he; and as he trudged on, pondering it in his mind, he came to this conclusion:

"Why then, after all, the rich and the poor have but one and the same interest-that is very strange! I always thought they had been as wide apart as the east is from the west! But now I am convinced that the comforts of the poor are derived from the riches of the rich."

CRUSOE'S ACCOUNT OF HIS SHIPWRECK ON THE DESERT ISLAND.

THE same day that I went on board, we set sail, and had very good weather, only very hot, until we had passed the line; when the wind settled into the north-east, and blew in such a terrible manner that, for twelve days together, we could do nothing but drive; and, scudding away before the wind, we let it carry us wherever fate and the fury of the tempest should direct. During these twelve days, I need not say, that I expected every moment to be swallowed up; and no one in the ship expected to be saved.

We were still in this distress, and the wind was still blowing very hard, when, early one morning, one of our men cried out, "Land!" and we had no sooner run out of our cabin, in the hopes of seeing whereabouts in the world. we were, than the ship struck upon a sandbank, and in a moment, her motion being stopped, the sea broke over her in such a manner, that we all expected to perish immediately; and we were even driven into close quarters to shelter ourselves from the foam and spray of the sea.

It is not easy for any one, who has not been in a like condition, to describe or conceive the consternation of men

in such circumstances. We knew nothing of where we were, or upon what land we were driven-whether an island or the mainland, whether inhabited or not: and as the rage of the wind was still great, though rather less than at first, we could not so much as hope to have the ship hold together many minutes, without breaking in pieces, unless the wind, by a kind of miracle, should turn immediately about. In a word, we sat looking one upon another, and expecting death every moment; but, to our comfort, and contrary to our expectation, the ship did not break up yet, and the master thought that the wind was beginning to abate.

But even though the wind did abate a little, yet the ship, having thus struck upon the sand, stuck too fast for us to hope to get her off again; and we were, therefore, in a dreadful condition, and had nothing to do, but to think how to save our lives in the best manner we could. We had a boat at our stern just before the storm; but she was staved in by dashing against the ship's rudder, and afterwards she broke away, and either sunk or was driven off to sea. We had another boat on board; but how to get her off into the sea we hardly knew. However, there was no time for debate, for we fancied the ship would break in pieces every minute, and some even said that she was actually broken already. In this distress, the mate of our vessel laid hold of the boat, and, with the help of the men, got her flung over the ship's side: and getting all into her, we let go, and committed ourselves, being eleven in number, to the mercy of God and the wild sea.

And now our case was very dismal indeed; for we all saw plainly that the sea went so high that the boat could not escape, and that we should be inevitably drowned. As to making sail, we had none; nor, if we had, could we

have done anything with it so we worked at the oar, and rowed towards the land, though with heavy hearts, like men going to execution; for we all knew, that when the boat came near the shore, she would be dashed into a thousand pieces.

After we had rowed, or rather been driven, about a league and a half, as we reckoned it, a raging wave, mountain-high, came rolling astern of us, and took us with such a fury, that it upset the boat at once, and separated us as well from the boat as from one another, for we were all swallowed up in a moment.

Nothing can describe the confusion of thought which I felt, when I sank into the water: for, though I swam very well, yet I could not deliver myself from the waves so as to draw breath; until at last, the wave, having driven me, or rather carried me, a vast way on towards the shore, and, having spent itself, went back, and left me upon the land almost dry, but half dead from the water which I had swallowed. I had so much presence of mind, as well as breath left, that, seeing myself nearer the mainland than I expected, I got upon my feet, and endeavoured to make towards the shore as fast as I could, before another wave should take me up again. But I soon found it was impossible to avoid it; for I saw the sea coming after me as high as a great hill, and as furious as an enemy, which I had no means or strength to contend with. My only chance was to hold my breath, and raise myself upon the water if I could; and so, by swimming, to pilot myself towards the shore, if possible; but I was in great fear lest the wave, as it would carry me a great way towards the shore when it came on, should also carry me back again with it when it returned towards the sea.

The wave came on, and buried me again twenty or thirty

feet deep in its own body, and I could feel myself carried, with a mighty force and swiftness, a very great way towards the shore; but I held my breath, and assisted myself to swim forward with all my might. I was just ready to burst with holding my breath, when I felt myself rising up, and to my great relief found my head and hands shoot out above the surface of the water; and though it was not two seconds of time that I could keep myself so, yet it relieved me greatly, and gave me breath and new courage. I was covered again with water for a good while, but I managed to hold out; and finding the wave had spent itself, and was beginning to return, I struck forward, and felt ground again under my feet. I stood still a few moments to recover breath, until the water went from me, and then I took to my heels, and ran with what strength I had left farther towards the shore. But even this did not deliver me from the fury of the sea, which came pouring in after me again, and twice more I was lifted up by the waves and carried forwards as before, the shore being extremely flat.

The last time of all was nearly fatal to me; for the sea, having hurried me along as before, landed me, or rather dashed me, against a piece of rock, with such force that it left me senseless and quite helpless as to my own deliverance; for, as I struck this rock with my side and breast, my breath was, as it were, quite beaten out of my body, and had the wave returned again immediately, I must have been choked by the water. But I recovered a little before its return; and, seeing that I should be again covered with the water, I resolved to hold fast by a piece of the rock, and so to hold my breath, if possible, till the wave went back. And as the waves were not now so high as at first, being near the shore, I kept my hold till the

wave abated, and then made another run, which brought me so near the shore, that the next wave, though it went over me, did not swallow me up, so as to carry me away; and the next run I took brought me to the mainland, where, to my comfort, I clambered up the cliffs of the shore, and sat me down upon the grass, free from danger, and quite beyond reach of the water.

THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD.

Now ponder well, you parents dear,
These words which I shall write;
A doleful story you shall hear,
In time brought forth to light.
A gentleman of good account
In Norfolk dwelt of late,
Who did in honour far surmount

Most men of his estate.

Sore sick he was, and like to die
e;

No help his life could save ;
His wife by him as sick did lie,

And both possessed one grave.
No love between these two was lost,
Each was to other kind;

In love they lived, in love they died,
And left two babes behind.

The one, a fine and pretty boy,
Not passing three years old;
The other, a girl more young than he,
And framed in beauty's mould.