they called her Cinderella, but for all that she was a little lady, though she was dressed like a servant, and a very poor servant

too.

One night the king gave a ball, because the prince his son was just of age. The two sisters went to it in fine new dresses with feathers in their hair, and they never said good-bye to Cinderella, but laughed at her as they went out, and said to each other: 'What an ugly shabby thing she is!' Then they got into the coach, and drove away.

Poor Cinderella sat down on a low stool by the fire, and felt so sad that she was quite ready to cry. 'What is the matter, Cinderella?' said a voice near her; and turning round she saw her godmother, who was a pretty fairy. 'I want to go to the ball with my sisters,' said Cinderella, 'it must be so very pleasant.' 'Is that all?' said the kind fairy, 'we will soon manage that.' She just touched Cinderella with her wand, and all her old clothes were changed into a fine new ball-dress; such a very pretty dress as never was seen before. She had flowers, too, in her hair, and on her feet a pair of glass slippers.

Cinderella clapped her hands, and jumped for joy. But soon she looked sad again. How can I go?' she said, 'I cannot walk there in such a dress as this.' 'Go and fetch me a pumpkin,' said the fairy; and as soon as Cinderella brought it a touch of the wand turned it into a fine state-coach. There was the coach, but where were the horses to come from? 'Are there no mice in the trap?' asked the kind fairy. Cinderella ran to look, and brought back six. The fairy touched the mice, and they became six fine large horses, with harness of gold and silver. 'Now for a coachman and footman,' said the fairy. 'Where is the rat-trap?' Cinderella brought it quickly, and inside were two fine rats, with long tails and whiskers. They made a grand coachman and footman with one touch of the fairy's wand. There, my dear,' said the fairy, 'now you may go to the ball; but you must mind one thing I have to tell you: you must be home here by twelve o'clock, for if you are not, your fine dress will turn to rags; your coach, and horses, and servants will become a pumpkin, and rats, and mice; and you will have to come home on foot.' 'I will take great care,' said Cinderella; and she gave the kind fairy a kiss, and rode away in her coach.

When she reached the ball, the young prince thought her by far the best dressed and most handsome lady in the room; and he danced with her very often. Her sisters did not know her, but said, 'How pretty and well dressed she is!'

Long before the clock struck twelve, Cinderella went away, and rode home in her grand coach. When her sisters came back, they found her sitting by the fire in her old clothes; and she heard them talking, as they went to bed, about the grand lady who had been at the ball.

The next week there was a fine ball again; and the kind fairy came and sent off Cinderella as before, in a dress that was all new except the glass slippers. But on this night, Cinderella was dancing so gaily with the prince, that she forgot to look at the clock. It began to strike twelve, and when she heard it, she jumped up and ran to the door. As she ran, she dropped one of her glass slippers, and the prince picked it up. But when poor Cinderella reached the door, she found herself in all her old clothes, and no coach was there, but only some rats, and mice, and an old pumpkin were to be seen in the road. It was a long way home through the wind, with only one glass slipper on her foot; but there was no help for it, and when her sisters came back, there she sat on her stool by the fire as before.

But now the prince wished to have the pretty lady who had worn the glass slipper for his wife. So the king sent a man with a trumpet all about the country, to proclaim that any lady who could wear the glass slipper was to marry the young prince.

All the ladies tried very hard to get their foot into it; but, no-it would not do, for it was a fairy slipper, and would fit no one but the right owner. At last the man came to the large old house where Cinderella and her sisters lived. The sisters tried, and tried-first the right foot, then the left, but, no-the slipper would not come on. 'Please, let me try,' said Cinderella. Silly girl,' said her sisters; 'you try, indeed, with your great clumsy feet-go and wash your dishes !' But the man said: 'Ler her try, if she likes.' And Cinderella took the slipper, and her foot slipped into it, so that it fitted her like a glove.

6

Her sisters were full of surprise; but what did they feel when Cinderella put her hand in her pocket, and pulled out the

fellow-slipper! At the same time the fairy came in, and touched her with her wand, and there she stood, the same pretty lady whom they had seen at the ball. The news soon reached the prince, who came with his father the king and took her away to his castle, where she became his wife. But the best of the story is, that she quite forgave her sisters for their unkind treatment of her, and she and the prince were both so good to them that they all lived happy ever after.—Chambers's Narrative Series.

147. PRUSSIA.

The Prussian monarchy, the youngest of the great European states, but in population and revenue the fifth among them, and in art, science, and civilisation entitled to the third, if not to the second place, sprang from a humble origin. About the beginning of the fifteenth century, the marquisate of Brandenburg was bestowed by the Emperor Sigismund on the noble family of Hohenzollern. In the sixteenth century that family embraced the Lutheran doctrines. It obtained from the King of Poland, early in the seventeenth century, the investiture of the duchy of Prussia. Even after this accession of territory, the chiefs of the house of Hohenzollern hardly ranked with the Electors of Saxony and Bavaria. The soil of Brandenburg was for the most part sterile. Even round Berlin, the capital of the province, and round Potsdam, the favourite residence of the Margraves, the country was a desert. In some places, the deep sand could with difficulty be forced by assiduous tillage to yield thin crops of rye and oats. In other places, the ancient forests, from which the conquerors of the Roman empire had descended on the Danube, remained untouched by the hand of man. Where the soil was rich it was generally marshy, and its insalubrity repelled the cultivators whom its fertility attracted. Frederic William, called the Great Elector, was the prince to whose policy his successors have agreed to ascribe their great

ness.

He acquired by the peace of Westphalia several valuable possessions, and among them the rich city and district of Magdeburg; and he left to his son Frederic a principality as considerable as any which was not called a kingdom.— Macaulay.

148. THE MONKEY AND THE SNAIL.

There is in the monkey-house in the Botanical Gardens at Oxford, a certain monkey, usually called Bondy, and much addicted to practical jokes and curiosity. I took a large snail, dipped it in water to make it lively, and put it on a shelf that runs round the cage. Bondy looked at it for a long time,. but would not approach until after many attempts. At last, he came crawling along the bars, ready for flight at any moment, and screwed up his courage to touch the snail-shell with his finger. He soon became bolder, and sat on the shelf watching the snail with great gravity. Presently the snail put out its head, and Bondy vanished. However, his curiosity was too strong to permit such a wonderful animal as a snail to pass unnoticed, and he came back again. The snail was alarmed, and withdrew itself into the shell as he came to it, and remained quiet for a few minutes. It soon put out its head again, and Bondy maintained his post, although with much stretching of the neck, and glistening of little eyes. By degrees the snail emerged from the shell, and just as one horn was extended, Bondy put his finger in the way; the snail, on feeling the finger, instantly withdrew its horns, and Bondy was so terrified that he hid himself in the back room, and would not come near the snail again.-7. G. Wood.

149. GENERAL BEDEAU.

Bedeau was one, and not the least, of that group of distinguished officers who learnt the practice of warfare in Africa. It was in these frequent encounters with the Arab tribes, which so long held their ground against the French, that the military qualities which characterised him were developed. General Bedeau was born at Verton, near Nantes, in 1804. At the age of thirteen he entered the military school of La Flèche, where he remained three years, and was thence transferred to St. Cyr. After the usual course of studies he obtained his commission as sub-lieutenant on the staff. He got his captain's rank in 1830; in 1831 and 1832 he served as aide-de-camp to Generals Gérard and Schramm, and was remarked at the siege of Antwerp. In 1836 he went to Algeria, where he remained ten years. He distinguished himself greatly at the second siege of Con

stantine, and when the place fell was appointed its governor. He was soon after promoted to the rank of colonel, and got the command of the 17th Light Infantry, in which he was succeeded by the Duke d'Aumale. His gallantry and ability were equally conspicuous in the Cherchell, Medeah, and Miliana expeditions, in which he was twice severely wounded. As General of Brigade he conducted the operations on the frontier of Morocco, where Abd-el-Kader had taken refuge. After several combats the Arabs were driven from all their positions, and Bedeau occupied the province of Tlemcen. His conduct at the battle of Isly, under Marshal Bugeaud, procured for him the rank of General of Division, to which was attached the command in chief of the province of Constantine. He took an active part in the expedition against the Kabyles in 1847, and was soon after raised to the important post of Governor-General of Algeria.— The Times (Nov. 3, 1863).

Mr. C. is a man of slender frame, rather under than over the middle size, with great ease of manner and flexibility of movement, and the most frank, fascinating smile. His appearance is a sufficient account of his popularity, for he seems to be one of those men who carry about them an atmosphere of vivacity and social exhilaration. We had a very pleasant and social time, discussing and comparing things in England and America. Mr. Cobden assured us that he had had curious calls from Americans, sometimes. Once an editor of a small village paper called, who had been making a tour through the rural districts of England. He said that he had asked some mowers how they were prospering. They answered, 'We ain't prosperin'; we're hayin'. Said Cobden, 'I told the man, "Now don't you go home and publish that in your paper;" but he did, nevertheless, and sent me over the paper, with the story in it.' I might have comforted him with many a similar anecdote of Americans. -Mrs. Beecher Stowe (Sunny Memories).

151. THE DEY OF ALGIERS AND BOURMONT AT LEGHORN.

Bourmont, the conqueror of Algiers in 1830, wandering one day into a café at Leghorn, sat down at the same table with a