bites is conveyed by a small opening through the teeth, to the object bitten. But this snake is slow in his movement, and usually gives notice of his presence by a buzzing noise made with the rattles at the end of his tail. He lives among the rocks, and in summer descends into the meadows. It is remarkable that the lands which are covered with beach and maple trees, and contain no rocky precipices, are free from all large venomous serpents.

617. Small reptiles and insects. The United States, in common with all warm and temperate climates, abound with small animals of the reptile and insect kinds. Few of them however are venomous; the honey bee is very useful, and in the mountains and hilly parts of the country, none of them are vexatious. Near swamps and marshes, the musketoes, and in some places, gnats, are extremely troublesome. In the flat lands in the Carolinas and Georgia, it is necessary for people to defend themselves at night against the musketoes, by surrounding their beds with gauze curtains or pavilions.

618. Locust and the grasshopper. Locusts appear in vast numbers, at particular times, and are supposed to be periodical; but in the United States they do little injury. Grasshoppers are seen every summer; but are harmless, except in very dry seasons, when they multiply to an astonishing degree, and devour the grass, corn and other useful vegetables.

619. Canker worm. In the northern and middle states, canker worms appear at certain times, in such numbers as to injure the apple tree. Their appearance seems to be periodical. They are most destructive to trees on light, dry land; and seldom invade trees which stand on a stiff clay, or moist land. They are produced from an egg deposited on the trees by a female, which comes from the earth and ascends the trees in spring as soon as the frost is dissolved. To prevent their ascent, it is usual to encircle the trees with tar, and this, if applied to a wisp or band of tow, around the trees, will not injure them. These worms feed till June, stripping the trees of their foliage; then suddenly disappear.

They generally appear for two, three or four years in

succession.

620. Other noxious insects. Caterpillars, of various species, appear, at times, in such numbers, as to be very destructive to fruit trees, and some forest trees. The rose bug and the slug also, in particular seasons, do great injury. A white worm or grub, in some parts of the country devours the roots of the grass, and gives to the rich meadow and pasture the appearance of a barren heath. A black worm occasionally invades the grass and corn in May and June, and in such myriads as to lay waste the fields; and an insect has lately attacked the wheat. But although these and many other insects ravage at times particular places, or particular sorts of vegetation, yet our crops are usually rich and abundant.

621. Minerals. Gold is found in abundance in North Carolina, and in the Cherokee country. Iron is found in places too numerous to be here particularized. Some parts of Missouri, and of Indiana, abound with inexhaustible treasures of lead. Lime-stone is abundant in various places, as are sand-stone and granite of a beautiful texture. Slate for buildings is furnished from a quarry on the bank of the Hudson above Fishkill, and from another in Guilford in Vermont, is furnished in abundance. Bituminous coal is found in Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, in great quantities; and the vast beds of anthracite on the Susquehannah, in Pennsylvania, furnish inexhaustible supplies of fuel. Mineral springs are numerous, in various places. Those which are most frequented are at Saratoga and Ballston, in the state of New York. Salt springs are found in many places; and those in the county of Onondaga in the state of New York supply an abundance of salt for the western counties and for Ohio.

622. Population. The original settlers of Virginia and New England, were almost all natives of England; those of New York were natives of Holland and other parts of the Netherlands; a body of Swedes planted the first colony on the Delaware, where their descendants are still found, though few of them unmixed with the progeny of other settlers. Maryland was originally

peopled by emigrants from Ireland; the Carolinas and Georgia, by emigrants from England, Scotland and Germany; and Pennsylvania from England, Ireland and Germany. To these original settlers are to be added the Africans, who were imported for the purpose of cultivating the plantations of the southern settlers and for domestic servants. The population of the northern states, doubles in less than twenty-five years, by natural means. But this increase is considerably accelerated by migrations from Europe.

623. Persons and character of the inhabitants of the Northern States. The inhabitants of the northern states are generally tall, bony and muscular; and less corpulent than their English ancestors. They are remarkable for their industry, invention and perseverance. They make the most diligent farmers and mechanics; and the most active, bold and hardy seamen on earth. They are distinguished for their habits of subordination to parental and civil authority, which render them peaceable, obliging and hospitable: but educated in perfect freedom, and with a strong sense of personal independence, they spurn at every assumption of superiority, and treat with contempt and detestation, any man who is overbearing in his manners. The vices of drunkenness, tippling, gambling, trickishness in mutual dealings, profanity and the like, are found among the more corrupt members of the community. But the great body of the people, who are freeholders, with estates in fee which furnish them with means of subsistence, maintain the character of good sense, discernment and pure morals; living in the constant attendance upon religious worship, and adorning their profession as Christians, by a correspondent practice.

QUESTIONS.

609. What are the native animals of America? What bones of extinct animals have been found?

610. What are the domestic animals? 611. What are the wild fowls?

612. What birds of passage are there? 613, What are the fishes on our coast?

614. When do shad and salmon enter the river? When did

the salmon desert the Connecticut?

615. What shell fish have we?

616. What are the serpents in the United States ? 617. What are the small reptiles and insects?

618. What injury is done by the locust and grasshopper? 619. What injury is done by the canker worms? 620. What other noxious insects sometimes appear? 621. What minerals are found in the United States ? 622. From what nations are the people of the United States descended?

623. What is the general character of the inhabitants of the northern states?

CHAPTER XVIII.

ADVICE TO THE YOUNG.

life are

1. My young friends, the first years of your to be employed in learning those things which are to make you good citizens, useful members of society, and candidates for a happy state in another world. Among the first things you are to learn, are your duties to your parents. These duties are commanded by God, and are necessary to your happiness in this life. The commands of God are, Honor thy father and thy mother."" Children, obey your parents in all things." These commands are binding on all children; they cannot be neglected without sin. Whatever God has commanded us to do, we must perform, without calling in question the propriety of the command.

2. But the reasonableness of this command to obey parents is clear and easily understood by children, even when quite young. Parents are the natural guardians of their children. It is their duty to feed, clothe, protect, and educate them; and for these purposes it is proper and necessary that parents should have authority to direct their actions. Parents therefore are bound by duty and by right to govern their children; but the exercise of this right is to be regulated by affection. Parents have implanted in them a tender love for their offspring, which induces them to exercise authority over them with kindness.

3. It is proper that parents should be intrusted with the instruction of children, because children have every thing to learn, and parents are older, and have gained a knowledge of what their children want to know. Parents have learned what is right, and what is wrong; what is duty, and what is sin; what is useful, and what is hurtful to children and to men. And as children pass the first years of their life with their parents, they may be continually learning from their parents what is necessary or useful in the concerns of life.

4. It is not only proper that children should obey their parents, but their obedience should be prompt and cheerful. A slow, reluctant obedience, and that which is accompanied with murmurings, is not acceptable to parents, nor to God. A sense of duty should make a child free and ready to comply with a parent's command; and this will always be the case where the child entertains a due respect for his parents. Love and respect render obedience easy and cheerful, and a willing obedience increases the confidence of parents in their children, and strengthens their attachment to them. But a cold and unwilling obedience, with a murmuring disposition, alienates affection, and inclines the parent to rigor and severity in the exercise of his authority.

5. Hence it is a primary duty of children, and as much their interest as it is their duty, to "Honor their father and their mother." This honor not only forbids the child to disobey his parents, but it forbids all rudeness and ill manners towards them. Children should manifest their respect for their parents in all their actions. They should be modest and respectful in their company, never interrupting them in conversation, nor boldly contradicting them: they should address them as superiors, and yield to their opinions and admonitions. This subordination of children to their parents, is the foundation of peace in families; contributes to foster those kindly dispositions, both in parents and children, which are the sources of domestic happiness, and which extend their influence to all social relations in subsequent periods of life.