RECAPITULATION. P. I HAVE brought you once more the table of names and dates to recapitulate. W. I have nearly forgotten all my dates, papa, and I cannot easily remember the names. I forget the order in which the kings reigned. P. And you may learn their names many times, but you will soon forget them unless you know why the kings succeeded one another. You will find, too, that by comparing the dates, and observing their peculiarities, you may learn them so as to remember them always. Ion. Please, papa, show us how to do that. I am almost as bad as Willie, I forget so much. P. Very well, we will first write out the table; we will then write out the history of the different successions, and I will next give you some questions on the dates. L. Which shall we learn first, papa? Shall we learn the "history of the succession," and the answers to your questions on the dates; or shall we learn the table first? P. The best way is to commit the table to memory first, without any help; but the easiest way is to learn the other two parts first, for if you know them perfectly you will earn your names and dates almost without trouble. We will begin with the reign of William the Conqueror. queror's youngest son, and his elder brother was absent, engaged in the Crusades. STEPHEN usurped the crown, although it was bequeathed by Henry to his daughter Matilda, because, as his father, the Count de Blois, had married Adela, William the Conqueror's daughter, he himself was that king's grandson, while Matilda was his granddaughter. HENRY II. succeeded because when Stephen lost his son Eustace, and had no one to succeed him, a treaty was made, which stipulated that he should reign after Stephen's death. RICHARD I. succeeded because he was King Henry's second son; his eldest son, Prince Henry, having died. JOHN succeeded because he was the fourth son of Henry II., and because the crown was bequeathed to him by Richard. The proper heir, however, was PRINCE ARTHUR, the son of Henry II.'s third son, Geoffrey; but it is said that John murdered this prince. HENRY III. succeeded because he was John's eldest son. His character was weak, like that of his father. EDWARD I. succeeded because he was Henry's eldest son. His character was a contrast to that of his weak-minded father, for he was distinguished for his bravery and energy. EDWARD II. was the son of Edward I.; and his character, again, was a contrast to his father's-he was as cowardly as his father was brave. EDWARD III. was Edward II.'s son; and his character, again, was a contrast to his father's, for he was a sagacious and active king. RICHARD II. was Edward III.'s grandson, the king's son, Edward the Black Prince, having died. His character, again, was a contrast to that of Edward III., for he was feeble and foolish. HENRY IV. succeeded because when the weak-minded Richard treated him unjustly, and banished him, he returned to England, imprisoned the king in Pontefract Castle, where he was murdered with a poleaxe. His character, again, was totally different from Richard's, for he was a man of prudence and bravery. HENRY V. was Henry IV.'s eldest son, and was even more wise and brave than his father. He conquered the kingdom of France. HENRY VI. succeeded his father, and, unlike him, was totally unfit to be a king. His kingdom was governed, and his battles were fought, by his wife Margaret. EDWARD IV. succeeded because he belonged to the house of York, and defeated the troops of Henry in one of the terrible battles between the houses of York and Lancaster. EDWARD V. succeeded because he was Edward IV.'s little son. Richard III. succeeded because he was the brother of Edward IV., and he caused the young Edward V. to be murdered in the Tower, in the same manner as John, the brother of Richard I., murdered his nephew Arthur. HENRY VII. succeeded because he was the grandson of Catherine, the wife of Henry V., who, on that king's death, married Owen Tudor, a Welsh gentleman. HENRY VIII. succeeded because he was the son of Henry VII. EDWARD VI. was the son of Henry VIII. MARY was the elder sister of Edward VI., being the daughter of Henry VIII.'s first wife, Catherine of Arragon. ELIZABETH was Mary's sister, the daughter of Henry VIII.'s second wife, Anne Boleyn. Ion. I think I can soon learn this account, papa; I know most of the facts. P. I may as well add one or two questions, which will further help your memory. 126. How many sons had William the Conqueror; and which succeeded him? 127. Name the four sons of Henry II., and say which succeeded him? ON THE DATES OF THE SUCCESSIVE (The answers to be committed to 140. There were three great kings, each reigned 35 years; mention their names, and when their reigns began and ended. 141. Three kings of the same name;-together, they reigned a century and five years; the first two reigning 35 and 20 years, the last 50 years. Their names, and the beginning and end of their reigns? 142. Two foolish kings, each the second king of his name. Each 128. There were three kings; each had one son who would have succeeded him but that he died before his father: the son of the first of these kings was ship-began to reign at a date containing wrecked; the son of the second the number 13 and 7; the first died just before the signing of a reigned 20 years, the second 22 treaty; and the son of the third years. Both were cruelly murdered. king died of disease after showing Say when the reign of each began great bravery in the battles of and ended. Crescy and Poictiers. Mention the name of each king and his son. 129. What king was conquered and his son butchered by the conqueror? 130. How many sons had King Edward V.? How many sons had King Edward VI.? Queen Mary? Queen Elizabeth? 131. Who was the first Saxon king of all England? 132. The first Danish king? 133. Who began the Norman line of kings? 134. Who began the Plantagenet line? 135. Which Plantagenet began the House of Lancaster? 136. Which Plantagenet began the House of York? 137. The last Plantagenet? 138. The first Tudor? 139. The last Tudor? 143. There was a very cruel king who also reigned 22 years; when did his reign begin and end? 144. The first king of each line began to reign near either the middle or the end of a century. Thus the first Norman-William I. Plantagenet-Henry II. 1154. Lancaster-Henry IV.. 1399. York-Edward IV. 1461. Tudor-Henry VII. 1066. 1485. Commit these dates to memory. 145. How many years did the Norman line of kings reign? 146. The Plantagenets? 147. The Tudors? 148. What king began to reign in the year 1100? Which in 1199? Which in 1307? Which in 1399? Which in 1509? Which in 1603? 149. There were certain kings whose reigns did not exceed ten years: Thus, Richard I. reigned 10 years; Henry V. 9 years; Edward V. 2 months; Richard III. 2 years; Edward VI. 6 years; Mary 5 years. Prove the length of these reigns by the dates of their beginning and end. 150. Mention the first king in each century from the year 1066 to the year 1603. This question will end our Recapitulation. When you can answer these 150 questions perfectly you shall hear of the history of England after the times of the Tudors. THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS. THE melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year, Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere. Heaped in the hollows of the grove the withered leaves lie dead; They rustle to the eddying gust and to the rabbit's tread. The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrub the jay, And from the wood-top calls the crow through all the gloomy day. Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, that lately sprung and stood In brighter light and soner airs, a beauteous sisterhood? Alas! they all are in their graves: the gentle race of flowers The wind-flower and the violet, they perished long ago, And now, when comes the calm, mild day, as still such days will come, When the sound of dropping nuts is heard, though all the trees are still, And twinkle in the smoky light the waters of the rill. The south-wind searches for the flowers whose fragrance late he bore, And then I think of one who in her youthful beauty died, BRYANT. THE ENGLISH TRAVELLER. LONDON-THE SOUTHERN SUBURBS. "MY DEAR CHILDREN,- gate. Ah! that reminds me of "We have crossed the bridge, and here we are. "Where? "Why, we are not in London any longer, nor in Middlesex; we are in the suburb called SOUTHWARK. "Look at your map, and you will see that the Thames flows between Middlesex and Surrey; so that Southwark is in Surrey. "Turn your face to the left,' said my friend; and on looking I saw a large railway terminus. "This is more than one railway terminus,' said my friend. At this place no less than five railways end. Here are the termini of the DOVER, the BRIGHTON, the GREENWICH, the NORTH KENT, and the CROYDON Railways. "But we must keep on in the straight line. This broad street is called the BOROUGH. We pass near to St. Thomas's Hospital, Guy's Hospital, Horsemonger Lane Jail, the Queen's Bench Prison, Training School of the British and Foreign School Society, and here we are at the ELEPHANT AND CASTLE. "The Elephant and Castle is another great inn, situated at a point where several roads meet. It is therefore at the south of London what the Angel is at the north-it is the great station for omnibuses. "Look!' said my friend, how the omnibuses congre something. I'll tell you an anecdote. "The Londoners, to save time, like to shorten all names. Thus, for the Bricklayers' Arms, which is the name of another inn where omnibuses stop, a driver would talk of the Bricklayer." "An omnibus was once jogging along, which, as will be the case sometimes, had very few passengers inside. There were two going to the Elephant and Castle, and one to the Bricklayers' Arms. The driver was anxious to know how he was getting on, and called to the conductor, 'Bill, what have you got inside?" "Oh," says Bill, there's nuffin' yetonly two Elephants and a Bricklayer!" 66 "That's rather too short a way of talking,' I replied. 'It must be pleasanter to drive an omnibus in the northern suburbs; then the three passengers might have been two Angels and a Peacock!-two gentlemen and one lady.' "Two ladies and a gent, you mean,' said my friend, you rude fellow. But there! we are talking nonsense; let us talk of the southern suburbs. "The road in which we now stand is called the WALWORTH ROAD. Beyond Walworth are CAMBERWELL and PECKHAM; the road on our left hand leads to KENNINGTON, and beyond to |