And therefore he had come abroad
To ask for charity.

We met a young bare-footed child,
And she begged loud and bold;
I asked her what she did abroad
When the wind it blew so cold.

She said her father was at home,
And he lay sick in bed ;
And therefore was it she was sent
Abroad to beg for bread.

We saw a woman sitting down
Upon a stone to rest;
She had a baby at her back,
And another at her breast.

I asked her why she loitered there,
When the wind it was so chill ;-
She turned her head, and bade the child
That screamed behind be still.

She told us that her husband served
A soldier far away;

And therefore to her parish she
Was begging back her way.

I turned me to the rich man then,

For silently stood he;

You asked me why the poor complain,

And these have answered thee.

SOUTHEY.

WINTER EVENING OF AN ICELAND FAMILY.

A WINTER evening in an Iceland family presents a

in the highest degree interesting

pleasing. Between three and four the lamp is hung up the badstofa, or principal apartment, which answers the double

of a bedchamber

sitting-room; and all the

of the family take station, with their work in hands, on their respective beds, all of which face other. The master and together with the child, occupy the beds at the inner end by the servants.

ren, or other

the room; the rest are

The work no sooner begun, than selected purpose, advances to a seat and commences the evening lecture, of some old saga, or such

of the family, the lamp,

which generally histories as are

Being but

with printed books, the Icelanders are sity of copying such as they can sufficiently accounts for the

supplied

the neces

the loan of, which

that most of

write a hand equal in beauty to of the ablest writing-masters in parts of Europe. Some specimens of Gothic writing are scarcely inferior copperplate. The reader is frequently interrupted, either by the head, or some of the more intelligent the family, who make

story, and propose

of the children

of

on various parts of with a view to exercise the servants. In some houses, as have got

the sagas are repeated by heart; and instances are historians, who

by

a livelihood

uncommon, of itinerant the winter, by

staying at different farms till they have exhausted their

of literary knowledge. At the

evening labours, which are frequently
near midnight, the family join in singing a
two; after which a chapter from some

is read, if the family be not in
where this sacred

exists, it is

of the

till

or

of devotion

of a Bible; but

preferred to

of the family,

Their

at the

other. A prayer is also read by the and the exercise concludes a psalm. devotions are conducted in a similar lamp. When the Icelander awakes, he does not salute that may have slept in the

any

with him,

towards

but hastens to door, and, lifting up his heaven, adores Him who the heavens and earth, the author preserver of his being, and the source of blessing. He then returns into the

LET the commands of your parents be ever sacred in your ears, and implicitly obeyed, where they do not contradict

the commands of God. Pretend not to be wiser than they who have had so much more experience than you; and despise them not, if haply you should be so blest as to have gained a degree of knowledge or of fortune superior to theirs. Let your carriage towards them be always respectful, your words always affectionate; and especially beware of pert replies and peevish looks. Never imagine, if they oppose your inclinations, that this arises from any thing but love to you ; but let the remembrance of what they have done, and suffered for you, preserve you from acts of disobedience, and from paining those good hearts which have already felt so much for you. Admire and imitate the following examples of filial love:

Boleslaus the Fourth, king of Poland, had a picture of his father, which he carried about his neck, set in a plate of gold, and when he was going to say or do any thing of importance, he took this pleasing monitor in his hand, and kissing it, used to say, "My dear father! may I do nothing unworthy of thy name !"

During an eruption of Mount Etna, the inhabitants of the adjacent country were obliged for safety to abandon their houses, and retire to a great distance. Amidst the hurry and confusion of the scene, whilst every one was carrying away whatever they deemed most precious, two sons, in the height of their solicitude to preserve their wealth and goods, recollected that their father and mother, who were both very old, were unable to save themselves by flight. Filial tenderness set aside every other consideration. "Where," cried the generous youths, "shall we find a more precious treasure than those who gave us being?" This said, the one took up his father on his shoulders, and the other his mother, and they thus made their way through the surrounding smoke and flames. The fact struck all beholders with admiration ; and ever since, the path they took in their retreat has been called " the Field of the Pious," in memory of this pleasing incident.

While Octavius was at Samos, after the famous battle of Actium, which made him master of the world, he held a council in order to try the prisoners who had been engaged in Antony's party. Among the rest was brought

before him Metellus, an old man oppressed with infirmities and ill-fortune, whose son sat as one of the judges. At first the son did not recognise the father. At length, however, having recollected his features, the generous youth, instead of being ashamed to own him, ran to embrace the old man, and cried bitterly. Then, returning towards the tribunal, "Cæsar," said he, " my father has been your enemy, and I your officer; he deserves to be punished, and I to be rewarded. The favour I desire of

you is, either to save him on my account, or to order me to be put to death with him." As was to be expected, all the judges were touched with pity at this affecting scene; and Octavius himself, relenting, granted to old Metellus his life and liberty.

The Emperor Decimus, intending and desiring to place the crown on the head of Decius, his son, the young prince refused it in the most strenuous manner. "I am afraid," said he, "lest, being made an emperor, I should forget that I am a son. I had rather be no emperor and a dutiful son, than an emperor and a disobedient son. Let then my father bear the rule; and let this only be my empire, to obey with all humility whatsoever he shall command me."-Thus the solemnity was waived, and the young man was not crowned,-unless it be thought that this signal piety towards an indulgent parent was a more glorious diadem than the crown of an empire. Beauties of History.

FRATERNAL AFFECTION.

THE father of that eminent lawyer, Mr Sergeant Glanvil, had a good estate, which he intended to settle on his eldest son; but he proving a vicious young man, and there being no hopes of his recovery, he devolved it upon the Sergeant, who was his second son. Upon his father's death, the eldest, finding that what he had before considered as the mere threatenings of an angry old man were now but too certain, became melancholy, and an altered man. His brother, observing this, invited him, together with many of his friends, to a feast; where, after other dishes had been served up, he ordered one,

which was covered, to be set before his brother, and desired him to uncover it. What was the surprise of the company and of the brother, when the dish proved to be full of writings! "These," said the Sergeant to his brother," are the title-deeds of the property left by our father; I now do what I am sure our father would have done had he lived to see the happy change which we now all see in you; and I therefore freely restore to you the whole estate."

Thus

In the year 1585 the Portuguese carracks sailed from Lisbon to Goa, then a flourishing colony of that nation in the East Indies. On board of one of these vessels were no less than 1200 souls, mariners, passengers, priests, and friars. The beginning of the voyage was prosperous; but not many days after, through the perverseness of the pilot the ship struck on a rock, and instant death stared the crew in the face. The captain ordered the pinnace to be launched, into which, having tossed a small quantity of biscuit, he jumped in himself, with nineteen others, who, with their swords, prevented the coming of any more, lest the boat should sink. scantily equipped, they put off into the great Indian Ocean, without a compass to steer by, or any fresh water but what might happen to fall from the heavens. At the end of four or five days the captain died with sick ness; and they were obliged, in order to prevent confusion, to elect one of their company to command them. This person proposed to them to draw lots, and cast every fourth man overboard, their small stock of provisions being now so far spent as not to be sufficient to sustain life above three days longer. To this they agreed; so that there were four to die out of their unhappy number, the captain, a friar, and a carpenter, being exempted by general consent. The lots being cast, three of the first submitted to their fate, after they had confessed and received absolution. The fourth victim was a Por tuguese gentleman, who had a younger brother in the boat. The latter, seeing him about to be thrown overboard, most tenderly embraced him, and with tears be sought him to let him die in his room; enforcing his arguments by telling him, "that he was a married man,

D