of the heat upon the metal, and to watch the nicety of the operation of tempering, as well as possibly to serve as a screen to his secret method of working.

13. England herself has on more than one occasion been supposed to be in serious peril because of the decay of her iron manufactures. Before the Spanish Armada, the production of iron had been greatly discouraged, because of the destruction of timber in the smelting of the orethe art of reducing it with pit-coal not having yet been invented; and we were consequently mainly dependent upon foreign countries for our supplies of the material out of which arms were made. The best iron came from Spain itself, then the most powerful nation in Europe, and as celebrated for the excellence of its weapons as for the discipline and valour of its troops. 14. The Spaniards prided themselves upon the superiority of their iron, and regarded its scarcity in England as an important element in their calculations of the conquest of the country by their famous Armada. I have heard,' says Harrison, that when one of the greatest peers of Spain espied our nakedness in this behalf, and did solemnly utter, in no obscure place, that it would be an easy matter in a short time to conquer England, because it wanted armour, his words were not so rashly uttered as politely noted.' 15. The vigour of Queen Elizabeth promptly supplied a remedy by the large importations of iron which she caused to be made, principally from Sweden, as well as by the increased activity of the forges in Sussex and the Forest of Dean, 'whereby,' adds Harrison, England obtained rest, that otherwise might have been sure of sharp and cruel wars. Thus a Spanish

word, uttered by one man at one time, overthrew, or at the leastwise hindered sundry privy practices of many at another,'

16. Nor has the subject which occupied the earnest attention of politicians in Queen Elizabeth's time ceased to be of interest; for, after the lapse of nearly three hundred years, we find the smith and the iron manufacturer still uppermost in public discussions. It has of late years been felt that our much-prized 'hearts of oak' are no more able to stand against the prows of mail which were supposed to threaten them than the sticks and stones of the ancient tribes were able to resist the men armed with weapons of bronze or steel. 17. What Solon said to Croesus, when the latter was displaying his great treasures of gold, still holds true: 'If another comes that hath better iron than you, he will be master of all that gold.' So, when an alchemist waited upon the Duke of Brunswick during the Seven Years' War, and offered to communicate the secret of converting iron into gold, the Duke replied: 'By no means; I want all the iron I can find to resist my enemies; as for gold, I get it from England.' Thus the strength and wealth of nations depend upon coal and iron, not forgetting men, far more than upon gold.

EXERCISES.-1. Write a SUMMARY of the first four sections

inclusive.

2. Write a short paper on 'The Smith' from your own

summary.

3. Explain the following sentences and phrases, and give a synonym for the single word: (1) Consummate knowledge. (2) Exquisite specimens. (3) Types for continual reproduction. (4) The retainer of some lordly establishment. (5) The historian records that they penetrated the armour of Douglas. (6) Scotland had scarcely emerged from the stone period. (7) Famine of iron. (8) Delinquency. (9) In serious peril. (10) Politely noted. (11) The iron manufacturer is still uppermost in public discussions. (12) The latter was displaying his treasures of gold.

4. Parse all the words in the following sentence: 'If a road

had to be made, or a stream embanked, the smith was invariably called upon to direct the work.'

5. Analyse the following sentence :

Their shields

Dashed with a clang together; and a din
Rose, such as that the sinewy wood-cutters
Make often in the forest's heart at morn,

Of hewing axes, crashing trees; such blows
Rustum and Sohrab on each other hailed.

6. Write in columns all the words you know connected with the following English words: Smite 1; great2; work3; speak; fight; hold; hear; out5; come; weal.

7. Write in columns all the derivatives you know from the following Latin words: Civis, a citizen (root civ, stem civil); pleo, I fill (root ple, stem plet); video, I see (root vid, stem vis); porto, I carry (root port, stem portat).

8. Write sentences containing the following words: Hie and high; holy and wholly; knave and nave.

9. Write sentences containing the following phrases: Exception to and exception from; fight for and fight with; lean against, lean to, and lean on.

1. Why sitt'st thou by that ruined hall,

Thou aged carle, so stern and gray?

Dost thou its former pride recal,

Or ponder how it passed away?

2. 'Knowest thou not me!' the Deep Voice cried,
'So long enjoyed, so oft misused—
Alternate, in thy fickle pride,

Desired, neglected, and accused?

3. Before my breath, like blazing flax,
Man and his marvels pass away ;
And changing empires wane and wax,
Are founded, flourish, and decay.

4. 'Redeem mine hours-the space is briefWhile in my glass the sand-grains shiver, And measureless thy joy or grief,

When Time and thou shall part for ever!'

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832).

DIRECTIONS AND CAUTIONS FOR READING.

VERSE 1.-Line 1: Avoid the verse-accent upon by. This is to be done by making a slight pause after thou, and reading by-that-ruined-hall as one word.-Line 3: No accent upon thou. -Line 4: Avoid the verse-accent upon how. away is to be read together.

VERSE 2.-Line 1: The emphatic word is me.

How-it-passed

VERSE 3.-Line 1: The emphatic word is my.-Line 2: Avoid the verse-accent upon and.-Line 4: Slur over and.

VERSE 4.-Line 2: Avoid the verse-accent upon in, and read in-my-glass as one word.

EXERCISES.-1. Paraphrase the whole poem.

2. State some of the changes which Time makes upon trees; buildings; faces, etc.

VOLCANOES.

Volcano, a burning mountain. Consolation, comforting thought.

1. A 'volcano' consists of a hole in the ground, called the 'crater,' which leads down into the inside of the earth, and out of which there come flames and smoke and melted rocks. Often the crater' may be several miles across, and very deep; and this name is given to it from a Greek word meaning a cup. The melted rocks which are thrown out of the crater generally get heaped round its mouth so as to form a hill; and therefore an ordinary volcano may properly be called a 'burning mountain.' 2. There are a great many volcanoes in different parts of the world, but there are none now in England. Perhaps the most celebrated volcanoes are Vesuvius in Italy, Etna in Sicily, and Hecla in Iceland; but there are many others that are almost as well known. Perhaps we shall understand better what a volcano is if we take a glance at the history of Vesuvius.

3. Vesuvius is a mountain shaped somewhat like a sugar-loaf broken at the top, and situated near the seashore, about ten miles from the city of Naples in Italy. Its present height is about four thousand feet, and it is