in their art, Hyder Ali, and his more ferocious son, absolve
themselves of their impious vow, that when the British armies traversed,
as they did, the Carnatic, for hundreds of miles in all directions,
through the whole line of their march they did not see one man--not one
woman--not one child--not one four-footed beast of any description
whatever! One dead, uniform silence reigned over the whole region.

With the inconsiderable exceptions of the narrow vicinage of some few
forts, I wish to be understood as speaking literally;--I mean to produce
to you more than three witnesses, who will support this assertion in its
full extent. That hurricane of war passed through every part of the
central provinces of the Carnatic. Six or seven districts to the north and
to the south (and these not wholly untouched) escaped the general ravage.

NOTES.--This selection is an extract from Burke's celebrated speech in
Parliament, in 1785, on the Nabob of Arcot's debts; it bore upon the
maladministration of Hastings.

Arcot, a district in India, had been ceded to the British on condition
that they should pay the former ruler's debts. These were found to be
enormous, and the creditors proved to be individuals in the East India
Company's employ. The creditors, for their private gain, induced the Nabob
to attempt the subjugation of other native princes, among whom was Hyder
Ali. The latter at first made successful resistance, and compelled the
Nabob and his allies to sign a treaty. The treaty was not kept, and the
destruction above recounted took place.

The Carnatic is a province in British India, on the eastern side of the
peninsula; it contains about 50,000 square miles. Madras is a city, and
Tanjore a town, in this province.

CIX. THE RAVEN.

Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, was born in Boston, and died in Baltimore. He
was left a destitute orphan at an early age, and was adopted by Mr. John
Allan, a wealthy citizen of Richmond. He entered the University of
Virginia, at Charlottesville, where he excelled in his studies, and was
always at the head of his class; but he was compelled to leave on account
of irregularities. He was afterwards appointed a cadet at West Point, but
failed to graduate there for the same reason. Poe now quarreled with his
benefactor and left his house never to return. During the rest of his
melancholy career, he obtained a precarious livelihood by different
literary enterprises. His ability as a writer gained