"What is an orphan-boy ?" I said,
When suddenly she gasped for breath,
And her eyes closed;-I shrieked for aid,-
But, ah! her eyes were closed in death!
My hardships since I will not tell ;
But now no more a parent's joy,-
Ah, lady! I have learnt too well
What 'tis to be an orphan-boy!

O were I by your bounty fed!
Nay, gentle lady! do not chide;
Trust me, I mean to earn my bread,-
The sailor's orphan-boy has pride.
Lady, you weep :—what is't you say?
You'll give me clothing, food, employ ?—
Look down, dear parents! look and see
Your happy, happy, orphan-boy.

MRS OPIE.

THE BUTTERFLY'S BALL.

COME take up your hats, and away let us haste
To the butterfly's ball and the grasshopper's feast;
The trumpeter gadfly has summoned the crew,
And the revels are now only waiting for you.

On the smooth shaven grass by the side of the wood,
Beneath a broad oak that for ages has stood,
See the children of earth and the tenants of air,
For an evening's amusement together repair.

And there came the beetle so blind and so black,
Who carried the emmet his friend on his back;
And there was the gnat, and the dragonfly too,
With all their relations, green, orange, and blue.

And there came the moth in his plumage of down,
And the hornet with jacket of yellow and brown,
Who with him the wasp his companion did bring,
But they promised that evening to lay by their sting.

And the sly little dormouse crept out of his hole,
And led to the feast his blind brother the mole ;

And the snail, with his horns peeping out from his shell,
Came from a great distance, the length of an ell.

A mushroom their table, and on it was laid
A water-dock leaf, which a table-cloth made;
The viands were various, to each of their taste,
And the bee brought his honey to crown the repast.

There close on his haunches, so solemn and wise,
The frog from a corner looked up to the skies;
And the squirrel, well pleased such diversion to see,
Sat cracking his nuts overhead in the tree.

Then out came the spider, with fingers so fine,
To show his dexterity on the tight line;

From one branch to another his cobwebs he slung,
Then as quick as an arrow he darted along.

But just in the middle, oh! shocking to tell !
From his rope in an instant poor Harlequin fell ;
Yet he touched not the ground, but with talons outspread,
Hung suspended in air at the end of a thread.

Then the grasshopper came with a jerk and a spring,
Very long was his leg, though but short was his wing;
He took but three leaps, and was soon out of sight,
Then chirped his own praises the rest of the night.

With step so majestic the snail did advance,

And promised the gazers a minuet to dance;

But they all laughed so loud that he pulled in his head,
And went to his own little chamber to bed.

Then as evening gave way to the shadows of night,

Their watchman, the glow-worm, came out with his light;
Then home let us hasten while yet we can see,
For no watchman is waiting for you and for me.

T. ROSCOE.

EXERCISES

ON WORDS OCCURRING IN SECTION II.

PREFIXES.

A, ad, ap, means to or near.

Contra, against.

Di, dis, asunder.

En, in or round about.

Super, sur, above.

Jerusalem and the places adjacent are visited with great interest by the Christian traveller. In no place of the world have events so wonderful occurred as in the Garden or ethoomane, MOUm Calvary, the Mount of Olives, and the places adjoining.

Such conduct is inNo one ought rudely to contradict another. terdicted by the laws of good society; and we may predict with confidence of the boy who is guilty of this rudeness that he will prove an ill-bred and disagreeable man.

In a few years your school-fellows will be separated and dispersed over perhaps a great part of the world. Few of you will live as men in the place where you have lived together as boys; few of you will be buried in the same churchyard; not many perhaps in the same country. Even the ashes of the members of the same family are often separated by seas and continents. "The graves of a household" are not unfrequently in all the quarters of the globe. Surely it should lead you to be kind to your companions, when you think, that, after leaving school, you may never meet them again until the last day.

This world is often compared to a wilderness, through which good men are travelling to heaven. The path is encompassed with dangers; but God has given his Word and his Spirit to be our guides; and if we consult and obey their directions, we shall be enabled to surmount all perils, and at last to arrive in safety at the promised land.

What a pity it is that boys are so apt to think all prudence and all precautions superfluous. I have heard of boys meeting with frightful accidents, even when engaged at what seemed harmless pastimes. Arms have often been broken, ankles sprained, limbs dislocated, and even lives lost, by mere carelessness. Exercise is necessary to health; and it would be unwise to forbid all games and sports; but boys should be anxiously cautioned against rashness and thoughtlessness even in their pastimes.

It is our duty to rejoice with our friends when they rejoice, and to

condole with them when they mourn. It is a sign of a selfish heart when we keep all our joy and all our tears for ourselves. We ought to do to others as we would have others do to us; and how can we expect sympathy from others if we extend no sympathy to them. "Compassion," says Dr Blair, " is an emotion of which you ought never to be ashamed. Graceful in youth is the tear of sympathy, and the heart that melts at the tale of woe. Let not ease and indulgence contract your affections. Accustom yourselves to think of the distresses of human life; of the solitary cottage, the dying parent, and the weeping orphan. Never sport with pain and distress in any of your amusements; nor treat even the meanest insect with wanton cruelty." The following tender lines of Dr Beattie should be engraved on every youthful heart :

"And from the prayer of want, and plaint of woe,

O never, never turn away thine ear!

Forlorn in this bleak wilderness below,

Ah! what were man should Heaven refuse to hear!

To others do (the law is not severe)

What to thyself thou wishest to be done;

Forgive thy foes; and love thy parents dear.

And friends, and native land; nor these alone;

All human weal and woe learn thou to make thine own!"

At the birth of Christ God became incarnate; and accordingly the birth of Christ is often termed his incarnation.

Boys are often able to spell by the ear when they cannot spell by the eye, that is, to spell in their reading class when they cannot spell on their copy-books. It is a useful exercise, practised at many schools, to cause boys occasionally write and spell to dictation.

No animal surpasses the dog in sagacity, vigilance, and fidelity. He prefers his master's will to his own; no bribe will induce him to

betray any trust committed to him; he will even die to testify his fidelity. He is said to be the only animal who uniformly knows his master and the friends of the family; who distinguishes a stranger as soon as he arrives; who understands his own name; and who calls for his lost master by cries and lamentations.

Sponge, though a common, is a remarkable substance. It is found in the sea, and is understood to be the production and habitation of some species of marine worms. Upon a nice inspection, it appears to be composed of fibres or threads folded together so as to make a number of little cells. It is the fittest of all bodies to imbibe and retain a great quantity of fluid; and, after it is replenished, it requires to be forcibly squeezed together before it will part with its contents.

A man who is uniformly silent is disagreeable; a loquacious man is still more difficult to endure. The least tolerable is the magniloquent, or boastful man. He who prefers his own praise to any other theme, generally loves, next to applauding himself, to asperse and throw obloquy on others. He is, therefore, a wicked as well as a vain and foolish man; and his company is to be dreaded as well as disliked.

There is not a more magnificent object in nature than a large and spreading oak in the plenitude of its summer vestments. As it stands forth to view with its pendant branches and umbrageous foliage, it seems to be the presiding genius of the adjacent, Country, and it almost commands our homage like a thing of life. One of the finest spectacles in the fields of merry England is "England's oak."

The term Catholic means universal; the Catholic church, therefore, means the church universal; but a Roman Catholic means a Papist,—that is, one who holds the Pope to be the head of the church and the successor of the Apostles. The Roman Catholics have sadly perverted the gospel; but perhaps their grossest error is, that they ascribe to their priests what belongs to God only,-the power of forgiving sins. This forgiveness they call absolution; and they go so far as often to sell their pardons or indulgences for money to the highest bidder.

In the church of Scotland all the clergy are, in respect of rank, upon a level; but in the churches of England and Rome, and in all Episcopal churches, there are different orders of clergy, such as archbishops, bishops, &c. A bishop has the oversight of the inferior clergy within certain bounds, called his diocese or bishopric; and an archbishop superintends the conduct of the bishops. In England there are two archbishoprics, Canterbury and York; and twentyfour bishoprics.