SECTION II. MISCELLANEOUS. I-Spring and Youth Compared. Fruit'ful-ness, fertility. Pro-lific, fruitful. Knowledge, skill; infor mation. Vicious, (vish'us), addicted to vice; wicked. Ma-tu'ri-ty, ripeness. defence • As the beauty of summer, the fruitfulness of autumn, and the support of winter, depend upon spring; so the happiness, wisdom, and piety of middle life and old age depend upon youth. Youth is the seed-time of life. If the farmer do not plough his land, and commit the precious seed to the ground in spring, it will be too late afterwards: so if we, whilst young, neglect to cultivate our minds and hearts; if we do not sow the seeds of knowledge and virtue, our future lives will be ignorant, vicious, and wretched. "The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing." The soil of the human heart is naturally barren of everything good, though prolific of evil. If corn, or flowers, or trees, be not planted, and carefully cultivated, nettles and brambles will spring up; and the mind, if not cultivated and stored with useful knowledge, will become a barren desert, or a thorny wilderness. "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding, and lo! it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down." Spring and youth may be fitly compared, because these seasons will quickly pass away, and should be diligently improved. Whilst viewing the tender buds and blossoms, the opening flower and the springing grass, the blossoming trees and the verdant woods, with all the united beauties of the spring, we might be ready to wish that this season would continue always; but, whilst we stay to gaze and admire these scenes, they are hastening to their maturity, and they will quickly decay. How much is this like youth! It "appeareth a little time, and then vanisheth away." If your lives are spared, youth will soon be gone, and old age speedily arrive. But there is this difference between the two seasons we have compared: spring is always followed by summer, autumn, and winter; but youth is sometimes cut off in the midst of its bloom, and knows no succeeding season. Surely the transient fading nature of youth should teach you now to seek the grace of Christ, and to believe on Him as the Saviour who died for your sins, and rose again for your justification. You should also endeavour sedulously to improve your fleeting moments in acquiring temporal and spiritual wisdom: the one to guide you through life, and the other to prepare you for that eternal world towards which every returning season is hastening you.PRESENT FOR THE YOUNG. II.-Human Beings.-The Senses. squeeze out. consistent with. fully pleasing; Rea'son, the distinguishing faculty of man; motive; cause. Al-mighty, of unlimited Dis-tin'guish, to mark a difference; to make emi nent. I AM a human being. I walk upright. All human beings do the same. Other animals walk with their faces towards the ground. I use my legs in walking. Other animals also use their legs in walking. I can see, hear, feel, taste, and smell. Other animals can do the same. Seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling, are called the five senses. I see with my eyes, I hear with my ears, I taste with my tongue, I smell with my nose, and I can feel pain in any part of my body. Other animals also see with their eyes, hear with their ears, taste with their tongues, smell with their noses, and feel pain when they are hurt. I can also feel joy, sorrow, and fear. The other animals feel the same. The dog feels joy when he sees his master pleased, feels sorrow when he sees his master uneasy, feels fear when he sees his master threaten him with a whip. I can speak. I can express what I feel in words. Other animals utter sounds, but they cannot speak. The dog expresses joy by barking, and pain by howling: he expresses sorrow by a look, and fear by hanging down his tail between his legs, but he cannot speak. I can think. Reason is the power of thinking. Reason is one of the gifts which Almighty God in his great goodness has bestowed on human beings. God has not given reason to the other animals. He has given them instinct. Animals which are without reason are called brutes. I can understand by reason why a house has windows, doors, and chimneys; why a stove is made of metal, and not of wood; why a pitcher has a handle; why the blade of a knife has a sharp edge; and why my shoes are made of leather, and not of tin, wood, or cloth. The brutes cannot understand what I do. example, neither a cat nor a dog knows the reason of these things. For I can also understand why I am not always permitted to do what I please; why I ought to do what my parents and teachers desire; why I ought to be obedient, diligent and at tentive. I observe that the rose is like the carnation, for both are flowers; both have an agreeable smell, and fine colours; both have a root, leaves, and stem; both grow from a bud; both come out into flower for a short time, and then fade. But I observe also that they are unlike. The rose differs from the carnation, for it has not the same kind of smell. The rose has thorns, but the carnation has not. I can by reason compare the rose with the carnation, and I can distinguish the one from the other. -INSTRUCTOR. III.-The Cuckoo. Mi'grate, to remove to an- | Con-vince', to make sensi other place. De-light', pleasure; joy. Hatch, to produce young from eggs; to contrive. Con-trive', to find out means; to plan. De-scribe', to represent by words. ble. Nurture, food; education. Plain ́tive, complaining; expressive of sorrow. Fledge, to furnish with wings or feathers. In'stinct, natural desire or aversion. THE cuckoo is of a greyish colour: in size it is somewhat less than a pigeon; in shape it is like the magpie; and it has round standingout nostrils.It is one of those birds that migrate from one country to another. It visits |