I wake, and bending o'er me, H. M. RATHBONE. THE GARDENS AT KESWICK. A WORD TO LITTLE CHILDREN. Some time ago I spent a very pleasant month at Keswick, a town in Cumberland. The valley in which it stands is entirely surrounded by mountains, and there is a beautiful lake called Derwentwater very near. It is very pleasant to sail across this lake, or to one of the islands on it. Many hundred years ago, a good man called St. Hubert lived on one of these islands. He was very kind to the poor people, who were very fond of him. He was the friend of St. Cuthbert, who was much attached to him, and his prayer that they might die on the same day is said to have been fulfilled. I was much interested by many stories I heard of people who had lived amongst these Cumberland mountains; but I was more pleased with something that concerned the children there. I learned that they knew how to respect the property of others. I daily passed the little wayside gardens, filled with beautiful flowers, which the children never touched. In the town, where there was no room for gardens, were boxes filled with earth, in which grew roses, sweet peas, geraniums, and other flowers, yet no one plucked them. Not only did flowers grow unprotected, but fruit also. At a little village near Keswick I saw gooseberries hanging untouched within the reach of even little children. Cherries too were growing, but there was no lock to the gate of the orchard where they were. The mountains and lakes of Cumberland delight the eye, but it is more delightful still to think that not only the everlasting hills, but the hearts of the little children remain as God made them-good and beautiful. Try to think, dear readers, what a difference it would make in England, if the people in every town could truly say as some one said to me at Keswick : "Oh, no one would meddle with fruit or flowers that are not their own.' Each of you can do something towards bringing about this change; you can abstain from ever taking or injuring what does not belong to you; and then, in years to come, you may perhaps see, in your own neighbourhood, flowers and fruit protected by what is far better than locks or walls-by the fear of children to take anything which is not their own. WHAT IT IS TO BE IN EARNEST ! Some years ago, a respectable tradesman in a Swiss town, being unfortunate in his business, was obliged to dispose of all his possessions, and remove with his family to a small cottage among the mountains, where he gained a scanty livelihood as a shepherd. This change of circumstances was deeply felt by his eldest boy, who was just old enough to go to school, and was remarkably fond of his book. His great desire was to become a priest; and for this he knew that a good education was requisite. It was therefore a great disappointment to find that there was no day-school within reach; and his parents were now too poor to send him to any other. Often did he say to his mother, "Give me learning, mother-I want to learn!" And she would answer, 66 My dear child, I would, willingly, if I could; but you know we are poor; it is impossible!" little Almost the only thing they had saved from their former possessions was a goat, which supplied the family with milk. One morning the child said, "Mother, I dreamt that you sold the goat, that you might send me to school!" And he entreated her to do so, saying that he would repay her if ever he could become a priest. She represented to him how necessary the goat was to them, and that, even if they could spare it, the money it would fetch would go but a very way towards his schooling. Still he was not satisfied, but persisted in his entreaties, till at length she gave him leave to take the goat to the nearest town, and get what he could for it. He joyfully set off; and on his way he met with some shepherds, who asked him where he was going. This question led him to tell his little history, which interested the shepherds so much in his behalf, that they clubbed together, and bought the goat for about three times its value. The delighted boy hastened home to his mother, who, on hearing the result of his expedition, said solemnly, "Now I know that the hand of God is in this matter. It is His will that you should learn, my son; I will spare no pains to procure you the means, and I doubt not He will bless our efforts." Accordingly, the next day she went to the town to see how the matter could be arranged. Her former neighbours, who had known and respected her in the days of her prosperity, were eager to lend a helping hand to her now. One promised to give the boy a dinner two days in the week;` another offered to find him a bed, when the days should be too short, or the weather too bad, to admit of his returning home at night. Thus, with the help of the money received for the goat, all was arranged to the satisfaction of both mother and son. It need scarcely be said that the latter applied himself diligently to his studies, so as to deserve and profit by the advantages obtained with so much difficulty. When he had attained a proper age, he was sent to an university, where he distinguished himself honourably, and at length attained the object of his early ambition-to become a priest. He was now the chief solace of his mother's declining years; he would sometimes say to her, "Mother, all my success in life I owe to you; if you had not given up the goat for my sake, and at a time when you could ill spare it, I should never have been what I am." But his gratitude was not expressed in words only. He undertook the entire education and maintenance of his younger brother (then almost an infant); and when the latter grew up, supplied him with everything necessary to gain a comfortable position in life. AWAY TO LEARN. Our hearts with love of knowledge burn ;- To learning now our steps we turn ;- Farewell to pleasure's fleeting charms; No more we waste our time in play; In study now we spend the day;- Content to glean from wisdom's lore Thus while time flies let us grow wise ;- True pleasures rise where knowledge lies ;— From understanding's gushing springs, Then friends away; no longer stay ;— And walk with us our joyful way;- United in a peaceful band We're join'd in heart, we're join'd in hand. FRIENDSHIP. Friendship is the joy of reason, DR. HAWKSWORTH. I WAS THERE TO SEE MYSELF.--A boy whose principles were correctly established, was pressed by others to take some pears, as nobody was there to see. "Yes there was," said he; "I was there to see myself; and I don't intend ever to to see myself do a dishonest thing."- Christian Inquirer. Some make the worst use of the best opportunities, with others the poorest opportunities are richest in results.—SelfCulture. Pleasure is bound up with all our healthful movements. Manners are the ornaments of action. THE MIND THE SOURCE OF HAPPINESS.-True use and enjoyment have their seat and their springs in the mind. What avails it that you are as rich as Croesus if like Crœsus you thirst for praise, and live in hourly fear of coming disaster? Cicero supplies an anecdote which forcibly illustrates how powerless outward splendour is to minister true happiness. Dionysius reigned at Syracuse in supreme dominion and the utmost magnificence. "Happy Prince," said Damocles to his sovereign, "would that my condition were so felicitous." "You shall be loaded with my benefits,” replied the tyrant. Thereupon orders were given, and Damocles found himself seated at a splendid banquet, in a most sumptuous hall, with glittering attendants, and the richest music. As he took his seat, a voice said to him, “It is all your own; enjoy and be thankful." He was about to profit by the command when his eye caught sight of a drawn sword suspended over his head by a single hair. voluptuary turned pale, and arising hastened from the delusive scene. That suspended sword is over the head of every one who worships power, wealth, or fame.—Dr. Beard's Self-Culture. The "Among the sayings of one Psammon, a philosopher, whom he (Alexander) heard in Egypt, he most approved of this— that all men are governed by God, because in everything that which is chief and commands, is divine. But what he pronounced himself upon this subject, was even more like a philosopher, for he said, God was the common father of us all, but in a special sense of the best of us.”—Clough's "Greek History,” from Plutarch. Cuvier tells us, in his Eloge on the naturalist Adanson, that this great explorer of nature, who was once so poor as to have no shoes to attend the French Institute, after his election, asked in his will that a wreath might be laid upon his coffin, composed of the fifty-eight families of plants established in botany by him.-Osgood. Dr. Doddridge once asked his little daughter why everybody loved her: "I don't know," she said, "unless it be that I love everybody." |