INTRODUCTORY LESSON.

What is the name of this town? What is the principal employment of the people of this town? What do you understand by agriculture? manufactures? commerce? Have any events worthy of notice taken place in this town since you can remember? Do you think any have happened since your parents can remember? Can you mention any that have been told you? Can you mention the names of any distinguished persons that have lived in this town? Can you inform me when this town was first settled by white people, or Europeans? Who lived here before the white people came? What has become of the Indians? Should you like to hear a person relate all the important events that have happened in this town, was first settled by white people? What would you call this relation or account? Does history always signify a relation or narrative of past events?

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What is the name of this county? Can you inform me which town in this county contains the greatest number of inhabitants? Which is the shire or county town? What is the principal employment of the people of this county? Can you tell me which town in this county was first settled by Europeans? Can you mention the names of any distinguished persons that have lived in this county? Can you relate any events worthy of notice that have taken place in this county?

What is the name of this State? What is the capital of it? What do you mean by capital? Which is the most populous town or city in this State? What is the difference between a town and a city? Who is the present governor of this State? Who was governor before him? What town was first settled in this State? By what European nation was it settled? How many years since? Can you mention the names of any distinguished individuals that have lived in this State? Can you relate any important events that have happened in this State?

What is the name of this country? What is the capital of the United States? Which is the most populous city in the United States? Where was the first permanent English settlement made in the United States? How many years since? Who the president of the United States? Who was president before him? Who is the vice-president of the United States ? Can you mention the names of any distinguished persons that have lived in the United States? Can you relate any important events that have taken place in the United States? Is our present form of government monarchical or republican? What is the difference between monarchical form of government and a republican?

Comprises the events that occurred from the discovery of America, by Columbus, in 1492, to the settlement of Jamestown, A. D. 1607.

1. THE discovery of America produced great excitement throughout the civilized world, and awakened a spirit of activity, enterprise, and inquiry never before

QUESTIONS. What events does the first period comprise? By whom was America discovered? When? What was the condition of the country at that time? A. A wilderness, inhabited by Indians. What does the cut represent ?

known. The gold, the silver, and other valuable productions found here by the Spaniards, excited other nations to make discoveries in these new and unexplored regions. Among these the English took the lead.

2. In 1497, John Cabot,* and his son Sebastian,† under the patronage of Henry VII. king of England, discovered the island of Newfoundland, and shortly after the continent itself. Thence they sailed along the coast as far south as Florida. Having taken possession of the country in behalf of the crown of England, they returned without making any settlement. Upon the

1. What effect did the discovery of America produce? What in duced other countries to make discoveries in America? A. The hopes of enriching themselves by extending their commerce, acquiring vast territories, and obtaining gold, silver, and other valuable productions. What nation took the lead?

2. Who first sailed from England to America? Who was John Cabot? Sebastian Cabot? Who was king of England at that time? What did they discover? What was the method of taking possession of a newly discovered country. A. By erecting crosses along the coast, and inscribing the name of the nation upon them, which made the discovery? Upon what did the English found their claim to the eastern part of North America?

* John Cabot was a native of Venice. Ile resided in Bristol. England, some years previous to the discovery of America by Columbus. He was skilled in all the sciences requisite to form an accomplished mariner. Encouraged by the success of Columbus in his first voyage, Cabot was determined to attempt the discovery of unknown lands. He sailed from England the beginning of May, 1497, with two vessels freighted by the merchants of London and Bristol, with articles of traffic and 300 men. The accounts of this voyage are involved in much obscurity. According to some, after discovering the continent, he sailed north to the latitude of sixty-seven degrees; but meeting with ice, he changed his course, and sailed along the coast towards the equator till he came to Florida. Here his provisions failed him, and a mutiny broke out among his men; and he was compelled to return to England.

+ Sebastian Cabot, son of John Cabot, was born at Bristol, England, about the year 1477. He was early instructed in the mathematical knowledge necessary for a seaman, and at the age of seventeen had made several voyages. He sailed several times to the western continent for the purpose of finding a passage to the East Indies. Being disappointed in this, he quit England, and spent some time in the service of Spain. About the beginning of the reign of Edward VI. 1549, he returned to England, and had a pension settled on him as grand-pilot of England. He died about 1557, leaving behind him a high character both as a skilful seaman and a man of great general abilities.

Henry VII. of England was born in 1457. He opposed, and defeated Richard III. at Bosworth, and was proclaimed king on the field of battle in 1485. He was devoted to the happiness of his subjects, and contributed materially to the establishment of commerce,-the encouragement of industry, and to the protection of the arts. He checked the encroachment of the nobles, made salutary laws, and died, with the reputation of a great and good king, in 1509.

discoveries made in this voyage, the English founded their claim to the eastern part of North America.*

3. In 1512, Juan Ponce de Leon,† a Spanish commander, discovered and named Florida. Having obtained a commission from the king of Spain, he soon after attempted to plant a colony in it. But no sooner had he landed than his company were attacked by the natives, with poisoned arrows, and the greater part of them killed, and the remainder obliged to quit the country. In consequence of this discovery, the Spaniards laid claim to the territory of Florida.

4. In 1524, John Verrazzano,‡ in the employment of Francis I. king of France, sailed along the American coast from Florida to Labrador, and named the country

3. When and by whom was Florida discovered? By whom was he commissioned to plant a colony there? What became of this colony? Upon what did the Spaniards rest their claim to Florida?

4. In what year did Verrazzano sail along the American coast? By whom employed? What did he call the country? What happened to him the next year? When and by whom was another expedition made? What gulf did Cartier discover and name? Of what country did he take possession the next year? In whose name? What laid the foundation of the French claims in N. A.? When was an attempt made to plant a colony, and with what success?

It was adopted as a rule by the sovereigns of Europe at that time, and is still received as a principle of the law of nations, that newly discovered countries belong to the discoverers.

† Juan Ponce de Leon was sent to conquer the island of Porto Rico; and having there amassed great riches, and received information of an island situated to the north, in which there was a miraculous fountain possessing the power of restoring youth to the aged, he sailed, in 1512, in quest of those happy shores. Although he was unable to find THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH, he discovered the country, to which he gave the name of Florida, on account of its blooming appearance.

John Verrazzano was a native of Florence, Italy. It is worthy of remark, that Spain, England, and France, owed their first discoveries in the new world to the Italians,-a circumstance which clearly proves that in those times no nation was equal to the Italians in point of maritime knowledge and extensive experience in navigation. It is, however, remarkable, that the Italians, with all their knowledge and experience, have not been able to acquire one inch of ground for themselves in America. This singular failure has been ascribed to the penurious mercantile spirit of the Italian republics,-to their mutual animosities and petty wars, and to their contracted, selfish policy.

§ Francis I. king of France, called by his subjects the "father of litera ture," was born in 1494. He succeeded Lewis XII. on the French throne in 1515. He is known as the rival and opponent of Charles V. emperor of Germany, and with whom he was involved in war during almost his whole reign. He was noted for his generosity, clemency, and love of letters; and had he been contented with the arts of peace, France would have been happy and prosperous under his government. He died at Rambouillet in 1547.

New-France. He made another voyage the year following, when, by some unknown disaster, he and al' his companions perished. In 1534, the French fitted out another expedition under James Cartier. He dis covered and named the gulf of St. Lawrence. The year following, he sailed up the river St. Lawrence, as far as Montreal, and took possession of the country in the name of the French king. The discoveries of Verrazzano and Cartier laid the foundation of the French claim in North America. In 1540, they attempted to plant a colony in Canada, but being unsuccessful, they abandoned the enterprise.

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5. In 1539, Ferdinand de Soto,* governor of Cuba,landed on the coast of Florida with an army of about 1,200 He penetrated far into the country in search o gold, exposed to famine, hardships, and the opposition of the natives. In the spring of 1541, he discovered the Mississippi, about 600 miles from its mouth. He continued his march westward to the Red river, where he died, in 1542, and his followers returned to Cuba.

6. During the religious wars in France, Admiral Coligny,† the head of the Protestant sect in that country, formed a plan for settling a colony of his brethren in America, where they might be saved from the persecu

5. Who landed an army on the coast of Florida in 1539? What did he do? What did he discover in 1541? Where and when did he die? What became of his followers?

6. Who was Coligny? When did he form a plan for a colony? What was the state of France at that time? What was his object in settling a colony? By whose permission was a company sent ? Under whom? Where did they land? What happened the next winter? What was their condition while on their return? What became of them at last? What was this the first attempt to do?

* Ferdinand de Soto, a brave, gallant, and intrepid officer. He served under Pizarro, in the conquest of Peru, with such reputation as to obtain from the king of Spain the government of Cuba.

† Gaspard de Coligny, a celebrated admiral of France, was born in 1516. He bravely supported the cause of the French Protestants against the Catholics headed by the duke of Guise. After gaining several victories over the opposite party, he was basely assassinated by one of the domestics of the duke of Guise, in the beginning of the horrid massacre of Paris, on the eve of St. Bartholomew's day, 1572, when 30,000 Protestants were inhumanly butchered