Breathless he waited. The band-the whole band, struck up a little plaintive melody; he knew it, and clapped his hands for joy. And, O, how she sung it! It was so simple, so mournful, so soulsubduing-many a bright eye dimmed with tears; and naught could be heard but the touching words of that little song-O, so touching! Pierre walked home as if he were walking on the air. What cared he for money now? The greatest singer in all Europe had sung his little song, and thousands had wept at his grief. The next day, he was frightened at a visit from Madame Malibran. She laid her hand on his yellow curls, and turning to the sick woman, said: "Your little boy, madam, has brought you a fortune. I was offered, this morning, by the best publisher in London, three hundred pounds for his little song; and after he has realized a certain amount from the sale, little Pierre, here, is to share the profits. Madam, thank God that your son has a gift from Heaven." The noble-hearted singer and the poor woman wept together. As to Pierre-always mindful of Him who watches over the tried and tempted-he knelt down by his mother's bedside and uttered a simple but eloquent prayer, asking God's blessing on the kind lady who had deigned to notice their affliction. The memory of that prayer made the singer even more tender-hearted; and she who was the idol of England's nobility went about doing good. And in her early, happy death, he who stood by her bed, smoothed her pillow, and lightened her last moments by his undying affection, was the little Pierre of former days,-now rich, accomplished, and the most talented composer of the day. All honor to those great hearts, who, from their high station, send down bounty to the widow, and to the fatherless child. Biography.-Madame Malibran, the celebrated vocalist, was born in Paris, in 1808. While she was still very young, her reputation as a singer extended over Europe, and she was everywhere received with the greatest enthusiasm. The admiration which she won as a vocalist, was increased by the many kind acts done by her in private life. Her generosity was remarkable, and the large sums of money which she gained were expended in works of benevolence. Her early death, in 1836, was universally deplored. Notes. — Pierre is a French name, corresponding to our name Peter. The term composer is applied only to authors of musical compositions. Elocution. In what manner should the descriptive parts of the lesson be read?-the conversational? How many different persons are introduced as speakers? The words of each person should be delivered in such a manner as to express the feelings with which they were uttered. What different feelings or sentiments receive expression in the lesson? Language. In the sentence-"Thousands had wept at his grief,” if the word thousands is thought to convey a meaning greater than the truth, we say that it is an example of hy per bo le or exaggeration. "As if walking on the air" means that the happy feelings of Pierre made him forgetful of the effort of walking. The expres sion is both a comparison and hyperbole. Since the meaning we give to the words used in the above comparison is different from what would usually be given to them, the words are said to be employed in a figurative sense. Figures of comparison are of two kinds: 1. Sim'ile, when an introductory word such as like, as, or similar words, is employed; 2. Met'a phor, when the introductory word is omitted. Composition.-Select four points in the story, that are of special importance, and treat them in your own language. What constitutes a paragraph in writing prose? Does conversation come under the rules for paragraphing? 5. ANECDOTES ABOUT ANTS. PART I. ehlō'ro fôrmed, rendered sense less by chloroform. an ten'næ, feelers of insects. In di vidū al, a single one. eon dĕmed', sentenced to pun re şist'ançe, opposition. The behavior of ants toward one another differs much, according to circumstances-whether, for instance, they are alone, or supported by friends. An ant which would run away in the first case, will defend itself bravely in the second. On one occasion, several ants belonging to one of my nests were feeding on some honey spread on a slip of glass. One of them had got thoroughly entangled in it. I took her and put her down just in front of another individual belonging to the same nest, and close by I placed a drop of honey. The ant devoted herself to the honey and entirely neglected her friend, whom she left to perish. I then chloroformed one, and put her on the board among her friends. Several touched her, but while I watched them for two or three hours, none took any particular notice of her. On the other hand, I have only on one occasion seen a living ant expelled from her nest. I observed once an ant carrying another belonging to the same community away from the nest. The condemned ant made a very feeble resistance. The first ant carried her burden hither and thither for some time, evidently trying to get away from the nest, which was enclosed by a barrier of fur. After watching for some time, I provided the ant with a paper bridge, up which she immediately went, dropped her victim on the far side, and returned home. Could this have been a case in which an aged or invalid ant was being expelled from the nest? In order to test the affection of ants belonging to the same nest for one another, I made the following experiments. I took six ants from one of my nests and imprisoned them in a bottle, one end of which was covered with a layer of muslin. I then put the muslin close to the door of the nest. The muslin was of open texture, the meshes, however, being sufficiently small to prevent the ants from escaping. They could not only see one another, but could also communicate freely with their antennæ. We now watched to see whether the prisoners would be tended or fed by their friends. We could not see, however, that the least notice was taken of them. The experiment, nevertheless, was less conclusive than could be wished, because they might have been fed at night, or at some time when we were not looking. It struck me, therefore, that it would be interesting to treat some strangers also in the same manner. Accordingly, I put two ants from one of my nests into a bottle, the end of which was tied up with muslin, as described, and laid it down close to the nest. In a second bottle I put two ants from another nest of the same species. The ants which were at liberty took no notice of the bottle containing their imprisoned friends. The strangers in the other bottle, on the contrary, excited them considerably. The whole day, one, two, or more ants stood sentry, as it were, over the bottle. In the evening no less than twelve were collected around it-a larger number than usually came out of the nest at any one time. The whole of the next two days, in the same way, there were several ants round the bottle containing the strangers; while, as far as we could see, no notice whatever was taken of the friends. Seven days after, the ants had eaten through the muslin and effected an entrance. We did not chance to be on the spot at the moment; but as I found two ants lying dead-one in the bottle and one just outside-I think that there can be no doubt that the strangers were put to death. The friends throughout were quite neglected. In one of my nests, was an ant without antennæ. Never having previously met with such a case, 1 watched her with great interest; but she never appeared to leave the nest. At length, one day, I found her wandering about in an aimless sort of manner, and apparently not knowing her way at all. After a while she fell in with some specimens of the little yellow ant, that directly attacked her. I at once set myself to separate them; but owing either to the wounds she had received from her enemies, or to my rough though well-meant handling, or to both, she was evidently much wounded, and lay helplessly on the ground. After some time another ant from her nest came by. She examined the poor sufferer carefully, then picked her up gently and carried her away into the nest. It |