He smiled, to thank her, as he took

Three little tiny sips.

"Tell father when he comes from work
I said good-night to him;
And, mother, now I'll go to sleep: "
Alas! poor little Jim.

She saw that he was dying,—

The child she loved so dear

Had uttered the last words that she
Might ever hope to hear.

The cottage door was opened,

The collier's step was heard;
The mother and the father met,
Yet neither spake a word!

He knew that all was over,-
He knew his child was dead;
He took the candle in his hand,
And walked up to the bed.

His quivering lips gave token
Of grief he'd fain conceal;

And see! his wife has joined him,—
The stricken couple kneel!

With hearts bowed down with sadness,
They humbly ask of Him,

In heaven, once more, to meet again
Their own poor LITTLE JIM.

E. FARMER.

QUESTIONS:-1. What is a "thatched" cottage? 2. What appearance had the outside of this cottage? 3. What do you notice regarding its inside? 4. Describe the night on which Jim died. 5. What are "briny " tears? 6. Why was the mother afraid to speak? 7. What prayer did she offer up? 8. What answer did she get, and from whom? 9. Why did not the collier and his wife speak, when he came home? 10. How did the father show his grief? 11. Where did they hope all to meet again?

na'-val, belonging to ships.

dis-ad-van-ta'-geous, incon- re-solv'-ed, made up his

com-bin'-ed, united.

mind.

sug-gest'-ed, brought into his mind.

un-check'-ed, without resist

ance.

vi'-o-lence, fury, force.

AT the entrance of Plymouth Sound in the English Channel, lie the Eddystone rocks, very danger

ous to sailors, and particularly disadvantageous on account of their position as regards the town of Plymouth, one of the chief naval stations in England. It had, at an early period, been seen that it would be of great importance to have a lighthouse built on one of these rocks. But this was a matter of great difficulty, for they lie open to the great swell of the Atlantic Ocean, and all the heavy seas from the south-west break upon these rocks with the utmost fury. As the rocks slope to the south-west, the situation is still more exposed to the violence of the waves; for, as they come unchecked from deep water, and meet the slope of the rocks, they are swelled to such a degree in storms and hard gales of wind as to break upon them with tenfold force.

These circumstances rendered the erection of a lighthouse on any of these rocks a work of great difficulty; nevertheless, a man of the name of Winstanley succeeded in building one of wood in the year 1696; but it lasted only four years. In a violent storm it was swept away, along with its builder, who happened to be in it at the time. A new lighthouse was built, also of wood, but it was burnt after a light had been exhibited in it for forty-seven years.

For the erection of a third lighthouse Mr. Smeaton was chosen. He resolved to erect the building of stone, and the shape of the building was suggested to him by an oak. He observed

that the oak, with its wide-spreading branches and its bushy top, is subject to a very great impulse from violent winds; yet, partly because it yields to the wind, and partly by the natural strength arising from its figure, it resists them all, even for ages; and it is very rare that we hear of such a tree being torn up by the roots.

He

He then proceeded to examine the tree. observed that its roots, which lie hid beneath the ground, stretch far and deep on all sides of the tree, and that the trunk rises from the surface of the earth with a large swelling base, gradually tapering to a point towards the top. By this peculiar shape it is able to withstand the fiercest storms of wind. But the force of water is much greater than that of wind, and although the oak might resist the force of wind, it might not resist the force of wind and water combined. But, he thought, if we lop off the boughs of the oak, and leave the mere trunk, we shall find it as capable of resisting the force of water when stripped of the greater part of its clothing, as it is of resisting the force of the wind, when all its spreading branches are exposed to the fury of the gale.

Acting on these observations made on the oak, Mr. Smeaton proceeded to build his lighthouse. The building, skilfully rooted in the rock, has hitherto resisted all the fury of the tempest; but the decay of the rock on which it rests has necessitated the erection of a new lighthouse, the

foundation-stone of which was laid by the Prince of Wales in August, 1879.

When the second lighthouse was in progress, this country was at war with France. A French privateer seized upon the men at work, and carried them to France. When King Louis XIV. heard of the affair, he ordered the prisoners to be released, declaring that, though he was at war with England, he was not at war with mankind.

QUESTIONS:-1 Where is the English Channel? 2. Where are the Eddystone rocks? 3. What makes their position very inconvenient? 4. Why is Plymouth an important town? 5. Why was it difficult to build a lighthouse on these rocks? 6. Who built the first lighthouse? 7. How long did it last? 8. What became of the second? 9. Who was chosen to build the third? 10. Of what did he resolve to build it? 11. What did he take as his model? 12. What did he observe regarding the shape of the oak? 13. Of what shape did he make the lighthouse?

A WET sheet and a flowing sea,

A wind that follows fast,

And fills the white and rustling sail,

And bends the gallant mast;
And bends the gallant mast, my boys,

While, like the eagle free,

Away the good ship flies, and leaves
Old England on the lee.