GONE TO SLEEP.

Why burst forth those cries of anguish
Wailings bitter, sobbings deep?
Let's kneel down and softly whisper,
"Mother, Minnie's gone to sleep.

"Gone, but not to briefly slumber
As when here she closed her eyes,
Whilst thy heart kept time within thee
To thy soothing lullabies.

Now no clay holds back the spirit
Soaring through the upper deep;

Only to earth's cares and trials

Has thy loved one gone to sleep."

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"Orbs of light," her eyes. "Pearl gems," her teeth. "Upper deep," the regions of the sky, or heaven.

VIII. THE FLY AND THE ANT.-A FABLE.

Fables represent beasts, birds, &c., as acting and speaking like persons, and are written to teach moral lessons to young and old. The following fable is to show that people who act like the fly, and play when they should work, will come to poverty and starvation; while those who are diligent and careful like the ant will be able in youth to lay by money to keep them comfortable in their old age.

THE fly and the ant disputed with much warmth which of them lived the most dignified life, and had the happiest lot.

"Vile crawling insect," said the fly, "how dare you compare your mean birth and hard life with mine? I fly through the air like the birds; I dwell

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THE FLY AND THE ANT.

in the palaces of kings; I enter the most sacred temples; I sit upon their altars; I attend the

grandest festivals; I taste the rarest dishes; I eat and drink the choicest food and wine, without having to labour or to burden myself with the least care for the future. In one word, I enjoy all the pleasures and all the honours which this sunny world of ours can supply. What do you possess which you can compare with such good fortune?"

The ant replied, "Have you then forgotten your own birth, my grand lady? You now fly, it is true; but in the spring of this year you were only a crawling insect too. It becomes you well indeed to

THE FLY AND THE ANT.

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boast of the delicious life you lead! It is but a life of folly. Besides, you make it a business to live at the expense of others. So by and bye you are likely to die of hunger. Nay, I can foretell that you yet may have to feed on a dunghill. You have, I know, the impudence to thrust yourself forward everywhere; but you are hated wherever you go. Every one chases you away; and if you are caught you will pay the forfeit of your life. But look at me! I live at no one's expense; I provide for all my own wants; if I endure a little hardship during the early part of my life, I, in the end, and when my youthful powers begin to fail, enjoy the sweet reward of all my labour, in an old age of peace and plenty. Wait till winter sets in before you prefer your condition to mine. We shall then see which of us has the best cause to be. content with her lot. The first frosts will stiffen your limbs and cause you to perish of cold and hunger. Adieu. Go, vain creature and play yourself while the sun shines. I go to lay up my winter's store. You, thinking only of the present hour's enjoyment, will end your life in misery; I, thinking also of the future will end my days in comfort. Each of us will have our due reward."-Chambaud's Fables.

DICTATION.

Air, Ayr, ere, e'er, heir; so, sow, sew; know, no; all, awl; vain, vane.

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THE FLY AND THE ANT.

QUESTIONS.

What did the fly call the ant? What kind of birth and life did the fly say the ant had? How was the fly like birds? Where did the fly dwell? What did the fly enter? What did the fly sit on? What did the fly attend? What did the fly eat and drink? What did the fly enjoy? What did the ant call the fly's life? At whose expense did the fly live?

What was the fly to die of? What would the fly have to feed on? Was the fly loved or hated? When the fly was caught what had it to pay? What did the ant provide for? What would be the reward of all its labour? What did the fly think of? How would its life end? What did the ant think of? How would it end its days?

Art'-ist, painter.

IX.-FROST-WORK.

Bril'-liant, glittering.
Del'-i-cate, slender.

Dim'-ples, slight hollows.

E-van'-gels, glad tidings.

Fa'-vours, kind deeds.
Mart, market.

Mys'-ti-cal, wonderful.
Prat'-tler, talkative child.
Tra'-cer-y, interwoven lines.

A LITTLE one sought me this morning,
Her blue eyes shining bright,
While over her cheeks the dimples
Were playing in changeful light.
"Come to my room," she whispered,
"A curious thing is there;
A painter has been at work all night
În the cold and shivering air.

He has made a beautiful castle,
Far up on a mountain high,
And a forest of old and stately trees,
With branches that touch the sky.
They are all on my window painted,
The strange and beautiful things;
And the morning sun above them
A rainbow of glory flings."
I went with the little prattler
The mystical work to see,
And in the brilliant sunshine

Saw the delicate tracery.

FROST-WORK.

For, all night long the artist
Had silently wrought away,
And only laid by his pencil

At the coming in of day.

He had gone, as he came, in silence,
But his work was left behind ;
Like the fairies who sent their favours
By night to the good and kind.

Thus, often the silent worker,
In the busy mart of time,
Weaves a life of angel beauty,
Then soars to a better clime.

And when lip and brow have faded
In the dust and gloom of death,
Their memories come to the living,
Evangels of love and faith.

Oh! teach me, thou beautiful frost-work,
This useful lesson in life,

That the web sometimes woven in night-time

At morning with gems may be rife.

Christian Intelligencer.

X.-MRS. MACCLARTY.

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MRS. MAC CLARTY had two daughters, Meg and Jean. They had never been trained to obedience from their infancy; and now, although the one was twelve and the other ten years of age, they paid