from the said vermin, nor would he demand it till a twelvemonth and a day after the agreement being made, he began to play on his pipes, and all the rats and the mice followed him to a great lough hard by, where they all perished; so the town was infested no more. At the end of the year, the Pied Piper returned for his reward, the burghers put him off with slightings, and neglect, offering him some small matter, which he refusing, and staying some days in the town, one Sunday morning at high mass, when most people were at church, he fell to play on his pipes, and all the children up and followed him out of the town, to a great hill not far off, which rent in two, and opened, and let him and the children in, and so closed up again. This happened a matter of two hundred and fifty years since: and in that town, they date their bills and bonds, and other instruments in law, to this day [1643] from the year of the going out of the children: besides, there is a great pillar of stone at the foot of the said hill, whereon this story is engraven.

JAMES HOWELL, Familiar Letters.

2. As the King [James IV.] was at his devotions in the church of Linlithgow, a figure, dressed in an azure-coloured robe, girt with a girdle or sash of linen, having sandals on his feet, with long yellow hair, and a grave commanding countenance, suddenly appeared before him. This singular-looking person paid little or no respect to the royal presence, but pressing up to the desk at which the King was seated, leaned down upon it with his arms, and addressed him with little reverence. He declared that his Mother laid her commands on James to forbear the journey which he proposed [the campaign which ended at Flodden] seeing that neither he nor any who went with him would thrive in the undertaking. He also cautioned the King against frequenting the society of women, and using their counsel; "If thou dost," said he, "thou shalt be confounded and brought to shame."

These words spoken, the messenger escaped from among the courtiers so suddenly, that he seemed to disappear. There is no doubt that this person had been dressed up to represent Saint John, called in Scripture the adopted son of the Virgin Mary.

SCOTT, Tales of a Grandfather, ch. xxiv.

CHANGE OF POINT OF VIEW. It is a good exercise to take some narrative and re-tell it as by some other narrator to some particular audience.

I. The story I am now about to tell concerns an intimate friend of my own, who was certainly strangely used by appearances, which sometimes take a fanciful pleasure in confusing onlookers and suggesting that which is not. My friend possessed two umbrellasa brown one and a green one-and she had sent the brown one

to the Stores to be repaired, and had then forgotten having done so. One rainy day, having occasion to buy some linen, she proceeded to the Army and Navy Stores to make her selection, she placed her green umbrella against a chair, and became absorbed in her purchases. It was not till she had left the counter that she remembered having left her umbrella behind her, and, returning to look for it, saw a lady standing where she herself had been a minute before, holding a green silk umbrella with a hook to it like the one she had missed. She accordingly went straight up to the stranger, saying, "Is not this my umbrella? Thank you, very much; I was looking for it." To which the second lady answered drily and with some annoyance, "Your umbrella? This is my own! My name is engraved upon it." My friend could only apologise; the shopman who had served her had disappeared; and, after looking in vain for her lost property, she withdrew. The rain was beating heavily against the windows, and my friend, not wishing to get wet through, went to the umbrella stall close by and then and there bought the first one of them which seemed suitable. As she was leaving, the man who was in charge taking her name and number, said to her, "Did you not send an umbrella here to be re-covered not long ago? It has just come in." And at that moment a second shopman from the linen counter came up bringing the green silk umbrella, which the lady had been previously looking for, saying, "I have been keeping this for you, Madam."

I have not mentioned that my friend is an absent-minded lady ; she thanked the shopmen and walked away, still thinking of her linen and carrying the three umbrellas, instead of having them sent. The rain was pouring when she got to the front entrance, and an omnibus drew up and she got into it. The very first person she saw sitting in the omnibus was the stranger to whom she had spoken in the Stores. This lady gave her one look, and saying, with a glance at the three umbrellas, "You have done a good morning's work!" immediately got up and left the omnibus, leaving my poor friend to her own reflections!

Re-tell the story

2.

(a) in the words of the lady with the umbrellas;

(b) in the words of the lady who left the omnibus.

A big burly farmer in the east of England suffered severely from rheumatism. One night the pain was excruciating; and his wife, rousing one of the servants from bed, ordered him to go for the doctor. He rode off, and soon brought the doctor back. The doctor declared it to be a bad attack of lumbago and prescribed a hot bath. The farmer asked what that meant, and the doctor said he should have his biggest tub full of hot water and lie there for ten minutes. As soon as the doctor left, the farmer's wife told the

servant to call another, while she got hot water ready. When the servants came, she bade them carry the washing-tub upstairs and then return for the water when it boiled. They filled the tub, and were next ordered to lift their master by his head and feet, and drop him in. This was no easy task, but they did so at last. With a frightful yell the farmer bounced out and lay screaming on the floor. The men tried to put him in again; but he refused, declaring that they had killed him. At last they got him into bed. Next day he complained to the doctor how ill he was. The doctor asked the servant who had gone for him the night before, what they had done. When he heard, he asked if the water was warm, and was informed that it was almost hot enough to scald a pig. He replied that they must surely have wished to boil the farmer alive. The patient, however, got rid of the lumbago and never referred to his tubbing except as a joke, when he would say with a laugh to his servant, "Do you always keep out of hot water."

Re-tell the story

(a) as told by the farmer;
(b) as told by the doctor;

(c) as told by the servant.

Make the narrative as lively as you can, by giving names to persons and places, by introducing dialogue, etc.

3. The following extract is from The Caxtons by Lytton (Part I. ch. IV.). The characters are Mr Caxton, Mrs Caxton, their young son Sisty, i.e. Pisistratus, and the old nurse Mrs Primmins. Pisistratus is telling the story years after the incident happened.

My father was seated on the lawn before the house, his straw-hat over his eyes (it was summer) and his book on his lap. Suddenly a beautiful delf blue-and-white flower-pot, which had been set on the window-sill of an upper story, fell to the ground with a crash, and the fragments spluttered up round my father's legs. Sublime in his studies as Archimedes in the siege, he continued to read: impavidum ferient

ruinae.

“Dear! dear!" cried my mother, who was at work in the porch, 'my poor flower-pot that I prized so much. Who could have done this? Primmins! Primmins!"

Mrs Primmins popped her head out of the fatal window, nodded to the summons, and came down in a trice, pale and breathless.

Oh," said my mother mournfully, "I would rather have lost all the plants in the greenhouse in the great blight last May—I would rather the best tea-set were broken! The poor geranium I reared myself, and the dear, dear flower-pot which Mr Caxton bought for me my last birthday! That naughty child must have done this!"

Mrs Primmins was dreadfully afraid of my father-why, I know not, except that very talkative social persons are usually afraid of very silent shy ones. She cast a hasty glance at her master, who was beginning to evince signs of attention, and cried promptly: “No, ma'am, it was not the dear boy, bless his flesh; it was I."

"You? how could you be so careless? and you knew how I prized them both. O Primmins."

Primmins began to sob.

Don't tell fibs, nursey," said a small shrill voice; and Master Sisty, coming out of the house as bold as brass, continued rapidly-" don't scold Primmins, mamma: it was I who pushed out the flower-pot."

"Hush!" said nurse, more frightened than ever, and looking aghast towards my father, who had very deliberately taken off his hat, and was regarding the scene with serious eyes wide awake. "Hush! and if he did break it, ma'am, it was quite an accident he was standing so, and he never meant it. Did you, Master Sisty? Speak! (this in a whisper) or Pa will be so angry.”

"Well," said my mother, "I suppose it was an accident; take care in future, my child. You are sorry, I see, to have grieved me. There's a kiss; don't fret."

"No, mamma, you must not kiss me; I don't deserve it. I pushed out the flower-pot on purpose."

"Ha! and why?" said my father, walking up.

Mrs Primmins trembled like a leaf.

"For fun!" said I, hanging my head-"just to see how you'd look; and that's the truth of it. Now beat me, do beat me!"

My father threw his book fifty yards off, stooped down and caught me to his breast. "Boy," he said, “you have done wrong; you shall repair it by remembering all your life that your father blessed God for giving him a son who spoke truth in spite of fear! Oh! Mrs Primmins, the next fable of this kind you try to teach him, and we part for ever."

Re-tell the story

(a) as Mr or Mrs Caxton might tell it to some friends;
() as nurse might tell it to cook.

Other suitable passages will easily be found; the following, for example.

I.

Scott's Quentin Durward, ch. XXII., "A bustle took

place...turned his back on those formidable walls."

(a) as by Quentin to his grandson years after;

(b) as by Carl Eberson;

(c) as by Peter.

Re-tell

2.

Scott's Kenilworth, ch. xv.: The Cloak scene. Re-tell

(a) as by the Queen ;

(b) as by Raleigh;

(c) as by Blount;

(d) as by one of Raleigh's enemies.

3. Shakespeare's Macbeth, v. i.: The Sleep-walking scene.

Re-tell

4.

Re-tell

(a) as by the Doctor;

(b) as by the Waiting-gentlewoman.

Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, Iv. i.: The Trial scene.

(a) as by the Duke;

(b) as by Bassanio;

(c) as by Gratiano.

ORIGINAL COMPOSITION.

As a rule, one writes better on

a subject with which one is personally acquainted either as actor or spectator than on a subject known at second-hand, from hearsay or from books. Young writers, therefore, should be exercised on themes that fall within their own experience. These may be narrative, description, exposition, or argument; and they may be in the form of an essay, or a diary, or a letter.

For example, take a football match, a cricket match, a hockey match, a boat race, a gymnastic tournament, a paper-chase, or any other game or sport. Let a pupil write a simple account, avoiding the slang of some newspaper reports:

(1) as one who took part; or

(2) as a spectator.

This

may be done with two kinds of readers in view: (1) those acquainted with the game or sport; and (2) those unacquainted.

Pupils should practise describing some familiar spot-a town or part of a town, a single mountain or a group of mountains, a valley, a plain, a river, a stretch of sea-coast, etc. They should