[Illustration: STRATFORD ON AVON From photograph. Copyright, 1898, Published by A. W. Elson, Boston. Engraved by Robert Varley.] THE CYR READERS _ARRANGED BY GRADES_ BY ELLEN M. CYR BOOK EIGHT BOSTON, U.S.A. GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS The Athenæum Press 1901 COPYRIGHT, 1899, 1901 BY GINN & COMPANY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO MY LITTLE SON Ruel Stevenson Smith PREFACE. The appreciative reading of a piece of good literature is an experience far reaching in its influence. There is a delight in following a great author as he reveals the treasure of his thought or presents to the imagination the beauty which he beholds and interprets. The study of literature assists one to enjoy these experiences and profit by them. Among the countless books which have been written are a few which have been chosen by all mankind. They stand the test of time and change; for they are the outcome of those giant souls, who were not limited by time nor space and who seemed to gaze with far-seeing eyes into eternity. A large proportion of the pupils in our grammar schools would never read these classics, if their interest in them were not awakened in the schoolroom. Many of these books are represented in this series, for this has been the end constantly in view. The names of the world’s greatest writers and their faces have become familiar to the child, so that he is now able to take down from the shelves the writings of many great men, and giving his imagination to the author’s leading, be transported into any region or age, and experience joys and sorrows outside of his own life. I acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. Edward Everett Hale and Little, Brown & Co., for extract from “The Man without a Country”; also to Messrs. Elliot & Frye, London, for use of a copyright photograph of Carlyle. ELLEN M. CYR. CONTENTS. PAGE A MYSTERIOUS VISITOR. _Thomas Carlyle_ 2 A SCENE FROM WILLIAM TELL. _Sheridan Knowles_ 8 ADDRESS TO THE SURVIVORS OF THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. _Daniel Webster_ 17 THE AMERICAN UNION. _Daniel Webster_ 21 RECESSIONAL. _Rudyard Kipling_ 23 WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT. 26 STORMING THE FORTRESS. _William Hickling Prescott_ 31