B. Of course not. My very soul would be on fire, if I should hear you spoken of injuriously. J. One might bear to hear an acquaintance, or even a relative, censured, when censure is deserved; but friendship B. Oh, friendship is a different thing. Friendship is something to live for something to keep the heart warm. Friendship has claims which can not be violated; and if you knew how deep, how tender, how absorbing mine is for you, I do not believe you would think any sacrifice too much. J. Sacrifice? Bessie! I could almost lay down my life for you. I wish I were a man, that I might fight for you. Men are so happy that they have such noble ways of proving their faithfulness and their love. If I had lived in the olden times and been a man, I should have made a vow to do all sorts of great and impossible things-to conquer cities, fight with dragons, or even to leap into a volcano, to prove my tenderness for you. B. Happily for us, we can prove our affection still, and by more practicable means. J. Yes; we can meet here three times every day, instead of only twice. We can write to each other between times. B. And tell everything that ruffles or disturbs us, so as to pour a balm into every wound. Your joys, you know, are my joys; and your sorrows must be my sorrows. J. Above all, we must fight each other's battles when absent. Remember that. B. I do remember it; for I have some little cause to do so. J. How? What do you mean? Have you ever heard any one speaking against me? B. Not much. Nothing of consequence. J. But what was it?-when, Bessie? Do tell me all. B. It would hurt your feelings, dear. I would rather not tell I could not pain you for the world. you. J. Then you are not my friend. Ilave we not promised to speak the truth to each other? B. I know we did; but I do not like to hurt your feelings, and all truths should not be spoken. J. This should at any rate; and I will know it. B. Well, then, Janie, dearest, never wear that amber-colored satin dress again. J. Why not? Who shall forbid my wearing it? B. Oh! no one forbids you: but do not wear it, Janie, there's a darling. J. I must wear it. Papa gave it to me, and I could not be so ungrateful as to throw it aside. Besides which, I like it, and it becomes me. not. B. No; there I beg your pardon. That is precisely what it does I never saw you appear to so little advantage as at the readingparty, on Friday-night. J. Well, that may be your opinion. B. It was the opinion of all who spoke about you. You are dark, you know, Janie. J. So are many people; but I have a color, at all events; and that is more than some people can boast. B. You mean me, I suppose, Jane. J. And if I do, what of that? As you choose to be so candid with me, I will just tell you what the Middletons said of your singing; and I really do wish you would never attempt that duet again. You were miserably out of tune; and I saw them all laughing and biting their lips. One cannot defend a friend, you know, who is singing out of tune. B. I do not want you to defend me, when singing, or doing any thing else. I sing as well as you do, at any rate, or I would never attempt it again. You have not forgotten the evening when you broke down, I suppose, and when I had to lead you out of the room, pretending that you were faint. J. Have you managed to forget when you were addressed in French and you could not answer, and I covered your disgrace by taking the conversation out of your hands? B. Well; do not go out making yourself such a fright in that amber-colored satin dress-that's all. J. Indeed, I shall wear that dress, or any other which suits my convenience, without asking your permission. B. Oh! there is no permission in the case. to me in any way whatever. You are not bound J. I do not feel that I am. You have broken every bond asunder. B. Because I wanted you not to make a fright of yourself. Why, Harry Vernon was laughing at you the whole evening. J. And you, I suppose, laughed with him? B. I could have laughed; but I restrained myself. I told him it was very naughty and wicked to laugh as he did; and that I would not have my friend made game of. Indeed, I thought he owed it to me to behave better, as he knew our intimacy-the intimacy, I mean, which did exist between us, for it is impossible to keep up any kind of intimacy with one who thinks she has not a single fault. J. I never said I had not a single fault. I know I have a great many—too many, a great deal. B. Only you will not own to the fault of looking ugly in an amber-colored satin dress? J. No, I will not. B. Very well, then; wear it again. Go on, if you like, making a fright of yourself, as long as you live. It is no business of mine. J. No business whatever; and I shall do exactly as I please about what I wear. B. Our friendship is dissolved, then? J. Entirely, as regards myself. I have no desire to claim intimacy with any one in whose opinion I stand so low as in yours. So good morning, Miss. B. Good morning. And I wish you joy, Miss, of your ambercolored satin dress. MRS. ELLIS. LESSON CCXXI. A-BATE', to decrease, to become less. | SURGE, a large wave, a billow. THE DOVE AND THE ARK. 1. AND it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. 2. And he sent forth a raven, which went to and fro until the waters were dried up from off the earth. 3. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground. 4. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark; for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. Then he put forth his hand and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. 5. There was a lonely ark, that sailed o'er waters dark; And wide around Not one tall tree was seen, nor flower, nor leaf of green; 6. Then a soft wing was spread, and o'er the billows dread But on that shoreless tide no living thing she spied, 7. There was no But the cold To cheer her view. chirping sound o'er that wide watery bound, surges spread their covering o'er the dead 8. So to the ark she fled, with drooping, weary head, To seek for rest: CHRIST is thy Ark, my love; thou art the timid dove Fly to his breast. MRS. SIGOURNEY. LESSON CCXXII. BLOOD, royal lineage, blood royal. JUN'GLE, dense thicket of trees and LEV EE, formal reception of visitors by a person of high rank. PARA-SOL, (from a Greek word meaning against, and Latin sol, the sun,) an umbrella to keep off the sun's rays. SI-AM', an extensive kingdom in the south-east of Asia. The most important river is the Menam, which traverses the center of the country. Bang. kok, the capital city, is situated on the Menam. PRONUNCIATION -Par'a-sol 2d, cap'ture 18, di'a-dem 2b, an-oth'er 27a. 1. NEXT to the nobility, the highest personages in Siam are the white elephants. They are very rare. The common elephant abounds in the jungle, and is very tractable and sagacious. These animals are keenly sensitive to affronts, even such affronts as the removal of their gold and silver collars. 2. A common elephant, on whose skull his keeper had cracked a cocoa-nut, carried pieces of the shell for several days in his trunk; he seized the first opportunity of killing the keeper, and laid the pieces of shell on his body. Without these elephants it would be impossible to traverse the tropical jungles of Siam. 3. But the prince of elephants is the white variety; — which, however, is not white, but flesh-color. A man who captures a He white elephant is loaded with honor. A road is cut for the brute to the Menam, and he is transported to the capital on a raft is received by princes of the blood, is installed with great ceremonies, and is called "Your Highness." 4. He is fed in vessels of gold and silver. A diadem is placed on his head, and his slaves approach him on their knees. When he appears in public he is covered with costly trappings; a guard of honor escorts him, and the people bow down to the dust before his footsteps. 5. The king's physician attends him in illness. At the bath one officer guards him, while another holds a red parasol over his head. He is lulled to sleep with soft music. He holds levees; but it is not stated that his conversation is very brilliant. The white elephant is, in short, one of the most important dignitaries of the kingdom. LESSON CCXXIII. ALLAH, the Arabic name of God. BI'SON, an animal of the western prairies, usually, but improperly, called the buffalo. CHAR'AC-TERS, the personages that perform the different parts of a dialogue or drama. GLEBE, soil, ground. LEGGINGS, a cover or cloth to protect Moc'CA-SIN, an ornamental shoe, worn SQUAD RON, a body of troops. PRONUNCIATION.-Nec'es-sa-ries 36, monarch 9, approach' 1, yet (not yit), pur-suit' 19, Ál'lah 7, har'ness le. THE MOST USEFUL ANIMAL. AN IMAGINARY COLLOQUY. [This Imaginary Colloquy is hot to be regarded as an actual dialogue; but the characters are introduced in order to exhibit in strong contrast the different ideas and notions which persons of different nations and customs might entertain in reference to the subject of the discourse. The supposed characters are:THUNDER-CLOUD, the chief of an Indian tribe deriving sustenance mainly from hunting the bison. IANS, a native of Greenland, which far northern country depends on the seal-fish. ery for most of the necessaries of life. YUSEF, an Arab of the desert, the commerce of which is carried on mainly by means of camels. CHANG, a Siamese. Some of the inhabitants of Siam, like the Chinese, regard edible birds-nests and large sea-slugs as great luxuries for the table. TIMOUR, belonging to a tribe of Tartars, whose life is passed in a great degree on horseback. They are also said to use horseflesh for food. REUBEN SMITH, a smart boy of our school who loves to learn, and is accustomed to reflect on what he learns.] Chang. Or a truth, the elephant is the monarch of animals. His tread shakes the earth. His approach strikes terror to the heart of an enemy. Timour. Elephant, forsooth! A huge, overgrown, unwieldy moun |