man

wheel their mighty course unchanged, while dieth and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?"

Yon brilliant orbs maintain their places, while countless generations pass away, and nations disappear and are forgotten. Let us bow in humility before "Him who bringeth out their host by number, who calleth them all by names, by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth."

Thirteen times in the year, Night, the teacher, gives extra lessons. Will you be there to learn them? First, she hangs up a 'pale crescent in the west. The ancient Jews hailed its infant beam, and answering fires of joy were kindled on the hills of Palestine.

5

Next, she summons forth a rounded orb, clad in full "effulgence, and commits to it the "regency when the sun retires. Lastly, a slender, waning crescent appears nightly, like an aged man, ready to descend into the night of the tomb.

N

"Soon as the evening shades prevail,

The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly, to the listening earth,
Repeats the story of her birth ;
While all the stars that round her burn,
And all the "planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,

And spread the truth from pole to pole."

These are some of Night's lessons. Are of them? or will you learn one more?

you tired

Lift up

your heart to Him who has given you the past day, with thanks for its blessings, with penitence for its faults, with supplication for strength and wisdom for the time that is to come.

"Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge" of God. Thus, meekly and faithfully studying Night's lessons, may we find

"E'en sorrow, touched by Heaven, grows bright
With more than rapture's ray,

10 As darkness shows us worlds of light

We never saw by day."

7

8

6

1the pole-star: see page 223, note 7. 2 constellation, a cluster or group of fixed stars. The Great Bear and Little Bear are constellations, and may be seen, as well as the North or Pole Star, every starlight night. 3 orbs, sun, moon, and stars. pale crescent, new moon. 5 hailed: see Numbers x. 10. effulgence, extreme brilliancy; great lustre. regency, rule or dominion, especially if exercised for another. soon as the evening shades, etc.: a quotation from the paraphrase of the nineteenth Psalm by Addison. 9planet, a celestial body which revolves about the sun. The earth is a planet. 10 as darkness, etc. The stars (worlds of light) are always in the sky-the brightness of the sun hides them from our view. This verse is a quotation from a hymn by Thomas Moore.

"The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Leave not a rack behind."

Shakespere

KIND WORDS NEVER DIE.

TWENTY years have passed to-morrow,
Since I went to yonder school,
Where I often learned with sorrow
What attends a broken rule.

Roughly spoke the ancient master :
"Go, sir, to the open floor,
Or I'll come and walk you faster
Than you ever walked before."

Then was hushed the busy humming,
For full well the scholars knew
All the torture that was coming
From the rod that hung in view.

But my little blue-eyed sister
Softly stole, and took my hand.
(O the darling! how we've missed her
Since she joined the angel-band!)

To the pale and angry teacher
Sweet she spoke as distant chimes,
Love illuming every feature,-
"Brother dear is good sometimes."

What a thrill her pleading gave me !
Banished all my swift disgrace!
I was sure that it would save me,
Ere I saw his changing face.

Oft I see that dear face beaming,
Hear her voice in loving rhymes,
Gently saying, in my dreaming,
"Brother dear is good sometimes."

Or I dream that angels gather
Round the throne of God above,
Making intercession ever

For the objects of their love;

And that when I cross the river,

I shall hear, 'mid heaven's chimes, Little sister pleading for me,—. "Brother dear is good sometimes."

APPENDIX.

A.

ABYSSINIA, a mountainous country in North-east Africa. The Blue Nile, one of the principal tributaries of the famous river Nile, rises among the mountains of Abyssinia. Its principal town, Madgala, was taken by Lord Napier in the late (1868) Abyssinian war.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT, king of Greece, born 356 B.C. He conquered Persia, Asia Minor, Egypt, and part of India. Although he was the cause of much bloodshed, he possessed many good qualities. He diffused the language and civilization of Greece wherever victory led him, and he taught Europeans the road to India. It is supposed that the fever which proved fatal to him was caught from the miasma arising from the marshes round Babylon while he was engaged in devising plans for their drainage.

66

ALLIGATORS; see CROCODILES."

ANTELOPE, an animal in appearance like the deer. The largest of the antelope tribe is the eland; it exceeds a large ox in size, and is often very fat. Its flesh is excellent and highly esteemed. In their habits antelopes are like deer, goats, etc.

AUSTRALIA, Sometimes called a continent, is an immense island between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is a British colony. It was discovered by the Dutch in 1606. Captain Cook explored the cast coast in 1770, and called it New South Wales. A colony of British settled there in 1788. Since then the number of settlers have rapidly increased, chiefly by emigrants from England. Australia bids fair to become one of the most important countries in the world. The native population are coloured people, and resemble in their habits the Hottentots of South Africa. Climate.

Australia is remarkable for its dry and rainy periods. These do not always occur at regular seasons, as those of India and Africa. but are very irregular. Within the last eighty years New South Wales has been visited by about sixty floods, when rivers have become swollen to such an extent as to inundate miles of country, and sweep away stacks of wheat and great quantities of stock of every description. On the other hand, the droughts are equally severe and irregular, and often as destructive as the floods. On several occasions, not a drop of rain has fallen for nine, ten, and even thirteen months. At such times whole tracts of country are not unfrequently destroyed by fire.

B.

BANYAN TREE is a native of India. It is remarkable for its vast rooting branches. The branches send shoots downwards, which take root in the earth and become stems. In this way the tree spreads over a great surface, and endures ages. One banyan has been described as having three hundred and fifty stems, equal to large oaks, and more than three thousand smaller ones, and covering a space sufficient to contain seven thousand persons. The banyan is the abode of numbers of monkeys, birds, and enormous bats.

BIRD OF PARADISE, a bird with brilliant plumage. The body is of a deep rich brown, the throat a rich golden green, and the head yellow. By the sides of the tail it has a splendid plume of long downy feathers of a soft yellow colour. Specimens may be seen in the Zoological Gardens alive, or in the British Museum stuffed.

BOAR, or wild hog, inhabits parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. In India it grows to a great size, and is very fierce. When hunted, it becomes very furious, often inflicting severe wounds with its terrible tusks on men and horses.

BONAPARTE, NAPOLEON, first Emperor of the French, born in Corsica in 1769. For twenty years he was the terror of Europe. He with his armies subdued Spain, Italy, Austria, Prussia, and even penetrated as far as Moscow in Russia. With the Russian campaign his ruin began. For six months his army was exposed to great hardships. When he entered Russia, he had half a million of men; when he returned, only seventy thousand. Besides which, his enemies had made good use of the time to prepare to