such an effort to speak that he burst the fetters which had bound his tongue, and cried out, "Stop, barbarian! spare the life of my father!" This cry saved the life of Croesus, who was immediately led into the presence of the victorious Cyrus.

3. During an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, Pliny the younger was at Miseneum with his family. All the inhabitants sought for safety in flight; but reflecting little on the danger that surrounded himself, Pliny was completely occupied with the means of saving his mother, whom he esteemed more than his life. She entreated him in vain to flee from a place where his destruction was certain. She represented to him that her age and infirmities would prevent her from accompanying him, and that the least delay would expose them both to destruction. Her entreaties were useless; Pliny would rather die than leave his mother in such imminent danger. He seized her against her will and forced her along. She vielded to his entreaties and allowed him to carry her, but reproached herself for retarding his flight. Already the ashes were falling upon them, and the vapour and smoke with which the air was filled turned day into the darkest night. On entering this gloom, they had nothing to guide their trembling steps but the flashing of the flames that surrounded them; they heard nothing but groans and cries which rendered the darkness more frightful. But this horrible spectacle could not shake the constancy of Pliny, nor induce him to provide for his own security. The more his mother was in danger the more did he exert himself to comfort her; he supported her and carried her in his arms: her frailty roused his courage, and enabled him to exert the greatest efforts for her safety. Heaven rewarded so praiseworthy an

action, and preserved to him a mother more esteemed than the life which he received from her, and to her a son worthy of being beloved, and exhibited as a pattern of filial duty.

Watchman! What of the Night?
Watchman! tell us of the night,
What its signs of promise are:
Traveller! o'er yon mountain's height
See that glory-beaming star!

Watchman! doth its beauteous ray
Aught of hope or joy fore-tell?
Traveller! yes: it brings the day,
Promised day of Israel.

Watchman! tell us of the night;
Higher yet that star ascends:
Traveller blessedness and light,
Peace and truth, its course portends.

Watchman! will its beams alone
Gild the spot that gave them birth?
Traveller ages are its own:

And it bursts o'er all the earth.

Watchman! tell us of the night,
For the morning seems to dawn:
Traveller darkness takes its flight,
Doubt and terror are withdrawn.

Watchman! let thy wanderings cease;
Hie thee to thy quiet home:
Traveller! lo! the Prince of Peace,

Lo! the Son of God is come.--Bowring.

2. Parental Duty.

Consider; think of. Support'; maintain, sustain. Worth'less; undeserving. Max'ims; rules, principles. Ce'dar; a tall tree. Reproach'; disgrace. Cultivation; improvement. Obe'dience; compliance with orders. Tem'perance; moderation. Sincer'ity; truth, candour. Plea'sure; enjoyment. Conceal'ed; hidden. Present'ing; offering. Vulgar; common, low. Restrain'; subdue, check. Rid'icule; deride, expose to laughter.

CONSIDER, thou who art a parent, the importance of thy trust: the being thou hast produced, it is thy duty to support. Upon thee also it may depend, whether the child of thy bosom shall be a blessing or a curse to thyself; a useful or a worthless member of the community. Prepare him with early instruction, and season his mind with the maxims of truth. Watch the bent of his inclination; set him right in his youth, and let no evil habit gain strength with his years. So shall he rise like a cedar on the mountains; his head shall be seen above the trees of the forest.

A wicked son is a reproach to his father; but he that doth right is an honour to his grey hairs. The soil is thine own, let it not want cultivation; the seed which thou sowest, expect also to reap. Teach him obedience, and he shall bless thee; teach him modesty, and he shall not be ashamed. Teach him gratitude, and he shall receive benefits; teach him charity, and he shall gain love. Teach him temperance, and he shall have health; teach him prudence, and fortune shall attend him. Teach him justice, and he shall be honoured by the world; teach him sincerity, and his own

heart shall not reproach him. Teach him diligence, and his wealth shall increase; teach him benevolence, and his mind shall be exalted. Teach him science, and his life shall be useful; teach him religion, aud his death shall be happy.

Dodsley.

1. Never, perhaps, was there a more feeling and tender parent than Cato the elder. This strict man, this rigid reformer of Roman manners, experienced no pleasure so lively as that of attending to the operation of washing and dressing his infant boy.

When his child arrived at such an age as to be able to apply himself to study, the father became his tutor, and would not allow any other to assist him in the discharge of what he considered the first and most important of his duties. One of his friends advised him to entrust a slave, who was an honest man, with a share of the painful and disagreeable duty. "It is neither painful nor disagreeable," replied he, " and though it were, do you believe I could patiently look upon a slave pulling the ears of my son?"

2. A certain man having been informed that his son had entered into a conspiracy to kill him, took him one day to a solitary place, and drawing forth a dagger that he had concealed under his garment, and presenting it to his son, said, "take this, and appease your rage by the death of him who gave you life." The son, struck with these words as by a thunder-bolt, instantly prostrated himself at the feet of his father, and entreated him to use the dagger against his unworthy and guilty son. The father raised, comforted, and embraced

him, and they both returned to the city; the son overwhelmed with shame and regret, and the father unchanged in parental affection.

And

3. Agesilaus, king of Lacedemon, one of the greatest princes that ever reigned in Greece, seemed to forget, in the bosom of his family, all the grandeur that surrounded him, and to give himself entirely up to the pleasure of caressing and amusing his son, as yet an infant. Greece saw with surprise this monarch, the terror of the enemies of Sparta, ride on a hobbyhorse to amuse the heir to his throne. A jester was one day witness of this scene, ridiculous in the estimation of a vulgar mind, and began to laugh in the presence of Agesilaus. "Friend," said the prince, "restrain your laughter for the present, wait till you become a father, before you ridicule one who is so."

The World Unseen.

There is a world with blessings blest
Beyond what prophets e'er foretold;
Nor might the tongue of angel guest
A picture of that world unfold.

It is all holy and serene,

The land of glory and repose;
No darkness dims the radiant scene,
Nor sorrow's tear within it flows.

It is not fann'd by summer gale,
'Tis not refresh'd by vernal showers;
It never needs the moon-beam pale,
For there are known no evening hours,