learning, and so strongly did the people confide in his opinions and good sense, that he was appointed one of the judges of the Supreme Court of his own state.

15. "Thus he passed on, still gaining the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens, and rising from one station of responsibility and trust to another; and now, yes, now, this same Moses is one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States at Washington.

16. “Now, my son," continued my father, "what do you think of the folly of the one, and the wisdom of the other? True, you may not be what Moses is, but you can avoid being what Nathan was."

QUESTIONS.-2. What kind of a story is this? 2. For what purpose was it told? 4. Whose son was Nathan? 4. Whose son was Moses? 5. What happened to Nathan soon after he entered college? 6. What were his habits? 7. What did his friends endeavor to do? 8. Upon what did he rely for success? 9. What took place about this time? 10. What became of Nathan at last? 13. What were the habits of Moses? 14. What profession did he choose? 14, 15. How did he succeed? 15. What is he now? What may we learn from this story about Nathan and Moses?

LESSON XLIX.

8. Un-whole'some, unfavorable to health.

8. In ju'ri-ous, hurtful.

9. Phys'ic-al, natural, material.

9. Lungs, organs of respiration, or breathing.

9. Organs, natural instruments of action.

11. Smoth'er-ed, suffocated.

12. Am bi'tion, desire of power or office. 15. Pu'trid, tainted, impure.

ERRORS.-Ex-iss' for ex-ists'; ef-fex' for ef-fects'; un-hul' some for un-whole'some; mur'drers for mur'der-ers; wick'ud for wick'ed.

ON THE AIR.

1. Do you know

what the air is?

Can

you see it?

Will

any one say we do not see it?

there is no air in the room, because

Yet some people, who think them

selves very wise, tell us they do not believe that any

thing exists which can not be seen.

2. If you look out of the window when the air is moving, that is, when the wind is blowing, although you can not see the air, yet you can see what it does. It sometimes throws down houses, roots up large trees, tears the sails of ships into little strips, and often destroys the ships themselves.

3. We hear the sound, and see the effects of the wind; but we can not tell whence it comes, nor whither it goes. It obeys no will but that of God; and when he commands, the winds cease, and the waves are still.

4. We can not say that there is nothing in the room because there is only air in it. If there were really nothing at all in this room except ourselves, we should all drop down dead. The air, then, is necessary to keep us alive and in health.

5. God made it for this purpose. Several light gases are mixed together to make the air; and if any one of them should be taken away from the rest, the air would cease to be what it is, and we should die.

6. But how does the air keep us alive? Do we eat it? No; we can see the things that we eat. Do we drink it? No; we can see the things that we drink. Still we feed on air oftener than we eat or drink.

7. We must eat and drink several times in a day, but not every moment. But we must feed on air every moment; that is, we must breathe. Breathing is feeding on air; and, if we would have comfort and sound health, we must have pure air.

8. Now, we do not like to eat dirty or unwholesome food. We should not like to eat clay mixed with our bread. But many persons, who would not mix unwholesome things with what they eat and drink, feed on what is quite as injurious by breathing impure air.

9. I will now tell you the use of good, wholesome air. You have within your body two physical organs, called the lungs; and they contain a great number of small cells. Every time you breathe, you fill these cells with air.

10. If you take a long breath, it will last you but a short time; for the air has to be taken in and again thrown out of your lungs every moment. If you were to leave off taking it in and throwing it out, you would die. All night as well as all day, you must go on breathing.

11. A number of years ago, there were two little princes who were smothered in a prison in London. Their murderers stopped their mouths and noses, so that no air could get into their lungs; and they died.

12. You remember, too, that when Benhadad, King of Syria,* was sick, Hazael murdered him by dipping a thick cloth in water, and then spreading it over his face, so that he could not breathe; and he died. In both these instances, a dreadful crime was committed to gratify a wicked ambition.

13. When the air gets into the lungs, of what use is it? There are many things within your body besides your lungs. There is your blood. Now, the blood requires air to make it pure and good.

14. A portion of the air which you take into your lungs passes through the thin skin of which the cells of the lungs are made, and goes into the blood, and makes it red and healthy. When we see a healthy child running about in the open air, its cheeks are rosy and

* Syria, a country of Western Asia, lying along the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.

† See 2 Kings, Chap. viii.

its lips red, because the good air has passed from the lungs into the blood, and colored it so brightly.

15. You can readily perceive the difference between pure and impure water. When you are very thirsty, how refreshing it is to get a glass of pure, cold water! But you would almost perish with thirst before you would drink muddy, putrid water. Besides, how very

unwholesome such water would be!

16. But it is as necessary to health, that you should breathe pure and fresh air, as that you should drink pure water when you are thirsty. Hence the necessity, if we would enjoy good health and good spirits, of having the rooms in which we live, and especially the rooms in which we sleep, supplied with fresh and wholesome air.

QUESTIONS.-1. What do some people tell us? 2. If you can not see the air, how do you know that it exists? 4, 5. What would be the consequence if there were no air in the room? 6, 7. How does the air keep us alive? 8. What do we not like to eat? 8. Is impure air injurious? 9. What is said of good air? 11. What is here said of two little princes? 12. How did Hazael murder Benhadad? 12. Where will you find a full account of it? 12. Where is Syria? 13. What does the blood require? 14. Where does the air we breathe go? 14. Why are the cheeks of a healthy child rosy? 16. What two things are equally necessary for us?

1. An'ec-dote, a short story.

LESSON L.

1. Reign, time of a king's or a queen's gov

ernment.

1. He-ro'ic, valiant, brave.

2. Squad'ron, a detachment of troops.
2. Ob-serv-a'tions, knowledge gained by
sight.

3. Serv'ice-a-ble, useful.

3. Ve'he-ment-ly, with great zeal.
5. Cut'ter, a light vessel with one mast.
6. A-baft', toward the stern of the vessel.
7. Ad-ven'tur-ers, those who expose them-
selves to danger.

7. He'ro, a man of distinguished valor.

ERRORS. Sper'its for spir'its; ware for were; dif'fi kil-ty for diffi-cul-ty; heav'un for heav-en.

SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT.

1. THE following anecdote relates to one of those brave spirits who made the reign of Elizabeth to be so justly called the Heroic Age of England.

2. Sir Humphrey Gilbert commanded a squadron of five ships, which were sent out to make discoveries and observations along the coast of America. By various accidents, his squadron had become reduced to two vessels, "The Golden Hind" and "The Squirrel."

--

3. Sir Humphrey himself was in the Squirrel, a vessel of only ten tuns, serviceable for running up rivers and inlets of the sea in surveying the coast. When it was decided to turn their course for home, Sir Humphrey continued in the small vessel, though vehemently urged by his friends to remove to the larger one.

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4. "I will not forsake my little company going homeward," said he, "with whom I have passed so many storms and perils!"

5. On the ninth of September, the weather was rough; and the cutter was with difficulty kept afloat, struggling with the violence of the waves.

6. When the vessels came within hearing distance, Sir Humphrey, sitting abaft with a book in his hand, cried out to his companions in the Golden Hind, "Be of good courage! it is as near to heaven by sea as by land!"

7. "That night, at about twelve o'clock," writes one of the adventurers, "the Squirrel being ahead of us in the Hind, its lights suddenly went out; and the watch cried, The general is cast away!' which was too true!" So perished a Christian hero.

QUESTIONS.-1. What was the reign of Flizabeth called? 2. To what place was Sir Humphrey Gilbert sent to make discoveries? 2. How many ships and he have? 2. What were the names of the only two vessels he had left? 3. In which was he returning home? 4. What did he say when urged to go into the other vessel? 5-7. What happened on the ninth of September? 6. What did Sir Humphrey say?