5. It was not in the battle;

No tempest gave the shock;
She sprang no fatal leak,

She ran upon no rock.

6. His sword was in its sheath,
His fingers held the pen,
When Kempenfeldt went down
With twice four hundred men.

7. Weigh the vessel up,

Once dreaded by our foes!
And mingle with our cup

The tear that England owes.

8. Her timbers yet are sound,
And she may float again,

Full charged with England's thunder,
And plough the distant main.

SUMMARY.-The Royal George, a first-rate man-of-war, of one hundred guns, upset and sank while at anchor in the Spithead, by the guns rolling to one side of the vessel, June 28, 1782. Nearly a thousand persons perished, among whom was Admiral Kempenfeldt, who was writing in his cabin at the time.

13. THE IRISH SEA.

[Map, p. 6.

1. The Irish Sea washes the shores of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. It is almost surrounded by land.

2. At the north of this sea there is a narrow outlet to the Atlantic Ocean, called the North Channel, which separates Ireland from Scotland. At the narrowest part this Channel is only twelve miles wide.

3. At the south of the Irish Sea there is a wider outlet to the Atlantic, called St. George's Channel, which separates Wales from Ireland. It is about fifty miles broad.

4. The Irish Sea enters the land by many openings, which form good harbours for ships, and several large sea-ports are built on its shores. Almost opposite each other are Liverpool, at the mouth of the Mersey, the second port in England, and Dublin, on Dublin Bay, the capital and chief port of Ireland.

5. The principal openings on the English and Welsh coasts are, Solway Firth, Morecambe Bay, the mouths of the Mersey and the Dee, and Cardigan Bay.

6. Solway Firth, part of the boundary between England and Scotland, is an inlet running far into the land, and noted for its tides. When the tide has ebbed, long stretches of bare sand are seen, and travellers can cross from shore to shore. But this is often very dangerous, for the tide returns with the speed of a race-horse.

7. Morecambe Bay, like Solway Firth, runs far into the land. Its waters are also very shallow, and its extensive sands are left dry by the receding tide. This inlet cuts Lancashire into two parts, and stretches as far inland as to Westmoreland.

8. The Mersey is not the largest, but it is, after the Thames, the most important river-inlet in England. Liverpool, the second sea-port in Great Britain stands on its banks. Heavily-laden ships from all parts of the world may be seen in its harbour. Great cargoes of cotton and wool are constantly arriving here for the mills of Lancashire and Yorkshire.

9. The Dee enters the Irish Sea a few miles to the west of the Mersey. Once it was a river of Chester was a well

commercial importance, and known port before Liverpool was a port at all. Now the Dee is so choked by sand-banks that only small vessels can enter it.

10. Cardigan Bay washes the greater part of the western shores of Wales. It forms a long bend or curve, surrounded by hills and mountains. Not having even a single good harbour, no town of any size or importance is found on its shores.

11. Passing through St. George's Channel we reach Milford Haven, one of the many inlets in the deeply indented coast of Pembrokeshire. It is the finest harbour inlet in Britain. Yet so difficult is the approach to it on the land side, that it was of little use till railways were carried to it. It may some day become a place of importance, as vessels could sail to and from it in a straight course across the Atlantic Ocean.

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12. On the south of Wales is Bristol Channel, the widest inlet on the coasts of England. Into it flow the waters of the Severn. This Channel is remarkable for its high tides, which, meeting with the current of the river, form a high tide-wave, called the "bore."

SUMMARY.-The Irish Sea is almost surrounded by England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Its outlets to the Atlantic are the North Channel and St. George's Channel. Solway Firth is part of the boundary between England and Scotland. Morecambe Bay cuts Lancashire into two parts. Liverpool, the great cotton port, is on the Mersey. The mouth of the Dee is choked by sand-banks. Cardigan Bay washes the greater part of Western Wales. Milford Haven is the finest harbour in Britain. Bristol Channel, famous for its high-tide wave, receives the waters of the Severn.

EXERCISE.-Draw a Map of the Irish Sea.

14. THE KING AND THE MILLER.
1. There dwelt a miller hale and bold
Beside the river Dee;

He worked and sang from morn to night—
No lark more blithe than he ;

And this the burden of his song

For ever used to be,

"I envy nobody—no, not I!

And nobody envies me!"

2. "Thou'rt wrong, my friend," said old King Hal— "Thou'rt wrong as wrong can be ;

For could my heart be light as thine,
I'd gladly change with thee.

And tell me now what makes thee sing
With voice so loud and free,

While I am sad, though I'm the king,

Beside the river Dee.'

3. The miller smiled, and doffed his cap :-
"I earn my bread," quoth he;
"I love my wife, I love my friends,
I love my children three;

I owe no penny

I cannot pay,

I thank the river Dee,

That turns the mill that grinds the corn
To feed my babes and me."

4. "Good friend," said Hal, and sighed the while,
"Farewell! and happy be;

But say no more, if thou'dst be true,

That no one envies thee:

Thy mealy cap is worth my crown;
Thy mill, my kingdom's fee ;-

Such men as thou are England's boast,
O miller of the Dee!"

CHARLES MACKAY.

Blithe, gay; cheerful.
Bur-den, subject of.

Dee. (See page 33.)
Doffed, took off.
Earn, work for.

Fare-well, good-bye.
Fee, value; worth.

Hal, Henry.
Hale, healthy.
I'd, I would.
I'm, I am.
Quoth, said.

Thou'rt, thou art.

Thou'dst, thou wouldst.