The big, round tèars | were seen to roll,
And told the thanks he could not spéak. *

The children, too, began to sigh,
And all their merry chat was o'er ;
And yet they felt,-they knew not why,-
More glad than they had done before.

LESSON XIX.

BEES.

WHEN bees enter a new hive, it is said that they divide themselves into four companies; one of which, goes out to the fields | in search of materials; another | employs itself in laying the bottom and walls of the cells; a third, in making the inside smooth from the corners, and the fourth, in bringing food for the rest. But they are not always doing the same thing. They often exchange their tasks; those who have been in the fields, coming in to work, and those who have been confined to the hive, taking their flight. They have a language, or signs, by which they understand each other. When one that is hungry, meets a loaded bee, they both stop, and the one that has honey,

* Negative clauses, when opposed to affirmative ones, are read with the rising inflection, even at the close of a sentence.

bends down its trunk, and lets the contents fall into the mouth of the other.

Their diligence and labour are so great, that, in one day's time, they are able to make cells in sufficient number to contain three thousand bees. Some of the bees are busy, all the time, in stopping the holes, and openings; for it is necessary that they should be warm. Their cells they strengthen all round, by bands, or strings of wax; and when this is done, they go over them all again, with their teeth, and pare away all that is unnecessary, and shape round the partitions, taking away all the chips, or fragments of wax, and carrying them out of the hive. They are very neat, and keep their house perfectly clean.

Two things are of great assistance to children, in reading such lessons as the above,-first, to see the object about which they read,—a piece of honey-comb, for example; and, second, to hear the teacher converse about it.

These are

the best means of producing distinct expression, and lively

tones.

LESSON XX.

LUCY AND THE BEE.

As Lucy passed near a hedge, she saw some honeysuckles growing in it; and she remem

bered that she had smelled honeysuckles that were very sweet, and very pretty too. So she was glad that she had found some; for she thought that her mother would like them. But when she came close to the hedge, she saw that they were so high from the ground, that she could not reach them. Lucy did not like to go away, without taking some honeysuckles to her mother. So she walked slowly by the side of the hedge, till she came to a place, where there was a large stone, upon which she climbed, and gathered as many honeysuckles as she liked.

Whilst she was getting down, she held the flowers fast, for fear she should drop them into the ditch; and she felt something prick her finger very sharply. She looked, and she saw a bee drop down from one of the honeysuckles, that she had squeezed in her hand. So she thought that she had hurt the bee, and that the bee had stung her, to make her let him go, and that it was the bee that she had felt pricking her.

Lucy was afraid that she had hurt the bee very much, for she remembered, that when she opened her hands, the bee did not fly away, but dropped down; so she looked for it on the ground, and she soon found it struggling in some water, and trying with its little legs and wings to get out; but it was not strong enough. Lucy

was very sorry for the bee; but she was afraid to touch it, lest she should hurt it again, or it should hurt her. She thought, for a little while, what she could do; and then she took a large stalk of a flower, and put it close to the bee: as soon as the bee felt it, he clasped his legs round it; and Lucy raised the stalk with the bee upon it, gently, from the wet ground, and laid it upon a large flower that was near her.

The bee was sadly covered with dirt; but as soon as he felt he was standing upon his legs again, he began to stretch his wings, and to clean himself, and to buzz a little upon the flower. Lucy was glad to see that the bee did not seem to be very much hurt, and she took up her nosegay, and ran, as fast as she could, towards her mother. But the finger that the bee had stung, began to feel very sore.

She met her mother coming to her, who wondered, what had made her stay so long; and when Lucy had told her what had happened, she said, "I thank you, my dear, for getting me so sweet a nosegay; and I am very sorry you have been hurt in getting it: I am sure you did not intend to hurt the poor little bee. We will walk home now; and I will put some hartshorn on your finger, which will lèssen the pain you feel."

Lucy said, "Indeed, mother, I did not mean to hurt the bee, for I did not know that it was in my hand; but, when I am going to gather flowers another time, I will look to see if there are any bees upon them."

When Lucy and her mother got home, some hartshorn was put on Lucy's finger; and soon afterward, it ceased to give her pain.

LESSON XXI.

THE FLIES AND THE ANTS.

In a corner of a farmer's garden, there once happened to be a nest of ants, which, during the fine weather of the summer, were employed, all day long, in drawing little seeds and grains of corn into their nest. Near them there happened to be a bed of flowers, upon which a great quantity of flìes | used to be always sporting, and humming, and diverting themselves, by flying from one flower to another.

A little boy, who was the farmer's son, used often to observe the different employments of these animals; and, as he was very young and ignorant, he one day thus expressed himself:-"Can any creature be so simple as these