I saw on Jamie's rough, red cheek
A tear undried. Ere John could speak,
"He's but a baby, too," said I,
And kissed him as we hurried by.
Pale, patient Robbie's angel face
Still in his sleep bore suffering's trace:
"No, for a thousand crowns, not him,"
We whispered, while our eyes were dim.
Poor Dick! bad Dick! our wayward son,
Turbulent, reckless, idle one-

Could he be spared? "Nay, He who gave
Bids us befriend him to his grave;

Only a mother's heart can be

Patient enough for such as he.

And so," said John, "I would not dare
To send him from her bedside prayer."
Then stole we softly up above,
And knelt by Mary, child of love:
"Perhaps for her 't would better be,"
I said to John. Quite silently
He lifted up a curl that lay

Across her cheek in willful way,

And shook his head, "Nay, love, not thee," The while my heart beat audibly.

Only one more, our eldest lad,

Trusty and truthful, good and glad-
So like his father. "No, John, no-
I cannot, will not let him go.”—
And so we wrote in courteous way,
We could not drive one child away.
And afterwards toil lighter seemed,
Thinking of that of which we dreamed;
Happy, in truth, that not one face
Was missed from its accustomed place;
Thankful to work for all the seven,
Trusting the rest to One in heaven!

29. LEARNING TO WRITE.

1. In learning to write, our first rule is: Know what you want to say. The second rule is: Say it. That is, do not begin by saying something else which you think will lead up to what you want to say. I remember, when they tried to teach me to sing, they told me to "think of eight and sing seven." That may be a very good rule for singing, but it is not a good rule for talking or writing.

2. Thirdly, and always: Use your own language. I mean the language. you are accustomed to use in daily life. If your every-day language is not fit for a letter or for print, it is not fit for talk. And if, by any series of joking or fun, at school or at home, you have got into the habit of using slang in talk, which is not fit for print, why, the sooner you get out of it the better.

3. Remember that the very highest compliment paid to any thing printed, is paid when a person hearing it read aloud, thinks it is the remark of the reader made in conversation. Both writer and reader then receive the highest possible praise.

4. A short word is better than a long one. Here is a piece of weak English. It is not bad in other regards, but simply weak.

"Entertaining unlimited confidence in your intelligent and patriotic devotion to the public interest, and being conscious of no motives on my part which are separable from the honor and advancement of my country, I hope it may be my privilege to deserve and secure, not only your cordial co-operation in great public measures, but also those relations of mutual confidence and regard, which it is always so desirable to cultivate between members of co-ordinate branches of the government." 5. Take that for an exercise in translating into

shorter words. Strike out the unnecessary words, and see if it does not come out stronger. I think this sentence would have been better if it had been couched in thirty-five words instead of eighty-one. I think we should have lost nothing of the author's meaning if he had said,

"I have full trust in you. I am sure that I seek only the honor and advance of the country. I hope, therefore, I may earn your respect and regard, while we heartily work together."

6. I am fond of telling the story of the words which a distinguished friend of mine used in accepting a hard post of duty. He said,

"I do not think I am fit for this post. But my friends say I am, and I trust them. I shall take it, and when I am in it, I shall do as well as I can.”

7. It is a very grand speech. Observe that it has not one word which is more than one syllable. As it happens, also, every word is Saxon, there is not one spurt of Latin in it.

EDWARD EVERETT HALE.

30. ANIMAL LIFE IN THE OCEAN.

1. The sea, like the land, abounds in animal life. The popular idea of an ocean-waste" is not a correct one. There is no part of the ocean, except the lowest depths, that does not teem with life. Even the bleak and icy Arctic Seas are tenanted, not only by whales, seals, walrus, sharks, and fish, but also by shoals of almost microscopic animals. The northern seas include all the hunting grounds of the world.

2. Every spring, when the returning sun has softened the rigors of a long, dark, polar winter, fleets of whaling ships push their way north into the floating ice, after

cargoes of whale-oil. Seals are hunted for their furs, and the walrus for its ivory tusks. The native inhabitants along the shores of the Arctic Ocean depend for their food chiefly on the flesh of whales, seals, and sea-fowl. The seal furnishes the bread of the Esquimaux; its skin supplies clothing; its tendons, thread; and its oil, fuel.

3. The whale is not a fish, though we speak of the "whale fishery." It is a mammal, that is, a warm-blooded, air-breathing animal that suckles its young. The "right whale" is found in both Polar Seas, but never within the limits of the tropics. It sometimes attains the length of eighty feet, and weighs many tons. It is without teeth, but is provided with a fringe of whalebone in its upper jaw, whose ends or filaments act as a net for catching the polyps on which it feeds.

4. The sperm-whale is found principally in the tropical seas. It has teeth, and feeds on fish. It is distinguished

by its enormous head, which contains a reservoir of pure spermaceti.

II. FISHES OF THE SEA.

5. The shark is the tiger of the seas. It is found in

6. The flying-fish, by means of its large pectoral fins, is enabled to spring out of the water, and skim along close to the surface of the sea for a distance of a few rods. The sword-fish,

armed with a projecting snout of solid bone, is the deadly enemy of the whale, which it often worries to death by repeated thrusts of its long, pointed "sword."

7. Fish forms

the chief animal food of millions of human beings, as well as of seal and sea-fowl. One fiftieth of the people on the globe subsist chiefly on the products of the sea. Cod, herring, mackerel, salmon, and other kinds of edible fish are found chiefly in the cool waters of the temperate zones, or in the colder Polar Seas.