in the view, than Roswell Gardiner went aft to the man at the helm, and ordered him to steer to the southward as near as the breeze would conveniently allow. This was a material change in the direction of the vessel, and should the present breeze stand, would probably place her by the return of light a good distance to the eastward of the point she would otherwise have reached. Hitherto, it had been Roswell's aim to drop his 10 consort; but now it was dark, so much time had already passed and been improved since the other schooner was last seen, he believed he might venture to steer in the precise direction he desired to go. The season is so short in those seas, that every hour is precious, and no more variation from a real object could be permitted than circumstances imperiously required. It was now generally understood that the craft was making the best of her way towards her destined sealing-ground in the Antarctic Ocean.

3

4

1 under-tow, an under-current flowing in a direction different from that at the surface. 2luff, turning the head of a ship towards the wind. hawse, to pull the head of a ship round. The hawse of a ship is that part of the bows which contains holes to allow the ship's cables to pass through. conning, considering carefully, so as to understand anything. 5 Ultima Thule, an island in the north seas, supposed by the ancients to be the most remote part of the northern world. It is not now known what land was called by this name. Some writers say that Iceland was the country referred to; others name the Shetland Islands. trap, rocks taking the form of columns, or arranged in flat masses rising one above the other like stairs, or terraces. petrel, see App. 8 studding-sails, sails set outside the margin of the principal sails when there is a light wind. savans, learned men; well-read men. 10 consort, companion; mate.

7

THE man who wrote the big dictionary. The first thing we hear of him is his being perched on his father's shoulder, at church, when he was only three years old, looking earnestly-for he couldn't have understood what was said—at a famous minister who preached in those days. Somebody asked his father why he brought such a little baby into such a crowd. His answer was, that he could not keep him at home, and that he would have stayed for ever in church, contentedly looking at the minister.

By-and-bye, getting down from his father's shoulder, he went to school. One day, the servant sent to bring him home not arriving in time, he started to return by himself, although he was so very near-sighted that he was obliged to get down on his hands and knees, and take a view of the crossing, before venturing over. His good, careful schoolmistress, fearing that he might miss his way, or fall, or be run over, followed him at a distance, to see that no harm came to him. Master Samuel, happening to turn round, saw this, to his great displeasure. Immediately he commenced beating her, in a furious rage, as fast as his little hands could fly, for what he considered an insult to his future beard. Imagine the little redfaced 1pigmy and the placid schoolmistress! I wonder did he ever think of it when he grew up? when he made war with that sharp tongue of his, instead of his fists. I do not consider this an improvement on his juvenile style of warfare, inasmuch as bruised flesh heals quicker than a bruised spirit, and there are words that hurt worse than the heaviest blow. However, there was this excuse for

of one eye.

his life-long irritability, in the fact that from childhood he was a victim to that dreadful disease, the scrofula, which disfigured his face, and nearly destroyed the sight His heart was good and kind, as you will see. Samuel was quite remarkable for his wonderful memory. When he was a little fellow in petticoats, and had learned to read, his mother, one morning, placed the prayer-book in his hands, and pointing to the "collect" for the day, said, "Sam, you must get this by heart." Leaving him to study it, she shut the door, and went upstairs. By the time she had reached the second floor, she heard him following her. "What's the matter?" asked she. can say it," Sam replied. His mother did not believe him; still, she took the book and bade him begin; and sure enough, he said it correctly, although he could not possibly have had time to read it over more than twice.

"I

Sam still continued to go to school, however; and one old lady to whom he went had such an affection for him, that, years after, when he was a young man, just about to enter college, she came to bid him good-bye, bringing with her a big motherly piece of gingerbread, as a token of her affection, adding, that "he was the best scholar she ever had." Sam didn't make fun of it behind her back, as would many young men ; he had sense enough to understand the great compliment conveyed in that piece of cake.

The Latin and other masters who succeeded the old lady did not admire young Sam as much as she did; instead of "gingerbread," he got tremendous whippings, one of the masters saying benevolently, while he "laid it on," " And this I do to save you from the gallows." I myself have more faith in the gingerbread, than in the whipping system, which, I believe, has as often driven boys to the gallows as "from" it. "from" it. But it seems Samuel owed them

no grudge; for being asked, later in life, how he came to have such an accurate knowledge of Latin, he replied, "My master whipped me very well;" and all his life long, he insisted and persisted, that only by the rod was learning ever introduced into a boy's head. Still, to my eye, "birches" look best in the woods. I can't help thinking

that the gentle sway of the old lady would have carried him safe through his Latin too, had she but known enough to teach it.

In all schools, the boy who knows the most rules the rest. So it was with Sam, who, if he helped them into difficulty with his roguish pranks, helped them also with

their lessons, when they came to a standstill for want of his quick comprehension. They all looked up to him with great deference; and so far did this carry them, that they carried him, actually and really. Three boys used to call at his lodgings every morning, as humble attendants, to bear him to school. One, in the middle, stooped, while he sat on his back, and one on each side supported him; and thus the great lazy Sam was borne along in triumph.

There is one thing which I believe to be true of the childhood and youth of all persons distinguished for true knowledge. It is this: they never rest satisfied with ignorance on any point which by any possibility can be explained or made clear. It was so with Samuel; also, he never forgot what he thus heard or read. I know well that a young person who is "inquisitive" is much more troublesome than one who never thinks, and rests satisfied with just what is put into the ear, and desires no more; and parents, and teachers also, are too apt to silence the inquisitive mind with "Don't ask questions!" or "Don't be so troublesome!" or, if they answer, do it in a careless, lazy way, that only surrounds the questioner with new difficulty, instead of helping him out of it; never reflecting that it is by this self-educating process that the child arrives at the best half of what he will ever know. Don't misunderstand me; don't think I mean that a child or a young person is impertinently to interrupt the conversation of his elders, and clamour for an immediate answer. I don't mean so, any more than I think it right to snub him back into ignorance with that harrowing 2 "little pitcher" proverb, which used to make me tear my hair out, at being forced to "be seen," while I was not allowed to "be heard."

It is my private belief, in spite of my admiration of the