FREDERICK AND HIS PAGE. 21 Spot was buried in a waste corner of the garden, and it was not till Charlie grew a big boy, and had other things to ATTRACT his notice, that he forgot the little pet of his early days. We see from his case that we should always have a kind feeling towards dumb animals, and ESPECIALLY those that are fond of us and are useful to us. Little Charlie learnt-what sooner or later all must learnthat we must bear troubles and part with our most FAVOURITE pets. EXERCISE. What made Spot fond of Charlie? What was the cause of Spot's death?' How did Charlie show his sorrow at the loss of his dog? What should this lesson teach us? FREDERICK THE GREAT, king of PRUSSIA, was a very curious, but also a very clever man. One day he rang the bell for his page to come to him. A page is a little boy who runs on errands in great houses, and waits upon people who live there. But when the king rang, no one came to answer the bell. The king then opened the door, and found the page had gone to sleep. He saw a letter hanging out of his pocket, and, being curious, he took it out and read it. It was a letter from the boy's mother, thanking him for sending her part of his wages, for which God would reward him, if he CONTINUED to serve the king well. Having read this note, the king went out, fetched some money, and slipped it into the boy's pockets. Then he went back to his room, and rang so loud, that the page awoke. When he came into the room, the king said, "Surely you have been asleep." The boy STAMMERED out an EXCUSE, and, putting his hands into his pockets, found the money there. Some boys would have been glad at this, and said nothing about it to any one. But this page was an honest lad, who knew he had not EARNED the money, and thought it did not belong to him. So he drew it out, pale and TREMBLING, but unable to speak a word. "What is the matter?" said the king, *"Alas, your MAJESTY," said the boy, falling upon his knees, "some one wishes to do me harm. I know nothing about this money which was in my pocket." Then the king was pleased with his honesty, and told him to send the money to his mother, as a reward for bringing up her son so well. We never lose by being STRICTLY honest in everything that we do. If this boy had said nothing about the money the king had put in his pocket, his master would not have trusted him so much. But when he found out how THOROUGHLY honest he was, he took care to help him as much as he could. EXERCISE. Who was Frederick? How did the boy obtain the money? What had he used to do with his wages? How was he rewarded for his honesty? LESSON VIII. THE SHOP WINDOW.-PART I. LIV'-ER-POOL, a seaport DE-SIGN'-ER, one who draws MER'-CER, one who sells silks, cotton prints, and goods of a similar kind. CUR-RANTS, dried fruit. CONTENTS, the inside of anything. COM-MERCE, exchange of goods between different countries. PERHAPS it may be thought that there is not much to be said about a shop window. Well, of the window itself we shall not say much, but go on to mention those nice things which are placed in the window for show and sale. There are few persons indeed that can pass through the streets of our towns without stopping, for a few minutes at least, in front of some shop window to look at its CONTENTS. The shopkeepers know this, and it is part of their business, therefore, to show their goods in the best way they can, and make the window look quite gay. It is the custom in many towns at Christmas to take more than usual care and trouble in placing the goods in the window, so as to attract the eye of the person passing by, as well as to do honour to this joyful season. The grocer will sometimes form, with ginger, a short sentence, like "I wish you a merry Christmas!" or "A happy new year to you!" Then there are the pretty fancy boxes, with pictures on the lids, which he puts in the window to be seen. And what a heap of CURRANTS he will pile up, and then put a large lump of white sugar on them, with some figs around it. How sweet they all look, to be sure! It makes the mouth water to look at them. The tea, coffee, sugar, soap, spices, raisins, candles, and other articles of this kind, which we require for our use, we get from the grocer. But he does not make them. The soap and candles are made in England, but the other things which have been named come from abroad. Tea we get from China, coffee from Arabia, sugar from the WEST INDIES, and spices from India. These are brought to our country in ships, and these ships take to these far-off countries goods which are made in England, so that there is a kind of exchange going on. This exchange of goods is sometimes spoken of as COMMERCE. The ships have to be built, then sailors have to be employed to manage them, and then a long voyage has to be taken, before the grocer can have those sweet things which are to be seen in his window. But we must leave the grocer's window, and peep in at the mercer's. Ah, Mr. MERCER! you look very smart. Where did you get those pretty dress pieces from? I think I know. The silk ones came, in the first place, from the fine thread of the silkworm. The cotton, from which the others were made, came either from the United States in America, or from India. It was brought to LIVERPOOL in bales, and then sent to some town in Lancashire -- perhaps, Manchester-to be made into pieces ready to be sent to the shop window. What pretty colours and patterns some of these goods have! Yes; it was the business of the dyer to give them the colour; and the pattern was first made by a man called a DESIGNER. A designer is one who makes fresh patterns; he draws all kinds of pretty figures, and according to his pattern the weaver makes the piece of cloth, or the pattern printer prints it on the piece of cloth after it is woven. The French people are very clever in drawing pretty patterns, such as people fancy, and they are therefore before us in this art; but by paying more attention to the study of Drawing, we hope soon to be as good as they are. That long ribbon was made at Coventry, and those THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM. 25 pocket handkerchiefs, with pictures on, were made in Lancashire. I had one, on which there was the picture of a cat running after a mouse, but she never caught it! Of course, I often put pussy and the mouse in my pocket, and very quiet they were. In another lesson we shall read of shop windows of another kind. EXERCISE. What does the grocer sell? Where are coffee and tea obtained from? Where is cotton manufactured? What is a designer? What does the cotton printer do? What people are good pattern makers? What study will assist in making nice patterns? [This poem was written by Robert Southey, who died in 1843. The battle of Blenheim took place in Germany, in 1704, between the English and the French. The English won the day.] It was a summer evening, Old Kaspar's work was done; And by him sported on the green She saw her brother Peterkin Roll something large and round, He came to ask what he had found, |