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5. He who has seen the resurrection of the butterfly from the tomb of the catterpillar; who has seen this most oethereal of insects, in its graceful and gorgeous, yet delicate beauty, soaring in fields of light, will be slow to discredit the declaration of the Bible, that from these mortal bodies there shall emerge from the tomb the form of an archangel, winged for the eternal flight, and adorned with grace, and loveliness, and splendor, which shall add attractions even to the world where °cherubim fly and seraphim sing.

6. The wing that bears the immortal spirit in its flight can never fail and never tire. The angels who accompanied our Savior to the world must have had a long, long journey. But they did not stop to rest. They did not even alight upon our globe.

7. Hovering over the hills of Bethlehem, with vigorous and unwearied pinion, they charmed the evening air with one of heaven's songs, and then plied the never-tiring wing, as they passed planets, and stars, and all the wonders of revolving worlds, in their returning pathway.

8. In the very beautiful poem of "The Hermit," "Parnell describes the imagined change of a mortal to an angel.

"His youthful face grew more serenely sweet;
His robe turned white, and flowed about his feet;
Fair rounds of radiant points invest his hair,
Celestial odors breathed through purpled air;
And wings, whose colors glittered in the day,
Wide at his back their gradual plumes display."

9. This poetic conception, beautiful as it is, but feebly °delineates the reality of that joyful change, when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall be clothed in immortality.

J. C. ABBOTT,

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1. THE elephant, with ʼn se ai senga er al land-animals, and in sagacity a intero both of Asia and Africa. The haght of the waternat ruped at the Cape of Good Hage a fim were the

feet.

2. His eyes are very mala lively and full of expression:

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¦ and "penduious; but he can raise them vi ge make use of them as a fan, to oci ime and ever flies or insects.

3. His hearing is remarkably fhe: he delights in the somad of musical instruments, to which he is easily brought to more in a cadence. His sense of selling as epaily delicate; and he is highly delighted with the scent of fragrant herbs

4. In each jaw he has four grinders, one of which sometimes measures nine inches in breadth, and weighs four pounds and

a half. The texture of the skin is uneven and wrinkled, and full of deep fissures, resembling the bark of an old tree. The color is tawny, inclining to gray.

5. The legs of this animal are massy columns of three or four feet in circumference, and five or six in height. His feet are rounded at the bottom, divided into five toes covered with skin, so as not to be visible, and terminated in a nail or hoof of a horny substance.

6. His body is remarkably round and bulky, and nearly destitute of hair. But the trunk is the most singular and peculiar feature of this quadruped. This fleshy tube the animal can bend, contract, lengthen, and turn in every direction. It terminates in a protuberance, which stretches out on the upper side in the form of a finger.

7. With this the animal can lift from the ground the smallest piece of money, select herbs and flowers, untie knots, and grasp anything so firmly that no force can tear it from him.

8. At the end of this trunk are placed the nostrils, through which he draws in water for the purpose of quenching his thirst, or of washing and cooling himself, which he performs by taking in a large quantity, and then spouting it out over his whole body as if it issued from a fountain.

9. These quadrupeds subsist wholly on vegetables; they associate in numerous herds; and when one of them happens to discover a plentiful pasture, he instantly gives a loud signal to the rest.

10. They do incredible damage whenever they stray into cultivated grounds, not only devouring vast quantities of food, but also destroying, by the enormous weight of their bodies, more than they eat.

11. The inhabitants of the countries where they abound use every artifice to prevent the approach of such unwelcome visitants, making loud noises, and kindling large fires round

their dwelling; but, notwithstanding all these precautions, the elephants sometimes break in upon them and destroy their harvest. It is very difficult to repel them; for the whole herd advance together; and whether they attack, march, or; fly, they act in concert.

12. Although the elephant is the strongest as well as the largest of all quadrupeds, yet, in his native woods and deserts, he is by no means ferocious, and when tamed by man he is most tractable and obedient. He bends the knee for those who wish to mount upon his back, suffers himself to be harnessed, and seems to delight in the finery of his trappinga.

13. These animals are used in drawing chariots, wagona, and various sorts of machines,-one elephant drawing as much as six horses, and are of great use in carrying large quantities of baggage across rivers. They can travel nearly a hundred miles a day, and fifty or sixty regularly, without any violent effort.

MENAGERIE,

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LESSON XLVIIL

THE SKIES.

1. Аn, gloriously thou standest there,
Beautiful, boundless firmament!
That, swelling wide o'er earth and air,
And round the horizon bent,
With that bright vault and sapphire wall,
Dost overhang and circle all.

2. Far, far below thee, tall gray trees
Arise, and piles built up of old,

And hills, whose ancient summits freeze
In the fierce light and cold.

The eagle soars his utmost height;
Yet far thou stretchest o'er his flight.

3. Thou hast thy frowns: with thee, on high
The storm has made his airy seat;
Beyond thy soft blue curtains lie
His stores of hail and sleet:
Thence the consuming lightnings break;
There the strong hurricanes awake.

4. Yet art thou °prodigal of smiles—

Smiles sweeter than thy frowns are stern: Earth sends, from all her thousand isles, song at their return;

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The glory that comes down from thee
Bathes in deep joy the land and sea.

5. The sun,

the gorgeous sun, is thine,

The pomp that brings and shuts the day,
The clouds that round him change and shine
The air that fans his way.

Thence look the thoughtful stars, and there
The meek moon walks the silent air.

6. The sunny Italy may boast

The beauteous tints that flush her skies, And lovely, round the Grecian coast,

May thy blue pillars rise.

only know how fair they stand

About my own beloved land.

7. And they are fair: a charm is theirs

That earth-the proud, green earth—has not,

With all the hues, and forms, and airs

That haunt her sweetest spot.

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