onsider that there is not a single comfort we possess, but we have it by means of the sun. If the sun were to rise no more, every thing in the world that grows and has life would die; and we should die. There would be nothing in all the world but the ground; for without the light and heat of the sun, every thing would rot and become dust. Therefore, we cannot wonder, I say, that some people think that the sun is their only God and preserver. But then," continued the father, "I wonder they never thought that, since no one, and no thing that we know of, ever made itself, so the sun did not make itself; and that whoever made the sun, He was God."

They now continued their walk into some pretty, close, and winding lanes; and now and then passed some little cottages, the children of which were all up, and had been out Maying. Some were making their garlands, and some had finished them, hanging them across the lane before the door. Adam and his sisters said they should like to make a garland too. "Then pray do," said their father; "but I fear you will not find any white-thorn blown; it is as yet only in the bud; you must be contented with what fieldflowers you can pick up; unless, indeed, you meet with some black-thorn; which, you know, comes into bloom before the other, but it is not so pretty, for the leaves come after the blossoms have gone off." So they hunted about, and plucked all the little flowers they could find, and put them into their handkerchiefs, because the heat of their hands would have soon killed them. While they were busy, little Tom was endeavoring to get some primroses that were on the top of a high bank: finding them, however, rather out of his reach, he asked Adam to pick them for him, who

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refused; telling him to try and get them for himself. The father heard this, and rebuked Adam very sharply for being a selfish and unkind boy; and desired him to gather them for his little brother directly; which he did, though not very willingly. For some time after this, he seemed as if he had been thinking with himself; at last he said, "I thought you told us, papa, that we were to try and do every thing we could for ourselves; and that that was being independent." "Ay! ay!" said his father, "but I did not tell you to be unkind and disobliging. You are to endeavor to do all you can for yourself, but at the same time to be always ready to help every one that wants your assistance. If you were a man, and could swim very well, would you not try to save a fellow-creature, who could not swim, and was drowning? Would you tell him that he ought to help himself, or else he would not be 'independent?" You would be a most wicked wretch if you were to do so and yet that is being selfish: and if you become a selfish boy, you may depend upon it you will be a selfish man; and then you will be loved by no one but yourself. Besides, you did not refuse to help your little brother for the reason you have now given; you thought of that since I rebuked you, and believed you would silence me by reminding me of a piece of good advice that I had formerly given you; so that to the fault of selfishness and unkindness, you have added that of falsehood;—more hateful than all. I am ashamed of you!" Adam looked very unhappy; and walked behind without speaking a word. After some little time, Mr. Stock observed him creep to the side of his little brother Tom, and give him some flowers out of his handkerchief; which pretty action so pleased his father that he gave him his hand, and said he

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would think no more of what had passed. "I dare say," said he, "you do not know that this custom of gathering flowers on May-day, and making garlands, has been continued from the time of the ancient Romans, who performed sacrifices on this day to the mother of the god Mercury, MAIA, in honor of whom the month was so named." After drinking some new milk at a neighbor's farm-yard, they returned home to breakfast, which when they had finished, their mother told them to look for two or three hoops in the brew-house, and she would show them how to make their garlands, The little party, with their mother, set to work, and when their task was completed and hung up between the trees on the grass-plot in front of the house, Mrs. Stock told them they might go and ask some young friends to come and spend a merry day with them. So, a fiddler from the neighboring town was hired to come and play to the party, who danced upon the green under the garlands till dinner-time. In the afternoon they had a game at romps and blindman's-buff; and the day was pleasantly finished by the whole company, little and great, partaking of an enormous bowl of syllabub.

On the following morning, Adam and his father went to work in the garden, and they continued their labor without interruption for several days. They first attended to the artichoke plants, because they knew that Mrs. Stock was very fond of them; pulling off the young shoots in order to strengthen the main one, and bring the fruit to a good size. Afterwards they weeded the asparagus beds; two or three times in a week watering them with the draining from the dunghill in the stable-yard. They thinned out the lettuces a second time, giving those pulled up to the pigs and

rabbits; weeded and hoed the onion beds, also the carrots and parsnips; hoed round the cabbages, and earthed them up; cut off the tops of the bean-plants when they came into flower, in order to strengthen the bean itself, and to prevent the plant from running too much into stalk. They sowed fresh kidney-beans for a late crop, and put sticks to those peas that required them. Mr. Stock was obliged to alter many of the sticks which Adam had put in, for, as he was but a young beginner, he did it rather awkwardly. Every morning, for half an hour after breakfast, the whole of the younger part of the family still continued to search for snails and caterpillars, which always proved a welcome meal to the ducks and chickens. They still continued to plant out cauliflowers and broccoli; to hoe and thin the turnips: they also hoed the potato beds. While they were at work, Adam observed a large dragon-fly settle on the leaf of a cabbage, and, quickly popping his hat over, 'caught it. "Oh," said he, "I have caught such a dreadful large horse-stinger! Five of them will kill a horse." "Bless me!" said his father, "let us see this tremendous animal;" when Adam with great caution and alarm lifted up his hat; thinking, no doubt, that if five would kill a horse, one would be the death of him; and his father beheld that harmless and very beautiful insect, the dragon-fly. Adam had given it such a buffet that the poor little thing was quite disabled. Mr. Stock showed him how harmless it was, by laying it in the palm of his hand. To put it quickly out of misery, however, he killed, and then gave Adam the following account of it: "This is the largest of all the species of the dragon-fly that we have in this country, and is one of the most beautiful of the insect tribe. Only observe how hand

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somely the body is mottled with green, and yellow, and black; and what a lovely blue its large round eyes are: its wings, too, are like the finest gauze varnished. This fly will only destroy other insects, and it is a terrible enemy to them; it flies so very swiftly, that nothing can easily escape it. I saw one once catch a large butterfly as it was flying, and then settle on a twig close by, to eat its prey at leisure. After biting off the wings, he devoured the whole body in about a minute. He may be called the Bengal tiger among insects, for he is as beautiful as that noble-looking animal, and as nimble and cruel. I wonder to see this fly in our premises, because it is seldom to be found anywhere but by the sides of ponds and rivers, where it lays its eggs, dropping them into the water. These are soon hatched, and become creatures of the caterpillar species. They remain in this state for two years, at the end of which time they climb up some water-plant, and sit for a while in the sunshine, when the creature changes to the fly in its present shape: small at first, however, but in the course of an hour it will become as large as this is. The dragon-fly delights in the warmest sunshine; during cloudy weather, it will hide under leaves and branches of trees as long as the gloom continues."

"At this time, too," continued Mr. Stock, "you would be very much amused with the bustling labor of those hard-working little creatures, the horse-ants. In large groves or forests their nests may be found, generally at the foot of an old tree; on account of its furnishing them so readily with the materials with which they build their habitation; such as the small particles of rotten wood, dried bits of twigs, and dead leaves. Their industry and strength are amazing;