How glad she is when first she hears
A chirp'ing in the nest!

5. Each little bird comes creep'ing out,
And leaves the speckled shell;
The gen'tle moth ́er keeps them warm,
And loves and tends them well.

6. The fath ́er rob'in looks for food,
And feeds them one by one;
He never stops to rest him-self
Un-til his work is done.

7. But when his young ones are a-sleep
Be-neath their moth'er's wing,

He comes and perch ́es near the nest,
And there he loves to sing.

XIX.

WE SHOULD BE CONTENTED WITH OUR LOT.

I ONCE met an old man who said that he never com-plained of his con-di'tion but once, and that was when his feet were bare, and he had no mon'ey to buy shoes. "But," said he, "I met a man with-out feet, and I be-came con-tent'ed, and thanked God that He had been so good to me as to give me feet.”

XX.

THE SECRET OF HEALTH AND LONG LIFE.

AN old man being asked the se'cret of his long and health'ful life, re-plied: "Rise early; live tem'perate-ly; work much in the open air; keep cheer'ful; keep a good con'science; be kind to all men; be devout toward God."

XXI. -THE MONTH OF ROSES.

1. THE month of June is the sixth month in the year; it is some-times called the month of roses; for then the roses bloom most plen'ti-ful-ly.

2. I am writing these words for you in the month of June. Here is a pict'ure of my win'dow, near which I am writing. It is an arched win'dow, and is part'ly open. The roses climb a-bout it on the out

side.

3. The bees are gath'er-ing honey from the flowers, and the but'ter-flies are fly'ing a-bout. I saw a humming-bird a short time a-go; but I do not see it

now.

4. There are man'y kinds of roses, and they are of man'y colors. I have more than twen'ty kinds in my garden. I have white roses, and crim'son, and red, and yellow, and some that are al-most purple.

5. Do you ask me which rose I love best? I love none better than the sweet'bri-er rose, which grows wild in the lane near my house. The leaves of the bush are as sweet as those of the flower.

6. The moss-rose is, per-haps, the fairest of the whole fam'i-ly of roses. How graceful is the moss cov'er-ing its stem and its out-side leaves! These out-side leaves are called the calyx.

7. I hope that you love roses, and that you will cul'ti-vate them when you grow up. Much pleas'ure may be had from them and from oth'er flowers, if we will learn to be fond of them and study them.

8. "God might have made the earth bring forth
Enough for great and small,

The oak-tree and the cedar-tree,
With-out a flower at all.

We might have had enough enough

For every want of ours,

For lux'u-ry, med'i-cine, and toil,
And yet have had no flowers.

9. "Our out'ward life requires them not;
Then where'fore had they birth?
To min'is-ter de-light to man!
To beau'ti-fy the earth!
To com'fort man, to whis'per hope,
Whene'er his faith is dim;

For whoso car'eth for the flowers
Will much more care for him."

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1. On a hot sum'mer day, a boy named William had been run'ning along a dusty road. His cheeks glowed with heat, and he was very thirsty. "0, for a draught of good cold water!" said he to himself.

2. At that moment he came to a bend in the road, and saw in the green shade of an oak-tree a spring which burst bright as silver from a rock.

3. William had often heard that no one should drink any cold liquid when he is hot. Over the foun'tain was a board, on which were written these words: "Pause before drinking, if you are heated, and rest in the shade till you are cool."

4. But William was proud, and de-spised the warn'ing. "I crave the wa'ter so much," thought he, "it can-not fail to be good for me."

5. And so he followed his own in-cli-na'tions, and drank plen'ti-ful-ly of the cold water. The ef-fect was, that, soon after, he sank in a fit on the earth. He

was borne quite ill to his home, and fell into a danger-ous fe'ver.

6. "Ah!" he groaned, as he lay sick in bed, "who would have thought that a spring of pure water could have contained a gift so hurtful?"

7. But William's father said, "It is not the pure spring which is the cause of your sickness, but your own self-conceit, and your own un-re-strained desire.

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8. God, in the ful'ness of his love,

Has all in mercy given;
But un-checked ap'pe-tite can spoil
The choicest gifts of Heaven."

XXIII.

- LUCY AND THE BUTTERFLY.

(1, 6, 7, 15, 18, 36, 128, 263, 299, 302-3-5-8, 340.)

1. Lucy had a bad hab'it of touch'ing what-ever she saw; and this was often the means of her do'ing a great deal of mis'chief. One day a large but'ter-fly flew into the room, and Lucy's moth ́er put a glass gob'let over it, and thus con-fined it, as it light'ed on the table.

2. "I will make a paint'ed copy of this beau'tiful butter-fly," said Lucy's mother, “and then I will let it go with-out harm'ing it. Be sure you do not med'dle with it, Lucy, while I go to get my paint

box."

3. " But may I not stand and look at it?" asked Lucy."You may," said her mother, "if you will not lift up the glass and let the but'ter-fly fly away."

4. "I should like very much to have it in my