“Should I?  I did not know that,” said Charles.

“Which shews how necessary it is, that you should learn grammar, my boy, and then you will know that go is plural, and goes is singular, so that if you are speaking of more than one horse, it is proper to say go, because we say, ‘they go;’ but if you are speaking of only one, it is proper to say goes, because we should say, ‘he goes.’”

“Thank you, papa, I think I shall remember that, and I will not wish to leave off grammar, for I see that geography would not teach me to speak properly; and I should not like to be thought an ignorant man when I grow up.”

“I hope not, my dear, and I also hope there is no danger of such a misfortune, for you have a great many years to learn in; and if you make good use of them, you will know a great deal by the time you are twenty.”

“So I shall,” said Charles, “I will learn as much as I can every day.”

“A very good resolution,” said his papa; “education is one of the best things in the world.  I will tell you an entertaining story on this very subject.”

“Do, papa, I should like to hear it very much; I am so fond of stories.”

“But this is a true one, Charles, which makes it all the better.  You have seen in your map of America, a country called Peru?”

“Yes,” answered Charles; “I saw it this morning, when I was saying my geography lesson to mamma; I had to say all the countries in South America, and Peru was one of them.”

“Well, this country was once governed by a king who was called an Inca, and his name was Atabalipa; but although he was a king, he knew neither how to read nor write, for reading and writing were arts that were not known in America at that time.”

“What are arts, papa?”

“Arts are those things which men have taught themselves to do by their own skill and invention; making tables and chairs, is an art; Printing is an art, and a very clever art it is; building is an art; and reading and writing are arts; but at the time I am speaking of, there were very few arts known in America, for it was mostly inhabited by savages; and even in Peru, where they were not savages, they were quite ignorant; they had no books, and would not have known how to read them if they had, and they thought they were the only people in the world besides the savages.”

“Then, I dare say, they thought themselves very clever fellows,” said Charles, “for all they could not read or write; for you know, papa, if they thought there was nobody in the world but them and the savages, they would not know there were any people cleverer than themselves.”