THE TWO SPARROWS.-(German) Anon. ONE very dry summer two sparrows suffered very much. Indeed, they were both very nearly at their last. "Collect your strength once more, if you can, my dear brother," said the weaker of the two; "fly round, and see if you can't find anything anywhere to eat. I would willingly fly with you, but I am no longer able. But I beg of you to be quickly back, else I shall die of hunger." The stronger one promised to be back as fast as he could, and flew off. Fortune favoured him in his search, for he came upon a cherry-tree full of ripe fruit. "Oh!" said he, "my friend and I are saved." He flew to it, tasted the cherries, found them very fine, and satisfied his hunger to the full. An hour passed over, and the sun was now near its setting. He thought he would now fly with a few cherries to his companion. "Yet no, no," thinks he again, "I am too tired yet, I shall first eat this cherry, and then that one.” So he keeps on, flutters from branch to branch, till darkness overtakes him, and he falls asleep. In the morning, when he wakes, his first thought is about his forsaken friend, and he picks some cherries, and flies off with them to him. He finds him lying on his back-dead. DICTATION.-The weaker sparrow might have lived if the stronger one had kept his promise. How cruel to let night overtake him on the cherry-tree, after he had satisfied his hunger, without flying off to his companion. His forsaken friend died while he was fluttering from branch to branch. QUESTIONS.-What two birds is this story about? What had happened to them? What did the stronger one promise? What did he find? What did he do? When did he flv back? What did he find there? THE FLY.-Oldys. ON A FLY DRINKING OUT OF THE AUTHOR'S CUP. Busy, curious, thirsty fly! Drink with me, and drink as I! Both alike are mine and thine, OBJECT LESSON. What is made from Cream? How is it made? The cream is put into a churn, which is a large high pail with a handle that lifts up and down, and splashes the milk inside till the butter separates from the milk. But churns are of different shapes. The great end in all is to shake the milk till the butter floats on it. The milk is made thick and a little sour by the churning. What is Cheese? It is milk made solid by what is called rennet. How is it made into Cheeses? It is pressed so that all the Whey is squeezed out, and then it is salted and dried. WORDS TO THINK ABOUT EVERY DAY. THE way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. The memory of the just is blessed but the name of the wicked shall rot. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. He that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. Whoso keepeth his mouth and tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion. Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. In the following words, the second of each pair has the s sounded Ab'sent absent' Ab'stract abstract' Accent accent' to rub with grease purpose, design to employ, to treat Words spelt" alike," but "accented" differently. Attribute a quality of any one husband or wife to associate dispute to dispute an agreement to shrink, to engage Contrast comparison of opposites to speak with Convert one turned to other views to sound an accent attribute to ascribe to a glue to unite a co-worker contrast' Con'verse converse' to compare opposite familiar speech USEFUL KNOWLEDGE LESSONS. LESSON 1. ABOUT HOUSES. 1. Of what are our houses built? They are generally built of bricks or stone, but in some parts of England a few are still built of wood. 2. Are all houses built of the same materials? No. In new countries, such as the Colonies, and the newer parts of the United States, they are very often built of wood only. In Japan the outside wall of many houses is only paper, let down over a frame-work of wood by night, and drawn up, like a window-blind, by day. In Kamtschatka the houses for use in winter are mostly underground, for warmth. In China a great many people live in boats, on the rivers and harbours. In Greenland the Esquimaux make their houses of blocks of snow, built in the shape of beehives, water being thrown over them to freeze them into a solid mass. In savage countries the only houses are huts, or wigwams, of skins of beasts, or bark of trees, or leaves, or some such frail material; and in some warm countries no shelter is used at all, at least for the greater part of the year. 3. Can you tell me some of the strange customs of some parts in building their houses? Some tribes in South Africa build their huts on the branches of trees, to protect themselves from the wild beasts, and from their enemies; some dig out holes in the earth and live in them, as, for example, the tribe found living in this way by Dr. Livingstone; some build their houses on posts over a river or lake, as in the case of the city of Bangkok, the capital of Siam, which is built over the river Menam, and the fishermen's houses in Cambodgia, in Cochin China, which are built over the waters of lakes and rivers. 4. What were the earliest dwelling-places known in Britain ? The caves by the sea-side. The remains of the earliest known inhabitants of Britain are still found in such places. 5. Of what were the houses of the British built in Cæsar's time— B.C. 55 ? They were built either of wood or of earth and wattlework, that is, twisted rods and twigs. Many of them seem to have been built on rising ground, with their lower part cut into the slope, so as to be protected on three sides. Such excavations are still found on the chalk downs in different parts of England. 6. What kind of houses had they in the Saxon times ? Chiefly of earth or wood, very rude, and of only one story, though the richer classes had rough stone houses in some cases. These houses of the chiefs were usually built on high ground, so as to command a wide view. All the |