In form, too, I differ - I'm thick and I'm thin,

I've no flesh and no bōne, yet am covered with skin.

3 I've more points than the compass, more stops than the flute. I sing without voice, without speaking confute;

I'm English, I'm German, I'm French, and I'm Dutch; Some love me too fondly, some slight me too much :

I often die soon, though I sometimes live ages,

And no monarch alive has so many pages.

HANNAH MORE.

XCVI. EARLY RISING.

1. FEW things contrib'ute so much to preserve health and prolong life as going to bed early and rising early. We lose vigor by lying abed when in health, longer than for necessary sleep; the head is less tranquil, the body is less disposed for refreshing slumber; appetite and digestion are lessened.

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2. Old people, examined as to the cause of lon-gev'ity,' all agree that they have been in the habit of going to bed early and rising early. George the Third consulted his household physicians, separately, as to the modes of life conducive to health; and they were all agreed as to the importance of early rising.

3. The difference of rising every morning at six and eight, in the course of forty years amounts to upwards of twenty-nine thousand hours, or three years, one hundred and twenty-six days, six hours; so that it is just the same as if ten years of life were to be added, of which we might command eight hours every day for the cultivation of our minds or the despatch of business.

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4. Said the distinguished Lord Chatham to his son, "I would have inscribed on the curtains of your bed and the walls of your chamber, 'If you do not rise early, you can make progress in nothing. If you do not set apart your hours of reading, if you suffer yourself or any one else to

break in upon them, your days will slip through your hands unprofitable and frivolous, and unenjoyed by your

self.'"

XCVII. THE YOUNG TOBACCO-CHEWER CURED.

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1. ON board ship, one day, we were stowing away the hammocks, when one of the boys came with his hammock on his shoulder, and, as he passed, the first lieutenant per ceived that he had a quid of tobacco in his mouth.

2. "What have you got there?" asked the lieutenant; "a gum-boil? Your cheek is much swollen."-" No, sir," replied the boy, "there's nothing at all the matter."—"0! there must be; perhaps it is a bad tooth. Open your mouth, and let me see."

3. Very reluctantly the boy opened his mouth, which contained a large roll of tobacco-leaf. "I see, I see," said the lieutenant; "poor fellow! how you must suffer! Your mouth wants overhauling, and your teeth cleaning.

4. "I wish," continued he, we had a dentist on board; but, as we have not, I will operate as well as I can. Send the armorer up here with his tongs." When the armorer made his appearance with his big tongs, the boy was compelled to open his mouth, while the tobacco was extracted with this rough instrument.

5. "There now!" said the lieutenant, "I'm sure that you must feel better already; you never could have any appetite with such stuff in your mouth. Now, captain of the after-guard, bring a piece of old canvas and some sand, and clean his teeth nicely."

6. The captain of the after-guard came forward, and, grinning from ear to ear, put the boy's head between his knees, and scrubbed his teeth well with sand and canvas for two or three minutes.

"Now,

7. "There, that will do," said the lieutenant. my little fellow, take some water and rinse out your mouth,

and you will enjoy your breakfast. It was impossible for you to have eaten anything with your mouth in such a filthy state. When you are troubled in the same way again, come to me, and I will be your dentist." The lad was completely cured, by the ridicule of this occurrence, of the habit of tobacco-chewing. Captain Marryat.

1. PRESENCE of mind is the power of maintaining one's faculty of reason and calculation in the midst of danger, and against the assaults of fear and surprise. You have read, on page 66, how a boy, by the exercise of this excellent quality, saved a railroad train from destruction.

2. I will relate another incident illus'trative of the advantage of presence of mind in times of peril. A wealthy gentleman, of the name of Manning, was at a port in the West Indies. With two friends, he went down to the beach to bathe. While he remained upon the shore, and his companions were sporting in the waves at a considerable distance, he espied an enormous shark making straight for the unconscious swimmers.

3. The first impulse of a hasty and inconsiderate person would have been to alarm the bathers by a loud outcry of danger. But Manning knew that such a course would, by frightening them, deprive them of all power of escape. He, therefore, preserved his unconcerned appearance, and playfully shouted to them, holding up his watch, "Now for a swimming match! This watch shall be awarded to him who first touches the shore."

4. Nothing lōth to try their powers of speed, the two swimmers struck out for the shore with all the swiftness of which they were capable. All this while the shark had been silently nearing his prey; and as they turned for the shore, he shot through the waves with increased velocity,

The race for life, unconsciously on the part of the pursued, was now fairly begun. The swimmers, in their friendly rivalry, strained every nerve; but the shark gained rapidly upon them.

5. Manning, though inwardly tortured with anxiety, still preserved his calm and smiling appearance, as he continued to utter incentives to increase the speed of his unfortunate friends. "Look at it, gentlemen!" he exclaimed; "a watch that cost me a hundred pounds in London. Think of the glory of winning it! Faster! faster! Don't give up!

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6. They were still a long way from the shore, when one of them showed some signs of fatigue, and was apparently about to relinquish the race. That was a moment of agony to Manning. "What, Farnum!" he exclaimed to this friend, "do you grow a laggard so soon? Fie, man! fie! A few more good strokes, and you will be the conqueror' Bravo!29 That's it! that's it!"

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7. The tired competitor, thus encouraged, struck out his arms with new vigor. On came the shark behind the still unconscious swimmers, nearer and nearer, his enormous fins flashing in the sunlight. The swimmers approached the shore; the shark was so near them that he turned upon his side to make the final plunge at them, and begin the work of death.

8. At this moment, Manning rushed into the water with his cane, by which he frightened the shark, and then, dragging his amazed and exhausted friends upon the bank, pointed to the baffled sea-monster, Low angrily lashing the waves with his fins.

9. Then the swimmers comprehended the imminent danger from which they had escaped, and one of them fell fainting to the earth. They never forgot the unconscious match with the shark, nor the admirable presence of mind of their friend Manning, to which they were indebted for their ives.

XCIX.

THE THREE COLORS- A FABLE.

1. Ir was a bright summer morning; but as noon approached the air became sultry, the sky clouded,— a storm was gathering. The three colors began to vie with each other as to which was the fairest.

2. "I," said the Yellow, "am loved by the early spring flowers; I gild the clouds in sunset, and spread myself over the ripening corn; nestle among the leaves, and forsake them not till they die."

3. "In the damask rose I am seen," said the Red; "I am with all the bright summer flowers; I tint the gayest butterflies in the glowing autumn skies I am seen in full glory. Who can vie with me?"

4. "Look to the cloudless summer sky; to the deep shades of the green wood, where the blue-bells grow, and there thou wilt see me," said the Blue. "The modest violet is mine, the hare-bell, and forget-me-not. I am in the deep waters also. Where, indeed, am I not?”

5. The rain came down in torrents; the sun broke out, and smiled upon the storm; and, lo! in a beautiful rainbow, which stretched over the heavens, the three colors appeared blended in the most perfect harmony.

C. INDIAN CUNNING.

1. A SPANISH traveller met an Indian in the desert. They were both on horseback. The Spaniard, fearing that his horse, which was not one of the best, would not hold out to the end of his journey, asked the Indian, whose horse was young, strong and spirited, to exchange with him. This the Indian refused to do.

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2. The Spaniard, therefore, began to quarrel with him. From words they proceeded to blows; and the aggressor,' being well armed, proved too powerful for the native. So he