having paid cash for one half, gave a mortgage' for the balance, payable in one year. Having stocked his farm, and put seed in the ground, he rested from his labor, and patiently awaited the time when he might go forth to reap the harvest; but, alas! no ears of grain gladdened his heart, or rewarded his toil. The fever of the country attacked him, and at the time when the fields are white with the fullness of the laborer's skill, death called him home, and left his disconsolate wife a widow, and his only child an orphan. 7. We leave this first sorrow, and pass on to witness the struggles of the afflicted widow a year afterward. The time having arrived when the mortgage was to be paid, she borrowed the money of a neighbor, who had been very attentive to her husband and herself. Hard and patiently did she toil to repay the sum at the promised time; but all would not do; fortune frowned, and she gave way to her accumulated' troubles. Disheartened and distracted, she relinquished her farm and stock for less than she owed her neighbor, who, not satisfied with that, put an execution3 on her furniture. 8. On the Sabbath previous to the sale, she took courage, and strengthening herself with the knowledge of having wronged no one, went to the temple of her heavenly Father, and with a heart filled with humanity and love, poured out her soul to Him "who turneth not away;" and having communed side by side with her neighbor, returned to her desolate home. 9. Here her fortitude had like to have forsaken her, but seeing the old "family Bible," she reverently put it to her lips, and sought for consolation in its pages. Slowly she perused' its holy and inspiring verses, and gathered hope from its never-failing promises. 10. The day of sale having arrived, her few goods and chattels were, in due course, knocked off to the highest bidder Unmoved she saw pass from her possession article after article, 'Mortgage (mår' gaj), a pledge given for the repayment of borrowed money. Ac củ' mu låt ed, heaped up; greatly increased.—3 Ex e cù'tion, the warrant by which an officer carries into effect the judgment of a court. Com muned', partaken of the sacrament, or Lord's Supper.— Perused (pe rozd'), read with attention.- Chåt' tels, things which a person owns, excepting lands and buildings. MY MOTHER'S BIBLE. 93 without a murmur, till the constable' held up the old family Bible. This was too much. Tears flowed, and gave silent utterance to a breaking heart. She begged the constable to spare ner this memento2 of her revered and departed parents; and the humāne' man of the law would willingly have given it to her, but her iněx'orable3 creditor declared every thing should be sold, as he was determined to have all that was due to him. 11. The book was, therefore, put up, and about being disposed of for a few shillings, when she suddenly snatched it, and, declaring she would have some relic1 of those she loved, cut the slender thread that held the brown linen cover, with the intention of retaining that. The cover fell into her hands, and with it two flat pieces of thin, dirty paper. 12. Surprised at the circumstance, she examined them, and what was her joy and delight to find each to be a bank-note, good for five hundred pounds, on the bank of England! On the back of one, in her mother's handwriting, were the following words: "When sorrōw overtakes you, seek your Bible." And on the other, in her father's hand, "Your Father's ears are never deaf.” 13. The sale was immediately stopped, and the family Bible given to its faithful owner. The furniture sold was readily offered to her by those who had purchased it, and she gladly took it back. Having paid off her relentless creditor to the uttermost farthing, and rented a small house, she placed the balance of her money in such a way as to receive interest enough to keep her comfortable, and is now able to enjoy the precepts of the old family Bible without fear or molestation." 28. MY MOTHER'S BIBLE. 1. THIS book is all that's left me now! THIS Tears will unbidden start With faltering lip and throbbing brow, I press it to my heart. 'Constable (kůn' sta bl), an officer of the peace.-Me men' to, memorial; something which causes remembrance.-3 In èx' o ra ble, that can not be moved by prayers or entreaties.-Rel' ic, that which remains, or is left after a loss; something kept in remembrance.--* Relent' less, cruel; having no pity. Mo les tà' tion, trouble; annoyance For many generations past, My mother's hands this Bible clasp'd; 2. Ah! well do I remember those Whose names these records bear, And speak of what these pages said, 3. My father read this holy book How calm was my poor mother's look, What thronging memories come! Within the halls of home! 4. Thou truest friend man ever knew, Where all were false I found thee true, The mines of earth no treasures give In teaching me the way to live, 29. ORNITHOLOGY.3 GEORGE P. MORRIS. T is surprising to see how few of all the birds which annually understood. Most natives of New England are acquainted with 'Con' stan cy, fidelity; faithfulness; remaining fixed in the same opinion.- Coun' sel or, adviser.-'Or ni thỏl' o gy, a description of birds; the science which describes the nature and habits of birds. An' nu ally, yearly every year. the blue jay, one of the earliest of our visitors, who comes sounding his penny trumpet, as a herald of the spring, and either amuses himself by playing pranks upon other more serious birds, or entertains them by acting, to the life, the part of an angry Frenchman. 2. Every miller and vāgrant' fisherman knows the belted kingfisher, who sits for hours upon his favorite dead branch, looking, with his calm, bright eye, to the lowest depth of the waters. The robin also makes himself welcome, not only by the tradition of the kindness shown by his European relation to the children in the wood, but by his hearty whistle, lifted up, as if he knew that all would be thankful to hear that the winter is over and gone, and his familiarity with man, whereby he shows his belief, that they who least deserve confidence are sometimes made better by being trusted. 3. The solemn crow, who is willing to repose the same confidence in man, taking only the additional precaution3 of keeping out of his reach; the bobolink, or rice-bunting, who tells man, in so many words, that he cares nothing about him, not he; the swallow, that takes his quarters in our barns, or the one that passes up and down our chimneys with a noise like thunder; the purple martin, that offers to pay his house-rent by keeping insects from our gardens; the snow-bird, that comes riding from the arctic1 circle upon the winter storm; and the baltimore, or golden robin, that glances like a flame of fire through the green caverns of foliage,—will almost complete the catalogue of those which are familiarly known to man. 4. We say familiarly known, because there are many, which people in general think they know, and which are yet sadly. misrepresented. The farmer, for example, accuses the wood pecker of boring his trees, when he only enlarges with his bill the hole which the grub had made, and, darting in his lõng, arrowy tongue, puts a stop to its mining forever. Many a poor bird, in like manner, after having slain his thousands of insects, which were laying waste the orchard and the garden, is sen 1Vå'grant, wandering; without a home. Tra di' tion, a story told from father to son; something handed down from age to age.—3 Precâu tion, care taken beforehand.-Arc' tic, northern; the arctic circle is a term here used for the cold countries of the north. tenced to death, as guilty of the very offenses which he has been laboriously preventing. 5. There are few scenes in which justice is so completely reversed, as when we see some idle young knave permitted to go forth with a fowling-piece, to murder creatures, of which it is not too much to say, that they have done more good in the world (it is a bold speech, we confess) than ever he will do evil, Applause is often bestowed for such exploits by fathers, who, in rejoicing ignorance, congratulate themselves on having sons so efficient and useful. We hear complaints annually, from all parts of the United States, that some insect or another is destroying the fruit, and proposing to offer a large reward to any one who will discover a remedy. Lest we should be anticipated in our design, we would say that we mean to contend for that prize, and to secure the orchards and gardens by protecting the birds, and offering a handsome bounty for the ears of those who shoot them. 8 6. Kalm tells us, that the planters in Virginia succeeded, at last, by legislative' enactments, in exterminating the little crow, and exulted much on the occasion. But it was not long before their triumph was changed to mourning. They found that the acts had been passed for the benefit of insects, not their own, and they would gladly have offered a larger bounty to bring back the persecuted birds. We shall not plead for the crow, who is fully able to take care of himself; but we must file a protest against the practice of destroying the birds of the garden, for, besides depriving us of the beauty of their appearance and the music of their song, it lets in a flood of insects, whose numbers the birds were commissioned to keep down; and, when we find this evil growing year by year, as most assuredly it will, 'Applaud' ed, praised.- Ex ploits', deeds; acts of which a person boasts. Con gråt' u låte, to wish joy.-*Ef fi' cient, powerful; able to do.- An tic' i påt ed, taken beforehand; to have some one do a thing before us." Peter Kalm, a Swedish naturalist, author of "A Naturalist's Tour in North America," lived between 1715 and 1779.-' Legislative (led'jis là tiv), belonging or relating to the making of laws.—*Enåct' ment, the passing of a bill into a law.-Ex ter' min åting, destroying; putting an end to.- Pro' test, remonstrance; a prayer against what we do not wish. |