dren began to dispute among themselves whether it was the moon or the clouds which floated along. The other boys and girls said "they were sure that the clouds were still, and that it was the moon which moved." Peter insisted that the moon had no sensible motion such as they thought, and that it was the clouds which passed so swiftly. But his reasons produced no effect upon the minds of his companions, till he tried the following plan. He took them under a large tree, and bade them look at the moon through the branches. They now saw that the moon seemed to stand still between the same leaves and branches, while the clouds sailed far away out of sight. They were then obliged to admit that Peter was right in what he said, and that they were wrong.

THE INDIAN AND THE STOLEN VENISON.

A North American Indian, upon returning home to his cabin, discovered that his venison, which had been hung up to dry, was stolen. After taking his observations on the spot, he set off in pursuit of the thief, whom he tracked through the woods. Meeting with some persons on his route, he inquired if they had seen a little old white man, with a short gun, and accompanied by a small dog with a bob-tail. They answered in the affirmative and upon the Indian assuring them that the man thus described had stolen his venison, they desired to be informed how he was able to give so minute a description of a person whom it appeared he had never seen. The Indian replied: "The thief, I know, is a little man, by his having made a pile of stones to stand upon in order to reach the venison from the height at which I hung it, while standing on the ground; that he is an old man, I know by his short steps, which I have traced over the dead leaves in the woods: and that he is a white man, I know by his turning out his tocs when he walks—which an Indian never does. His gun I know to be short, from the mark which the muzzle made by rubbing the bark of the tree against which it had leant; that his dog is small, I know by his track; and that he has a bob-tail, Ĭ discovered by the mark it made in the dust, where he was sitting while his master was busied about my meat."

THE SHIPWRECKED SAILORS.

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THE RATS AND THE EGG.

While the preceding story shows that even a savage Indian can teach us the value of habits of attentive observation, the following anecdote of a rat is not less valuable as a lesson in resource, though it refers to what, in a human being, would not be a moral act:—

Rats are fond of eggs, and prove very destructive in hen-roosts. When eggs are carried off, it could scarcely be imagined that rats were the depredators, as the animal has no visible means of lifting and removing so large an object. But though, for this reason, they have often escaped suspicion, there can be no doubt that they really do carry off eggs. A farmer in Fifeshire, observing several of them one day about a hen's nest, stood quite still at a little distance to watch their proceedings. In a short time he saw one of them lay himself down beside an egg, and fold his body round it lengthwise. He took his tail between. his teeth, so as to enclose the egg, and hold it firmly. The others then approached, and seizing him by the neck, dragged him and the egg together out of the hen-house.

THE SHIPWRECKED SAILORS.

The plant samphire grows on the sea-shore, but always on places which the sea does not cover. The knowledge which an individual had of this fact was once of great use in very dangerous circumstances.

In the month of November 1821, a French merchant vessel was wrecked in a storm near Beachyhead, on the coast of Sussex. All the men were washed overboard, and only four escaped from the sea by climbing to the top of a heap of rocks which had fallen from the cliff above. It was a very dark night, and they expected every moment to be swallowed up by the waves, when one of them found a plant growing among the rocks, which he knew to be samphire. He also knew that this plant grows beyond the reach of the sca: he and his companions thus ascertained that they were safe. They remained patiently where they were till morning, when they were seen by the people on the cliffs, who immediately came to their assistance.

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THE PAINTER'S SERVANT.

Sir James Thornhill, a distinguished painter, was employed in decorating the interior of the dome of St Paul's Cathedral. One day, to observe the effect of a certain part of his work, he moved backwards from it along the scaffolding, until he had reached the very edge; another step would have dashed him to pieces on the pavement below. His servant at this moment observed his danger, and in an instant threw a pot of paint at the picture. Sir James immediately rushed forward to chastise the man for his apparently unjustifiable act, but when the reason was explained, could not give him sufficient thanks, or sufficiently admire his ready ingenuity. Had the servant called out to apprise him of his danger, he would have probably lost his footing, and been killed. The only means of saving him, was to create a motive for his voluntarily returning from the edge of the scaffold. For this purpose an injury to the painting was a good means. All these calculations, and the act itself, were the work of an instant, for this servant possessed the inestimable qualities of presence of mind and resource.

THE SAILOR BOY OF CARRON.

In the month of October 1811, the sloop Fame of Carron, in Stirlingshire, was captured by a French privateer off the coast of Northumberland. The crew were transferred to the French vessel to be carried off as prisoners to France, with the exception of an old man and a boy, who were left on board, with six Frenchmen, to steer the vessel to a French port. Soon after the sloop had parted with the privateer, she was overtaken by a severe storm, which drove her to the mouth of the Firth of Forth, with the navigation of which the Frenchmen, as well as the old man, were unacquainted. The night being dark, and oil and candles being expended, or thrown overboard, the compass was useless. The men, in despair, allowed the vessel to go before the wind. The boy, who was only thirteen years of had made one or two voyages before, and had observed something of the neighbouring coasts and islands. He

age,

recognised the peculiar beacon-light on the island of Inchkeith, which lies in the middle of the Firth. He took the helm, and steered accordingly, till he got the vessel to St Margaret's Hope, where he knew there was a British manof-war. On approaching that vessel, he called to its crew to send a party on board, as he had six prisoners to deliver. The Frenchmen, intimidated, and glad to be saved from the storm, made no effort to escape. When the party came from the war-vessel, they actually found the six Frenchmen already made prisoners by the boy, who had gathered all their arms beside him. The ship and cargo were saved for the owners.

There is need of a sprightly and vigilant mind to discern and lay hold on favourable junctures; a man must look before him, descry opportunities at a distance, keep his eye constantly upon them, observe all the motions they make towards him, make himself ready for their approach, and when he sees his time, lay fast hold, and not let go again, till he has done that which he aimed at doing.-CHARRON.

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MODESTY.

WHEN any one praises himself, or speaks much of himself, or lets it in anyway be seen that he stands high in his own estcem, he is sure to be laughed at. We ought both to feel, and to appear to feel, humbly about ourselves; and even when others praise us, we should receive their approbation with humility. All good qualities are justly held to be set off and improved by modesty, while even the best qualities will be despised if they be shown in a boastful spirit. We shall be still more ridiculous if we pretend to knowledge, worth, or rank, which we do not possess. Such pretensions are easily detected, and then every one despises the pretender more than if he had been supposed to want those qualities altogether.

We ought also to check the disposition to think too highly of our own opinions, and too humbly of those of

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other persons. Our neighbours may think rightly, though their opinions should appear to us absurd; and our own opinions may be wrong, though to us they appear right. Each man is but one out of millions, all of whom have their own peculiar opinions, and all of whom are as much entitled to think themselves right as he. It is a great point for any one to attain-to know, and act as if he knew, that he may possibly be wrong.

THE JACKDAW IN BORROWED FEATHERS: A FABLE.

A jackdaw was vain enough to imagine that he wanted nothing but the dress to render him as elegant a bird as the peacock. Puffed up with this wise conceit, he plumed himself with a sufficient quantity of their most beautiful feathers, and in this borrowed garb, forsaking his old companions, endeavoured to pass for a peacock. But he no sooner attempted to associate with those genteel creatures, than an affected strut betrayed the vain pretender. The offended peacocks, plucking from him their degraded feathers, soon stripped him of his gentility, reduced him to a mere jackdaw, and drove him back to his brethren, by whom he was now equally despised, and justly punished with general derision and disdain.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

Men of great learning and talent, whom all people admire and praise, are often found to be more modest than persons of inferior qualities. Sir Isaac Newton, the eminent philosopher, was one of those great, and at the same time modest

men.

When a little boy at school, he surprised everybody by the curious little machines which he made with his own hands. He had a number of saws, hatchets, hammers, and other tools, which he used very cleverly. A windmill being put up near the place where he lived, he frequently went to look at it, and pried into every part of it, till he became thoroughly acquainted with it, and the way in which it moved. He then began with his knife, and saws, and hammer, and made a small windmill, exactly like the large one: it was