Reading Made Easy for Foreigners - Third Reader | Page 9

of manners is incessant,--an element as unconcealable as fire. The nobility cannot in any country be disguised, and no more in a republic or a democracy than in a kingdom. No man can resist their influence. There are certain manners which are learned in good society, and if a person have them, he or she must be considered, and is everywhere welcome, though without beauty, or wealth, or genius. Give a boy address and accomplishments, and you give him the mastery of palaces and fortune wherever he goes.
Bad behavior the laws cannot reach. Society is infested with rude, restless, and frivolous persons who prey upon the rest. Bad manners are social inflictions which the magistrate cannot cure or defend you from, and which must be intrusted to the restraining force of custom. Familiar rules of behavior should be impressed on young people in their school-days.

LESSON XIX
ESSENCE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
1. Congress must meet at least once a year.
(Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.)
2. One State cannot undo the acts of another.
3. Congress may admit any number of new States.
4. One State must respect the laws and legal decisions of another.
5. Every citizen is guaranteed a speedy trial by jury.
6. Congress cannot pass a law to punish a crime already committed.
7. Bills of revenue can originate only in the House of Representatives.
8. A person committing a crime in one State cannot find refuge in another.
9. The Constitution forbids excessive bail or cruel punishment.
10. Treaties with foreign countries are made by the President and ratified by the Senate.
11. Writing alone does not constitute treason against the United States. There must be an overt act.
12. An Act of Congress cannot become law over the vote of the President except by a two-thirds vote of both Houses.
13. The Territories each send one delegate to Congress, who has the right to debate, but not the right to vote.
14. An officer of the Government cannot accept any title of nobility, order or gift without the permission of Congress.
15. Only a natural-born citizen of the United States can become President or Vice-President of the United States.

SELECTION VIII
THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
1. Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming; And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there: Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
2. On that shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: 'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner; oh, long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
3. And where are the foes who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war, and the battle's confusion, A home and a country should leave us no more? Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave; And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
4. Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation. Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto, "In God is our trust"; And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Francis Scott Key.

USEFUL INFORMATION
To obtain a good knowledge of pronunciation, it is advisable for the reader to listen to the examples given by educated persons. We learn the pronunciation of words, to a great extent, by imitation. It must never be forgotten, however, that the dictionary alone can give us absolute certainty in doubtful cases.
"If the riches of the Indies," says Fenelon, "or the crowns of all the kingdoms of the world, were laid at my feet in exchange for my love for reading, I would despise them all."
That writer does the most good who gives his reader the greatest amount of knowledge and takes from him the least time. A tremendous thought may be packed into a small compass, and as solid as a cannon ball.
"Read much, but not many