fly high, fine weather may be expected; but when they fly low, or close to the ground, rain is approaching. Is this a true omen ?

Teacher. Swallows follow the flies and gnats, and these insects seek the warm strata of the atmosphere. Now, as warm air is lighter, and usually moister, than cold air, the farther the warm strata of the atmosphere are above the surface of the earth, the less chance there is that the moisture will be precipitated by its admixture with the cold air. Then the flight of the swallows, as they chase the flies and gnats, shows where the warm and vapor-bearing currents of the atmosphere are, and in this way indicates the probabilities of rain-storms.

Pupil. When sea-gulls assemble on the land, I have noticed that very stormy weather was approaching; and the other day I heard an old sea-captain say that these birds retire to the land to find shelter, perceiving the coming tempest by the currents of air from the ocean. Is that a correct explanation of this omen?

Teacher. I think not. The storm is the element of these birds. The little petrel enjoys the heaviest gale, because, living on the smaller sea-insects, he is sure to find his food in the spray of the heavy waves; and therefore you may often see him flitting above the crest of the highest billows.

Pupil. Ah! then you think the gulls come to the land to find their food' ?

Teacher. Certainly; and if you watch them when assembled in this way, you will notice them greedily picking up and devouring the earth-worms and larvæ of insects, washed out of the ground by severe rains and floods. The search after food. is the principal cause of animals changing their places. It is for this reason that vultures follow armies. Doubtless, the augury of the ancients was chiefly founded upon their observation of the instinct of birds.

Pupil. Are all omens capable of so simple an explanation as these we have spoken of?

Teacher. There are certain vulgar superstitions, such as the spilling of salt being an omen of misfortune or bad luck, or the ticking of a little insect foreboding death, and hence called the "death-watch." All these, having no foundation in reason or common-sense, are incapable of explanation. They are simply idle notions, unworthy of notice or credence. As science has advanced, popular superstitions have disappeared; and a rational account can generally be given of almost everything which, to the uneducated mind, appears to be mysterious or inexplicable.

Davy. (Adapted.)

LESSON LXIX.

WALKING 1HE STREETS.

1. Have you ever walked through the crowded streets of a great city? What shoals of people pouring in from opposite quarters, like torrents meeting in a narrow valley! You would imagine it impossible for them to get through; yet all pass on their way without stop or molestation.

2. Were each man to proceed exactly in the line in which he set out, he could not move many paces without encountering another full in his track. They would strike against each other, fall back, push forward again, block up the way for themselves and those after them, and thus throw the whole street into confusion.

3. All this is avoided by every man yielding a little. Instead of advancing square, stiff, with arms stuck out, every one who knows how to walk the streets glides along with his arms close to his body, and his track gently winding. Now he leaves a few inches on this side, now on that, so as to

pass and be passed without touching, and so as to move in the smallest possible space. By mutual accommodation, the path, though narrow, admits them all.

4. If any one wishes to go with a much faster or much slower pace than others who are proceeding in the same direction, he endeavors to accommodate himself to their convenience, and passes them without molestation. If any accidental stop arises, from a carriage crossing, a cask rolled, or the like, he does not increase the bustle by rushing into the midst of it, but checks his pace, and patiently awaits the removal of the obstruction.

5. Like this is the march of life. In our progress through the world, a thousand things continually stand in our way. Some people meet us with opposite opinions and inclinations; some stand before us in our pursuit of pleasure or interest, and others follow close upon our heels. Now, we ought to consider, that the road is as free for one as for another; and therefore we have no right to expect that persons should go out of their way to let us pass, any more than that we should go out of ours to permit them to pass.

6. If, then, we do not mutually yield a little, and thus accommodate each other, it is clear that we must all stand still, or be thrown into a perpetual confusion by crowding and jostling. If we are all in a hurry to get on as fast as possible to some point of pleasure or interest in our view, and do not occasionally hold back, when the crowd gathers and angry contentions arise, we shall only augment the tumult, without advancing our own progress.

7. On the whole, it is our business to move onward, steadily, but quietly, obstructing others as little as possible, yielding a little to this man's prejudices and that man's desires, and doing everything in our power to make the journey of life easy to all our fellow-travelers as well as to ourselves.

Dr. Aiken.

LESSON LXX.

THE SHIP ON FIRE.

1. There was joy in the ship, as she furrowed the foam;
For fond hearts within her were dreaming of home.
The young mother pressed fondly her babe to her breast,
And sang a sweet song as she rocked it to rest;
And the husband sat cheerily down by her side,
And looked with delight in the face of his bride.

2. "O, happy!" said he, "when our roaming is o'er,
We'll dwell in a cottage that stands by the shore!
Already, in fancy, its roof I descry,

And the smoke of its hearth curling up to the sky;
Its garden so green, and its vine-covered wall,

And the kind friends awaiting to welcome us all."

3. Hark! hark! what was that? Hark! hark to the shout!— Fire! FIRE!" then a tramp and a rush and a rout,

And an uproar of voices arose in the air.

And the mother knelt down; and the half-spoken prayer
That she offered to God in her agony wild,

Was, "Father, have mercy! look down on my child!”
She flew to her husband, she clung to his side:
O, there was her refuge, whatever betide!

4. Fire! FIRE! it is raging above and below;

And the smoke and hot cinders all blindingly blow.
The cheek of the sailor grew pale at the sight,
And his eyes glistened wild in the glare of the light.
The smoke, in thick wreaths, mounted higher and higher!—
O God! it is fearful to perish by fire!

5. Alone with destruction! alone on the sea!
Great Father of Mercy, our hope is in Thee!

They prayed for the light; and at noontide about,
The sun o'er the waters shone joyously out.

A sail, ho! a sail!" cried the man on the lee;

"A sail!" and they turned their glad eyes o'er the sea. "They see us! They see us! The signal is waved! They bear down upon us! Thank Heaven! We are saved!" Charles Mackay.