keeper, who looked upon him as a spy on her actions, which were not always quite honest. In the hope of causing him to be turned away, she told false tales of him to her master. But the whole of Leonard's conduct had been so good, that Mr Benson put no faith in these base insinuations. To make quite sure of the honesty of the boy, he resolved to put it to a severe proof. For this purpose he charged Leonard to make certain purchases, giving him more money than was necessary: to his great delight, Leonard returned every farthing over and above what was required. One day he left behind him in the countingroom a piece of gold, which Leonard found in the of the housekeeper. She requested him to divide it with her; but he declared, without a moment's hesitation, that he would return it to his master, to whom it belonged; and he immediately proceeded to do so. Mr Benson was so

presence

pleased with the boy's conduct, that he gave him a present of the money, and as he had no children of his own, he soon after adopted Leonard as his son, and left him the whole of his fortune.

MOSES ROTHSCHILD.

At the time of the French Revolution, there lived at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, in Germany, a Jewish banker, of limited means, but good reputation, named Moses Rothschild. When the French army invaded Germany, the Prince of Hesse Cassel was obliged to fly from his dominions. As he passed through Frankfort, he requested Moses Rothschild to take charge of a large sum of money and some valuable jewels, which he feared might otherwise fall into the hands of the enemy. The Jew would have declined so great a charge; but the prince was so much at a loss for the means of saving his property, that Moses at length consented. He declined, however, giving a receipt for it, as in such dangerous circumstances he could not be answerable for its being safely restored.

The money and jewels, to the value of several hundred thousand pounds, were conveyed to Frankfort; and just as the French entered the town, Mr Rothschild had succeeded in burying it in a corner of his garden. He made no attempt

to conceal his own property, which amounted only to six thousand pounds. The French accordingly took this, without suspecting that he had any larger sum in his possession. Had he, on the contrary, pretended to have no money, they would have certainly searched, as they did in many other cases, and might have found and taken the whole. When they left the town, Mr Rothschild dug up the prince's money, and began to make use of a small portion of it. He now throve in his business, and soon gained much wealth of his

own.

A few years after, when peace came, the Prince of Hesse Cassel returned to his dominions. He was almost afraid to call on the Frankfort banker, for he readily reflected that, if the French had not got the money and jewels, Moses might pretend they had, and thus keep all to himself. To his great astonishment, Mr Rothschild informed him that the whole of the property was safe, and now ready to be · returned, with five per cent. interest on the money. The banker at the same time related by what means he had saved it, and apologised for breaking upon the money, by representing that, to save it, he had had to sacrifice all his own. The prince was so impressed by the fidelity of Mr Rothschild under his great trust, that he allowed the money to remain in his hands at a small rate of interest. To mark also his gratitude, he recommended the honest Jew to various European sovereigns as a money-lender. Moses was consequently employed in several great transactions for raising loans, by which he realised a vast profit. In time he became immensely rich, and put his three sons into the same kind of business in the three chief capitals of Europe-London, Paris, and Vienna. All of them prospered. They became the wealthiest private men whom the world has ever known. He who lived in London left at his death seven millions sterling. The other two have been created barons, and are perhaps not less wealthy. Thus a family whose purse has maintained war and brought about peace, owes all its greatness to one act of extraordinary honesty under trust.

Thou shalt not steal.-Eighth Commandment.

MODERATION IN ANGER.

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Banish all malignant and revengeful thoughts. If your revenge be not satisfied, it will give you torment now; if it be, it will give you greater hereafter. None is a greater self-tormentor than a malicious and revengeful man, who turns the poison of his own temper in upon himself. The Christian precept in this case is, "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath;" and this precept, Plutarch tells us, the Pythagoreans practised in a literal sense-"who, if at any time, in a passion, they broke out into opprobrious language, before sunset gave one another their hands, and with them a discharge from all injuries; and so, with a mutual reconciliation, parted friends."-MASON.

A man asking Diogenes what course he should take to be revenged of his enemy, "Become a good man," answered the philosopher.

There is a manner of forgiving so divine, that you are ready to embrace the offender for having called it forth.LAVATER.

He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man hath need to be forgiven.-LORD HERBERT.

It has been a maxim with me to admit of an easy reconciliation with a person whose offence proceeded from no depravity of heart; but where I was convinced it did so, to forego, for my own sake, all opportunities of revenge; to forget the persons of my enemies as much as I was able, and to call to remembrance, in their place, the more pleasing idea of my friends. I am convinced that I have derived no small share of happiness from this principle.-SHEN

STONE.

There are two things that affect the heart of every ingenuous man most deeply-namely, good-natured and generous offices from those to whom we have been injurious; and an ill-natured and unchristian treatment from those to whom we have been very kind and affectionate. As for the former, we can make a shift to bear their hatred, because we have deserved it: but we cannot bear their love; it quite confounds and overpowers us.-SEED.

GENTLENESS.

In most circumstances, a gentle behaviour is much more likely to procure us respect, and to enable us to attain our ends, than a harsh, or proud, or threatening demeanour. The reason is, that when we try to do anything by force with our fellow-men, we unavoidably raise a feeling of resistance in them. They do not like to be told to do a thing at their peril. Their pride rises at such a command, and they are disposed rather to refuse than to obey. If obliged to obey, they obey with reluctance, and do what is to be done as ill as possible, or in such a way as to be disagreeable to him who commands, just to revenge themselves upon him. If, on the contrary, we try gentle means, we do not offend the pride of the other party, or raise any other resisting feeling in him; and he does what we want with good-will, and therefore satisfactorily.

THE WIND, THE sun, and the traveller: a fable.

A dispute once arose betwixt the north wind and the sun about the superiority of their power; and they agreed to try their strength upon a traveller, which should be able to get his cloak off first.

The north wind began, and blew a very cold blast, accompanied with a sharp driving shower. But this, and whatever else he could do, instead of making the man quit his cloak, obliged him to gird it about his body as close as possible. Next came the sun, who, breaking out from a thick, watery cloud, drove away the cold vapours from the sky, and darted his sultry beams upon the head of the poor weather-beaten traveller. The man, growing faint with the heat, and unable to endure it any longer, first throws off his heavy cloak, and then flies for protection to the shade of a neighbouring

ALPHONSO, KING OF SICILY AND NAPLES.

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JOSEPH HOLT AND THE CONVICTS.

The men who have been banished to New South Wales for crimes committed in Britain, are obliged to work in chains on the farms of the free settlers, receiving only their food for their work, and always punished by flogging on the back when they are idle or disorderly.

Some years ago, Mr Cox, a farmer, appointed one Joseph Holt to superintend the convicts who worked on his estate. Mr Holt, who was a man of good sense and considerable benevolence, resolved to try if he could manage the men by some better means than the fear of the lash. He therefore began to feed them a little better than formerly; he paid them for all they did beyond their stated tasks; and when any one stole from him, he called them together, and said, "There is a thief amongst you; till he is discovered, I stop all your extra allowances; it is therefore your interest to find him out: let him be found out accordingly, and punished by yourselves, for I do not wish that any man should be flogged." The convicts saw that this was just, and that Mr Holt wished to use them well. They therefore found out and punished the thief amongst themselves. By these means theft, and all other improper behaviour, ceased in this band of convicts. There was never afterwards the least use for the lash amongst them, and they were all as comfortable and happy as it was possible for men to be in such a situation.

ALPHONSO, KING OF SICILY AND NAPLES.

Alphonso was one of the most prosperous sovereigns of modern times, and chiefly through his gentle and benevolent dispositions. When only king of Aragon, he trusted entirely to the love of his subjects, amongst whom he used to walk without state and without guards. When some one suggested that he thus exposed himself to danger, he said, "A father has nothing to fear among his children "-meaning that he considered his people as a family, of which he was the father. Seeing a galley about to sink with its crew and a number of soldiers, he leapt into a shallop or little boat to