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to the new comer, offered him a bit; upon which10 he had the impudence to look disgusted, and say, 'No, sir, I eat nothing but grass.' So the beasts criticized the lamb, each in his own

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way; and yet it was a good lamb, nevertheless.

2. THE SWORD AND THE PEN.

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The sword of the warrior62 was taken down for the purpose of being polished. It had not been long out of use. rubbed off, but there were spots that would not goof blood. The sword was placed on the table near the pen of the warrior's secretary. The pen took advantage of the first breath of air to move a little further off. "Thou art right,' said the sword. "I am a bad neighbor."- -"I fear thee not," replied the pen, "I am more powerful than thou art; but I love not thy society.". I exterminate," said the sword. "And I perpetuate," answered the pen; "where are thy victories, if I recorded them not? Even where thou thyself shalt one day be in the Lake of Oblivion."

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3.—THE HUMMING-BIRD AND THE BUTTERFLY.

A humming-bird met a butterfly, and, being pleased with the beauty of its person and the glory of its wings, made an offer of perpetual friendship. "I cannot think of it," was the reply, as you once spurned me, and called me a crawling dolt." "Impossible!" exclaimed the humming-bird, "I always entertained the highest respect for such beautiful creatures as you.". Perhaps you do now," said the other; "but when you insulted me I was a caterpillar. So let me give you a piece of advice: never insult the humble, as they may some day become your superiors."

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4.-THE WOLF AND THE Kid.

A very stupid wolf (they are not all so165), having a good appetite, found a kid, which had lost its way. "Little friend," said the carnivorous animal, "I meet you at a good time: you will make me a very good supper; for I assure you that I have neither breakfasted nor dined to-day."- "If I must die," replied the poor kid, "I beg that you will first sing me a song; I hope that you will not refuse me this favor; it is the first that I ever asked of you. I have heard that you are a perfect musician."

The wolf, like a fool, cajoled by this flattery, attempted to sing, but only howled. At this noise the shepherds came running with their dogs and put him to flight. Very well," said

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the wolf, as he scampered away; "I have got my deserts:83 this will teach me another time to keep to my trade of a butcher, and not attempt to play the musician.”

5. -THE WOLF ON HIS DEATH-BED.

A wolf lay at the last gasp, and was reviewing his past life. "It is true," said he, "I am a great sinner, but yet, I hope, not one of the greatest. I have done evil, but I have also done much good. Once, I remember, a bleating lamb, that had strayed from the flock, came so near to me that I might easily have throttled it; but I did it no harm. At the same time, I listened with the most astonishing indifference to the gibes0 and scoffs of a sheep, although I had nothing to fear from dogs."

"I can testify to all that," said his friend the fox, who was helping him prepare for death. "I remember perfectly all the circumstances. It was just at the time when you were so dreadfully choked with that bone which the good-natured crane afterwards drew out of your throat."

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One fine morning in May, two bees set forward in quest of honey; the one wise and temperate, the other careless and extravagant. They soon arrived at a garden enriched with aromatic herbs, the most fragrant flowers, and the most delicious fruits. They regaled themselves for a time on the various dain. ties set before them; the one loading his thighs at intervals with wax for the construction of his hive, the other revelling in sweets, without regard to anything but present gratification. At length they found a wide-mouthed vial, that hung filled with honey beneath the bough of a peach-tree. The thoughtless epicure, in spite of all his friend's remonstrances, plunged headlong into the vessel, resolving to indulge himself in all the pleasures of sensuality.

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The philosopher, on the other hand, sipped with caution; but, being suspicious of danger, flew off to fruits and flowers, where, by the moderation of his meals, he improved his relish for the true enjoyment of them. In the evening, however, he called for his friend, to inquire whether he would return to the hive; but found him surfeited32 in sweets which he was as unable to leave as to enjoy. Clogged in his wings, enfeebled in his legs, and his whole frame ener'vated, he was but just able to bid his friend adieu,86 and to lament, with his latest breath, that, though a taste of pleasure may quicken the relish of life, an unrestrained indulgence is inevitable destruction.

7.-THE PARTIAL JUDGE.

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A farmer came to a neighboring lawyer, expressing great concern for an accident which, he said, had just happened. "One of your oxen," continued he, 'has been gored by an unlucky bull of mine; and I should be glad to know how I to make you reparation.". "Thou art a very honest fellow," replied the lawyer, "and wilt not think it unreasonable that I expect one of thy oxen in return.”—“It is no more than justice," quoth the farmer, "to be sure. But, what did I say?- I mistake. It is your bull that has killed one of my oxen.' ." Indeed! says the lawyer; "that alters the case: I must inquire into the affair; and if

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"And IF!" said the farmer “the business, I find, would have been concluded without an IF, had you been as ready to do justice to others as to exact it from them."

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Death, the king of terrors, was determined to choose a prime minister; and his pale courtiers, the ghastly train of diseases, were all summoned to attend, when each preferred his claim to the honor of this illustrious office. Fever urged the numbers he destroyed; cold Palsy set forth his pretensions by shaking all his limbs; and Dropsy, by his swelled, unwieldy carcass; Gout hobbled up, and alleged his great power in racking every joint; and Asthma's inability to speak was a strong though silent argument in favor of his claim. Stone and Colic pleaded their violence; Plague his rapid progress in destruction; and Consumption, though slow, insisted that he was sure.

In the midst of this contention, the court was disturbed by the noise of music, dancing, feasting and revelry; when immediately entered a lady, with a confident air, and a flushed countenance, attended by a troop of cooks and bacchanals: her name was INTEMPERANCE. EI She waved her hand, and thus addressed the crowd of diseases: "Give way, ye sickly band of pretenders, nor dare to vie with my superior merits in the service of this great monarch. Am not I your parent? Do ye not derive the power of shortening human life almost wholly from me? Who, then, so fit as myself for this important office? The grisly monarch grinned a smile of approbation, placed her at his right hand, and she immediately became his principal favorite and prime minister.

9.- DISHONESTY PUNISHED.

An usurer, having lost a hundred dollars in a bag, promised a reward of ten dollars to the person who should restore it. The

finder brought it to him, and demanded the reward. The usurer loath to give the reward, now that he had the bag, alleged, as soon as the bag was opened, that it contained, when he lost it, a hundred and ten dollars. Being called before the judge, he unwarily acknowledged that the seal was broken open in his own presence, and that the amount in the bag was but a hundred dollars.

"You say," said the judge "that the bag you lost had a hundred and ten dollars in it?"-"Yes, sir."- "Then," replied the judge, "this cannot be your bag, as it contained but a hundred dollars; therefore the plaintiff must keep it till the true owner appears; and you must look for your bag where you can find it."

XIV.

ADORATION AMID NATURAL SCENES.

1. THE turf shall be my fragrant shrine ;6
My temple, Lord! that arch of thine;
My censer's breath the mountain airs,
And silent thoughts my only prayers.

2. My choirs shall be the moonlit waves,
When murmuring homeward to their caves,
Or when the stillness of the sea,
Even more than music, breathes of Thee

3. I'll seek by day some glade unknown,
All light and silence, like thy throne!
And the pale stars shall be at night
The only eyes that watch my rite.I

4. Thy heaven,30 on which 't is bliss to look,
Shall be my pure and shining book,
Where I shall read, in words of flame,
The glories of thy wondrous name.

5. I'll read thy anger in the rackEI

That clouds a while the day-beam's track;
Thy mercy in the azure hue

Of sunny brightness breaking through!

There's nothing bright, above, below,
From flowers that bloom to stars that glow
But in its light my soul can see

Some features of the Deity.

There's nothing dark, below, above,
But in its gloom I trace thy love,
And meekly wait that moment when
Thy touch shall turn all bright again."

MOORE.

XV. THE SPARTAN BOY.*

1. WHEN I the memory repeat of the heroic actions great, which, in contempt of pain and death, were done by men who drew their breath in ages past, I find no deed that can in fortitude exceed the noble boy, in Sparta bred, who in the temple

ministered.

2. By the sacrifice he stands, the lighted incense in his hands; through the smoking censer's lid dropped a burning coal which108 slid into his sleeve, and passëd in between the folds, e'en to the skin.

3. Dire was the pain which then he proved, but not for this his sleeve he moved, or would the scorching ember shake out from the folds, lest it should make any confusion, or excite disturbance at the sacred rite; but close he kept the burning coal, till it eat itself a hole in his flesh. The standers-by saw no sign, and heard no cry. All this he did in noble scorn, and for he was a Spartan born.

4. Young student who this story readest, and with the same thy thoughts now feedest, thy weaker nerves might thee forbid to do the thing the Spartan did; thy feebler heart could not sustain such dire extremity of pain. But in this story thou mayest see what may useful prove to thee. By this example thou wilt find, that to the ingenuous mind shame can greater anguish bring than the body's suffering; that pain is not the worst of ills, — not when it the body kills; that in fair religion's cause, for thy country, or the laws, when occasion dire shall offer, 't is reproachful not to suffer.

MISS LAMB.

XVI. PRACTICAL JOKES.

1. THE youth who resorts for amusement to hazardous practical jokes must be poorly off in resources of mirth. The most deplorable results have often followed the indulgence of this foolish propensity. Children have been seriously injured for life, and sometimes killed, by attempts to frighten them by means of masks, white sheets, and other contrivances. A boy

*This poem is printed as prose, that the pupil may exercise his own ear for harmony in supplying the metrical divisions. Let him first acquaint himself with what is said in paragraphs 156, 31 and 164, in respect to inver sion, the diæresis, the suspension of the voice at the end of lines, &c.

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