THE ANT AND THE CRICKET.

A SILLY young Cricket, accustom❜d to sing

Through the warm sunny months of gay summer and spring,

Began to complain, when he found that at home

His cupboard was empty, and winter was come.
Not a crumb to be found

On the snow-cover'd ground;
Not a flower could he see;

Not a leaf on a tree:

"Oh! what will become," says the cricket," of me?"

At last, by starvation and famine mode bold,
All dripping with wet, and all trembling with cold,
Away he set off to a miserly Ant,

To see if, to keep him alive, he would grant

Him shelter from rain,

A mouthful of grain:

He wish'd only to borrow;

He'd repay it to-morrow;

If not, he must die of starvation and sorrow.

Says the Ant to the Cricket, "I'm your servant and friend, But we ants never borrow, we ants never lend:

But tell me, dear Cricket, did you lay nothing by When the weather was warm?" Quoth the cricket, "Not I!

My heart was so light,

That I sang day and night,
For all nature work'd gay."
"You SANG, sir, you say?

Go then," says the Ant," and dance winter away."

Thus ending, he hastily lifted the wicket,
And out of the door kick'd the poor little Cricket.

Folks call this a fable: I'll warrant it true,—
Some crickets have four legs, and some have but two.

[SELECTED.]

THOUGH few of you, perhaps, have seen this magnificent bird of prey in a wild state, many, I dare say, have seen it in menageries, and been astonished when it spread out its enormous wings. It was once a much more common bird in these islands, and lived among the rocks and mountains; but soon leaves places where there are many inhabitants. The eagle loves to dwell in high, rocky, and desolate places, where a human being is rarely or never seen; and to build its nest on crags, where no one can molest them. You will, perhaps, recollect a verse in the Bible, which

says; "though thou shouldst make thy nest as high as the eagle, yet will I bring thee down from thence." These nests are not usually built in trees, like those of other birds, nor shaped in the same way. They are commonly nothing more than a few sticks, covered with hay or straw, and laid flat upon the bare rock.

The eagle is a bird possessing immense strength, and its thick crooked talons and long hooked beak, mark it at once as a bird of prey. It is also exceedingly fierce and rapacious. You will perhaps recollect, also, that it is spoken of in the Bible, as a swift bird; indeed, it is usually considered as the swiftest. One passage is, "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from afar, as swift as the eagle flieth" (Deut. xxvii. 49). And when Job wishes to express the rapidity with which life flies, he uses also the figure of the eagle, "My days are passed away, as an eagle that hasteth to the prey."

Another fact which is called to mind by a passage in the Psalms, is, that the eagle sheds its feathers every spring, and new ones come out. It looks, then, almost like a young bird. The passage we refer to is in the 103rd Psalm : "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's."

We must not waste your time, however,

in giving you a long account of the eagle, nor in relating to you anecdotes of its strength and rapacity. Most likely you possess some work on natural history, where you will find a full description of this king of birds, and of its habits. All we want to do, now, is to call your attention to the correspondence of the eagle, when mentioned in the Holy Word.

You know all birds have reference to the understanding, from their power to rise above the earth, and soar in the atmosphere, just as our thoughts can rise above all earthly things, and ponder upon heaven and our Father in heaven. But such birds would be harmless and useful; so when we think of the eagle as a fierce and rapacious bird of prey, we must not expect to find it corresponding to any principle of our understanding when in a state of order. The eagle, being so bold and strong, corresponds to our reason. If this reason be exerted in favour of what is false, that is, if we use our reasoning powers, to make what we know to be wrong appear to be right, and especially if we were to try to lead others to do what is wrong, by making them believe it to be right, then our reason becomes like the rapacious eagle, and kills within us all kind, and good, and innocent affections, and only allows those to live which are unholy, like itself. When man arrives by the pursuit of wickedness at this deplorable state, he re

How

joices in his endeavour to stifle his conscience, and to crush every feeling of remorse. strikingly did the Lord represent such a state, when he said, "Where the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together."

But the eagle is sometimes spoken of in a good sense, and we will say a word or two on this before we conclude. The eagle has a most piercing sight. When far up in the sky, so far as to look to you like a mere speck, it can frequently discern a small animal on the ground, and will dart down and seize it. Its eye is also very curious; you have perhaps heard that it can look directly at the bright sun, which you know you cannot do. The reason is, it has something like an inner eyelid, only very thin, which it can draw over its eye like a curtain, whenever the light is too strong. Now this looking directly at the sun, and soaring towards it, makes the eagle also representative of our reason, when we rightly use it, to confirm truth. For in this case truth shows us what is evil, and helps us to shun it, as a sin against God. When we do this, you know we become better as well as wiser, and are elevated towards heaven, and towards the Lord. Like the eagle, then, we shall become far sighted, as well as clear sighted, and be able at once to understand truths that we could not understand before, and also to judge between what