IF
        you look
               at a Map
                   of the World,
           you will see,
         in the left-hand upper corner
               of the Eastern Hemisphere,
           two Islands
              lying in the sea.

    They are England and Scotland,
           and Ireland.

    England and Scotland
          form the greater part
               of these Islands.

    Ireland is the
           next in size.

    The little neighbouring islands,
           which are so small
               upon the Map as
              to be mere dots,
         are chiefly little bits
               of Scotland,
           - broken off,
         I dare say,
           in the course
               of a great length
                   of time,
         by the power
               of the restless water.

    In the old days,
           a long,
         long while ago,
           before Our Saviour
            was born
                   on earth and lay asleep
                 in a manger,
         these Islands
            were in the same place,
           and the stormy sea
              roared round them,
         just as it roars now.

    But the sea
        was not alive,
           then,
         with great ships
               and brave sailors,
           sailing to and
               from all parts
                   of the world.

    It was very lonely.

    The Islands lay solitary,
        in the great expanse
                 of water.

    The foaming waves
           dashed against their cliffs,
         and the bleak winds
            blew over their forests;
        but the winds and waves
               brought no adventurers
                  to land upon the Islands,
           and the savage Islanders
            knew nothing
                   of the rest
                 of the world,
         and the rest
               of the world
            knew nothing of them.

    It is supposed
         that the Phoenicians,
           who were an ancient people,
          famous for carrying on trade,
           came in ships
               to these Islands,
         and found
             that they produced
                   tin and lead;
        both very useful things,
           as you know,
         and both
              produced to this very hour
                   upon the sea-coast.

    The most
          celebrated tin mines
               in Cornwall are,
           still,
         close to the sea.

    One of them,
           which I have seen,
         is so close to it
             that it
                is hollowed
                       out underneath the ocean;
        and the miners say,
           that in stormy weather,
         when they
            are at work down in
             that deep place,
           they can hear the noise
               of the waves
             thundering above their heads.

    So,
            the Phoenicians,
         coasting about the Islands,
           would come,
         without much difficulty,
           to where the tin
               and lead were.

    The Phoenicians
          traded with the Islanders
               for these metals,
           and gave the Islanders
            some other useful
               things in exchange.

    The Islanders were,
           at first,
         poor savages,
           going almost naked,
         or only
              dressed in the rough skins
                   of beasts,
           and staining their bodies,
         as other savages do,
           with coloured earths
               and the juices of plants.

    But the Phoenicians,
           sailing over to the
               opposite coasts of France
                   and Belgium,
         and saying
               to the people there,
         'We have been
               to those white cliffs
             across the water,
               which you
                can see in fine weather,
              and from that country,
               which is called BRITAIN,
             we bring
                   this tin and lead,'
            tempted some of the French
               and Belgians
              to come over also.

    These people
          settled themselves
               on the south coast
                   of England,
           which is now called Kent;
        and,
           although they
            were a rough people too,
         they taught the savage Britons
               some useful arts,
           and improved
             that part of the Islands.

    It is probable
         that other people
            came over
                   from Spain to Ireland,
           and settled there.

    Thus,
           by little and little,
         strangers became
              mixed with the Islanders,
           and the savage Britons
            grew into a wild,
         bold people;
         almost savage,
           still,
         especially in the interior
               of the country
              away from the sea
             where the foreign settlers
                  seldom went;
        but hardy,