that wisdom is better than riches, and that, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"; and this son, as the result of that father's teaching, had in his early years made the wise choice recorded in the first chapter of the 2nd Chronicles. And having so reaped the advantage of right early training himself, he laid down this proverb,-" Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it "; and which we have before given in other words, "the child is father to the man.'

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And now we will apply what has gone before to ourselves; for if we would see an industrious nation, we must secure industrious pupils in our schools. "That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store, and that there may be no complaining in our streets," King David 66 that saw, our sons must be as plants grown up in their youth, and our daughters as polished corner stones.'

You all know that at school there are boys and girls who are seldom or never ready with their lessons. At night their excuse is, "There is no hurry, there will be plenty of time in the morning; " and in the morning it is still the same, "they have no need to set to early, it is not much they have to do, and it will be all done before they go to school." At last, however, they find it too late to attempt it at all; and to school they go, all unready for its duties. They are ill at ease with themselves, and ready to complain of any duties that they may have to perform.

On the other hand, the pupils who "took time by the forelock," and did their lessons first, found that they not only had time to do them, but to do them well. They had time to spare for recreation, and went to school next day as merry as crickets, their books neatly placed in their satchels, their memory lessons well in their heads; and so, with bright faces and merry voices, gave their teacher kindly greeting.

Now, in these two classes of young persons we see exactly those who make the future nation. We all reap as we sow. The dilatory and idle school-boy is in the way to become the lazy man; while the earnest and diligent scholar is on the road to become the industrious, and therefore the successful, worker.

But not only are idle habits bad in their consequences upon others, they are bad in themselves. If your teacher were to select ten of his best and also ten of his worst learners, we venture to predict that the first group would contain more merry laughing faces, more good cricketers and football players, than the second group would.

The old proverb, "Better wear out than rust out" is quite true. Work is like friction, it is necessary to keep the frame in order. Let a machine get rusty for want of use, and you know how it jars and grates and groans when set in motion again. "The sleep of a labouring man is sweet," for the simple reason that he has laboured; while the slothful man tosses

and turns and cannot sleep, just because he has not earned the rest.

Home Exercise.-1. Define rural, royal, recorded, proverb, pupil, and diligent. 2. Write out some of Solomon's words of wisdom on the matter of industry and idleness. 3. What is the true relation between play or recreation and work?

THE LADY-BIRD AND THE ANT.

Damask, of a bright red

colour.

Adjusted, put in place. Haughty, having high notions of one's self.

Blast, a strong, sudden wind.

Amazed, in a state of
wonder.

Chill, cold and damp.
Sneer, an act that shows contempt.

THE lady-bird sat in the rose's heart
And smiled with pride and scorn,
As she saw a plain-dressed ant go by
With a heavy grain of corn.

So she drew the curtains of damask round,

And adjusted her silken vest,

Making her glass of a drop of dew

That lay in the rose's breast.

Then she laughed so loud that the ant looked up,

And seeing her haughty face,

Took no more notice, but travelled on
At the same industrious pace.

But a sudden blast of autumn came,
And rudely swept the ground,

And down the rose with the lady-bird fell
And scattered its leaves around.

Then the houseless lady was much amazed,
And knew not where to go,

For coarse November's early blast
Had brought both rain and snow.

Her wings were chill and her feet were cold,
And she wished for the ant's warm cell;
And what she did when the winter came,
I'm sure I cannot tell.

But the careful ant was in her nest,
With her little ones by her side,
She taught them all, like herself, to toil,
Nor mind the sneer of pride.

And I thought as I sat at the close of day,
Eating my bread and milk,

'Twas wiser to work and improve the time, Than be idle and dress in silk.

Home Exercise.-1. Learn the first (four) stanzas. 2. Parse fully the verbs and adverbs in the first stanza. 3. Write the substance of the foregoing fable in simple prose.

AIR AND WATER. Uniformity, sameness, Calculated, worked out by figures.

Motion, a continuous change of place. Perceptible, capable of being known by the

senses.

SCIENCE, No. 12. Tropical, relating to the tropics or parts near the equator. Accumulates, increases in quantity.

Modified, altered in form. Complicated, made up of many parts

were

How dreary and lifeless the earth would be without water, we cannot say. It is true that if the waters of the seas and oceans drawn off, there would then be revealed broad and deep land hollows; but the very uniformity of the ocean level tends to form a basis from which the rise of the land may be observed and calculated.

And when we consider the facts relating to the laws of solids and fluids, and the effects of different degrees of heat upon them, we very soon conclude that there is wondrous wisdom and goodness in the arrangement by which the waters are gathered together in the hollows of the solid earth crust, while at the same time the entire sphere is surrounded by a. still lighter fluid which we call the Atmosphere. Why we consider them together, will appear as we proceed.

You must first accept, on the authority of those who have very fully examined the matter, a few basis facts. Of the entire surface of the earth, about three-fifths consists of water. This ocean water varies in depth as well as in colour and other details. The earth's atmosphere extends to a height of about forty-five