What important lesson should be learnt by every boy and girl? Relate the story of Marshal Blucher. Who was Sir William Napier? Relate the story about him.

SPAIN.

1. Spain forms part of a large peninsula in the southwest of Europe. Very little was known of it or its people until the time of Julius Cæsar. He conquered the inhabitants, and made it into a Roman colony.

2. On the decay of the Roman Empire the country was invaded by a warlike tribe called the Visigoths, who came from the districts adjoining the Upper Danube. This tribe crossed the Pyrenees, and settled in the rich valleys of northern Spain.

3. The most remarkable invasion of Spain was, however, by the Moors, who invaded it about the year 711 A.D. The Moors were Mohammedans, and originally came from the northern districts of Africa. They crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, and founded a large kingdom in the south of Spain, which lasted seven hundred years.

4. These Moors were a brave and warlike people. They were also learned, and much farther advanced in civilization than the people they had conquered. They introduced into Spain many useful industries, which are even to this day carried on in the chief cities of the south. They also introduced into the parts of Spain which they had conquered, a peculiar

criental style of building. One of the palaces erected

by them in Granada called the Alhambra is worldrenowned for its beauty.

5. The Moors were expelled from Spain in the year 1492, during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. It was in this same year that Columbus dis

covered America. He had obtained the patronage of Queen Isabella, who ordered a fleet to be fitted out to enable him to make his discoveries.

6. Shortly after the discovery of America, Spain became very rich and powerful. She had conquered nearly all the West India Islands, Mexico, and the chief countries of South America. Immense quantities of gold and silver were brought from these countries to Spain; but as she treated the conquered people with great cruelty, and did not use her vast powers to promote their welfare, these colonies were of little benefit to her.

7. The south of Spain is hot and semi-tropical. Rice and maize are grown in abundance, and oranges, lemons, citrons, figs, olives, and grapes, attain great perfection. The climate in the north and west is mild, and here the great cork forests are found on the slopes of the mountains.

8. Spain suffers much from the loss of her forests, which foolishly have been cut down. Around Madrid, the capital, the country is almost treeless, and in consequence is dry and barren, although at one time it was very fruitful and productive.

9. The wild animals found in Spain are the wolf, bear, boar, and on the rock of Gibraltar the Barbary ape. Wild bulls are found in Andalusia. Mules of a fine breed are much used in the transport of goods across the precipitous mountains. The Merino sheep are natives of Spain, and are noted for their wool, which is long, silky, and of good quality.

10. One of the wonders of Spain is the famous palace of the Escurial, the largest palace in the world.

The ground plan is in the form of a gridiron. It is a dreary-looking building, built in a barren stony part of the country, about twenty-seven miles from Madrid. It was built by King Philip II. in memory of his victory over the French in 1563.

11. The exports of Spain are chiefly wine, nuts, oranges, wool, lemons, and cork, which is the bark of a tree growing in her forests.

12. One small part of Spain, called the Rock of Gibraltar, belongs to this country. It is a huge rock three miles long, and 1439 feet high, connected with Spain by a narrow low isthmus. It is very strongly fortified, and has numerous long galleries cut in the rock, in which are placed many cannon. This rocky fortress was taken from the Spaniards by the English, under Sir George Rooke, in the year 1704.

Several attempts have since been made by the French and Spaniards to re-take it from the English, but they have always been unsuccessful.

13. One siege by the soldiers and fleets of these two nations lasted four years, and was only raised by the English firing red hot shot at the combined fleets; thus setting the ships on fire, and causing their destruction.

Julius Cæsar, a Roman general who died 44 B.C. conquered, overcame. inhabitants, people. Pyrenees, a range of mountains between France and Spain. civilization, culture. Oriental, Eastern. expelled, driven out. immense, very large. maize, Indian corn.

Columbus, the discoverer
of America.

transport, to take from
place to place.
gridiron, a cooking uten-

sil.

Mexico, a country in Central America.

numerous, very many. attempts, efforts. connected, joined. fleets, war ships.

in-vad-ed

or-der-ed

in-va-sion en-a-ble

nu-mer-ous

pal-a-ces

ad-vanc-ed per-fec-tion quan-ti-ties

in-dus-tries con-se-quence Span-i-ards Al-ham-bra Gib-ral-tar pen-in-su-la pa-tron-age Mer-i-no

o-ri-gin-al-ly

in-tro-duc-ed

pe-cu-li-ar

for-ti-fi-ed

A-mer-i-ca

re-mark-a-ble pre-cip-it-ous

Where is Spain situated? What does it form part of? Who first conquered the inhabitants? Who was Julius Caesar? At what period did he live? What people afterwards conquered Spain? Where did the Visigoths come