12.  How much happiness was Ernestine the means of bestowing through her good elocution, united to the happy circumstance that brought it to the knowledge of the King!  First, there were her poor neighbors, to whom she could give instruction and entertainment.  Then, there was the poor widow who sent the petition, and who not only regained her son, but received through Ernestine an order for him to paint the King’s likeness; so that the poor boy soon rose to great distinction, and had more orders than he could attend to.  Words could not express his gratitude, and that of his mother, to the little girl.

13.  And Ernestine had, moreover, the satisfaction of aiding her father to rise in the world, so that he became the King’s chief gardener.  The King did not forget her, but had her well educated at his own expense.  As for the two pages, she was indirectly the means of doing them good, also; for, ashamed of their bad reading, they commenced studying in earnest, till they overcame the faults that had offended the King.  Both finally rose to distinction, one as a lawyer, and the other as a statesman; and they owed their advancement in life chiefly to their good elocution.

Definitions.—­1.  Pe-ti’tion, a formal request. 3.  Ar-tic’u-late, to utter the elementary sounds.  Mod’u-late, to vary or inflect.  Mo-not’o-ny, lack of variety. 4.  Af-fect’ed, unnatural and silly. 9.  Draft’ed, selected by lot. 10.  Con-cise’, brief and full of meaning. 11.  Dis-charge’, release.  Dic’tate, to utter so that another may write it down. 12.  Dis-tinc’tion, honorable and notable position.  Ex-press’, to make known the feelings of.

Notes.—­Frederick II. of Prussia (b. 1712, d. 1788), or Frederick the Great, as he was called, was one of the greatest of German rulers.  He was distinguished for his military exploits, for his wise and just government, and for his literary attainments.  He wrote many able works in the French language.  Many pleasant anecdotes are told of this king, of which the one given in the lesson is a fair sample.

II.  THE BLUEBELL.

1.  There is a story I have heard—­
    A poet learned it of a bird,
    And kept its music every word—­

2.  A story of a dim ravine,
    O’er which the towering tree tops lean,
    With one blue rift of sky between;

3.  And there, two thousand years ago,
    A little flower as white as snow
    Swayed in the silence to and fro.

4.  Day after day, with longing eye,
    The floweret watched the narrow sky,
    And fleecy clouds that floated by.

5.  And through the darkness, night by night,
    One gleaming star would climb the height,
    And cheer the lonely floweret’s sight.

6.  Thus, watching the blue heavens afar,
    And the rising of its favorite star,
    A slow change came—­but not to mar;