me a hundred crowns, and I will give you a piece of good advice."

The company at first paid no attention to this strange demand; they fancied that the man was either a fool or an impudent cheat. But as he continued to follow them, repeating the same cry, the king's curiosity was awakened, and, turning to the dervis, he asked, "What advice is this, my friend, that you value at so large a sum of money?" "Sire," answered the man, "deign to give me the money, and you shall hear it. Believe me, you will never regret the bargain." The king, expecting to hear something extraordinary, bade his treasurer, who was in attendance, count out the sum demanded by the dervis, who, after receiving it, uttered this weighty maxim: "Begin nothing without considering what the end may be."

The courtiers smiled at the rashness of the dervis, and the apparent simplicity of their master. They expected that the king would either treat the matter as a pleasant jest, or threaten the insolent priest with punishment. But to their surprise he was neither amused nor angry. Turning to his smiling attendants, he said, in a serious tone, "Why do you laugh? I see nothing ridiculous in this good man's advice; on the contrary, it seems to me most wise and salutary. This maxim shall be my rule of conduct in future; and that it may always be before me, I shall have it engraved upon my plate, and written in distinct characters on every door and wall of my palace."

Some time after this, one of the chief nobles, a proud and ambitious man, conceived the wicked design of murdering the king and seizing the throne. The better to accomplish this purpose, he secured the confidence of one of the court surgeons, to whom he gave a poisoned lancet,

saying, "Bleed the king with this lancet, and I will give you a thousand pieces of gold; and, when I ascend the throne, you shall be my vizier." The surgeon yielded to the temptation, and waited for an opportunity of committing the cowardly crime.

He had not long to wait. In a few days the king felt faint and ill, and desired to be bled. The surgeon, concealing the poisoned lancet in his pocket, hastened into the royal chamber, and prepared to perform the operation. Having bandaged the king's arm, he was about to plunge the fatal weapon into the vein, when his eye caught an inscription on the basin that had been brought to receive the blood. The words were these: "Begin nothing without considering what the end may be."

On reading these words his hand shook, and his face

grew pale with fear. "What am I going to do?" he

reflected. "The king will certainly die, and I shall be put to a cruel death: and then, what will all the gold and honours in the world avail me?" This thought flashed through his mind with the rapidity of lightning; and, with visible agitation, he hastily returned the poisoned lancet to his pocket, and drew out another.

The king, observing this action, asked him why he had changed the instrument. The terrified surgeon stammered out in explanation that the second lancet was sharper than the first; but his manner was so confused that the king's suspicions were aroused. Starting up from his couch, he exclaimed, "There is treachery in this! Tell me instantly what it means: a full confession alone will save your life.' The culprit immediately fell upon his knees, and related the whole matter, confessing that, but for the warning inscription on the basin, he would have used the deadly lancet.

The surgeon's life was spared, but he was dismissed in disgrace from the royal service. The court was summoned, and the traitor was arrested and hurried off to execution; and then the king, addressing the other nobles, said, "You see now that the dervis did not ask too much for his advice. The poor man has not been sufficiently rewarded. He is worthy of the highest honours; for he has saved my life. From this day he shall live in my house and eat at my table."-From the German.

Tar'tary-or Turkestan, a country in Asia.

Der'vis-a priest. Among the Mahometans there are many classes of dervises. They all profess extreme poverty, and depend for their livelihood on the charity of the people.

Plate-articles for domestic use made of gold or silver.

Viz'ier-a high officer of state in Turkey and other Oriental countries.

QUESTIONS.

Where was the king going? Who were with him? Whom did they overtake? What did the dervis cry? What did the courtiers think about him? Why did the king address the dervis? What did he ask? What was the reply? What did the king then do? What was the man's advice? How did the nobles regard the matter? What was the king's opinion? What did he resolve to do? After this, what did one of the nobles do? Whose help did he obtain?

at what price? How was the deed to be done? Who was summoned to attend the king? What did the surgeon intend to use? What arrested his hand? What thought passed through his mind? What did he then do? How were the king's suspicions aroused? What did the surgeon do? How was he punished? What became of the traitor? How was the dervis rewarded?

Spell verbs formed from-sad, mad, sweet, red, fat, ripe, grief, thief, dark, moist, length, strength, proof, knee, bath, cloth, breath, sheath.

DICTATION.

The priest was neither a fool nor a cheat. Believe me, friend, the chief has deceived you. How did your niece receive this piece of advice? The castle was besieged, and the garrison yielded. He can wield both sword and pen. If I had leisure, I would plough the field. Their neighbours feigned to be foreigners. The sovereign had already reigned eight years. We are grieved to think he is a thief.

THOU art, O God, the life and light
Of all this wondrous world we see;
Its glow by day, its smile by night,
Are but reflections caught from Thee:
Where'er we turn, Thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are Thine!

When Day, with farewell beam, delays
Among the opening clouds of Even,
And we can almost think we gaze

Through golden vistas into Heaven-
Those hues that mark the sun's decline,
So soft, so radiant, Lord, are Thine.

When Night, with wings of starry gloom,
O'ershadows all the earth and skies,
Like some dark, beauteous bird, whose plume
Is sparkling with a thousand eyes-
That sacred gloom, those fires divine,
So grand, so countless, Lord, are Thine.

When youthful Spring around us breathes
Thy Spirit warms her fragrant sigh;
And every flower that Summer wreathes
Is born beneath that kindling eye:
Where'er we turn, Thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are Thine!
-Moore (1779-1852).

Spell adjectives formed from--wonder, gold, star, beauty, count, youth, kindle, sparkle, gloom, glory, earth, fire.

DICTATION.

Who does not admire the beauteous hues of nature? The mason hews from six o'clock till noon. Bring me Hugh's new shoes. Countless gems are sparkling in the starry heavens. What a glorious sunset! The father drove his son to the fair. What is the fare between Edinburgh and Glasgow? Buy me some flowers to-morrow. Will the miller send the flour to-night? He received a large sum of money. I have a pain in my eye. The night is dark and gloomy. The gallant knight reîned in his fiery steed.

Pronounce :-Mer'-cu-ry, Ve'-nus, Ju'-pi-ter, Să-turn, U'-ra-nus,

Nep'-tune.

THE heavens appear to us like a vast hollow dome, thickly studded with stars, which shine like so many brilliant gems of light. Each of these stars is an immense globe, many thousand times larger than our earth; and it is their great distance from us that makes them seem as if they were mere shining points.

In a clear night about two thousand stars are visible without the aid of a telescope. These appear to us of different sizes and degrees of brightness. The largest and brightest are said to be of the first magnitude; the next