Ion. Ah! just as papa said that everything has caloric in it, but we cannot always feel it. Only if you keep on rubbing it you may soon find it out-sometimes more caloric than you can bear.

M. And it is so with the hidden lessons in our object. If you keep on noticing, you will soon find them out sometimes more lessons than you can remember.

"All things have voices; the hills, the rain drops, and the unseen winds, speak to the thoughtful mind, and utter forth their lessons."

W. Then so does the rasher of bacon. So take off the cover, Lucy, and let us get the lesson out of the bacon before papa begins to eat it.

P. And I suppose that I must wait 'this morning.

W. Yes, please, papa, till it is nearly cold.

Now, the first sense I should like to make use of is the sense of taste. Please, mamma, to let me cut off a piece, that I may find out its flavour.

P. But I did not agree to that. Well, here is the knife.

W. I am certainly of opinion that it has a very nice taste. Here, Ion, will you taste it? What do you say about it?

Ion. I say that it has a saline taste. Give Lucy a piece.

P. But I am afraid that my bacon will soon be all gone. W. Poor papa. How he is trying "to save his bacon!"

L. Willie! that is one of your vulgar expressions, which you learned at school.

W. Well, I meant exactly what I said; but, papa, you need not be afraid of losing it for it has salt in it, and that is conservative.

P. I think, Willie, that you are a rather saucy fellow.

L. We will begin now to notice it carefully. Its flavour, mamma, is rather greasy-it has a smooth, rich, and fatty flavour.

M. There is a proper name for such a flavour. It is peculiar to all meats. We call it an unctuous flavour. You may next tell me what qualities you can discover by looking at the bacon.

Ion. I see, in the first place, that it has three parts-the fat, lean, and skin-indeed, there are four parts, for here is a piece of bone.

W. I can discover the colorus by seeing. The bone is white-the fat is yellow-the lean is red-and the skin is of a brown colour.

M. But, Willie-you are not very exact in your descriptions. Suppose that I wanted to paint a piece of bacon, and were to get the colours you speak of from your paint box. Flake white, for the bone; chrome yellow, for the fat; vermilion, for the lean; and so on,-what a curious rasher of bacon I should paint!

W. Yes. That is wrong. I will try again, mamma. The bone has a brownish white colour-the lean is a deep dark red-the fat

L. That is of a yellowish white colour, and it is semi-transparent

is of a blackish brown colour.

M. With your eyes you can discover the parts and colour of the bacon-suppose that your eyes were shut.

Ion. Then we could find out qualities by feeling. I could notice the difference in the hardness of the parts.

M. Or, instead of saying hardness, say the consistency of the parts.

W. Now, Ion, find out the difference in their consistency. I will tell you something-the skin is rough and scrubby.

Ion. And the fat is smooth and slippery.

M. The words smooth, slippery, and rough, do not exactly relate to the consistency of an object.

Ion. No, mamma, I was just thinking so. They relate to the surface. You speak of a smooth and rough surface. Consistency means the closeness of the particles. Let us try once moreThe bone is hard.

The lean is not quite hardwe may say that it is solid. The fat is soft, and

The skin is not so soft, but is tough, and flexible. Is that right, mamma?

M. Yes. Now you may count up the qualities you have noticed.

Ion. But I want first to ask another question about its flavour. What is bacon called because men eat it when they have not much appetite

W. Call it relishing! it is eaten for a "relish."

L. But in the Bible there is a better word than this. Isaac once

Ion. There is a name, too, given to the flavour because it is pleasant to the palate-it is called palatable.

W. And at school-when the flavour of anything is so good that we want to eat more of it-we say that it is "more-ish."

M. That, too, is a rather vulgar word, Willie.

W. But I was only going to say, mamma, that we had better each eat a piece more bacon, to prove that it is more-ish.

P. You had better not.

M. No, I think that you have found out sufficient qualities. Let me hear you repeat them.

Ion. I will, mamma.

This RASHER OF BACON consists of bone, lean, fat, and skin. These parts differ in their colours :

The bone is of a brownish white colour;

The lean is of a dark red colour;

The fat is yellowish white; and

The skin is of a dark brown
colour.

They differ in consistency :-
The bone is hard;
The lean is solid;
The fat is soft;
The skin is tough.
They differ a little in surface:-
The skin is rough and scrubby;
The fat is smooth and slippery.
Bacon has a nice, palatable,
unctuous, saline, and savoury

taste.

M Very good, we will finish this lesson next week.

THE TRAVELLER THROUGH

ENGLAND.

RECAPITULATION. DURHAM.

P. Before reading Mr. Young's letter, we will answer carefully the remainder of his fifty question's

-one by one.*

18. What minerals are found in Northumberland?

19. What mineral in Cumberland?

20. What mineral in Westmoreland?

21. Tell me where the following animals may be found:-Eider ducks? Rabbits? Flocks of sheep? Black eagles? Geese and grouse? Salmon? Trout? Char?

22. Now mention all the animals you have heard of in the history of the three counties?

23. Tell me the name of a town where lead pencils are made?

24. The names of a town with coal-mines under the sea? 25. Another one, near to it, with large coal-mines?

26. A city, with a trade in hats, whips, and fish-hooks?

27. Another, where the archers were formerly supplied with Kendal green cloth ?

28. A city where there are glass works and iron foundries?

29. What SHAPE has Northumberland?

30. The shape of Cumberland? 31. Of Westmoreland? 32. How is Northumberland BOUNDED?

33. The boundaries of Cumberland?

34. Of Westmoreland? 35. Can you tell me something of the SOIL of Northumberland ? 36. Of the soil of Cumberland?

For the importance of these questions see note, page 286.

37. Of the soil of Westmoreland?

38. Can you tell me anything of the SURFACE of Northumberland? Mention two places where great battles were fought with the Scots -the names of the kings who fought in them? What do you think about fighting battles? Why do you think so? What old places do you find in Northumberland because it is a border county?

39. Tell me something of the surface of Cumberland—or of the people living on the surface?

40. Remarkable old houses on the surface of Westmoreland?

41. Mention the RIVERS in Nor

thumberland-in Cumberland-in Westmoreland?

42. Which river has two capitals situated upon it?

43. Mention the CAPITALS of each county?

44. You have heard of six TOWNS in Northumberland—can you tell me their names?

45. The names of five towns

and a village in Cumberland?

46. The names of two towns and two villages in Westmoreland?

47. Why is Northumberland so called?

48. The etymology of Cumberland?

49. How did Westmoreland derive its name?

50. How do you like geogra

phy?

W. I wonder what he means by etymology. There's a question for him. I think that I'll write it out, and send it to him,

Q. "What do you mean by etymology?"

MY DEAR CHILDREN,

If ever you should have the rheumatism you will be glad to

get rid of it. I found the other day that I had not got it, so I was very thankful-and at once set off for Durham.

Peg's ankle, too, was better; so we were both convalescent-do you know what that means?-and in good spirits; but, we were some time in reaching DURHAM, which is a long way from Kendal."

We made haste at once for the capital-for in passing through the county I did not observe much that was worthy of notice. The soil in some parts was clayey, but in other parts there were tracts of gravelly soil which was very poor. But one thing surprised me very much. Wherever I asked, "Whom does that piece of land belong to?" The answer was, "To the bishop." I wondered why so much of the country should belong to the bishop, or the Church, until I looked in one of my history books. There, I read about the times of the Saxon Heptarchy-and found that "in the year 685 EGFRID, King of Northumberland, gave all the land between the rivers Wear and the Tyne, to St. Cuthbert, the northern apostle, and to the ministers of his Church for ever."

read, too, that at one time the Bishop of Durham had very great power in this county-as much as that of a king-so that the county was usually termed The Bishoprick. This ancient power of the bishops has been lessened very much by different kings; but still, in these days, the Bishop of Durham has great privileges-and he has the richest bishopric in England.

When I had read this, I understood why so much land in this county belongs to the Church. I found, too, that in many parts quantities of mustard are grown.

Perhaps you may have seen in the grocer's windows large tickets, FINE DURHAM MUSTARD. I have. It was nearly dark when I reached the city of Durham. I could just see that there was a fine river called the WEAR, and that all the city seemed to be built on a hill. Then above all I saw, frowning down on the houses beneath, two solemn-looking towers, and a larger one behind them, which looked like great giants in the dark.

I thought to myself-that must be a grand old cathedral; in the morning I'll go and see it.

At the inn, after I had dined, I asked a gentleman who was reading the paper, how it happened that the cathedral was built on so high a place.

"I can tell you, sir-if you will have the patience to hear the story. At the east coast of Northumberland is an island belonging to Durham, which is called Lindisfarne, or Holy Island."

"Yes," I said, "I have passed it."

"It was called Holy Island, sir, because a holy man called St. Cuthbert once lived there, and because it was peopled by the monks, who had built a fine abbey over the spot where St. Cuthbert's body was buried.

"The Danes about this time came to plunder England, and as they knew that most monks had plenty of silver and gold, they attacked the island of Lindisfarne.

"Then"-But, dear children, I have not space for all the story; you shall hear the rest in my next letter. Good bye.

Your faithful friend,

HENRY YOUNG.

PERSPECTIVE.

PRACTICAL LESSONS.

on the table. Where is it nowis it above my eye, or below it?

L. I think, papa, that if we were stool, we should have to draw the to mark the level of your eye on the

Ion, you may bring me your mamma's footstool, and place it before me on the floor. Now see me draw it. The horizontal line must of course be above the stool-why? W. Because you are so much taller, papa-even now, when you are sitting down.

P. Here is the drawing. Can you tell whether it is correct?

L. It seems to be right, papa;-and I see that you have drawn lines from the two front feet, to the two feet behind-and I can see the reason of this. If we were to draw these lines from one leg to

P. Now, we will place the stool

horizontal line across the middle. W. When is an object more diffi

the horizontal line, or below it?

P. The object is quite as easy to draw in one position as in another. It cannot matter where the object is, if you will only keep to the rules, and make the lines incline to the right point. It will, however, have a very different appearance-look! and see how I have drawn it.

Ion. That looks very different, рара. In the first drawing you may see the top of the stool-but in the second one, you can even see beneath it.

P. I will now give you an easy exercise in perspective-a practical exercise. In these two draw. ings the point of sight, you may see, is on the right hand. Suppose that you draw the stool now-but instead of standing on the right hand side of it, move to the opposite side-the left. Then the point of sight will also be on the left. First copy my drawings, and then change the positions in this way.

Now, I will make a drawing which will be rather more difficult to copy. You may go, Ion, and fetch me one of the old square chairs from the hall, and place it on the floor before me.