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Consort had exhibitions in London. Foreign workmen sent over beautiful things which they had made, and then English workmen tried to imitate them. But the Spaniards have liked to think that they knew best in everything, and "did not want to be told ;" so the consequence is, that little has, until quite lately, been done to improve the country. But the government of Spain has lately been changed. The Spaniards had a foolish and superstitious queen, and in those days there was small chance of much improvement; but the present king allows much more freedom, and we may hope that increased opportunities of education may make the Spaniards more anxious to improve. The "dark places of the earth" are always full of cruelty, for cruelty and barbarism are in most cases the result of ignorance. The less people know, the more savage they usually are.

There is a great deal to be done in Spain before it will be a pleasant country. The roads, as I said, are so bad that packages have to be carried on the backs of mules; and more causes than bad roads make travelling unpleasant: there are such a number of highway robbers, brigands as they are called, who stop travellers, rob, and sometimes murder them.

Then, if you went to Spain, I hope you would not like the national sport. What do I mean by that? In England I think the favourite game is cricket. In Holland people amuse themselves by skating. In France, you could see grown-up people riding on wooden horses in merry-go-rounds at the fair. If you visited Naples, in Italy, you would find the people looking at Punch.

But what do the Spaniards do? If they played at cricket it would be a wholesome occupation, only it is too hot in Spain for running, excepting in the early morning or late evening; if they rode wooden horses, or stared at Punch, it would be innocent, though babyish. What do they do then? They go and see bulls fight with each other, and with men and horses, till sometimes men, and always bulls and horses, are killed.

Is not this a cruel sport ? Is it not a cowardly sport? And it is also ungrateful, for when a poor Spanish horse is too worn out to do any more work, his master, instead of turning him out to grass for the rest of his life, sends him to be killed by a bull. Women and children go to see this horrid game.

There are many wild beasts in Spain-bears and wolves. There are also tame ones, for there are many sheep. The dresses we call merino are made from the wool which grows on the backs of Spanish sheep. There are a great many silkworms in Spain, which spin the thread which is afterwards made into beautiful silk at Lyons. The Spaniards also keep numbers of bees, for the sake of the honey. The chief trade is wine-making, for many vines grow in Spain.

It is a very hot country, so hot that in the towns everybody goes to sleep in the middle of the day for two hours. Labourers, shop-people, ladies, and gentlemen, all lie down to rest,-even the post-office is shut.

The capital of Spain is Madrid.

Madrid is not a very pleasant town; in the summer it is frightfully hot, and in the winter it is very windy.

There are many gipsies in Spain, but they do not wander about as they do in England.

Seville is another big town; near it are numbers of orange-trees. You have seen Seville oranges in the shops. At Seville there is the largest tobacco. manufactory in Europe. The Spanish are very fond of smoking. There is a cathedral in this town, where is the tomb of Christopher Columbus, who discovered America. To the south of Spain is Gibraltar, a very strong fortress, which belongs to England.

Rivers. The largest river is the Tagus.
Mountains.-Pyrenees.

Government.-A king.

Religion.-Roman Catholic. Other religions are

permitted.

PORTUGAL.

PORTUGAL looks like a little slice of Spain, and it is very like its elder sister in most things. The Portuguese dislike the Spaniards, just as next-door neighbours frequently do.

In Portugal a good deal of wine is made. Our Port wine comes from Oporto, in Portugal.

The capital is Lisbon, which was destroyed by an earthquake, more than 100 years ago. It has been rebuilt.

Government. A king.
Religion.-Roman Catholic.

GERMANY.

THE middle of Europe is called Germany. This is a pleasant country, neither very hot nor very cold. Some parts of it are beautiful. There are high hills, and lovely rivers, and big forests, and quantities of fruit-trees. Altogether, I think that you would like Germany. The people are very good-natured and very clever; they are fond of reading, and extremely industrious. Little German children, like the Dutch ones, make toys, to be sold in other countries. The Germans are very thoughtful, and write very interesting books. They are clever with their voices, for they sing very beautifully; and clever with their hands, for they can use them well. In short, whatever they do is well done; even the horses in Germany are better broken and trained than those in other parts of Europe. The Germans are always doing something; you seldom see a German woman without her knitting in her hand. The men are too fond of smoking.

I do not think you would like the food of the poor people: they seldom have any meat, excepting pork, and live chiefly on potatoes, and a mess of sour milk and pickled cabbage boiled together, which is called sauer-kraut. They also like meat which has been smoked, but not cooked. Rich and poor drink a great deal of coffee.

The Germans think a great deal of Christmas, and invented the Christmas-trees, now so common in England. Little children in Germany fancy that an angel brings them presents on Christmas Eve. In

some parts of the country, each child in the family chooses a coloured candle, which is burned at Christmas. The same child chooses the same coloured candle yearly. These candles are stuck into oranges, and then placed round the Christmastree, on which is a pretty present for each member of the family.

One very large kingdom in Germany is Prussia. English children ought to be interested in Prussia, because our Queen's eldest daughter, the Princess Royal, married the eldest son of the king of that country. So, some day, an English princess will be Queen of Prussia. The Prussians are well educated; for, as in Belgium, all the children are obliged to go to school. In most large Prussian towns the shopkeepers understand two or three languages.

There is a good deal of iron in Prussia, which is sent to different countries. A great quantity of timber is also burned there. Flax grows, as in Ireland, so linen is made.

The capital of Prussia is Berlin, which, although not a large place, contains many fine buildings. Amongst others, the handsomest synagogue, it is said, in the world. You know that a synagogue is a Jews' church. There are a good many Jews in Berlin.

To the west of Prussia flows the beautiful river Rhine. Steamboats go up and down it all day, crowded with people admiring the lovely scenery on the banks. Beautiful hills with old ruined castles on them are to be seen. A bright blue sky overhead, and the deep blue river below. You would like to be

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