billow. The walls were dashed from their foundations; and no fewer than fifty-four cities, with an incredible number of villages, were either destroyed or greatly damaged. The city of Ca-ta'niä, in particular, was utterly overthrown. A traveller who was on his way thither perceived, at the distance of some miles, a black cloud, like night, hanging over the place. 3. The sea, all of a sudden, began to roar; Mount Ætna to send forth great spires of flame; and, soon after, a shock ensued, with a noise as if all the artillery in the world had been at once discharged. Our traveller, being obliged to alight instantly, felt himself raised a foot from the ground; and, turning his eyes to the city, he, with amazement, saw nothing but a thick cloud of dust in the air. 4. The birds flew about astonished; the sun was darkened; the beasts ran howling from the hills; and, although the shock did not continue above three minutes, yet nearly nineteen thousand of the inhabitants of Sicily perished in the ruins. Catania, to which city the describer was travelling, seemed the principal scene of ruin; its place only was to be found; and not a footstep of its former magnificence was to be seen remaining. GOLDSMITH. CXIX. A PIECE OF LEGAL ADVICE. ΕΙ 1. THE ancient town of Rennes, in France, is a famous place for law. To visit Rennes without getting advice, of some sort, seems absurd to the country people round about. It happened, one day, that a farmer, named Bernard', having come to this town on business, bethought himself that, as he had a few hours to spare, it would be well to get the advice of a good lawyer. 2. He had often heard of Lawyer Foy, who was in such high repute that people believed a lawsuit gained when he undertook their cause. The countryman went to his office, and, after waiting some time, was admitted to an interview. He told the lawyer that, having heard much about him, and happening to be in town, he thought he would call and consult him. ΕΙ 3. "You wish to bring an action, perhaps," said the lawyer. "O, no!" replied the farmer; "I am at peace with all the world."-"Then it is a settlement, a division of property, that you want?"-"Excuse, me, Mr. Lawyer; my family and I have never made a division, seeing that we draw from the same well, as the saying is." 4. "Is it, then, to get me to negotiate a purchase or sale that you have come?"-"O, no! I am neither rich enough to purchase, nor poor enough to sell."—" Will you tell me, then, what you do want of me?" said the lawyer, in surprise. 5. "Why, I have already told you, Mr. Lawyer," replied Bernard. "I want your advice. I mean to pay for it, of course." The lawyer smiled, and, taking pen and paper, asked the countryman his name. "Peter Bernard," replied the latter, quite happy that he was at length understood. 6. "Your age?" "Your vocation? Thirty years, or very near it.". "What's that?"- "What do you do for a living?"-"O! that's what vocation means, is it? I am a farmer." The lawyer wrote two lines, folded the paper, and handed it to his strange client. "Well 7. "Is it finished already?" said the farmer. and good! What is the price of that advice, Mr. Lawyer?" "Three francs." Bernard' paid the money and took his leave, delighted that he had made use of his opportunity to get a bit of advice from the great lawyer. 8. When the farmer reached home it was four o'clock; the journey had fatigued him, and he determined to rest the remainder of the day. Meanwhile the hay had been two days cut, and was completely made. One of the working-men came to ask if it should be drawn in. 9. "What, this evening?" exclaimed the farmer's wife, who had come to meet her husband. "It would be a pity to begin the work so late, since it can be done as well tomorrow." Bernard was uncertain which way to decide. Suddenly he recollected that he had the lawyer's advice in his pocket. 10. "Wait a minute," he exclaimed; "I have an advice and a famous one, too that I paid three francs for; it ought to tell us what to do. Here, wife, see what it says; you can read written hand better than I." The woman took the paper, and read this line: "Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day." 11. "That's it!" exclaimed Bernard', as if a ray of light had cleared up all his doubts. "Come, be quick! Get the carts, and away! Come, boys, come, girls,- all to the hay-field! It shall not be said that I have bought a three-franc opinion to make no use of it. I will follow the lawyer's advice." 12. Bernard' himself set the example by taking the lead in the work, and not returning till all the hay was brought in. The event seemed to prove the wisdom of his conduct, and the foresight of the lawyer. 13. The weather changed during the night; an unexpected storm burst" over the valley; and the next morning it was found that the river had overflowed, and carried away all the hay that had been left in the fields. The crops of the neighboring farmers were completely destroyed; Bernard alone had not suffered. 14. The success of this first experiment gave him such faith in the advice of the lawyer, that, from that day forth, he adopted it as the rule of his conduct, and became consequently one of the most prosperous farmers in the country. I hope that you, my readers, will take a hint from his success, and " never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day." From the French. 1. DAYS are the most ancient division of time. The very first man who saw the rising and setting of the sun, who watched its progress through the sky, who found himself in darkness during the night, and who witnessed is glorious return in the morning, would naturally make this a period. This measure of time, therefore, must have existed from the very first ages of the world. 2. The word day properly signifies that portion of time during which it is light, as opposed to that which is dark, or night. But in common language it comprehends both these portions. The space of time included in the day is that during which the sun appears to make one revolution round the earth; but in reality it is the time taken up by the earth in turning round upon its own axis, or centre, in its yearly progress round the sun. 3. We are in the habit of saying that the "sun rises," and the "sun sets; " by which we merely express the apparent state of things. In reality, the sun does not move in the heavens, but the earth goes round the sun in one year, or three hundred and sixty-five days, and during this journey also turns upon its own axis three hundred and sixty-five times, like a wheel round its centre. The first of these motions determines the length of the year, and the second that of the day. 4. The earth being globe-shaped, the sun can enlighten that part only which is turned towards it. If we suspend an orange by a thread, and hold it before a candle, we shall see that only one half can receive the rays of light from it; and, by slowly turning it round, we shall find that, as one portion is illuminated, another is darkened; this is precisely the case with the earth and the sun. 5. The earth, as we have said, revolves upon its axis, which is an imaginary line drawn through it. When that part of it, therefore, on which we live, begins to approach towards the east, the sun, which is fixed, appears to rise, and we say it is morning. As we are carried round, we get fairly exposed to it, and then it is noon. 6. We then begin to turn away from the sun, and it seems to sink in the sky, and its light is less vivid; this is evening; and, finally, we turn quite away from it, and its light is hidden from us, and this is night. As the same changes happen in every part of the world, it follows that it is midnight at one place at the very same instant that it is noon at another. 7. The division of the year into days is governed in this way by the appearance and disappearance of the sun. If we watch this body, however, we shall find that it does not at all times appear and disappear at the same point in the heavens, or remain visible to us for an equal length of time. 8. In some months the sun shines for a very short period, because that portion of the earth on which we dwell turns away in a few hours; hence the days are short, and the nights long. In other months, on the contrary, we see the sun for fourteen or fifteen hours, because our part of the earth is turned to it for that length of time; and at this season the days are long, and the nights short. 9. Twice a year the day and night are exactly of the same length, namely, on the 21st of March and the 22d of September, which are called the Vernal and the Autumnal Equinoxes. The longest day is the 21st of June; and the shortest, the 21st of December. CXXI. THE WISH AND THE PRAYER. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 1. O! THAT mine eye might closed be |