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lost his senses. They carried him away to the hospital; and every attention was paid to him. He slowly recovered his reason and his health; and when he was quite well, he related his marvellous escapes in the forest, as I have related them to you.

USEFUL MAXIMS,

squander time, for How much more

Dost thou love live? then do not that is the stuff life is made of. time than is necessary do we spend in sleep, forgetting that, "The sleeping fox catches no poultry." If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest extravagance. Lost time is never found again. What we call time enough, always proves little enough.

Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry, all easy. He that riseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night. Laziness travels so slowly that Poverty soon overtakes him.

Early to bed, and early to rise,

Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

What signifies wishing and hoping for better times? We may make these times better if we bestir ourselves. There are no gains without pains. Work while it is called to-day, for you know not how much you may be hindered to-morrow. Never leave that till to-morrow which you can do to-day.

Are you

If you were a servant, would you not be ashamed that a good master should catch you idle? then your own master? Be ashamed to catch your

self asleep when there is so much to be done for yourself, your family, and your country.

It is true there is much to be done, and perhaps you are weak-handed; but stick to it steadily, and you will see great effects. Constant dropping wears away stones. Little strokes fell great oaks.

FRANKLIN.

LATREILLE AND THE BEETLE.

AT the end of last century there lived, in a town of France, a celebrated naturalist named Latreille. He spent much of his time in watching the habits of insects, and took little interest in anything else. Suspected, however, of being an enemy to the government, he was seized and cast into prison. But it was the will of God to save Latreille, and a messenger was sent to deliver him. This messenger was a little blue beetle! This little creature was crawling on the wall of his prison, and Latreille was watching it attentively at the very moment when the doctor of the prison was going his rounds. The doctor had a

young friend who was fond of curious insects, and when Latreille told him that this little creature was a rare specimen, he carried it off to his friend.

This friend wished to see the man who had sent him such a rare beetle. He visited Latreille in prison, was delighted with his conversation, and as he happened to have some influence with the government, he persuaded them to set Latreille free.

Soon after, Latreille's fellow-prisoners were banished. They were sent in a ship bound to Cayenne, which

foundered in the Bay of Biscay, and every one on board perished. This would probably have been Latreille's fate, but for the visit to his prison of the little blue red-shouldered beetle.

He ever after loved the little creature, which he called "the miraculous cause of his liberty "—" an insect very dear to him." When he was an old man, one of these little beetles used to be his gift to his favourite pupils, and was highly prized by them, as a distinguishing mark of his favour.

This little insect was as truly the means used by God to deliver Latreille, as if God had sent an angel to open the prison doors. When it pleases God to deliver any one from prison, or from death, an insect may be his messenger, and do his will as well as an angel; for the smallest and least of his creatures obey his will and are not beneath his notice.

THE RESCUE.

A SHIP was passing over the great ocean, when one day the winds began to freshen and the clouds to gather, and there was every appearance of a storm. The cordage of the ship moaned in the winds, and the waves began to break on their tops and grow white. It was just at dark, and a little boy was playing with a large dog on the quarter-deck. They were very fond of each other, and the child and the dog were never long separate. After they had done rolling and playing, the boy climbed up on something, and, by a sudden lurch of the ship, was thrown overboard into the foaming sea.

Only one man heard the splash, without knowing who had fallen. In a moment he cried, "Some one overboard!" Some one overboard!" ran through the ship. "Down with the helm!" cried the captain. "Man the boat!" again he shouted. By this time the dog seemed to understand that something was amiss, and looking round and smelling the track of the child, in an instant he leaped overboard and swam back in the path in which the ship had come. While the boat was being lowered down the side of the ship, the father of the boy, groaning, threw himself into it. The mother ran and hung over the taffrail in silent agony, trying to pierce the thick darkness which had settled down on the ocean. By the time the boat reached the water, they were fully a quarter of a mile from where the child fell.

Away went the boat in the darkness-out of sight. In what agony the mother hung over the ship, and lifted up her heart to God in behalf of her only child! All the hope there was, centred in that dog. The ship wore to and hung out lights, so that the men might be able to find their way back. Long, long did they row; but it was so dark they could not see anything. As they paused, about to give up the search, the father cried out, "I hear a splashing this way!" Away shot the boat in an instant, and there they found the poor dog, almost exhausted, holding up the child in its mouth!

How gladly did the father take them into the boat! The poor dog lay down, too tired to hold up his head. And how eagerly did that mother watch and strain her eyes to see the dark object which came towards the ship! And how did she

shout as the boat came alongside, and the child, living, but nearly dead, was handed into her

arms!

Now this is simple fact. Can we doubt that that poor dog was under the direction of God, and guided to do as he did? Yes, assuredly the eye of God, which pierces through the darkness, was on that poor mother in her agony, and his ear was open to her cry. It was he who sent the dog to save the child, just as he sent the fish to find Jonah, and the ravens to feed Elijah. He ruleth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and all things, animate and inanimate, obey his will. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without him. And the same Power which upholds the sun in his mighty course, guides the movements and sustains the life of the meanest creature. Winds and seas obey his will. Without his permission, fire cannot burn, and water cannot drown. How safe, then, are those whom God keeps!

THE HOMES OF ENGLAND.

THE stately homes of England!
How beautiful they stand!
Amidst their tall ancestral trees,

O'er all the pleasant land!

The deer across their green sward bound
Through shade and sunny gleam,

And the swan glides past them with the sound
Of some rejoicing stream.

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