and said that he was burnt. Whilst he was crying, and blowing his fingers, and pinching and squeezing them, to lessen the pain, the smith turned him out of the shop, and told him, if he had not meddled with what did not belong to him, he would not have been hurt. The little boy went away muttering, that he did not know black iron would burn him.

Harry had never seen a horse shod before; he was very much surprised to see the smith drive nails into the horse's foot, and to see that · the horse did not seem to be hurt by the nails, for the horse did not draw away his foot as if he felt pain.

Harry's father asked him if his nails had ever been cut.

Harry said they had.

Father. Did cutting your nails hurt you?
Harry. No, sir.

Father. A horse's hoof is of horn, like your nails; that part of the hoof which has no flesh fastened to it, does not feel pain; the outside of the hoof may be cut, and may have nails driven into it, without giving any pain to the horse.

The blacksmith, who was paring the horse's hooi, gave a piece of it, which he had cut off, to Harry. Harry felt that it was not so hard as bone, nor so soft as flesh; and the blacksmith told him, that the hoof of a horse grows like the nails of a man, and that horses hoofs need cutting as much as boy's nails.

When the blacksmith had finished shoeing the horse, he showed Harry a hoof of a dead horse,

which had been taken off the foot, and Harry saw how thick it was, where the nails were to be driven.

Harry's fa her told him it was almost dinner time, and so they walked home.

When Harry and Lucy had eaten their dinner, their mother gave them a book, and Lucy read the following story.

THE LITTLE CHIMNEY SWEEPER AND HIS

BENEFACTOR.

A MAN riding near the town of Reading, saw a little chimney sweeper lying in the dirt, who seemed to be in great pain; the man asked the chimney sweeper what was the matter; the poor boy answered, that he had fallen down and hurt himself very much.

The man was very kind; he got off his horse and put the chimney sweeper upon it, and walked beside the horse, and held the boy on, till he came to Reading; he carried the boy to the house of an old woman, and sent for a surgeon. The surgeon examined the boy, and said he had broken his arm, and hurt his leg.

The surgeon set the broken arm; and the man paid him for it; the man also gave the woman some money to pay her for the trouble she would have in taking care of the boy, and to pay her for the food the boy would eat, before he could be well, and able to work, and earn money for himself. Then the man went to his house, which was a long way off. The boy soon got well, and earned his living by sweeping chimneys at Reading.

Some years after, this good man was riding through Reading, and his horse took fright upon a bridge, and jumped into the water, with the man on his back; the man could not swim, and the people who saw him tumble in, were afraid to jump in after him, to pull him out. A chimney sweeper, who was going by, saw him, and without stopping a moment, threw himself into the river, and scizing hold of the man, dragged him out of the water, and saved him from being drowned; when the man was safe on the bank, and was going to thank the chimney sweeper, he remembered that he was the same chimney sweeper, whom he had taken care of a few years before, and who had now exposed his own life to save that of his benefactor.

When Lucy had done reading, her mother asked Harry which he liked best-The man who had taken care of the chimney sweeper whom he did not know, or the chimney sweeper who had saved the life of the man whom he knew, and who had taken care of him, when his arm was broken.

Harry said, he liked the chimney sweeper best, because he was grateful, and ventured his life to save that of the man who had been kind to him.

Lucy said, she liked the other man best, because he was humane, and took care of the poor little boy, who had nobody to take care of him; and from whom he could not expect any be

nefit.

MISS EDGEWORTH.

EXPLANATIONS.

Surgeon. A man who sets bones, and cures people who are hurt, and cuts off limbs, if it be necessary.

Limb. A member-a part; legs and arms are limbs.

Benefit. What gives us pleasure, or is necessary for us, is a benefit--our parents give food and clothes. Food and clothes, are benefits.

Benefactor. Whoever benefits us, is a benefactor. Our parents are our benefactors. God, who gives us our parents, and every thing else that we have, is our greatest benefactor.

Expose. To put in danger-a child who goes too near the fire is exposed to be burnt. Humane. Kind to people in want, or in trouble. The man was humane to the chimney

sweeper.

Grateful. To think of those who have been good to us, to try to do them good, is to be grateful. The chimney sweeper was grateful. Attentive. To be attentive, is to think of what we are about.

Behaviour. The manner in which people act. Belong. What is a person's own belongs to him.

Blacksmith. A man who makes things of iron. Blow. To blow, is to make the air move; when the air moves, it is called wind.

By degrees. Not all at once-step by step. We come up stairs by degrees.

Care. To take care of a thing, is to hinder it from being hurt.

Cobwebs. Nets made by spiders.

Conversation. Answering what people ask;

listening to what others say; hearing from others what they know, and telling them what we know.

Directly.

Soon.

Earn. To get any thing by working for it. Employ. To employ one's self, is to do something.

Endeavour. To try to do a thing.

Examine. To look at every part of a thing.
Nosegay. A bundle of flowers.

Pay. To give money for a thing.
At present. Now-at this time.
Proceed. To go forward.

Precede. To go before. Pre means before. Punish. To give pain, to prevent the person punished from doing wrong any more. Round. What has no corners.

your

Shadow. Hold hand in the sun-you will see a dark place in the shape of your hand on the floor. Your hand keeps the light from that place, and makes it look dark. The dark shape of the hand is a shadow. Shadows can be made in the light of the fire, or candle, as well as in the light of the sun.

Soft. What you can press your finger into, is soft. Butter is soft-iron is hard.

Soot. Is smoke collected together, and dried in little lumps.

Stalk. That part of a plant upon which flowers or fruits grow.

Take notice. To pay attention.

Understand. To know the meaning of a

thing.