Good and well in-struct'-ed children like to see the birds pick up bits of hay, and moss, and wool, to build their nests with; and they like to see the nests that are so cu'-ri-ous-ly and won'-der-ful-ly made; and they like to see how pa'-tient-ly the hen sits on her nest till the eggs are hatched, and how dil-i-gent-ly, and af-fec'-tion-ate-ly both the pa'-rents feed and tend their young ones; and they like to see the lit'-tle birds in their pret'-ty, soft, warm nests, and to hear them chirp. Some-times they look a-bout' in the bush'-es, and in the trees, to find birds' nests; but when they have found them, they on-ly just peep at them: they would rath'-er not see the lit'-tle birds, than frighten them, or do them an'-y harm.

have taken so much

n;

Lit-tle boys! why should you take a-way' the eggs, and the young birds? They will do you no good; and the old birds, who pains to build their nests, will be very sorry, indeed', to lose their eggs, and their young ones. You can'-not feed the young birds so well as they can nor take so good care of them; nor keep them warm at night. Some little boys who steal young birds from their soft, com'-fort-a-ble nests, and from the pa'-rent birds, soon grow tired of them, and for-get' to feed them; then the little birds die. The old birds are never tired of their young ones, and never leave off feeding them till they can fly, and take care of them-selves'..

Little boys, when you find any nests, do not rob the poor birds of their eggs, or their young ones. You may look at the little birds in their nests, but do not frighten them; do not hurt them; do not take them away from their kind pa'-rents, and from their soft, clean, warm nests. You would not like that any body should take you from your fathers and mothers, and from your own homes; and keep you always shut up, quite a-lone', in a very small place; and feed you in a new and strange way, or almost starve you to death.

EXERCISES. What did one of the little boys find? What did he say to his companions? What do good children do when they find birds' nests? What often becomes of the young birds which little boys steal? How should little boys act when they find nests ?

NEGLECT.

Jane was very fond of keep'-ing birds, silk'-worms, and small an'-i-mals; and while she at-tend'-ed them with care, her aunt did not for-bid' it. One day her aunt found the bird cages dir'-ty, and the glass'-es very near-ly emp'-tied of their wa'-ter and seeds. The silk'-worms were crawl'-ing o'-ver a par'-cel of dead leaves, seeking a piece that was moist e-nough' for them to eat. The rab'-bits were with-out' oats or grains, and were squeak'-ing at the gra'-ting of the hutch'-es; her squir'-rel, for want of food, had got among the tea-cups, in search of some bread, and she was a-fraid' her chi'-na would be broken. Her aunt, as soon as a prop'-er time of'-fered, for she made it a rule not to find fault with a child or a

ser'-vant while any other person was pres'-ent, told her of the state of the poor an'-i-mals. This so affect'-ed her, that she shed tears, and of'-fered to give the birds and beasts their lib'-er-ty; but this her aunt would not con-sent' to, well know'-ing that by be'ing kept a long time in a state of con-fine'-ment, they were ren'-dered un-a'-ble to pro-vide' for themselves'. Jane had been so bus-y at play, with some other little girls, in dress'-ing her doll and ri'-ding on the rock'-ing horse, that she had for-got' her little an'-i-mals; but so sen'-si-ble was she of the great pain her ne-glect' must have oc-ca'-sioned the poor crea'-tures, that ev'-er since, she has dai'-ly given her birds and beasts plenty of food, and kept them clean. Thus she suf'-fered pain of mind for not do'ing as she had been told.

And many a fond mother has been much troubled, from a child not do'-ing as it has been told. When Charles was a little boy, he had leave to play up-on' the green be-fore' the door, and was told not to get o'-ver the stile into the field: but af'-ter play'-ing for some time, he got over the stile, and saw a horse in the field; so he went to play with it, hav'-ing a stick in his hand. He had been some time in the field be-fore' his mother missed him from the door, when she went in search of him, and, to her great sur-prise', she saw little Charles had got hold of the horse's tail, play'-ing with the long hairs! If it had not been a very qui'-et horse, it might have kicked -him to death.

EXERCISES What was Jane fond of doing? What did her aunt find one day? Where were the silkworms crawling? What were the rabbits in want of, and what were they doing? What did her aunt tell her of? What did she offer to do? What had made Jane forget her little animals? What did Charles see in the field? What was he doing when his mother saw him?

(See Directions.)

No'-tice fer'-tile en'-gine prom'-ise res'-pite ac'-tive as-so'-ci-ate in-gra'-ti-ate au'-tumn ser'-vice doc'-trine op'-po-site pro-nun-ci-a'-tion rep'-tile prac ́-tise cap'tive ne-go'-ti-ate sol'-emn of'-fice mo'-tive hos'-tile ex-cru'-ci-ate hyp'-o-crite rap'-ine pen'-sive con-demn'.

EXERCISES.

The pro-nun-ci-a'-tion of some words is ver-y dif'fi-cult; but if lit-tle boys will take no'-tice, they will soon be a'-ble to pro-nounce' al'-most ev'-er-y word that they meet with; and if they at-tend' well to their lessons, they will in-gra'-ti-ate them-selves' with their mas-ters, and make the of'-fice of teach'ers more a-gree'-a-ble. When they prom'-ise to do a thing, they should be ac'-tive in do'-ing it, and nev'-er be hostile to an'-y thing that is done for their good.

That is a fer-tile field; and there is at one end of it a coal pit. Do you see the smoke rise from the en'-gine that is em-ployed' for rais'-ing the coals? It is a com'-mon prac'-tice for part of the men to work du'-ring the day, and the oth'-er part du'-ring the night. Take care of that rep'-tile that crawls a-cross' the path, for your foot may crush it to pie'

ces.

I will take it home to my garden, and it will re-main' a cap'-tive with me. My mo'-tive for do'

ing so is, that it may have plen'-ty of leaves to feed on. I once saw a boy set his foot on a snail, and it put it to an ex-cru ́-ci-a-ting pain. He said he did not see it, else he would not have done it; and he shed tears when he saw it writhe with pain, which showed that he was no hyp'-o-crite; so we shall not con-demn' him.

We should not as-so'-ci-ate with bad boys, who prac'-tise cru'-el sports. Their prac ́-tice is con'-trary to the laws of God, and the doc'-trines taught us in the Bi'-ble. They do not spend any time in the sol'-emn ser-vice of their Ma'-ker, and they al'-ways do what is op'-po-site to His will.

Poor Tom seems pen'-sive and sad. He has had no res'-pite from pain since he fell from his horse; and he has be-come' quite e-ma'-ci-a-ted for want of food. He was at-tacked' by two men, when his horse ran off, and he fell from the sad'-dle. These men live by plun'-der and rapine, and they wished to rob him, but his horse saved him from their cru'-el hands; how-ev-er he has met with a se-vere' ac'-ci-dent by it.

THE SPRING.

Come let us go forth into the fields; let us see how the flow'-ers spring; let us listen to the war'bling of the birds, and sport our-selves' up-on' the