MASTER. How does it differ from it? 6TH CHILD. The cow's is parted in two, and the horse's is not. MASTER. Give me a word which means the same as parted in two?. 20TH CHILD. Divided. MASTER. Another word still? 7TH CHILD. Cleft, or cloven. MASTER. Well, children, think again? 4TH CHILD. The cow has a loose piece of flesh hanging from the breast, and the horse has not. MASTER. What is it called? 10TH CHILD. I don't know, Sir, that it has got any name. MASTER. It is called the dewlap; repeat it after me,D-e-w, dew-l-a-p, lap, Dewlap. CHILDREN. D-e-w, dew-l-a-p, lap, Dewlap. MASTER. How many letters are there in that word? CHILDREN. Two threes, master,--six. MASTER. Well, have you any thing more to tell me? 9TH CHILD. The noise the cow makes is quite unlike that of the horse. : MASTER. What is it called? 19TH CHILD. The cow lows, the horse neighs. 14TH CHILD. I have thought of something else. The horse has a mane, the cow has not. MASTER. Right. 8TH CHILD. And the cow's flesh is good to eat; but dogs only eat dead horses. MASTER. In some countries the flesh of the horse is used for food. 20TH CHILD. The people must be very hungry there, Sir, or they would not like to eat such food. MASTER. But you have all forgotten one grand difference, between these two animals. Think,-what does the cow do all day when she is not eating? 3D CHILD. She keeps moving her mouth about. MASTER. And what is that for? 12TH CHILD. To chew her food. MASTER. It is called chewing the cud. She has two stomachs, and after she has swallowed her food, it is brought again into her mouth, and chewed over and over again. 3D CHILD. Horses don't do that, Sir; they could not when they had bits in their mouths. MASTER. No, surely. what this is called? Will you remember if I tell you CHILDREN. We will, Sir. MASTER. It is called ruminating; and the principal difference between a cow and a horse is, that one is a ruminating animal and the other is not. 2D CHILD. The cow gives milk, too, for us. MASTER. Yes; the mare gives milk also, but it is not good food for man. 20TH CHILD. I should think, Sir, in those countries where they eat the horse's flesh, they might as well drink the mare's milk too. MASTER. You are right; and they do drink it there, and reckon it very nice.-Aids to Development. MOTHER, WHAT IS DEATH? "MOTHER, how still the baby lies! My little work I thought to bring, They say that he again will rise, That God will bless him in the skies- "Daughter, do you remember, dear, Look at the chrysalis, my love,— Now raise your wandering glance above, "O yes, mamma! how very gay "O, mother, now I know full well, "How beautiful will brother be, Mrs. Gilman. THE PHILOSOPHER AND THE YOUNG LADY. "ALAS!" exclaimed a silver-headed sage, "how narrow is the utmost extent of human knowledge! I have spent my life in acquiring knowledge, but how little do I know. The farther I attempt to penetrate the secrets of nature, the more I am bewildered and benighted. Beyond a certain limit all is but conjecture: so that the advantage of the learned over the ignorant consists greatly in having ascertained how little is to be known. "It is true that I can measure the sun, and compute the distances of the planets; I can calculate their periodical movements, and even ascertain the laws by which they perform their sublime revolutions; but with regard to their construction, to the beings which inhabit them, their condition and circumstances, what do I know more than the clown?-Delighting to examine the economy of nature in our own world, I have analysed the elements, and given names to their component parts;-and yet, should I not be as much at a loss to explain the burning of fire, or to account for the liquid quality of water, as the vulgar, who use and enjoy them without thought or examination?-I remark that all bodies, unsupported, fall to the ground, and I am taught to account for this by the law of gravitation. But what have I gained here more than a term? Does it convey to my mind any idea of the nature of that mysterious and invisible chain which draws all things to a common centre?-Pursuing the track of the naturalist, I have learned to distinguish the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms, and to divide these into their distinct tribes and families;-but can I tell, after all this toil, whence a single blade of grass derives its vitality? Could the most minute researches enable me to discover the exquisite pencil that paints the flower of the field? and have I ever detected the secret that gives their brilliant dye to the ruby and the emerald, or the art that enamels the delicate shell?—I observe the sagacity of animals-I call it instinct, and speculate upon its various degrees of approximation to the reason of man; but, after all, I know as little of the cogitations of the brute as he does of mine. When I see a flight of birds overhead performing their evolutions, or steering their course to some distant settlement, their signals and cries are as unintelligible to me as are the learned languages to an unlettered mechanic: I understand as little of their policy and laws as they do of Blackstone's Commenta ries. "Alas! then, what have I gained by my laborious researches but an humbling conviction of my weakness and ignorance? Of how little has man, at his best estate, to boast! What folly in him to glory in his contracted powers, or to value himself upon his imperfect acquisitions !" "Well!" exclaimed a young lady, just returned from school, “ my education is at last finished: indeed, it would be strange if, after five years' hard application, any thing were left incomplete. Happily, it is all over now, and I have nothing to do but exercise my various accom plishments. "Let me see!-as to French, I am mistress of that, and speak it, if possible, with more fluency than English. Italian I can read with ease, and pronounce very well, as well at least, and better, than any of my friends; and that is all one need wish for in Italian. Music I have learned till I am perfectly sick of it. But, now, that we have a grand piano, it will be delightful to play when we have company. And then there are my Italian songs, which every body allows I sing with taste, and as it is what so few people can pretend to, I am particularly glad that I can. My drawings are universally admired, especially the shells and flowers, which are beautiful, certainly: besides this, I have a decided taste in all kinds of fancy ornaments. And then, my dancing and waltzing, in which our master himself owned he could take me no farther;-just the figure for it certainly; it would be astonishing if I did not excel. As to common things, geography, and history, and philosophy, thank my stars, I have got through them all! so that I may consider myself not only perfectly accomplished, but also thoroughly well informed. "Well, to be sure how much I have fagged through; the only wonder is that one head can contain it all!" Jane Taylor. TO MY MOTHER. AND canst thou, Mother, for a moment think Or shun thee, tottering on the grave's cold brink. H. K. White. |