Ralf. No, but it bent. He passed it, however, and then slid down the rest of the way, and placed the baby in the mother's arms. You should have heard her go on! You should have heard the shouts from the crowd! You should have seen the fellows press to get a sight of the boy! But he slipped away under their arms, and ran off.

Laura. And does nobody know the name of the young hero?

Ralf. Nobody that I have heard of. But here is a morning newspaper, which I have not yet opened. Let me. unfold it. Here's the account. (Reads.) "Destructive fire last evening-house occupied by Irish families"That column is all about the fire. Here it tells of the Irish woman and the baby.

Laura. How long you are in finding it! Give it to me. (Takes it and reads.) "The infant would, in all probability, have perished, had it not been for the courage of a lad, who, hearing the chief fireman's appeal, darted up the ladder, dashed through a window into a room where the infant was sleeping, bore it out in safety, descended the ladder, and gave the little creature into the arms of its lately despairing but now overjoyed mother."

Ralf. Is the boy's name mentioned?

Laura. Ay! Here it is! Here it is! And who do you think he is?

Ralf. Do not keep me in suspense!

Laura. Well, then, he's the boy who was so afraid of knocking a chip off your hat Frank Sterling ard, as you called him!

the cow

Ralf. No! Let me see the paper for myself. There's the name, sure enough, printed in capital letters!

Laura. But, cousin, how much more illustrious an achievement it would have been for him to have knocked that chip off! Then he would have stood in no danger of being "cut" by Mr. Tom Harding and Mr. Ralf Burton. Ralf. Don't laugh at me any more, Cousin Laura! I

see I have been in the wrong. Frank Sterling is no coward. I'll ask his pardon.

Laura. Will you? My dear cousin, you will in that case show that you, too, are not without courage.

Osborne.

CIV. ON REPEALING THE ACTS AGAINST THE AMERICAN COLONIES, IN 1775.

1. It is not repealing this or that act of Parliament," — it is not repealing a piece of parchment,— that can restore America to our bosom. You must repeal her fears and her resentments; and you may then hope for her love and gratitude. But, now, insulted with an armed force posted at Boston, irritated with a hostile array before her eyes, her concessions, if you could force them, would be suspicious and insecure, the dictates of fear, and the extortions of force!

2. But it is more than evident that you cannot force them, principled and united as they are, to your unworthy terms of submission. Repeal, therefore, my lords, I say! But bare repeal will not satisfy this enlightened and spirited people. You must go through the work. You must declare you have no right to tax. Then they may trust

you.

Every moment is big

3. There is no time to be lost. with dangers. While I am speaking, the decisive blow may be struck, and millions involved in the consequence. The very first drop of blood shed in civil and unnatural war will make a wound which years, perhaps ages, may not heal.

4. When your lordships look at the papers transmitted to us from America,- when you consider their decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their cause, and wish to make it your own. I must acclare and avow that, in the master states of the world, I know not the people nor the senate, who, under such a complication of

difficult circumstances, can stand in preference to the delegates of America, assembled in General Congress at Philadelphia.

5. For genuine sagacity, for singular moderation, for solid wisdom, manly spirit, sublime sentiments, and simplicity of language,- for everything respectable and honorable, they stand unrivalled. I trust it is obvious to your lordships that all attempts to impose servitude upon such men, to establish despotism over such a mighty continental nation, must be vain, must be fatal.

6. This wise people speak out. They do not hold the language of slaves. They tell you what they mean. They do not ask you to repeal your laws as a favor. They claim it as a right they demand it. They tell you they will not submit to them. And I tell you, the acts must be repealed. We shall be forced ultimately to retract. Let us retract while we can, not when we must.

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7. If ministers thus persevere in misadvising and misleading the king, I will not say that they can alienate the affections of his subjects from the crown, but I will affirm that they will make the crown not worth his wearing; I will not say that the king is betrayed, but I will pronounce that the kingdom is undone !

LORD CHATHAM.

CV.

THE LITTLE TEACHER.

1. WITH dark foreboding thoughts oppressed,
I wandered forth, one summer day,
Hoping abroad to ease my breast,
And grief allay.

2. Deep in a lone and green retreat

I laid me down with many a sigh,
When, lo a Daisy at my feet
Allured my eye.

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3. Methought, with sympathetic smile,
It seemed to pity and reprove,
And thus my bitter care beguile
With words of love:

4. "Sad mortal, cease these anxious sighs!
Why sit you in such sorrow here ?
Does not each leaf that meets thine eyes
Reprove thy fear?

5. " Although a mean, unheeded flower,
My daily wants are all supplied;
And He who brought me to this hour
Will still provide.

6. "The light and dew, the sun and rain,
Are hourly sent to foster me;
And fear-est thou God will not deign
To think on thee?"

7. Ashamed I rose, rebuked my care,
And blessed the teacher of the sod,
Resolved to chase away despair,

And trust in God.

S. W. PARTRIDGE.

CVI.

SPEAKING JACKDAWS.

1. AMONG the birds that have the gift of imitating the human voice, parrots are the most frequently heard of in modern times. But the starling and jackdaw have good abilities in that way, when properly educated. The ancients could, at times, make them speak to some purpose.

2. It is related that when Augustus Cæsar was returning in triumph to Rome, from his victory over Mark An'tony, there appeared among the crowd which welcomed him a bird bōrne on a man's hand, which flapped its wings, and cried out, "Long live the emperor, the victorious Cæsar!"

3. Augustus, delighted to hear himself saluted by this winged spokesman, gave its owner a handsome sum for the

bird. The owner pocketed the money, refusing to share any of it with an associate who had aided him in training his jackdaw.

4. This man, in order to be revenged, and to show that it was a motive of gain, rather than of loyalty, which had animated the owner, brought to the emperor another bird which they had had in training, and which called out, "Long live the victorious Mark Antony!" Augustus, who was distinguished for his good-nature, only laughed at the joke, and ordered the confederates to divide the money.

5. After his liberality in this instance, he had a number of speaking jackdaws and parrots brought to him. One poor fellow, a shoemaker, took great pains to teach a bird which he had got for the purpose, hoping to make his fortune by it.

6. The bird, which had no such prospects," was but a slow scholar; and his master, in the midst of his lessons, often ejaculated, in despair, "Well, I have lost my labor!" Having at last, however, and with much pains, completed his education, the daw was brought out, one day, to salute Augustus, and repeated his "Long live the emperor ! " with great distinctness.

7. "Tut, tut!" said Augustus, "I have too many courtiers of your kind." "Well!" cried the jackdaw, which at that moment remembered the frequent ejaculation of his master 66 'well, I have lost my labor." The emperor was so much amused with its answer that he bought the feathered wit for double the expected sum.

CVII. THE RICH AND THE POOR.

1. WHEN I compare together different classes, as existing at this moment in the civilized world, I cannot think the difference between the rich and the poor, in regard to mere physical suffering, so great as is sometimes imagined.