ITALIC LETTERS IN THE BIBLE.-We have sometimes heard the words, printed in Italic letters in our version of the Bible, read as emphatic. Generally they are the least emphatic of all the words in the verse; and they are not so printed to mark emphasis, but to show what words in the translation are supplied in the English text and necessary to the English idiom, but not necessary to the sense in the Hebrew or Greek idioms, and therefore not found in the original. When the word LORD is found in the Old Testament printed in capital letters, it is a translation of the Hebrew word Jehovah.

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ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF NEBRASKA. On the upper Missouri there exists a tract of land known by the name of the "Mauvaises Terres," or Bad Lands, at one time probably the bottom of an immense lake in which perished thousands of animals having now no representative on earth. It appears that the waters of this pond were removed in some convulsions of nature, and the sediment at its bottom became indurated. The portion of the earth thus excavated forms a valley of ninety miles in length by thirty in breadth. The remains of animals which lived and breathed long before the advent of man upon the earth, are here found in such abundance as to form of this tract an immense cemetery of vertebrata. The bones are said to be completely petrified, and their cavities filled with silicious matter. They are preserved in various degrees of integrity, some being beautifully perfect, and others broken.

Two remarkable species of rhinoceros, the first ever found in America, were discovered here, and also

wonderfully illustrated in the gradual changes that have been made in the meaning of words. We subjoin a few curious specimens:

Climate. At present, the temperature of a region, but once, a region itself.

Corpse. Now used only for the body abandoned by the spirit of life, but once for the body of the living man equally as of the dead.

Desire." To desire" is only to look forward with longing, now the word has lost the sense of regret or looking back upon the lost but still loved.

Ensure.-None of our dictionaries, as far as we can observe, have taken notice of an old use of this word-namely, to betroth, and thus make sure the future husband and wife to each other.

Hag. One of the many words which, applied formerly to both sexes, are now restrained only to one. Mountebank.-Now any antic fool, but once restrained to the quack doctor s, who, at fairs and such places of resort, having mounted on a bank or bench, from thence proclaimed the virtues of their drugs.

Ostler. Not formerly, as now, the servant of the inn, having care of the horses, but the inn-keeper or host, the "hostler" himself.

Shrew. There are at present no "shrews" save female ones; but the word, like so many others which we have met with, now restrained to one sex, was formerly applied to both.

Sonnet.-A "sonnet now must consist of exactly fourteen lines, neither more nor less, and these with a fixed arrangement, though admitting a certain relaxation of the rhymes; but sonnet used often to be

and likewise a number of strange animals with long names, unlike any thing which man ever saw alive. We know, then, that there were once individuals in Nebraska, as curious, and strangely shaped, and pugnacious, as any squatter which the present rush of emigration will carry thither.

PRIDE AND EXCLUSIVENESS.-It is reported of the proud Duke of Somerset that he never stooped to speak to a servant, but signified his wants by signs. His children were not allowed to sit in his presence. In his afternoon nap, one of his daughters was required to stand by him as he slept. Lady Charlotte Seymour having once, when very tired, violated this etiquette, he left her in his will £2,000 less than her sister. His second wife once gave him an affectionate and familiar tap with her fan. "My first duchess," said the august noble, drawing himself haughtily up, "was a Percy, and she never would have taken such a liberty." The only titled and nobleblooded fool that ever excelled the Duke, as far as our knowledge extends, was that Spanish hidalgo who, having once fallen down, indignantly exclaimed, "This comes of walking on the earth!"

CHANGE IN THE MEANING OF WORDS.-The change in the habits, customs, and business of society is VOL. XX.-44

kind.

Stove. This word has much narrowed its meaning. Bath, hot-house, any room where air or water were artificially heated, was a "stove" once.

Tobacconist.-Now the seller, once the smoker of

tobacco.

Uncouth. Now, unformed in manner, ungraceful in behavior; but once, simply unknown.

Wince. Now to shrink or start away, as in pain, from a stroke or touch, but used always by our earliest authors in the sense of to kick.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE.-Language shares in all the vicissitudes of man. It reflects all the changes in the character and habits of a people, and shows how they progress or retrograde. The sense of a word gets altered by imperceptible degrees, till it comes to express a reverse signification. It is well known that the word prevent, in its Latin etymology, had the sense of anticipation, getting the start of, and not to oppose, to obstruct, as now it signifies. To let has turned completely about since the received version of the Bible, when it meant to oppose; now, to permit. Man-stealing, with the Romans, was called plagium; from thence it passed to designate literary theft. Quaint, according to original usage and deri

vation, meant scrupulously exact, elegantly refined; now it is applied to what is odd, affected, and fantastic, a violation of the natural and tasteful.

Words get degraded. Thus simple, not double, took a strange metamorphose in giving us simpleton; simplicity still holds its charm. We elevate words from their physical relations to mental and spiritual ones. Taste, as applied to the sensibilities of the palate, has risen to express a fondness for chaste ornaments, neat arrangements, love of the fine arts, and belles-lettres. We also talk of intellectual pyrotechnics and moral gymnastics. We enlarge the circumference of words. Civilization once applied only to the inhabitant of a city; urbanity, the manners of a city; villain, one living in a village. We limit and restrict the meaning of words. Meat was once applied to all kinds of food, now only to flesh. Acre meant any field of whatever size. Furlong was a furrow of any length. Yard denoted no exact measure. Peck and gallon were vague and unsettled quantities. Words that were used for both sexes are now applicable to only one. Nephew stood for grandchildren and lineal descendants. Girl designated all young persons.

THE NEW TESTAMENT.-The great mass of readers suppose the books of the New Testament appear in the order as written-that the Gospel of St. Matthew was first composed, and the Revelations last. This is a mistake. The following is well established to be the order in which the various parts came before the world: 1. St. Paul's epistles. 2. Epistle to the Hebrews. 3. The first three Gospels. 4. Epistle of St. James. 5. The Revelations. 6. Epistle of St. Peter. 7. Acts of the Apostles. 8. Gospel and Epistles of St. John. The last-named Gospel is not admitted as authentic by some who hold themselves as orthodox Christians.

TRANSCENDENTALISM.-This word is in frequent use, but is not always correctly understood. Any thing which is peculiarly abstruse or absurd, which is highly metaphysical or intensely silly, which is so profound that no bottom can be discovered or so shallow that it can not even be skimmed, which contains the best lessons of wisdom or the shabbiest philosophy of the pretender, which is expressed in the simple language of Plato or the bombast of the modern newspaper scribbler, is indifferently called transcendental. But the true signification is this: The basis of Locke's philosophical system is that all knowledge is received into the soul through the medium of the senses, and is to be judged of and analyzed by the understanding. This may be called the sensuous philosophy. Kant, on the contrary, denies that all knowledge is received through the senses, and maintains that the highest and universally-received truths are communicated to a faculty within the soul transcending the mere understanding, which he denominates pure reason, distinguishing it from the understanding. According to this system all perceptions of the true, the beautiful, and the good are revealed to the pure reason; while it is the province of the understanding to determine upon external things, such as facts, scientific laws, etc. This philosophy is named transcend

EASTER EGGS.-The question is sometimes asked, why eggs are eaten at Easter. The following extract from Hutchinson's History of Northumberland gives the answer. "Eggs were held by the Egyptians as

a sacred emblem of the renovation of mankind after the Deluge. The Jews adopted it to suit the circumstances of their history, as a type of their departure from the land of Egypt; and it was used in the feast of the Passover as a part of the furniture of the table with the Paschal lamb. The Christians have certainly used it on this day, as retaining the elements of future life, for an emblem of the resurrection. It seems as if the egg was thus decorated [by coloring, painting, etc.] for a religious trophy, after the days of mortification and abstinence were over and festivity had taken place; and as an emblem of the resurrection of life, certified to us by the resurrection from the regions of death and the grave." Brand, in his Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, adds: "The ancient Egyptians, if the resurrection of the body had been a tenet of their faith, would perhaps have thought an egg no improper hieroglyphical representation of it. The exclusion of a living creature by incubation, after the vital principle has lain a long while dormant or seemingly extinct, is a process so truly marvelous that, if it could be disbelieved, would be thought by some a thing as incredible to the full as that the Author of life should be able to reanimate the dead."

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BURIAL IN A SITTING POSTURE.-I remember the funeral of a native African named Yarrow, which took place at Georgetown, adjacent to the city of Washington, in the United States, about twenty-five years ago. The deceased was very old-more than one hundred and twenty years of age-and had been brought direct from Africa nearly a century before. Yarrow had evidently been a person of importance in his native country. He spoke and wrote Arabie fluently and readily, and was a Mohammedan in his religious faith. He was buried, at his own urgent request, in a sitting posture.—Eng. Notes & Queries. QUERIES.-Commencement.—Why are the closing days of a college year, when degrees are conferred and the annual festivals occur, called commencements! Q.

Words Signifying Tro.-What is the exact meaning of and difference between the various words signifying two; such as couple, pair, brace, twin or twain, match, span, etc.? X.

Jake or Jakes.-What is the derivation or origin of this word as a term of reproach? 8.

Barbarian.-Herodotus, in the second book of his history, where he speaks of the Egyptians, says that they call all foreigners barbarians. Now, it is well known that this term was used by the Greeks to designate foreigners: must we therefore infer that the Greeks borrowed the word from the Egyptians? or does Herodotus mean that the Egyptians only used a term identical in meaning with that of the Greeks? S. What is the probable etymology of the word?

The Hebrew Priesthood.-What is the statute in the law of Moses requiring a specific age for the induetion of the priests of the law to their sacerdotal office? C. A.

EYEBRIGHT AND THE TWO PHILOSOPHERS.-Some of the most touching and beautiful teachings of the Savior were in the form of parables. And in all ages this style of composition has been peculiarly attractive to all classes. Children are especially fascinated with it. We have some very good sayings that are illustrated by the following story. One is, "Never borrow trouble." Another is, "Nothing venture, nothing have." Still another is found in the good book, which represents the irresolute man as shrinking under imaginary dangers, and exclaiming, "There is a lion in the way!" Now, children, read the story and then tell us whether you do not think the philosophy of Mr. Sparrow much better than that of old Gaffer Croak:

Once upon a time, in the great silver fir-tree by the shrubbery palings lived a little squirrel. All the summer he had spent with his parents among the beech-trees by the side of the avenue; but as the autumn came on they laid up a little store of nuts and beech-mast for him in a hole in one of the branches of the fir-tree, and told him that he was old enough now to take care of himself, and that this was to be his home.

Eyebright-for that was his name-rather liked the idea of being his own master. "Now," thought he, "I can travel to the thick wood that I can see across the wide field beyond the gate, and find out what sort of country that is. And I can play as often as I please with my cousin Lightfoot in the Scotch firs; and I can have acorns for breakfast and nuts for supper, just as I like best, without asking leave of any one. To be sure, I shall miss my parents a good deal; still, I can go and see them often, and they will sometimes visit me I hope."

So saying Eyebright tumbled head over heels half-way down the tree, and then went to his cupboard and took out a large double nut for his breakfast. While he was nibbling a hole in it with his sharp teeth he heard an ugly, hoarse voice near him; and looking up he saw Gaffer Croak-the old raven-sitting on a branch just above him. He was ruffling his dark feathers, that looked blacker than ever in the morning sun, and shaking his head now and then, as he let fall little short groans, that seemed to mean a great deal. "Good morning, Gaffer," said Eyebright. "Good!" quoth the raven: " bad, I should say to you-a very bad one to you, I should say."

And the old fellow began swinging to and fro, with his head on one side, and his large, bright eye fixed full on the little squirrel.

Eyebright left off nibbling his nut and scratched the side of his head with his long claw-he was so puzzled with the raven's manner. "Why, what's the matter?" he asked at length. "Why should this be a sad morning to me? Certainly my father and mother have left me; but we are often to meet; and now I may do as I please, and see a little of the world."

ered spray near, which fell on Eyebright's pretty brown coat, which he instantly began brushing and cleaning.

"Ha!" said the raven, "you won't care about fine clothes soon, I can tell you. I know what a life you have got before you."

"But why?" asked the squirrel.

"Why!" said Croak. "Don't you know that you are 'surrounded by enemies? As long as your parents were by to guard you, a fine life you led indeed! Now you must defend yourself."

Poor Eyebright felt quite alarmed at the raven's words, and still more at his voice and manner, which were indeed very ominous and gloomy. "I did n't know, I am sure, Mr. Croak," he said, humbly, "that I had any enemies. I have done no harm to any one that I know of.”

"No enemies," said the raven, laughing his ugly laugh again-"have you never heard of men?"

"But I thought men liked us," said Eyebright, "and planted trees on purpose for us to live in and pick nuts off. "T is true that I run away when I see them; but that is because they are so large, and walk so differently to us, that I do n't understand it."

"And have you ever heard a gun?" asked the raven significantly.

And

Eyebright trembled a little at this question, for he did recollect a terrible crash awaking him one day, when he was dozing at the top of the tree, and his mother calling to him to run into the hole, for that was a gun that was fired. before he could reach the hole he had seen a black-bird, who had been singing sweetly but the minute before, fall screaming and fluttering to the ground! So that it was with a very grave voice that he replied yes, he had heard a gun once.

Men carry guns!" said the raven, in a deep, hollow tone. Eyebright shuddered and mentally beheld himself struggling and screaming like the poor black-bird.

"Have you ever seen cats?" continued the raven, pursuing his inquiries.

Yes, indeed; Eyebright had often and often watched the gambols of the pretty little white kitten with blue eyes, who seemed as if she would make such a nice play-fellow-and so he told old Croak.

The raven sneered. "Cats eat squirrels!" he said shortly"when they can catch them, that is."

"I can run faster than any cat," said Eyebright. The raven fixed his great eyes upon him: "Do you never sleep?" he said. "And who is to protect you then? Cats hunt by night!"

"What is to become of me?" cried Eyebright in despair. The raven shook his head and coughed. "Come with me," he said, "and I will show you what you have to expect. It's best to be prepared for the worst-come!" And he hopped solemnly down from twig to twig.

Eyebright hesitated a little before following his guide; for his beak looked so strong, and his eyes so fierce, he was not sure but that this might be another enemy. Yet he feared to offend him by refusing to accompany him; so when Croak had got about half-way down the tree, with one spring Eyebright was at his side. The raven then flew slowly across the

"Ho, ho, ho!" laughed the raven-but it was n't a merry laugh at all. "And so you are to do as you please, now that you are left by yourself. But there's something besides pleasure in the world-there 's care! And who is to care for you, do you think, now that your parents are gone?"

"O, they have left me quite a large store!" said Eyebright. "I sha'n't want any thing all the winter: and besides, I can pick up a little for myself during the autumn."

The raven sighed hoarsely, so as to blow off a little with

lime-tree that overhung the entrance, pretending to wait for Eyebright, who ran after him at full speed-but I believe, in reality, he was peering about after a brood of young ducks that had been hatched the night before, and from which he thought he might contrive a savory breakfast. As Eyebright stopped, panting, under the tree, he looked down on him: "Hark!" said he; "do you hear what those guinea-hens say?"

Eyebright listened, but did not very well understand their language; so Croak translated it into a sort of Lingua Franca,

in which the squirrel and himself conversed. "They are warning you of danger on your road," he said. "Listen! 'Go back! go back! go back!' That's what they say." "Had we not better return?" asked the squirrel timidly. "No," replied his companion. "Having come so far we will proceed; and I will shield you from danger-if I can," he added, emphatically.

The next point at which he stopped was the stable; there perching on the weathercock, while Eyebright scrambled up a water-pipe to the roof, he bade him look down into the hayloft. There lay Puss giving her kittens their breakfast. She had just brushed her glossy coat, and, with her eyes half shut, was purring a nursery song for her children's amusement. Now and then, through the fingers of her velvet mittens, her long, sharp claws might be seen as she stretched them out and then withdrew them again.

Croak shuffled up to Eyebright, and in a loud whisper that roused the cat's attention, asked, "Do you see those claws? Strong enough, an't they?"

While he spoke Puss, rather tired after a night's hunting, gave a great yawn, and showed such a set of sharp, white teeth, that Eyebright stared and scampered away in a hurry, kicking a loose tile after him in his flight. Having secured his retreat on some trees that grew near the stable, he looked about for the raven, whom he soon saw hopping along the gravel walk and beckoning him to follow. With still greater reluctance, after his last fright, Eyebright obeyed, and found Croak in an attitude of profound meditation, standing near a kennel; in which, with his head resting on his paws, lay a great black dog, dozing in the morning sun.

"There's a monster!" quoth the raven. "What should you say to meeting him some fine day as you were crossing the avenue?"

Leaving Eyebright to improve that suggestion he hopped sideways toward the kennel, and began slyly drawing toward him a large bone that lay within a few inches of the dog's

nose.

But stealthy as his movements were, they were sufficient to arouse black Wallace, who, waking up suddenly and perceiving the thief, rushed from his kennel, shaking his chain, and showing his teeth with an angry growl that sounded terrible in the ears of the poor little squirrel.

The raven croaked angrily and hobbled away, bidding Eyebright still follow him, and so led him up the steps on which the hall-door of the great house opened. Eyebright peeped furtively in and saw a number of glass cases, in which were all kinds of stuffed birds, looking as if they were alive, and yet with a hard, strained, uncomfortable expression, that made him cold to see. Their eyes, too, though staring wide open, were motionless; and never had he seen birds so still, even when they were asleep. Altogether that pretty, sunny hall was, to Eyebright, a chamber of horrors! And then old Croak addressed him solemnly: "I have brought you here that you may see assembled together, and in a state in which they can do you no harm, a few of the enemies of whom I have warned you; others I have already shown you."

He then pointed to him a small brown owl and two large white ones, looking solemnly down on a little mouse; a hawk, with its claw in a sparrow, and a kite gazing hungrily at a chicken. He quite omitted to show him some of his own brethren, though there were a pair of them in their glossy black coats, with an egg-in which a hole had been piercedlying before them.

"How do you ever expect to be safe, surrounded by these?" asked the raven.

But while he was speaking Eyebright's attention was drawn to another case, in which he saw a relation of his own, with his tail spread over his head; apparently, only that he never moved on, in the act of running up the mossy branch of a 1 tree, from which hung a bunch of hazel-nuts. "Why does n't he move?" he asked the raven; "and why does he not eat

the nuts?"

"He can't," returned Croak. "He can't stir from that place. There he must remain forever and forever!"

He spoke so lugubriously, while his eye sparkled so viciously, that Eyebright could bear it no longer; but without waiting to take leave of him, he rushed down the steps, across the

lawn, in and out of the flower-beds, leaped the sunk fence, and never stopped till he got to the top of the silver fir again. A doleful life was Eyebright's from this day forth. He was afraid of venturing to see his parents, lest he should meet the great dog in the avenue. On the lawn Puss and her progeny occasionally disported themselves-so that, of course, he shunned. From the poultry yard he could hear the guinea-hen's warning cry; and how he started at every sudden sound, thinking it the report of a gun! The trees in the thick plantation he would not approach; for there he knew the hawks had their nests, and over them he had many a time watched the kites sailing. At last he never quitted the silver fir at all-though far from feeling secure even there. He scarcely slept all night, trembling as he listened to the hooting of the owls; and once he quite gave himself up for lost, feeling persuaded he heard the cat scrambling up the lower branches-though I believe it was nothing but the peacock, who was disturbed with bad dreams. Then he was afraid almost of eating a nut, lest he should not have enough to last him through the winter; and he was too timid to venture out to look for more.

All the evil that morning call of the raven's did it would be hard to tell. Poor Eyebright soon became quite thin and dejected; and his coat, which he had not the heart to brush, grew dim and dusty. I think he must soon have pined away but for another morning visitor of his-a sparrow-who, as he sat drooping at the entrance of his hole, trying to shelter his head from the east wind with his bushy tail, hopped up to him, calling ont briskly, "Cheer up! cheer up!"

Eyebright lifted his head and gazed mournfully at the homely little fellow, who gave him so friendly a greeting. "What's the matter with you to-day?" asked the sparrow, twitching one of the feathers in his wing, which was rather ruffled. "Why don't you eat your breakfast and then go and see your cousin Lightfoot, who is wondering what has become of you?"

Eyebright sighed heavily and began retreating backward into his hole; for he suspected the sparrow of being a spy sent to betray him to some of his enemies; but the sparrow was not so easily to be got rid of, but edged himself to the entrance of the hole after him. "I'll wait while you are at breakfast for company," he said, "and then fly over to Lightfoot and tell him you are coming."

"I shall eat no breakfast to-day, thank you," was the reply.

"No!" cried the sparrow-" and why not, pray? There's plenty in the larder I am sure."

And he stood on tiptoe and peeped in; for he was not a very refined bird I must admit.

"Not more than I shall want, nor as much through all the long, long winter," replied Eyebright dolefully.

"Then why do n't you go and gather more for yourself?" asked his visitor. "I can show you splendid filberts outside the walled garden. But dear me! you need scarcely take the trouble of hoarding them," he continued; "for there will be plenty of hazel-nuts in the hedges for the next two months; and there are always a good many walnuts under the trees in the avenue till Christmas; and the beech-mast and the acorns won't all be gone then; and after that there are the cones on the firs and the larch-trees. O, you need n't fear being starved-there 's no chance of that!"

"Certainly," returned Eyebright, "if it were possible for me to go out and gather these filberts and walnuts, and all that you speak of; but surrounded as I am with enemies "

"Enemies!" cried the sparrow, and burst into such a fit of laughter as nearly threw him off the branch on which he sat-a laugh, though, so hearty and cheery, that it did poor Eyebright good to hear it. "Well, who are your enemies?" he said at length. The squirrel told him of the raven's warning; but when he spoke of men he interrupted him at once. "Men!" he cried, "why, they are the very best friends we have! What would become of the black-birds but for their orchards? And how useful the swallows and martins find the eaves and chimney-pots! I believe those tall-steepled buildings are meant expressly for the jackdaw's fortresses! And why do the farmers plow their fields, if it is not to feed

the rooks? or sow them, if it is not to support the partridges in the autumn? I and my cousins have, I confess it, our full share of the ricks; and it is certain that the corn in the granary belongs quite as much to the mice as to men! And even little robin, who is a poor soft-billed creature, and can't do much for himself, has his breakfast of bread and milk at the nursery window most mornings with the children. And for myself, I certainly get my dinner from the dairy-maid as regularly as the ducks or the hens."

"Ah! those frightful birds!" said Eyebright. "But they warned me not to go on. They knew the horrors that awaited me!"

"What warning did they give you?" asked the sparrow. "They bid me go back-they did, indeed!" said Eyebright. "So Mr. Croak told you!" answered the sparrow, tossing up his head. "You must n't mind him: he is of great age and has had losses. The real meaning of their words is an invitation to you-'Come quick! come quick! come quick!' At least so I always understood it at dinner-time."

All the time he was speaking the squirrel felt himself growing less gloomy. Things looked much brighter than they had done since the raven's visit; and now he sat up briskly and began cracking an acorn. "Perhaps," said he, stopping In his employment-" perhaps, as Gaffer Croak mistook the guinea-hen's language, he may have made some other mistakes too?"

"Very possibly," said the sparrow. "Indeed, I observe that those who see an enemy in every one that they meet are themselves their own worst enemies."

Eyebright thought that there might be a great deal of truth in this last remark of the sparrow's, and he pondered over it a great deal, long after he had flown away; and when he heard him singing his merry song, "Cheer up! cheer up!" near the gilded cage of the canary-bird in the drawing-room window-"Well," he said, "I have not been the happier for following the raven's advice; and how much time I have wasted, in which I might have been adding to my winter's store! Now I'll try the sparrow's plan, and trust, instead of doubting every one!"

So he ate a better breakfast than he had since that which the raven had interrupted; and after he had brushed his coat went out and spent the morning with his parents in the avenue, where he picked up some acorns and beech-mast to add to his store. And when he had put these away he ran over to the Scotch firs and finished the day with Lightfoot-and a famous game of hide-and-seek they had together; and though the white owls were bemoaning themselves over his head, for an hour at least, he slept through the night without once

waking; and from that day there was not a happier little squirrel than he in all the wood!

THE FIVE PEACHES.-The following little story is translated from the German. It has been told often; but it will bear repeating. Its moral is very fine and the whole is told in a very touching manner:

A countryman, on returning from the city, took home with him tive as fine peaches as one could possibly desire to see. As his children had never beheld the fruit before, they rejoiced over them exceedingly, calling them the fine apples with rosy cheeks and soft, plum-like skin. The father divided them among his four children, and retained one for their mother. In the evening, ere the children retired to their chamber, the father questioned them by asking: "How did you like the soft, rosy apples?"

"Very much, indeed, dear father," said the eldest boy. "It is a beautiful fruit, so acid, and yet so nice and soft to the taste; I have carefully preserved the stone that I may cultivate a tree."

"Right and bravely done," said the father. "That speaks well for regarding the future with care, and is becoming in a young husbandman."

"I have eaten mine and thrown the stone away," said the youngest; "besides which, mother gave me half of hers. O it tasted so sweet and melting in my mouth."

"Indeed," answered the father, "thou hast not been prudent. However, it was very natural and child-like, and displays wisdom enough for your years."

"I have picked up the stone," said the second son, "which my brother threw away, cracked it and eaten the kernel; it was as sweet as a nut to my taste; but my peach I have sold for so much money that when I go to the city I can buy twelve of them."

The parent shook his head reproachfully, saying:

"Beware, my boy, of avarice; prudence is all very well, but such conduct as yours is unchild-like and unnatural. Heaven guard thee, my child, from the fate of a miser."

"And you, Edmund?" asked the father, turning to his third son, who frankly replied:

"I have given my peach to the son of our neighbor, the sick George who has the fever. He would not take it, so I left it on the bed, and have just come away."

"Now," said the father, "who has done the best with his peach ?"

"Brother Edmund!" the three exclaimed aloud. Edmund was still silent, and the mother kissed him with the tears of joy in her eyes.

HOW TO GET RICH.-Many of our readers desire to get rich. With some this desire is inordinate. Shall we tell you how you may accomplish this end? Read the following passage from Mrs. Barbauld. If you will pay such a price you can get rich:

Such is the force of well-regulated industry that a steady and vigorous exertion of our faculties, directed to one end, will generally insure success. Would you, for instance, be rich? Do you think that single point worth sacrificing every thing else to? You may then be rich. Thousands have become so from the lowest beginnings by toil, and patient diligence, and attention to the minutest articles of expense and profit. But you must give up the pleasure of leisure, of a vacant mind, of a free, unsuspicious temper. If you preserve your integrity it must be a coarse-spun and vulgar honesty. Those high and lofty notions of morals which you brought with you from the schools must be considerably lowered, and mixed with a baser alloy of a jealous and worldlyminded prudence. You must learn to do hard if not unjust

things, and for the nice embarrassments of a delicate and ingenious spirit, it is necessary for you to get rid of them as fast as possible. You must shut your heart against the Muses, and be content to feed your understanding with plain, household truths. In short, you must not attempt to enlarge your ideas, or polish your taste, or refine your sentiments, but must keep on in one beaten track, without turning aside either to the right hand or to the left. "But I can not submit to a drudgery like this-I feel a spirit above it." "Tis well; be above it, only do not repine that you are not rich. DUMB MELODIES.-It has been well said that the negatively poetical exists every-where. The life of almost every man, however prosaic to himself, is full of these dumb melodies to his neighbor:

The farmer looks from the hill-side and sees the tall ship lean forward with its desire for the ocean, every full-hearted sail yearning seaward, and takes passage with her from his drudgery to the beautiful conjectured land. Meanwhile he himself has Pegasus yoked to his plow without knowing it,