and his kingdom was taken away from him; and ever since that time Wales has been a part of the kingdom of England. I dare say you would like to hear how King Edward got possession of Wales. Well I will tell you.

2. As soon as the Prince of Wales made war upon King Edward, which he ought not to have done, and which was very wicked in him, because he had promised not to make war, Edward marched with a great English army, and, as I told you, soon conquered the Welch prince, who was taken prisoner and put to death for breaking his word.

3. But though the Welch prince was taken and killed, the Welch people did not choose to submit to King Edward, as they wanted to have a prince of their

own.

4. There was a kind of men in Wales who were called Bards; these Bards sang songs, and told tales and stories, and played upon the harp; and the songs they sang, and the stories they told, were old Welch songs and stories about the strength and courage, and goodness of the old Princes of Wales.

5. They used to sing these songs to music which they played on their harps; and they played and sang so well that all the Welch people thought that their own princes were the bravest and best in the whole world; and they resolved to die rather than have an English king like Edward.

6. For a long time Edward did not know what to do; for the people would only listen to the Bards, who encouraged them to battle, and would not submit to the English; at last, however he determined to put all the Bards to death. This was very cruel of him; for the poor Bards were only defending their own country which they had a right to do.

7. Edward, nevertheless, resolved to put them to death, and accordingly he hunted the poor Bards into all the mountains and woods, and, whenever he caught any of them, he put them immediately to death; and in a little time they were all taken and put

to death, except one who lived on a high rock, over a river, where Edward's soldiers could not get at him. But the poor Bard was soon weary of living alone in this desolate place, and he was sorry to remain alive after all his brothers and friends had been killed.

8. So one day that Edward and his army were marching along, on the other side of the river, at the foot of the rock, the Bard appeared on the top of the rock; he had his harp in his hand, and his long beard and hair, which were quite grey, were streaming in the wind.

9. Then he called upon Edward in a loud voice, and began a strange melancholy song, in which he foretold great misfortunes to Edward for his cruelty in Wales.

10. Edward and all his soldiers were very much enraged, and wished to be able to get up to the Bard and to kill him; but he saved them the trouble: for, having ended his strange melancholy song, and cursed King Edward and his soldiers, he threw himself headlong from that high rock into the river below, and was either dashed to pieces or drowned, for he never was heard of again.

11. Now, though Edward had thus got rid of the Prince of Wales, and of all the Bards, still the people would not submit to him, and they were still resolved to die rather than have any prince who was not born in Wales, or who could speak English, they hated the English so much.

12. When Edward heard this, and saw that he could never succeed by force, he resolved to try a stratagem, or trick. So he said to the people, "If I give you a prince born in Wales, and who cannot speak English will you obey him?" The Welch all cried out that they would.

13. Then the King took his own little son, who was just born, in his arms, and showed him to the people, and said, "Then here is your prince, for he has been just born in Carnarvon Castle, which is in Wales, and he cannot speak one word of English."

14. The people, you may be sure, were greatly surprised to see a little tiny boy, when they expected to see a great prince; but as they had promised to accept whomever should be bern in Wales, and could not speak English, they were obliged to submit, and so they did. And ever since that time the eldest son of the King of England is made Prince of Wales a day or two after he is born.

LESSON 18.

DEFINITIONS.

Par'-tic-u-lar, special, strict, more than ordinary.
Block-head, a stupid ignorant fellow, a fool.
Gen-ius, the faculty, or power of doing things, talents.
Con'-fi-dence, trust, reliance, assurance.

Is learned a primitive or derivative word? From what is it derived? How many words can you mention that are derived from learn? What is the opposite of afraid? Of tall? Steadily? Slowly? Which word in this lesson? contains the greatest number of letters, of syllables?

The Boy without a Genius--EVENINGS AT HOME.

1. Samuel was sent to Mr. Wiseman to school. His father requested Mr. Wiseman to pay particular attention to his boy; for none of his former masters could make any thing of him, and he was afraid his only son would grow up a blockhead. In short, every body said Samuel had a genius for nothing at all in the world.

2. Mr. Wiseman called Samuel to his room. He came hanging down his head, and looking ashamed, as if he was going to be flogged.

Mr. W. Come here, my dear! and stand by me,

and do not be afraid.

old are you.

Nobody will hurt you. How

Sam. Eleven last May, sir.

Mr. W. A tall, well-grown boy, of your age. You love play, I dare say?

Sam. Yes, sir.

Mr. W. What! are you a good hand at marbles?
Sam. Pretty good, sir.

Mr. W. And can spin a top, and drive a hoop, I suppose?

Sam. Yes, sir.

Mr. W. Then you have the full use of your hands and fingers?

Sam. Yes, sir.

Mr. W. Can you write, Samuel?

Sam. I learned a little, sir; but I left it off again. Mr. W. And why so?

Sam. Because I could not make the letters, sir. Mr. W. No! why how do you think other boys do? Have they more fingers than you?

Sam. No, sir.

Mr. W. Are you not able to hold a pen, as well as a marble? Let me look at your hands. (Samuel held out both his paws like a great dancing bear.) I see nothing here to hinder you from writing as well as any boy in the school. You can read, I suppose?

Sam. Yes, sir.

Mr. W. Tell me then, what is written over the door.

Sam. (reads.) "Whatever man has done, man may do."

Mr. W. Pray, how did you learn to read? Was it not by taking pains?

Sam. Yes, sir.

Mr. W. Well, taking more pains will enable you to read better. Do you know any thing of Latin Grammar?

Sam. No, sir.

Mr. W. Have you never learned it?

Sam. I tried, sir, but I could not get it by heart.

Mr. W. Why, you can say some things by heart? I dare say you can tell me the days of the week in their order?

Sam. Yes, sir, I know them.

Mr. W. And the months in the year, perhaps?
Sam. Yes, sir.

Mr. W. And you could probably repeat the names of all your father's servants, and half the people in the village, besides?

Sam. I believe I could, sir.

Mr. W. Well, is hic, hæc, hoc, more difficult to remember than those?

Sam. I don't know, sir.

Mr. W. Have you ever learned any thing of Arithmetic?

Sam. I went into addition, sir, but I did not go on with it.

Mr. W. Why so?

Sam. I could not do it, sir.

Mr. W. How many marbles can you buy for a penny?

Sam. Twelve new ones, sir.

Mr. W. And how many for a half-penny?

Sam. Six.

Mr. W. And how many for two pence?

Sam. Twenty-four.

Mr. W. If you were to have a penny a day, what would that make in a week?

Sam. Seven-pence.

Mr. W. But if you paid two pence out of that, what would you have left?

Sam. (After studying a while.) Five-pence.

Mr. W. Right. Why, here you have been practising the four ground rules of Arithmetic, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. Learning to cipher is no more than this. Well, Samuel, I see what you are fit for. I shall set you about nothing but