being his wife. Then he very unkindly took from her their two children, whom Griselda loved very dearly, telling her that she had promised to obey him in everything, and must let him do as he pleased about the children.

"Though Griselda loved her children so fondly, and did not know where they were, she kept her sweet patience and did not complain. She thought her husband knew best, and must be obeyed, and, year after year, the people loved her more and more.

"By and by, to try her still further, the duke told Griselda that he was going to send her back to her father to be a peasant again. Griselda, though very sad, said she was ready to do her husband's will in all things.

"Her patience at last softened the heart of the duke. He sent for the children, across the sea, and restored them to her, asking her to stay with him, and forgive his unkindness.

"And patient Griselda forgot all her years of suffering in the love of her family, and lived happily for the rest of her life."

Pronunciations. - Gris el'da ; Glō ri ā ́na.

Definitions. Inscription, a writing. Nobleman, a person of high rank in a kingdom. Court, the residence or palace of a king, where his nobles and the chief people of his kingdom attend upon him.

Spell: glimpse; grease; crumbs; patience; embroidered.

What, in this lesson, gives you an idea of the table manners of Chaucer's time? What were the Crusades? Who was Robin Hood? What do you note in the dress of Englishmen in Chaucer's day, as compared with ours? What do you think of the character of Griselda? Do men nowadays treat women better or worse than in the time of this old Italian story? In Chaucer's time two languages had just begun to unite to form the English language: Find out what these were. Name other languages from which the English language has borrowed.

Read, if accessible, "Stories from old English Poetry." -Abby Sage Richardson.

58. THE DEATH OF NATIONS.*

Articulation. —- shadows | of | nations; lands; fairest | of | all. Let us bring up the shadows of nations that died long ago, and learn a lesson from their graves.

Assyria, with the dove upon thy crown, what laid thee low? I fell by my own injustice, and Nineveh and Babylon came with me to the ground.

Queenly Persia, flame of the nations, wherefore art thou fallen? Because I trod the people under me. I fell by my own misdeeds.

Greece, muse-like queen that charmed the world with. song, fairest of all the classic lands, why liest thou in ruin? I trod on the beauty of justice and the loveliness of love. Therefore I am become as the barbarian whom I scorned.

Majestic Rome, with seven-fold crown broken at thy feet, why art thou prostrate here? I made wickedness my law. I crushed the nations under me. Slaves wet my soil with tears and blood that cried out to God, and here I have my punishment.

Go tell the new-born republic that sitteth between the oceans, with the crown of stars above her head, that countries fall by their own sins and from no other cause. Say to her, there are rights which States must keep. There is a God who keeps the white man and the black, and hurls to the earth the loftiest kingdom which breaks His just laws. Justice is the unchanging, everlasting will to give each man his right. O bid this proud young nation keep to justice and be safe.

Spell: Nineveh; Persia; Babylon.

- Adapted from Theodore Parker.

Use majestic, prostrate, and injustice in sentences of your own.

* A map of the countries mentioned in this lesson should be consulted by the pupil, under the direction of the teacher.

Can you learn why Assyria should be spoken of as having a dove upon her crown; Persia, as being the "flame of the nations"; Greece, as a "muse-like queen"; Rome, as having a "seven-fold crown"? What "new-born republic" is referred to here? This speech was made before our war of the rebellion; what national injustice do you suppose the writer had in mind? Do you know of any national injustice in our times?

Read, if accessible, "The Destruction of Sennacherib." — Byron. "Rome, thou Art no More."-Hemans. "The Isles of Greece.”—Byron. "How Justice came into the World," in "Stories from Plato," by Mary L. Burt.

STORIES ABOUT GREAT AUTHORS.

59. EDMUND SPENSER.

Articulation. - faults; books spread; deeds | of | England.

Two hundred years after Chaucer, lived the next great English poet, Edmund Spenser.

Between the lives of these poets America had been discovered, printing had been invented, and books spread throughout Europe. England had fought the great War of the Roses, and risen to a higher place among the nations of the world than she had ever taken before.

Like Chaucer, Spenser was a nobleman, educated at Cambridge college, and acquainted with all the great men and deeds of England. He saw in the country he loved many faults which he wished to correct, and resolved to write for England a noble poem, in which he would show these weaknesses and a way to cure them, and in which there should be a hero of honor and courage, whom all Englishmen would delight to imitate.

This poem is the Faerie Queen, always praised for its beautiful language and word-pictures, and this hero is St. George, the Red Cross Knight, of whom we will now read. Gloriana, the queen of faerie-land, held, every year, a feast twelve days long. Here all the lords and

ladies of the kingdom came to pass the time in merrymaking.

At the beginning of one of these feasts, there entered the court, one morning, a poorly dressed young man, who knelt before the faerie queen and begged that he might be allowed to perform any knightly task which might be given during the feast.

Gloriana and her court wondered much that one so humble should make a request so ambitious, but she granted his wish, for such was the law of the feast.

Hardly had she given her consent to this strange youth, when there entered a beautiful maiden dressed in mourning, and riding a milk-white pony. She was followed by a dwarf, who carried in one hand a spear and with the other led a noble steed, bearing the armor of a knight.

This maiden was the Princess Una, whose parents had lost their kingdom through the wickedness of an enchanter, and were shut up in a brazen tower. The king had offered half his kingdom to any one who would release them, and the Princess Una was wandering up and down the earth seeking a hero to perform this deed.

The princess told her story to Gloriana, and at once the humble youth came forward and claimed that it was his right to try the adventure. He put on the armor which the steed carried, and Queen Gloriana named him St. George, the Red Cross Knight, because there were red crosses on his breast and shield.

He followed the princess over a pleasant plain, bright with flowers and running waters, until one night the lady and her train rested in the hut of an old man who seemed a hermit, but who was really an enchanter. This wizard made the Red Cross Knight dream a foolish dream, that he must take the dwarf with him and leave the Lady Una behind, and so next morning

the Knight St. George rode away without awakening the princess.

Una wandered all that day through the dark wood in search of St. George and the dwarf, and at night lay down weary and full of fear. A savage lion came from

the wood in the darkness, but, as he drew near, the sight of Una's pure and lovely face tamed his cruel heart, and instead of doing her harm, he lay at her feet and licked her hands.

When she arose to go he would not leave her, but followed her on her journey, the most faithful friend she could have, guarding her while she slept, reading her will from her eyes, and doing whatever she wished.