comes near.

new grass. The win'-ter is over and gone, the buds come out upon the trees, the crimson blos'soms of the peach and the nec'-ta-rine are seen, and the green leaves sprout. The hed'-ges are bor'dered with tufts of prim'-ro-ses, and yel'-low cow'slips, that hang down their heads; and the blue vi'-o-let lies hid be-neath' the shade. The young gos'-lings are run'-ning upon the green, they are just hatched, their bod'-ies are cov'-ered with yel-low down; the old ones hiss with an'-ger if any one The hen sits upon her nest of straw, she watch'-es pa'-tient-ly the full time, then she care'-ful-ly breaks the shell, and the young chick'ens come out. The lambs just dropped are in the field, they tot'-ter by the side of their dam, and can hard'-ly sup-port their own weight. If you fall, little lambs, you will not be hurt, for there is spread un'-der you a car'-pet of soft grass, it is spread on pur-pose to re-ceive' you. The but'-ter-flies flut'ter from bush to bush, and open their wings to the warm sun. The young an'-i-mals of every kind are sport'-ing a-bout; they feel them-selves' hap'-py, they are glad to be a-live', they thank him that has made them a-live'.

They may thank him in their hearts, but we can thank him with our tongues; we are bet'-ter than they, and can praise him better.

The birds can war'-ble, and the young lambs can bleat; but we can open our lips in his praise; we

can speak of all his good'-ness; there'-fore we will thank him for our-selves', and we will thank him for those that can'-not speak. Trees that blos'-som, and lambs that skip a-bout', if you could, you would say how good he is, but you are dumb, we will say it for you; we will not of'-fer you in sac'-ri-fice, but we will of'-fer sac'-ri-fice for you. On every hill, and in every green field, we will offer the sac-rifice of thanks'-giving and the in'-cense of praise.

EXERCISES. With what are the hedges bordered? the young goslings running? What is the hen doing? the lambs totter? Where do the butterflies flutter ?

THE SEASONS.

Where are

Where do

There are four seasons in the year,-spring, sum'mer, au'-tumn, and win'-ter. In spring, the far’mer ploughs his fields, and sows them; the birds build their nests, lay eggs, and hatch them; they had been si'-lent in win'-ter, but now they re-new' their cheer'-ful songs; the fruit trees are in blos'som, and all na'-ture as-sumes' a gay as'-pect. In sum'-mer, the weath'-er gets very hot and sul'-try, the days are long, and for a week or two there is scarce'-ly any dark'-ness; there is thun'-der and light'-ning, and heav'-y show'-ers; the trees are all o'-ver with leaves, and while some kinds of fruit begin' to ripen, oth'-er kinds are quite read'-y for eat'ing; flow'-ers a-bound' in the gardens and the fields; the corn of all sorts, that was sown in spring, grōws green and strong, and shoots into the ear, and ap

D

pears' to turn whi'-tish; ev'-er-y plant at-tains' the full vig'-our of its growth; and the coun'-try wears its rich'-est garb.

In au'-tumn, all the crops get ripe, and are cut down with scythes and sic'-kles; ap'-ples, fil-berts, and other things of that kind are taken down from the trees, as fully read'-y for being pulled; the flow'-ers fade by de-grees', and every day there are few'-er and few'-er of them in the open air; the leaves with'-er and fall off; the days are turn'-ing short; and though the weath'-er is for the most part dry and stead'-y, the air gets chil'-ly at night, and it is neither so safe nor so pleas'-ant as it was in summer, to be walking out at a late hour.

In win'-ter the chief com'-forts of life are to be found with-in' doors; there is now in-tense' cold, hoar frost, ice, snow, and sleet; the days are short, and the nights are not only long, but dark and gloom'-y, ex-cept' when the moon shines. Some'times there are dread'-ful storms, in which there are many ship'-wrecks at sea, and in which many peo'ple per'-ish by land.

In all the seasons, we be-hold' a pres'-ent, a perfect, and an ev'-er work'-ing God. We be-hold' him in the beau'-ty and de-lights' of the spring time. We be-hold' him in the light and heat, the rich'-ness and the glo'-ry of the sum'-mer months. We be-hold' him in the stores of food which he provides' for us in au'-tumn, that we may have e-nough'

to sup-port us in the cold se-vere' weath'-er tha suc-ceeds'. And we behold him in the tem'-pests of win'-ter, when he "gives snow like wool, scat'-ters his hoar frost like ash'-es, and casts forth his ice like mor'-sels," and when all na'-ture lies pros'-trate be-fore' him. In all these, we behold the most stri'-king proofs of the power, the wis'-dom, and the good'-ness of him who is the God of the seasons.

EXERCISES. How many seasons are there? Name them. What is done in spring? What kind of weather is in summer? With what are the trees covered? Where do flowers abound? When do the crops get ripe? What becomes of the flowers and leaves? What kind of weather is there in autumn? Where are the chief comforts of life to be found in winter? What kind of days and nights are there in winter? What do we behold in all the seasons?

EXCEPTIONS..

Sug-ar cer-tain is'-lands juice al ́-so whol'-ly bul’locks' blood nour-ish liq'-uid calf's stom'-ach liq'-uor Eng-land most'-ly moun'-tains o'-cean A'-si-a wor'thy floods af-fords' half iron shovel bel'-lows shoes bul'-lets basin.

SUGAR.

Sug'-ar is made from a plant which is called sug'ar-cane. This plant grows in cer'-tain is'-lands called the West In'-dies, where the soil and the cli'mate are found to fa'-vour its growth. It would not grow well in a cold coun'-try. The persons who have e-states' for rais'-ing sug-ar-canes, get the name of plant'-ers. Sug'-ar-canes are plant'-ed in rows like beans in a garden.

When ripe for use, the canes are cut off near the roots. They are then car-ried to a press, and put be-tween' two i'-ron roll'-ers. These rollers, mov'ing round, squeeze out the juice from the canes, and the juice falls into a tub placed be-neath'. Af'-ter this, the juice is put into a cop'-per pan, where it is boiled, so as to car-ry off some of the water in va’pour. When it is cooled, the moist part or trea'-cle, is drawn off and put up in casks, and sold un'-der the name of mo-lass'-es. The thick sub'-stance that re-mains' be-hind' is the sug'-ar, which is al'-so packed up in casks or bar'-rels, and shipped off for those coun'-tries that con-sume' it. In this state it is called raw, or yel'-lōw, or brown, or soft sug'-ar. It is made into white sugar by be'-ing boiled a-gain' and a-gain', till the trea'-cle or brown part is whol'-ly taken a-way', and it be-comes' white as snow. Bul'locks' blood or steam, is used when they boil the raw sug'-ar; and those who make it into white, are said to re-fine' it. This is called also loaf sugar, because it is formed into the shape of loaves. And it is called lump sugar, because it becomes hard, and may be broken down into lumps. Sugar, both brown and white, is very much used by all class'-es of the peo'-ple; and it is said to nour'-ish the body, as well as to please the taste.

EXERCISES.-What is sugar made from? Where does the sugarcane grow? What are the persons who have estates for raising sugar-canes called? How are sugar-canes planted? How is the juice squeezed out of the canes? What is done with the juice? What is then done with the moist part? What is it called? What is the