Study obedience, patience, industry, thoroughness, accuracy, neatness, respect to the rights and feelings of others, and make these things habitual-rail-tracks in the mind. The path of obedience is the path to success; the path of disobedience is the path of failure and disappointment in the race of life.

Swallows fly southward at the approach of winter, and come back early in the spring. They are, therefore, called mi'gra-to-ry birds. The following beautiful lines were written by William Hayley, during his last illness, on seeing the swallows gather on his roof, preparatory for their flight southward.

1. YE gentle birds, that perch aloof,

And smooth your pinions on my roof,
Preparing for departure hence,
Now Winter's angry threats commence ;
Like you, my soul would smooth her plume
For longer flights beyond the tomb.

2. May God, by whom is seen and heard
Departing men and wandering bird,
In mercy mark us for his own,
And guide us to the land unknown!

1. In moments of danger and alarm, it is of great importance to preserve our presence of mind. This enables us to think what is best to do, instead of becoming confused and frightened, and thus increasing the danger in which we or others may happen to be.

2. This trait of presence of mind was well displayed, in the year 1855, in Pennsylvania, by a boy twelve years old, named Eli Rheem. The occasion was the burning of the tunnel bridge on the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad, about five miles south of York.

3. At about nine o'clock in the morning, the framework of the bridge fell through. Among the spectators -some twenty in number, and most of them men was Eli Rheem. He alone seems to have had the forethought to consider that the express passenger train for New York was then due, and that unless it was stopped it would be precipitated into the gap made by the fire, and many lives would probably be destroyed.

4. Instantly he started off, at the top of his speed, to stop the train. As soon as he reached the curve, about two hundred yards from the bridge, he saw the train approaching at full speed. Now, Eli remembered that the engineer had sometimes been deceived by the conduct of mis'chievous boys, who would beckon to him as if something were the

matter.

5. Fearing, therefore, that he would not be heeded unless he adopted an extraordinary course, Eli rushed boldly on to the middle of the track, and ran straight towards the train, with both arms uplifted, motioning to the engineer to stop. Seeing the little fellow in such danger, the engineer reversed the engine, stopped the train, and hastily asked, "What's the matter?"

6. "The bridge is burned down," cried Eli, panting to recover his breath. "The bridge burned down?" True enough! The engineer found that he had arrested the train within four hundred yards of impending destruction; the piers of the bridge being some twenty feet from the rocky ledge below, and the gap being some sixty feet wide.

7. "The bridge is burned down!" The cry passed from lip to lip, along the train. The passengers leaped out of the cars; and when they became aware of the danger they had escaped, they felt that, under Providence, they owed to Eli the preservation of their lives. They made him a handsome present on the spot.

8. The railroad company also gave him a hundred dollars; but his best rec'ompense was in the thought that he

had, by his presence of mind, his courage, and attention, saved so many fellow-beings from suffering and death.

XXXIV. NAPOLEON AND THE BRITISH SAILOR.

Napoleon. WELL, prisoner, I hear that you have been trying to escape from Boulogne.

EI

Sailor. Yes, your honor, I did my best; but I was caught, and here I am.

Nap. And did you hope to cross the channel from France to England on this slender raft, — two old casks lashed together, without rudder or compass?

Sailor. My chance was rather slim, I know; but I thought some British vessel might pick me up.

Nap. Why were you so anxious to return home?

Sailor. I have a mother, your honor: she is old and poor, and I wanted to go and cheer her, and let her know that I was alive.

Nap. And for your mother's sake you braved the danger?

Sailor. Why not?

She is a mother well worth it. Nap. Do you know, prisoner, the punishment for your offence?

Sailor. I can guess it well enough, your honor: I must be hung at the yard arm, I suppose.

Nap. No; you shall be a prisoner no longer; you are free to go to your mother; she must be a good mother to have bred up such a son.

Sailor. What! Does your honor really mean it? Am I a free man?

Nap. You shall be at liberty to return to England this very day.

Sailor. Long life to your honor!

Nap. Stay! Here is a gold coin,— a Napoleon,' which keep in remembrance of me.

Sailor. Thank you- thank you, your honor. If I ever spend this bit of gold, it must be to save a messmate from starving.

Nap. Farewell! I have given orders for your safe restoration to your mother in England.

XXXV. SHORT PIECES IN VERSE.

1. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.-Doddridge.

"LIVE while you live," the epicure would say,
"And seize the pleasures of the present day."-
"Live while you live," the Christian preacher cries,
"And give to God each moment as it flies."
Lord! in my view, let bōth united be;
I live to pleasure, while I live to thee.

2. THE PRESENT.- Cotton.

Arrest the present moment; stay its flight;
Imprint the marks of wisdom on its wings:
"Tis of more worth than kingdoms; far more precious
'Than all the richest treasures of the earth!
O! let it not elude thy grasp; but like
The good old patriarch of God's holy word,
Hold the fleet angel fast until he bless thee!

Southey.

3. PRAYER FROM THE PERSIAN.
Lord who art merciful as well as just,
Incline thine ear to me, a child of dust!
Not what I would, O Lord! I offer thee,
Alas! but what I can.

Father Almighty, who hast made me man,
And både me look to heaven, for thou art there,
Accept my sacrifice and humble prayer.

Four things which are not in thy treasury,

I lay before thee, Lord, with this petition:
My nothingness,10 my wants,

My sins, and my contrition.

A hermit there was, who lived in a grot,

And the way to be happy they said he had got.
As I wanted to learn it, I went to his cell;

And this answer he gave, when I asked him to tell:
""Tis being, and doing, and having, that make
All the pleasures and pains of which mortals partake:
To be what God pleases, to do a man's best,

And to have a good heart, is the way to be blest."

5. COUNSEL FOR EVERY DAY. - Howitt.

Be not false, unkind, or cruel;

Banish evil words and strife;
Keep thy heart a temple holy;
Love the lovely, aid the lowly;
Thus shall each day be a jewel
Strung upon thy thread of life.

6. LITTLE THINGS. - Anon.EI

'

Little drops of water, little grains of sand,,
Make the mighty ocean and the beauteous land:
And the little moments, humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages of eternity.

So our little errors lead the soul away

From the paths of virtue, oft in sin to stray.

Little deeds of kindness, little words of love,
Make our earth an Eden, like the heaven above.

1. My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: for, whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother; bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

2. Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth ner voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the