3. The last herring smoked upon the coals before her; it was the only article of food she possessed, and no wonder her forlorn, desolate state brought up in her lone bosom all the anxieties of a mother, when she looked upon her children: and no wonder, forlorn as she was, if she suffered the heart swellings of despair to rise, even though she knew that He, whose promise is to the widow and to the orphan, can not forget his word.

4. Providence had, many years before, taken from her her eldest son, who went from his forest home to try his fortune on the high seas, since which she had heard no tidings of him; and, in her latter time, had, by the hand of death, deprived her of the companion and staff of her earthly pilgrimage, in the person of her husband. Yet to this hour she had been upborne; she had not only been able to provide for her little flock, but had never lost an opportunity of ministering to the wants of the miserable and destitute.

5. The indolent may well bear with poverty, while the ability to gain sustenance remains. The individual who has but his own wants to supply, may suffer with fortitude the winter of want; his affections are not wounded, his heart not wrung. The most desolate in populous cities may hope, for charity has not quite closed her hand and heart, and shut her eyes on misery.

+

6. But the industrious mother of helpless and depending children, far from the reach of human charity, has none of these to + console her. And such a one was the widow of the Pine Cottage; but as she bent over the fire, and took up the last scanty + remnant of food, to spread before her children, her spirits seemed to brighten up, as by some sudden and mysterious impulse, and Cowper's beautiful lines came uncalled across her mind :

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust him for his grace;

Behind a frowning Providence
He hides a smiling face.

7. The smoked herring was scarcely laid upon the table, when a gentle rap at the door, and loud barking of a dog, attracted the attention of the family. The children flew to open it, and a weary traveler, in tattered garments, and apparently indifferent health, entered and begged a lodging, and a mouthful of food. Said he, "It is now twenty-four hours since I tasted bread." The widow's heart bled anew as under a fresh complication of distresses; for her sympathies lingered not around her fireside. She hesitated not even now; rest and a share of all she had she

proffered to the stranger.

66

"We shall not be forsaken," said she, or suffer deeper for an act of charity."

8. The traveler drew near the board, but when he saw the scanty fare, he raised his eyes toward heaven with astonishment: "And is this all your store?" said he, "and a share of this do you offer to one you know not? then never saw I charity before! but madam," said he, continuing, "do you not wrong your children by giving a part of your last mouthful to a stranger?"

9. "Ah," said the poor widow, and the teardrops gushed into her eyes as she said it, "I have a boy, a darling son, somewhere on the face of the wide world, unless heaven has taken him away, and I only act toward you, as I would that others should act toward him. God, who sent manna from heaven, can provide for us as he did for Israel; and how should I this night offend him, if my son should be a wanderer, destitute as you, and he should have provided for him a home, even poor as this, were I to turn you unrelieved away."

+

10. The widow ended, and the stranger springing from his seat, clasped her in his arms: "God indeed has provided your son a home, and has given him wealth to reward the goodness of his +benefactress: my mother! oh my mother!" It was her long lost son, returned to her bosom from the Indies. He had chosen that disguise that he might the more completely surprise his family; and never was surprise more perfect, or followed by a sweeter cup of joy.

11. That humble residence in the forest was exchanged for one comfortable, and indeed beautiful, in the valley; and the widow lived long with her dutiful son, in the enjoyment of worldly plenty, and in the delightful employments of virtue: and at this day the passer-by is pointed to the willow that spreads its branches

above her

grave.

ANONYMOUS.

QUESTIONS. — Relate the history of the widow and her son, as given in this lesson. Can evil ever come from judiciously obeying the dictates of benevolence? Are there many in this world really so poor as not to be able to do something for others?

ARTICULATION.

Priceless, prob'd, principle, profitable, printed.

Priceless was the offering. The wound was thoroughly prob'd. PrinThe books are printed. Spring flings her

ciple may not be profitable.

rosy mantle o'er the plains.

The rowers ply their weary oars.

LESSON LIV.

PRONOUNCE correctly.-An-swer, pro. an-ser: fast-en'd, pro. fas'n'd: swad-dling, pro. swod-dling: treas-ures, pro. treas-yures: a-gainst, pro. a-genst.

1. Whirl'-wind, n. a violent wind moving in a circle.

3. Swad'-dling-band, n. (pro. swod

dling-band) a band or cloth wrapped round an infant.

Stay'-ed, p. stopt.

18. Wa'-ter-course, n, a stream of water.

THE WORKS OF GOD.

1. THEN the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

2.

Who is this that darkeneth + counsel

By words without knowledge?

Gird up now thy loins like a man;

For I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.

Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest?

Or who hath stretched the line upon it?

Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?

Or who laid the corner stone thereof,

When the morning stars sang together,

And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

When it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof,

And thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,

4.

5.

6.

7.

And brake up for it my

And set bars and doors,

+ decreed place,

And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;
And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days;
And caused the dayspring to know his place;
That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
That the wicked might be shaken out of it?
It is turned as clay to the seal;

And they stand as a garment.

And from the wicked their light is withholden,
And the high arm shall be broken.

Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?
Or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
Have the gates of death been opened unto thee?
Or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth?
Declare if thou knowest it all.

Where is the way where light dwelleth?

And as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,

And that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? Knowest thou it because thou wast then born?

Or because the number of thy days is great?

Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?

Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

Which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
Against the day of battle and of war?

8. By what way is the light parted,

9.

Which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters;

Or a way for the lightning of thunder;

To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is;

On the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

To satisfy the desolate and waste ground;

And to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

Hast thou given the horse strength?

Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?

Canst thou make him afraid as a + grasshopper?

The glory of his nostrils is terrible.

He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength;
He goeth out to meet the armed men.

10. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted;
Neither turneth he back from the sword.
The quiver rattleth against him,

The glittering spear and the shield.
He swalloweth the ground with

fierceness and rage; Neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha! ha!

And he smelleth the battle afar off,

The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

QUESTIONS.-Is this poetry? the many to be found in this lesson. ha!" in the last paragraph?

BIBLE.

Select a metaphor and a simile from
What is meant by the words "Ha!

Which are the conjunctions in the 10th paragraph? Parse "spear" and "shield," in the same. Parse "Ha! ha!" in the same. In the first sentence, parse "whirlwind." Which word in that sentence represents the subject, or the actor? Which, the object, or the receiver? Which, the action, or thing done? Which is the adverb of time? Is the sentence simple, complex, or compound?

TO TEACHERS.

One of the most difficult things to be learned in reading is, a proper attention to the pauses. The teacher will find various plans useful for accomplishing this. The following will often succeed: Let the first pupil read to the first pause in a sentence, the second from that pause to the next, the third to the next, and so on. In doing this, the readers must be careful to take up their parts promptly, to read in the same key as nearly as possible, and to give the proper inflection at each pause.