Lone, beside the forest rill, 



Stands an old tree reft and broken ; 

 'Neath its scant boughs waving still, 



Words of faith and hope were spoken, 

 In time of dearth and bitter woe, 

 At least six hundred years ago. M. R. 



BRITAIN was anciently divided into a variety of states, 

 which bore the names of those who dwelt in them, or 

 else had reference to some peculiarity of situation or of 

 climate. When the Romans gained the ascendancy, 

 they put aside the way-marks of the olden times, and 

 divided their new territories into Britannia Barbara, 

 Prima, and Secunda, with such lesser partitions as pleased 

 them best. Then came the Saxons. They, too, made 

 changes, and he who returned after some years' absence 

 to the shores of Britain, sought in vain for the places 

 which he remembered in early life, and with which the 

 dearest associations were connected. The plains and 

 rivers, the hills and valleys, still remained, and above 

 them extended the blue heavens, for men could not dry 



G 5 



