KING BRUCE of Scotland flung himself down,
In a lonely mood' to think;

"Tis true he was monarch," and wore a crown,
But his heart was beginning to sink.

2. For he had been trying to do a great deed,
To make his people glad;

He had tried and tried, but could not succeed,
And so he became quite sad.

3. He flung himself to low despair,

As grieved as man could be;

And after a while, as he pondered3 there, "I'll give it up," cried he.

4 Now just at the moment a spider dropped With its silken cobweb clew,

And the king, in the midst of his thinking, stopped To see what the spider would do.

5. 'Twas a long way up to the ceiling dome,
And it hung by a rope so fine,

That how it would get to its cobweb home
King Bruce could not divine.

3. It soon began to cling and crawl

Straight up with strong endeavor; But down it came with a slipping sprawl, As near to the ground as ever.

7. Up, up it ran, nor a second did stay,
To make the least complaint,

Till it fell still lower; and there it lay
A little dizzy and faint.

-

8. Its head grew steady — again it went,

And travelled a half yard higher;
"Twas a delicate thread it had to tread,
And a road where its feet would tire.

9. Again it fell, and swung below;
But up it quickly mounted,

Till up and down, now fast, now slow,
Nine bravo attempts were counted.

10. "Sure," said the king, "that foolish thing Will strive no more to climb,

11.

When it toils so hard to reach and cling,
And tumbles every time."

But up the insect went once more;

Ah me! 'tis an anxious minute;

He's only a foot from his cobweb door;
O, say, will he lose or win it?

12. Steadily, steadily, inch by inch, Higher and higher he got,

And a bold little run at the very last pinch
Put him into the wished-for spot.

13. "Bravo, bravo!" the king cried out; "All honor to those who try;

The spider up there defied despair;

He conquered, and why should not I?".

14. And Bruce of Scotland braced his mind,
And gossips' tell the tale,

That he tried once more as he tried before,
And that time he did not fail.

.

15. Pay goodly heed, all you who read,
And beware of saying, "I can't:
'Tis a cowardly word, and apt to lead
To idleness, folly, and want.

PERSEVERANCE. Steadfast pursuit, 4 DESPAIR. LOS of hope hopeless

1. Father. WELL, Henry, is this three hours' work brought to an end at last?

2. Ellen. O papa! not three hours. not been three hours about his sum.

Henry has

3. F. I believe I have said rather less, than more than the truth. Is not that the same sum you had 1 do yesterday morning, Henry?

4. Henry. Yes, father.

5. F. You began to do it at ten, and you wer doing that, or at least you were doing nothing else, till a quarter past eleven. This morning you were sit ting with the slate in your hand very nearly three quarters of an hour; and this evening we left you at half past five with this terrible sum, and now it is past seven, and it is not yet done. How long is that altogether?

6. H. O papa, you need not reckon. I know that I have wasted a great deal too much time; but the truth is, I have not really been doing the sum all these hours.

7. F. I know that, my dear boy. If you had been steadily employed one third of the time, you might have been running races with Anna on the Common' this evening. However, if you liked better to stay at home

8. H. You are laughing at me, papa. You know very well I would rather have been with you.

9. F. Then why were you not with us?

10.

11.

H. I am sure it was not my fault.

F. And I am sure it was not mine.

12. H. But, papa, you did say that I must do my sum first. I should never have stopped at home for a sum; for I cannot see that it matters much whether I do it to-night or to-morrow morning.

13. F. It does not matter much, for this sum, or

any other sum. So far you are right. But it does matter much that you should correct yourself of one of the very worst habits that either child or man can have that of wasting time.

14. H. I know it is very foolish; I wish I could cure myself of it; but I don't think I can.

15. F. Did you ever try?

16. H. O, yes, I believe so. thought I would try.

I have very often

17. F. That is a very different thing. Nothing is easier than to make good resolutions'; the difficulty is in keeping them.

18. H. I would make them and keep them too, if I knew how.

19. F. If you had resolved to go out to-morrow to the Common and fly your kite, how would you contrive3 to keep your resolution?

20. H. I suppose I should take my kite, when the and go out.

time came,

21. F. Then why cannot you take your slate or your book in the same manner when the time comes? 22. H. I don't know, unless it is because I like to fly kites, and do not like to do sums.

23. F. That is, Henry, you choose to play, but you do not choose to work.

24. H. O, no, father; not so bad as that. I do choose to work sometimes; but you will allow that it is not so easy to do things that are disagreeable as things that are agreeable.

25. F. Not so easy, certainly; but they may be done, if we have a mind. I do not like getting up by candle-light in the winter; but I find that if I do not, I am never in town in proper time, and therefore I de get up by candle-light.