Above and below, and among the spray,
Hither and thither, with screams as wild
As the laughing mirth of a rosy child!

What a joy it must be, like a living breeze,
To flutter among the flowering trees;
Lightly to soar, and to see beneath,
The wastes of the blossoming purple heath,
And the yellow furze, like fields of gold,
That gladden some fairy region old.
On mountain tops, on the billowy sea,
On the leafy stems of the forest tree,
How pleasant the life of a bird must be!


*       *       *       *       *


Directions for Reading.--The words of the first line of the poem, when
repeated on pages 157 and 158, should be slightly emphasized.[10]

Point out the lines on page 157 which would be joined in reading.

Let the class read one or more stanzas of the poem in concert.


[10] This lesson, Lesson XXXII.


*       *       *       *       *




LESSON XXXIII.


stroll'ing, _wandering on foot_.

quaint, _unusual; curious looking_.

con sult'ed, _asked advice of_.

roy'al, _belonging to a king or a queen_.

en ter tain', _receive and care for_.

court'esy, _politeness of manners_.

bod'ice, _an article of clothing_.

loy'al ty, _love of one's country or ruler_.

a miss', _out of the way; wrong_.

tri'fles, _articles small in size or value_.

mut'tered, _said in a low voice_.

ad mis'sion, _permission to enter_.


*       *       *       *       *




TRUE COURTESY.

PART I.


Prince George, the husband of Queen Anne of England, one time visited
the town of Bristol, having with him as a companion, an officer of his
household.

While strolling about the town, looking at the people and the quaint old
buildings, they stepped into the Exchange, where all the great merchants
of the town had come together doing business.

Prince George walked about, talking quite freely, first to one and then
to another. As the towns-people had not expected him, no preparation had
been made to receive him with honor; and the merchants stood in little
groups, and consulted together with, a look of anxiety upon their faces.

"What is to be done?" asked one.

"I do not know," replied another. "If his Royal Highness does not give
us notice of his coming, how can we entertain him in a proper manner?"

"Would it be well to ask him to come to one of our homes?" inquired a
third.

"No, no!" cried another. "We could not ask him to partake of our humble
fare, or even come to our homes, after the splendor to which he has been
accustomed. For my part, I shall go home to dinner."

"And I also," said the first one. "I do not care to remain here, and
stare at the Prince, when we have nothing to offer."

Then one by one, the merchants slipped away, afraid or ashamed to ask
the great Prince to their homes.

Prince George and the officer wondered at seeing the merchants
disappear. At last there was but one man left, and as he walked toward
the Prince, he bowed low, and said--

"Excuse me, sir; are you the husband of our Queen Anne, as folks here
say you are?"

"Yes, I am," was the answer; "and have come for a few hours to see the
sights of the good town of Bristol."

"Sir," said the man, "I have seen with much distress that none of our
great merchants have invited you to their homes. Think not, sir, that it
is because they are wanting in love and loyalty. They doubtless were all
afraid to ask one so high as yourself to dine with them.

"I am one John Duddlestone, sir, only a bodice-maker, and I pray you not
to take it amiss if I ask you and the gentleman who is with, you, to
come to my humble home, where you will be most welcome."

"Indeed," answered the Prince, laughing, "I am only too delighted to
accept your kind invitation, and I thank you for it very heartily. If
you lead the way, we will follow at once."

So Prince George, the officer, and Duddlestone, passed out of the
Exchange together.

"Ours is but humble fare," said Duddlestone; "for, sir, I can offer you
only roast beef and plum-pudding."

"Very good, very good indeed!" exclaimed the Prince; "it is food to
which I bring a hearty appetite."

They stopped before a small house. John pulled the latch, and, walking
in, looked for his wife; but she was upstairs.

"Here, wife, wife!" he called in a loud whisper, as he put his head up
the narrow staircase; "put on a clean apron, and make haste and come
down, for the Queen's husband and a soldier-gentleman have come to dine
with, us."

As you may think, Mrs. Duddlestone was strangely surprised at the news;
but she did not become excited; she very seldom did, I believe.

"Ay, ay!" she called. "I'm coming;" and then muttered, "The Queen's
husband! the Queen's husband! Sure, that can never be--however, I'll go
down and see."

She ran to her closet, and pulled out a nice, clean apron and cap, and
tied, the one round her waist, and the other round her comely face,
saying all the time, "Dear me, dear me, to think of it!" and away she
ran down stairs, where stood her husband and the two gentlemen.

The good woman bowed low, first to one and then to the other.

"Indeed, but I'm proud," she said, turning to Prince George, "to welcome
you to our home. 'Tis but poor and humble, but we shall think more of it
after this. I'll hurry and get dinner at once. I dare say you are
hungry, gentlemen."

Prince George laughed gayly, as he thanked her for her kind welcome, and
sat down.

The table was soon spread, and the Prince ate well, and appeared to
enjoy himself so much, that Mrs. Duddlestone could scarcely believe he
had always been accustomed to lords and ladies and footmen, and had
never before sat down in such an humble way.

Prince George inquired about their business and pleasures.

"Do you never come up to London?" he asked; "I think you would find it
worth your while to take a holiday some time, and see the great city."

"Ah well," said Mrs. Duddlestone, "if that is not just the thing I long
for. I've never been yet, nor am I likely to go, but John has been once
or twice."

"And why, John, have you never taken your wife as well, to see the great
sights?"

"Well, to say the truth," answered John, "I do not go to see the sights;
for though I've been two or three times, I don't think I've seen any.

"I must needs go sometimes to buy whalebone, and other trifles which I
must have for my business here. So I just go and come back, and meddle
with none."

"Well, well," said the Prince, "the next time you come to London, you
must bring your wife with you, and pay me a visit."

Mrs. Duddlestone clasped her fat little hands with delight.

"And shall I see the Queen?" she exclaimed.

"And see both the Queen and myself," answered the Prince. "Come, John,
say you will do so!"

"Surely, sir," said John, "I should like to give the good woman a bit of
pleasure in that way, but your grand servants would shut the doors
before us, and never let us in, perhaps."

"I can soon set that right!" and taking a card from his pocket, Prince
George wrote a few words on it, and gave it to them.

"That will gain you ready admission," he said, "and now I must leave
you. Next time we meet, I shall entertain and care for you. For the
present, I thank you for your kind welcome and good dinner, which I have
heartily enjoyed."

Then rising, he and the officer bade farewell to the good people and
took their leave.


*       *       *       *       *


Language Lesson--Let pupils use other words to express what is given
below in dark type.

I _must needs go_.

Indeed, _but I'm proud_.

Ours is _but humble fare_.

He _pulled the latch_.

So I _meddle with none_.

To see _the great sights_.

Notes.--Queen Anne ruled over England from 1702 to 1714. Royal
Highness is a title belonging to all persons in a royal family.


*       *       *       *       *




LESSON XXXIV.


de sired', _asked; expressed a wish_.

as sem'bled, _come together_.

in tro duce', _make known_.

sum'moned, _called_.

knight, _a man of noble position_.

grat'i tude, _thankfulness_.

el'e gant, _beautiful; handsome_.

pos sess'ing, _having; holding_.

dis play', _a grand show_.

e vent', _anything that takes place_.


*       *       *       *       *




TRUE COURTESY.

PART II.


It was some weeks later that John Duddlestone found his stock of
whalebone was growing low.

"Wife," said he, "the whalebone's nearly gone, and I must have some more
at once."

"Surely, John, I know well it's nearly gone!" she answered. "Haven't I
watched every bit as you've used it? and haven't I pretty near cried to
see it go so slowly?"

"Pooh! you foolish woman!" he cried.

"But, John, you'll take me, and go to see the King and Queen?" she
inquired.

"Why, you silly woman, do you think I should leave you behind, when I
know you're nearly crazed to go?"

"O John, John, you dear, good man! I've mended all my dresses, and made
myself trim and neat. I've seen to your coats; and all's done; and I
feel as if I could scarcely live till I see the Queen."

"You'd best keep alive," said her husband; "and if all goes well we'll
start by the coach on Monday."

Monday was as lovely a day as heart could wish; and John and his wife
walked down the Bristol streets to the public-house from which the coach
was to start.

It was a great event in Mrs. Duddlestone's life, for she had never been
beyond her own town, except for a drive into the country in a neighbor's
cart.

They were quiet people; but it had got about the town, that they were
going to London to visit the Queen, and numbers came out to see them go.

Perhaps some of the great merchants wished they had been simple and
humble enough to offer to entertain Prince George when he had visited
their town.

They journeyed straight to London, where John bought his whalebone, and
then found their way to St. James' Palace, where, presenting the
Prince's card, they gained ready admittance.

They were shown into a room, more beautiful than any that they had ever
seen. Very shortly the door opened, and the well-remembered face of
their guest appeared. Almost before he had greeted them, a quiet-looking
lady followed him, and came smilingly to greet them.

"This is the Queen," said Prince George; and then, turning to her, he
added, "These are the good people who showed me such kindness in
Bristol."

The Queen was so gentle and courteous that neither John nor his wife
felt confused in her presence. She talked kindly to them, asking after
their trade, and how they had fared in their journey.

She then asked them to dine with her that evening, and said dresses
would be provided for them, so that they should not feel strange by
seeing that they were dressed differently from all her other guests.

She then called an attendant, and desired that refreshment should be
given them, and that they should be well cared for, and shown all that
might interest them until dinner time.

It was a long, wonderful day to them, as they walked about from place to
place. Before dinner they were taken to the room that was prepared for
them, and there they found elegant court dresses of purple velvet ready
to put on.

"Surely, John, they can not be for us!" cried Mrs. Duddlestone.

"Yes, but they must be! Did not the Queen say she would give us dresses?
and do not these dresses look as if they had been given by a queen?"

"John, I shall feel very strange before all the grand ladies!"

"Then you need not, wife, for the Queen and Prince will be there; and
the others will not trouble you; but this is a queer dress. It's like
being somebody else."

And very queer they felt, as for the first time they walked down the
grand stairs, in such, splendid dresses, to dine at the Queen's table,
with the Queen's servants to wait on them.

"You must go first, John," said his wife, for shyness came over her.

"Be not so foolish, wife," whispered John; and, though feeling rather
awkward in his new dress, he walked simply forward, as he might have
done in a friend's house.

The Queen met them at the door, and, turning to her other guests, who
were assembled, she said, "Gentlemen, I have to introduce to you, with
great pleasure, the most loyal people in the town of Bristol."

At these words they all rose and bowed low, while John and his wife did
the same, and then sat down, and ate a good dinner.

After the dinner was over, the Prince summoned John Duddlestone to the
Queen.

At her command John knelt before her, and she laid a sword lightly on
his shoulder, with the words, "Rise up, Sir John Duddlestone"; and the
simple, kind-hearted bodice-maker of Bristol rose up a knight.

His wife stood by, watching with eagerness, and could hardly believe
that from plain Mistress Duddlestone she had become Lady Duddlestone.

She would, have been very proud if the Queen had laid the sword upon her
also; but she heard that was not needed. However, she was made very
happy by being called to the Queen's side.

"Lady Duddlestone," said Her Majesty, "allow me to present you with my
gold watch, in remembrance of your visit to St. James' Palace, and of
the Prince's visit to Bristol, which led to our knowing two such loyal
and courteous subjects."

Lady Duddlestone bowed lower and lower, almost unable to find any words
in which to express her gratitude.

A gold watch! Was it possible? Watches were not common in those times.
She had heard of watches, and had even seen some; but had never dreamt
of possessing one.

Such a big beauty it was! She was glad to fall back behind the other
guests, and get time to think quietly, and realize that all was true,
and not a dream from which she would wake, and find herself in her
little attic bed-room at Bristol.

Queen Anne then spoke to Sir John, offering to give him a position under
Government; but he begged to be excused.

"It would be strange, your Majesty, very strange, up in London, and my
work at Bristol suits me far the best. We want for nothing, and should
never feel so well and home-like as in our little house at Bristol."

The Queen understood him, and did not press him; and in another day or
two the couple were again on their way home.

"You're glad, wife, that we're going home?" John asked; "and you think I
did well not to take some office in London?"

"Well! You could have clone no better. It's been grand to see, and grand
to hear; but it would be very strange and uncomfortable to live always
like that, and I'll be right glad to be back once more.

"I'm more than proud of it all. But I should never like our own room, in
which Prince George sat so home-like with us, to belong to another."

"No, no--we will keep our own snug home," replied John with earnestness.

And so they did, living on quietly as of old; and the only display ever
made by Lady Duddlestone was, that whenever she went to church or to
market, she always wore the Queen's big gold watch.


*       *       *       *       *


Language Lesson.--Let pupils use other words to express the meaning of
what is given below in dark type.

You'd _best keep_ alive.

It's been _grand_ to see.

_Then you need not_.

You're _nearly crazed to go_.

_Attendant_ is made up of two parts--the stem, _attend_, and the
ending, _ant_ (meaning one who).

The meaning of the word _attendant_ is _one who attends_.

Make out an _analysis_ of the last two lessons, and use it in telling
the story in your own words.


*       *       *       *       *




LESSON XXXV.


pre sume', _suppose; think without being sure_.

mus'cles, _those parts of the body which give us
motion, and by which we exert our strength_.

ex tent', _space; distance_.

or'di na ry, _common; usual_.

knowl'edge, _that which is known through study_.

de gree', _measure, as of space or time_.

spent, _used up; exhausted_.

snapped, _broken off_.

de tached', _taken away from_.


*       *       *       *       *




WHY AN APPLE FALLS.


"Father," said Lucy, "I have been reading to-day that Sir Isaac Newton
was led to make a great discovery, by seeing an apple fall from a tree.
What was there wonderful about the apple falling?"

"Nothing very wonderful in that," replied her father; "but it set him to
thinking of what made it fall."

"Why, I could have told him that," said Lucy; "because the stem snapped
and there was nothing to support it."

"And what then?" asked her father.

"Why, then, of course it must fall."

"Ah!" said her father, "that is the point: why must it fall?"

"I am sure I don't know," said Lucy. "I presume it was because there was
nothing to keep it up."

"Well, Lucy, suppose there was not--does it follow that it must come to
the ground?"

"Yes, certainly," replied Lucy, wonderingly.

"Let us see," said her father; "but first answer this question: What is
an animate object?"

"Any thing that has animal life, and power to move at will," replied
Lucy.

"Very good," said her father; "now, what is an inanimate object?"

"Any thing that does not possess animal life, or can not move at will."

"Very good again," said her father. "Now an apple is, of course, an
inanimate object; and therefore it could not move itself, and Sir Isaac
Newton thought that he would try to find out what power moved it."

"Well, then," said Lucy; "did he find that the apple fell, because it
was forced to fall?"

"Yes," replied her father; "he found that there was some force outside
of the apple itself that acted upon it, otherwise it would have remained
forever where it was, no matter if it were detached from the tree."

"Would it, indeed?" asked Lucy.

"Yes, without doubt," replied her father, "for there are only two ways
in which it could be moved--by its own power of motion, or the power of
something else moving it. Now the first power, you know it does not
have; so the cause of its motion must be the second."

"But every thing falls to the ground as well as an apple, when there is
nothing to keep it up," said Lucy.

"True. There must therefore be some power or force which causes things
to fall," said her father.

"And what is it?" asked Lucy.

"If things away from the earth can not move themselves to it," said her
father, "there can be no other cause of their falling than that the
earth pulls them."

"But," said Lucy, "the earth is no more animate than they are; so how
can it pull?"

"That is not an ordinary question, but I will try an explanation," said
her father. "Sir Isaac Newton discovered that there was a law in nature
called attraction, and that all bodies exert this force upon each
other. The greater the body, the greater is its power of attraction.

"Now, the earth is an immense mass of matter, with which nothing near it
can compare in size. It draws therefore with mighty force all things
within its reach, which is the cause of their falling. Do you understand
this?"

"I think that I do," said Lucy; "the earth is like a great magnet."

"Yes," said her father; "but the attraction of the magnet is of a
particular kind and is only over iron, while the attraction of the earth
acts upon every thing alike."

"Then it is pulling you and me at this moment!" said Lucy.

"Certainly it is," replied her father; "and as I am the larger, it is
pulling me with more force than it is pulling you. This attraction is
what gives every thing weight.