa§ noO) ®tcid()tt)erttgc8 gteBt. 2 g^y : the right to (auf) this name, ^ Say : A man who possesses it in [a] high degree. ■* Say : is not only to he found in regularity, and yet it does not reach the truth. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 71 falls short of the truth. ( Both do, indeed,^ [at once] divide^ and announce the silent and otherwise indistinguishable lapse of time ; but the man of methodical industry and honourable pursuit[s] does more ; he realises its ideal division[s], and gives [a] character and individuality to its moments. If the idle'' are described as killing time, he may be justly said to calP it into life and moral being, while he makes it the distinct object not only of the consciousness, but of the conscience. I He organises the hours, and gives them a soul : and to that,^ the very essence of which is to fleet, [and] to have been, he communicates an imperish- able and a spiritual nature. Of the good and faithful servant, whose energies, ^^ thus directed, are thus methodised, it is less truly affirmed, that he lives in Time, than that Time lives in him. His days, months, and years, as the stops and punctual marks in the records of duties performed, will survive the wreck of worlds, and remain extant when Time itself shall be no more. I S. T. Coleridge. ^ Translate indeed by 'atlcrbingS/ placing this word at the beginning of the sentence. ^ Say : divide the silent . , . time and announce the same. ^ Say : If one says of the idle that they kill time, one can justly say of him J that he calls it, etc. ^ Translate : in3 Scben riift unb tl^r ju ctner moratifc^en ©jciflcnj 'otxf)xlft, ^ Translate : fcem Swinge. ^^ Say : whose energy works in such [a] direction, after such a method, it is more right to say that Time lives in him than that he lives in Time, 80. THE VOICE OF SPEINC. I COME, I come ! ye have call'd me long — I come o'er the mountains with light and song ! Ye may trace my step o'er the wakening earth By the winds which tell of the violet's birth, / By the primrose-stars ^ in the shadowy grass, By the green leaves opening ^ as I pass. ^ Say : stars of the primroses, - Translate : tic fid(j feci meincm JCoi'Bci[ci(>rcitcn offncn. 72 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION From the streams^ and founts I have loosed the chain,^ They are sweeping on to the silvery main, They are flashing ^ down from the mountain brows, They are flinging spray o'er the forest boughs. They are bursting fresh from their starry caves, And the earth resounds with the joy of waves. J Come forth, ye children of gladness ! Come ! Where the violets lie may^ be now your home. Ye of the rose-lip and dew-bright eye. And the bounding footstep, to meet me fly ! With the lyre, and the wreath, and the joyous lay, Come'^ forth to the sunshine — I may not stay. Away from the dwellings of care-worn men. The waters are sparkling in grove and glen ! AwayS from the chamber and sullen hearth. The young leaves are dancing in breezy mirth ! Their light stems thrill to the wild- wood strains, I And youth is abroad^ in my green domains. Felicia Hemans. "^ Use the Dative alone. ^ Use the Plural. ^ Say : lightning-like they shoot down, ^ Say : may you now have your home. '^ Translate : fommt l^erau3 in bic @cnne — \^ fmtn ja nic^t Wctfccn. ^ Translate : S^ott au§. ^ Translate : fd^tueift utnl^er in meinen griinen ©efitten. 81. A HUERICANE. Two minutes had scarcely elapsed, when the whole forest before me was in fearful motion. Here and there, where one tree pressed against another, a creaking noise was produced,^ similar to that occasioned by [the] violent gusts which sometimes sweep over the country. Turning instinctively toward the direc- 1 Say : became audible. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 73 tion from which the wind blew, I saw, to my great astonishment, that the noblest trees of the forest bent their lofty heads for a while, and, unable ^ to stand against the blast, were falling to pieces. | First, the branches were broken^ off with [a] crackling noise, then went"^ the upper part of the massy trunks, and in many places [whole] trees of gigantic size were falling entire to the ground. So rapid was [the progress of] the storm, that, before I could think of^ taking measures to ensure my safety, the hurricane^ was passing opposite the place where I stood. Never can I forget the scene which at that moment presented itself. The'^ tops of the trees were seen moving in the strangest manner, in the central current-of-[the]-tempest, which carried along with it a mingled mass of twigs and foliage that completely obscured the view. J Some of the largest trees were seen bending and writhing under the gale ; others suddenly snapped across, and many, after ^ a momentary resistance, fell uprooted to the earth. The mass of branches, twigs, foliage, and dust that moved , through the air, was whirled onwards like a cloud of feathers, and, on passing,^ disclosed a wide space filled with fallen trees, naked stumps, and heaps of shapeless ruinfe, which marked the path of the tempest. This space was about a fourth-[of-a]-mile in breadth, and to my imagination^^ resembled the dried-up bed of the Mississippi. The horrible noise resembled that of the great cataracts of Niagara, and, as^^ it howled along in the track of the desolating tempest, produced a feeling in my mind which it is impossible to describe. -4- Audubon. ^ Say : and then, as they were unable. ^ Say : broke offivith (untcr), etc. ^ Translate : tarn ... an tie Stctl^e. ^ Translate : baran . . . ju ergreifen, urn midf) ju fdjufecn. ^ Translate : fecr Drfan fd[)on an bcr @tcUc, ttjo \^ mx^ fccfanb, »oruBcrging. Place this clause after that. "^ Say : / saw the tops. ^ Say : offering resistance [for] a moment, ^ Say : when it had passed. ^^ Say : and my imagination compared it to (mit), etc. ^^ Say : the howling accompanying the desolating tempest. 74 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 82. DEATH OF THE EAEL [OF] WARWICK. Ah, who is nigh^ % come to me, friend or foe. And tell me who is victor, York or Warwick % Why ask I that % my mangled body [shews,] My blood, my want of strength, my sick heart shews, That I must yield my body to the earth. And, by my fall, the conquest to my foe. Thus yields the cedar to the axe's edge. Whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle. Under whose shade the ramping lion slept. Whose top branch overpeer'd Jove's spreading tree. And kept low shrubs from winter's powerful wind, j These eyes, that now are dimm'd with death's black veil Have been as piercing as the midday sun. To 2 search the secret treason[s] of the world : The wrinkles in my brow[s] now fill'd with blood, Were liken'd oft to kingly sepulchres ; Eor^ who lived king, but I could dig his grave % And who durst smile when Warwick bent his brow % Lo, now^ my glory smear'd in dust and blood ! My^ parks, my walks, my manors that I had, Even now forsake me ; and of all my lands. Is nothing left me but^ my body's length ! j Shakespeare. ^ Translate : in mcincr ^'^l^jt. ^ Say : when they wished to discover. ^ Say : for where ivas there a king, whose gi^ave I could not dig. ^ Say : now is, ^ The parks, walks and manors. ^ Translate : at§ bag ©tiicf ^xU, ba§ mcin Scic()nam mtpt. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 75 83. EXAMPLE BETTER THAN PRECEPT. Examples do more compendiously/ easily, and pleasantly inform our mind[s] and direct our practice, than precepts, or any other way or instrument of discipline. Precepts are delivered in an universal and abstracted manner, naked, and void of all circumstantial attire, ^ without [any] intervention, assistance, or suffrage of sense; and, consequently, can have no vehement operation upon the fancy, and soon do fly the memory; like flashes of lightning, too subtle to^ make any great impression, or to leave any remarkable footsteps upon what they encounter )7 they must be expressed in nice terms, and digested in exact . method; they are various, and in many disjointed pieces con- spire^ to make up an entire body-of -direction ; they do also admit of divers cases, and require many exceptions or restrictions, which ^ to apprehend distinctly ^nd retain long in memory needs a tediotis labour and continual attention [of mind] together with a piercing and steady judgment. ^ But good example, with less trouble, more^ speed, and greater efficacy, causes us to com- prehend the business, representing it like a picture exposed to sense, ^ having the parts orderly disposed and completely united, suitably^ clothed and dressed up in its circumstances ; contained in a narrow compass, and perceptible by one glance, so easily insinuating itself into the fancy, and^ durably resting therein. In it you see at once described the thing ^^ done, the ^ Place these adverbs after 'practice, - Translate : »on alter biirc^ ken 5at( fccbtngten ©cnjanbung entHopt. ^ Translate : alS bap fie auf ben iDingen, lie fie bevii^ren, einen grofien ©inkrucf obci* fiemertengnjertc (S^^uren l^intertafCen fonnten. See 62, 10. ^ Say : make, up together. ^ Say : and it requires much tedious labour . . . judgment j in oi^der to apprehend the latter distinctly, / ^ Say : greater speed and more considerable efficacy, ^ Say : to the senses , wh^e parts are, etc. ^ Say : and which is , . . cirbamstances ; as it is contained , , . by (mtt) one glance, it insinuates, etc. '^ Translate : Blcibt bauernt) in bccfelbcn l^aftcn. 1^ Translate : bic »oflful§rte «§anblung, bic ©igcnfc^aften bc8 -Sanbclnben. ie LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION quality of the actor, the manner of doing, the minute seasons, measures, and adjuncts of the actions, with^^ all which you might not, perhaps, by numerous rules, be acquainted ; find this in the most facile, familiar, and delightful way-of -instruction, which ^^ is by experience, history, and observation of sensible events. A system of precepts, though ^^ exquisitely compacted, is, in com- parison, but a skeleton, a dry, meagre, lifeless bulk, exhibiting nothing of person, place, time, manner, degree, wherein chiefly the flesh and blood, the colours and graces, the life and souls of things do consist, whereby they please, affect, and move us ; but example imparts thereto a goodly corpulency, a life, a motion ; renders it conspicuous, specious, and active, transforming its notional universality into the reality of singular subsistence. \ Isaac Barrow. ^^ Say : things with ivhich you, etc. ^■-^ Say : namely through. ^^ Say : though z7(unt) i»entt eg au^) is compacted in the most exquisite manner. 84. AN AWAKENma I WOKE — Where was I ? — do I see A human face look down on me ^ And doth a roof above me close ? > Do these limbs on a couch repose ? Is this a chamber where I lie 1 And is it mortal, yon bright eye. That watches me with gentle glance ? I closed my own again once more, As^ doubtful that the former trance Could not as yet be o'er. A slender girl, long-haired ^ and tall. Sate watching by the cottage wall, The sparkle of her eye I caught Even^ with my first return of thought; 1 Translate : oXi vcrmutete \^. ^ Translate : gro^ tmb mit langen <§aaren. ^ Say : in the first moment of the return of my thought. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 77 For ever and anon she threw A prying, pitying glance on me With her black eyes so wild and free J I gazed, and gazed, until I knew No vision it could be, — But that I lived, and^ was released From adding to the vulture's feast ; And when the Cossack maid beheld My heavy eyes at last unseal'd, She smiled — and I essayed to speak. But fail'd^ — and she approached, and made With lip and finger signs that said,^ . I must not strive [as yet] to break The silence, tilF my strength should be Enough to leave my accents free ; And then her hand on mine she laid, And smoothed the pillow for^ my head. And stole along on tiptoe tread, And gently oped the door, and spake ^ In whispers, — ne'er was voice so sweet. — Byron. 1 4 Translate : unb »or bcm tcffal gerettct tear, fccm ®ctcc a(S Srap bicncn gu muffen. ^ Say : could not, ^ Say : and ivith lip and finger she gave me to understand. 7 Translate : h'lB id) gcnug ^rnft jum (S^red^cn Befape. ^ Say : under, ^ Translate ; unb fJiijiertc — nic l^at eg einc fo fuf e @ttmmc gegebcn. 85. THE CAMPAGNA OF EOME. Perhaps there is no more impressive scene on earth than the solitary extent of the Campagna of Eome under evening-light. Let^ the reader imagine himself for a moment withdrawn from the sounds and motion of the living world, and sent forth alone into this wild and wasted plain. The earth yields and crumbles beneath his foot, tread ^ he ever so lightly, for its substance is ^ Say : The reader must imagine^ that he is withdraivn (Dat.). - Say : although he tread ever (no(^) so lightly, for it is white, etc. 78 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION white, hollow, and carious, like the dusty wreck of the bones-of- men. The long knotted grass waves and tosses feebly in the evening wind, and the shadows of its motion ^ shake feverishly along the banks of ruin that lift themselves to the sunlight.) Hillocks of mouldering earth heave around him, as if the dead beneath were struggling in their sleep ; scattered blocks of black stone, foursquare, remnants of mighty edifices, not^ one left upon another, lie upon them to keep them down. A^ dull purple, poisonous haze stretches level along the desert, veiling^ its spectral wrecks of mossy ruins, on whose rents the red light rests like lying fire on defiled altars. The blue ridge of the Alban mount lifts itself against a solemn space of green, clear, quiet sky. | Watchtowers of dark clouds stand steadfastly along the promontories of the Apennines. From the plain to the mountain, the^ shattered aqueduct[s], pier beyond pier, melt into the darkness, like shadowy and countless troops of funeral mourners, passing from a nation's grave. — Euskin. ^ Say : of the, moved grass. * Say : of which not one is left. ^ Say : A poisonous haze of [a] dull purple colour, ^ Say : and veils the spectral remnants. ^ Say : pier beyond (auf) pier of the shattered aqueduct. 86. SATAN TO BEELZEBUB. * Is this the region, this the soil, the clime,' Said then the lost archangel, 'this the seat That we must change for heaven ? this mournful gloom For that celestial light ? Be it so ! since he, Who now is Sovran, can dispose and bid What shall be right : farthest^ from him is best. Whom reason hath equalled, force ^ hath made supreme Above his equals. Farewell, happy fields. Where joy for ever dwells ! \ Hail, horrors ! hail, ^ Say : the farther distant from him^ whose greatness reason . . . the better. 2 Translate : ben bic ©ctoatt abcr tpeit ijBcr fcincggteic|)en gefieUt l^at. LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 79 Infernal world ! and thou, profoundest Hell Receive thy new possessor ! one^ who brings » A mind not to be changed by place or time. The mind* is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heaven of ^ Hell, a Hell of Heaven. What matter where, if I be still the same. And what I should be, — all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater % ^Here at least We shall be free ; the Almighty hath not built ^ Here for his envy ; will not drive us hence; Here we may reign secure ; and '' in my choice To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell : Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven. J But wherefore let we then our faithful friends, The associates and copartners of our loss. Lie thus astonished on^ the oblivious pool. And call them not to share with us their part-* In this unhappy mansion ; or once more, . With rallied arms, to try what may be yet Regained in Heaven, or what more lost in Hell % ' Milton : Paradise Lost 3 Say : whose mind is to be changed neither by -place nor time. * Translate : 3)cr ®etji fc!(?afft \\^ feinen cigncn SBol^nort. •^ Translate o/by aug. ^ Say : erected buildings out of envy, "^ Translate : meiner 3J?ctnung nac^ tfl «§crrfd(jaft — fctbjl in ker «§o((e — bc3 ©l^rgctjcS njert. ^ Translate : in kcm »crgcffcnmac!^cnt>cn @umpfc, ^ Translate their part by ficfj. 8o LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 87. LETTER FEOM MR GLADSTONE TO PRINCE ALBERT VICTOR. Hawarden Castle, Jan. 7, 1885. SiR^ : — As the oldest among the confidential servants of Her Majesty I cannot allow the anniversary^ to pass without notice, which will to-morrow bring your Royal Highness to full age, and thus^ mark an important epoch in your life. The hopes and intentions of those whose lives ^ lie, like mine, in the past, are of little moment ; but they have seen much, and what they have seen suggests^ much for the future. ) There lies before your Royal Highness in^ prospect, the occupation, I trust at a distant date, of a throne which, to me at least, appears the most illustrious in the world, from*" its history and associations, from its legal basis, from the weight of the cares it brings,^ from the loyal love of the people, and from the unparalleled opportunities it gives, in so many ways and in so many regions, of doing good to the almost countless numbers, whom the Almighty has placed beneath the sceptre of England. 1 fervently desire, and pray, and there ^ cannot be a more ^ Translate Sir by 2)urc!)tau(i()tigfler ^rtnj, ©ndbtgf^er ^rinj iinb -^crr ! — which is the proper address in a German letter directed to a member of an Imperial or Royal House. 2 Translate : ben morgenben Sag, an ttjctc^em @m. J?5nigt. ^ol^eit majorenn {of full age) iDcrbcn. With titles, like @tti. (©uuc) $o^cit, l animating prayer, that^^ your Eoyal Highness may ever grow in the principles of conduct, and may be adorned with all the qualities which correspond with this great and noble vocation, i^ And [Sir] if sovereignty has been relieved by our modern institutions of some of its burdens, it still, I believe, remains true that there ^^ has been no period of the world's history at which successors to the Monarchy could more efficaciously con- tribute to the stability of a great historic systeni, dependent ^^ even more upon love than upon strength, by devotion to their duties and by a bright example to the country. ^^ This result we have happily been permitted ^^ to see, and other generations will, I trust, witness it anew. Heartily desiring that^^ in the life of your Eoyal Highnes« every private and personal may be joined with every public blessing, I have the honour to remain, Sir,^ Your Eoyal Highness 's Most dutiful and faithful servant, (Signed) W. E. Gladstone. J^ H.R.H. Prince Albert Victor, etc. 1^ Translate : @m. J?cnigt. <§o^cit ScBcnSgrunbfft^c fidf) jum Beficn entmidctn mogen, itnb baf @ttj. J?6mg(. ^ol^ett, etc. ^^ Say : there, has been (gcgcBcn) in the loorld' s-history no period. ^2 Say : which depends. ^^ Translate : gcgenubcr bcm SSoIfe. ^^ Intransitive Verbs cannot be used in the Passive Voice — the Imper- sonal or Reflexive form is then substituted — here, the former. ^^ Say : that your Royal Highnesses private and public life may he loaded ivith every blessing. 88. WILLIAM TELL. Scaling yonder peak, I saw an eagle wheeling near its brow. O'er the abyss. His broad expanded wings Lay calm and motionless upon the air. As if he floated there without their aid, F 82 LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION Byi the sole act of his unlorded will, That buoyed him proudly up. Instinctively I bent my bow : yet kept he rounding still His airy-circle, 2 as in the delight Of measuring the ample range beneath And round about; absorbed,^ he heeded not The death that threatened him. I could not shoot — 'Twas Liberty ! I turned my bow aside, And let him soar away. J Heavens ! with what pride I used To walk these hills, and look up to [my] God, And think the land was free. Yes, it was free — Free as our torrents are that leap our rocks And plough our valleys without asking leave ; Or as our peaks that wear their caps-of-snow In very presence of the regal sun. How happy was I then ! I loved Its very storms. Yes, I have often sat In my boat at night, when midway o'er the lake The stars went out, and down the mountain-gorge The wind came roaring. ^ I have sat and eyed The thunder breaking from his cloud, and smiled To^ see him shake his lightnings o'er my head. And think I had no master save his own. ^J^ Sheridan Knowles: William Tell, ^ Say : hy his unlorded will alone. 2 Say : His airy-circles, as if it gave (mad()tc) him pleasure to measure. 3 Translate : in fic^ felfcfl »erfunfcn. ^ Say : swept. ^ Say : when it shooJc. 89. INDUSTEY, ENDUEANCE, AND CHAEACTEE. Competitive-examination, ^ useful and excellent as it is for some purposes, is only a very partial test of ^ what the winners will be worth in practical life. There are people who are neither Use the Plural. ^ Say : of the future worth of the ivinners. & LONGMANS' GERMAN COMPOSITION 83 very clever nor very industrious nor very strong, and who would probably be nowhere in an examination, and who yet exert a great influence in virtue of what is called force-of-character. They may not know much, but they take care that what they do know they know well. They^ may not be very quick, but the knowledge they acquire sticks. They may not even be par- ticularly industrious or enduring, but they are^ strong of will and firm of purpose, undaunted by fear of responsibility, single- minded and trustworthy. In practical life a man of this sort is worth any number of merely clever and learned people, j Of course, I do^ not mean to imply for a moment that success in examination is incompatible with the possession of character [such] as I have just defined it, but failure in examination is no evidence of the want of such character. And this leads me to administer from my point-of-view the crumb [of] comfort which on these occasions is ordinarily offered to those whose names do not appear upon the prize list. It is quite true that practical life is a kind of long competitive examination, conducted by that severe pedagogue Professor Circumstance. But my ex- perience leads me to conclude that his marks are given much more for character than for cleverness. | Hence, though I have no doubt that those boys who have received prizes to-day have already^ given rise to a fair hope that the future may see them prominent, perhaps brilliantly distinguished members of society -^ yet, neither do I think it at all unlikely that^ among the undis- tinguished crowd there may lie the making of some simple soldier whose practical sense and indomitable courage may save an army, led by characterless cleverness to the brink of destruction, or ^ Translate :