taking of their amusements. "I saw in Holland," says a certain writer, "in a garden, in which the children were playing at hide and seek, a tame stork join the party, run its turn when touched, and distinguish the child who was to pursue the rest, so well as, along with the others, to be on its guard." The tender affection which this bird manifests towards her young has been proverbial, even from remote antiquity. She feeds them attentively for a very considerable period, and, when they begin to flutter about the nest, she bears them on her wings, and protects them from danger; and she has been known rather to perish along with them, than abandon them to their fate. An affecting instance of this was exhibited in the town of Delft, in 1636, when a fire broke out in a house that had a stork's nest on it, containing young ones that were then unable to fly. The old stork, returning with some meat for them, and seeing the danger to which they were exposed, made several attempts to save them; but, finding all in vain, she at last spread her wings over them, and, in that endearing attitude, expired with them, in the flames. Young storks have also been observed to lavish the most affectionate and assiduous cares on their aged and infirm parents; and the ancient Greeks, observant of this striking instinct, enacted a law to compel children to support the authors of their existence, and the guardians of their infant years. But, indeed, such a law as this should never be requisite ; for a sense of gratitude and natural affection should dictate, to every child, a care for his parents and a readiness to help them. Dutifulness to our first and best of earthly benefactors should not need to be compulsory, but ought, in all cases, to be voluntary and delightful.

17. The web-footed birds or swimmers are a numerous class, most of which dwell much in the water, and particularly in the sea. This class includes in it the wild or whistling swan, which has been styled “ the peaceful Monarch of the Lake," because, conscious of his strength, he fears no enemy, at the same time that he preys upon none of the feathered tribes :—the tame or mule swan, whose beauty, graceful motion, and majesty, when wafted along a piece of water, attract the admiration of every beholder:-the pelican, which has a bag at its throat which it fills in the course of its fishing, and in which the female, when she nestles in dry and desert places carries water to her young :—and the gannet or soland goose, in search of which, the practised and adventurous fowler will let himself over the frightful cliffs where they breed, by a rope from the top, with a stick fastened to the end of it, on which he sits across; and, in this dangerous posture, he is sometimes stationed on the slippery projection of a rock, with a perpendicular precipice of four hundred feet, or more, beneath him. There is also the wild duck, whose flight is high in the air, and in the form of inclined lines, or triangles; and the common goose, which, in a domestic state, has its quills, down, and flesh, and even dung, turned to to account. It is stripped once a year for its quills, and no fewer than five times for its feathers; the old birds, on these occasions, submitting quietly to be plucked, but the young ones being exceedingly noisy and unruly. The wild geese are often seen flying at very great heights; and they always proceed, either in a line abreast, or in two lines joining in an angle at the middle.

18. The terns or sea swallows, are the most active fishers of all the aquatic tribes, being almost constantly

on the wing, grazing the surface of the sea, or pouncing down abruptly in pursuit of their prey. The gulls, another numerous tribe of sea birds, are diffused over almost every maritime country. Flocks of them haunt the sea shore, in pursuit of living or dead fish; and such is their voracity, that hardly any thing comes amiss to them. The use of these birds, in the economy of nature, is similar to that of vultures on land; for they contribute to rid the sea and its shores of those animal remains, which, if allowed to accumulate, would multiply the sources of sickness, pestilence, and death.We cannot but admire the variety of ways in which He, who has stored the world with animated beings, has provided for the proper exercise of their several capacities and instincts, and the happy enjoyment and support of their existence, through all their succeeding generations. Every part of Nature that we study is calculated to excite our astonishment: and to walk along the sea shore, when the tide is departed, or to sit in the hollow of a rock when it is returning, attentive to the various sounds that gather on every side, may raise the mind to its highest and noblest exertions. The solemn roar of the waves swelling into, and subsiding from the vast caverns beneath, the piercing note of the gull, the frequent chatter of the sea-hen, the loud note of the auk, the scream of the heron, and the hoarse, deep, periodical croaking of the cormorant, all unite to impart a pleasing solemnity and grandeur to the scene, and turn the mind to Him whose greatness is unsearchable, and whose goodness is the source of all that life, activity, and happiness, which we cannot but feel ourselves delighted in witnessing.

"Where'er we cast our eyes-to water, earth, or air,

God is in every place-his footsteps, every where."

BOOK III.

BIBLE LESSONS,

OR,

A SHORT OUTLINE OF BIBLE HISTORY.

SECTION 1. There is one book in the world, which has God for its author-the salvation and eternal happiness of man for its end—and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. This book, or rather collection of books, which was written at different times, by inspired prophets and teachers, is called, by way of eminence, the Scriptures or the Bible. It reveals to us the one living and true God, and delivers to us a true revelation of his will. On this account, it is decidedly

the best of all books, and it has been the most useful. The accounts that the heathens gave of their gods were but fables, and the best of uninspired writings is still but the language of man to man ; whereas the language of scripture to us is, Thus saith the Lord. It is the message of our Creator, the law of our King, and the words that it hath spoken to us, the same will judge Even in its histories, therefore, as well as its precepts and its doctrines, it has this striking advantage above all other writings, that it speaks with authority, as by a voice from heaven. Every page of

us at the last day.

it is so inscribed with the name and character of a perfectly wise, and holy, and good, and great God, that it brings Him-the Almighty Parent and Lord of the Universe, constantly, and yet agreeably, forth to our view, and thus conveys more devout and religious impressions to a humbly and well disposed, and considerate mind, in the perusal of a single chapter or paragraph, than most other histories convey to us, in the course of a whole volume. It must then be the duty and the interest of all, of the young and the old, the rich and the poor, if they wish to have right and devout affections towards God, to study and to read, attentively and frequently, the Bible. Oh, said a learned man, on his death-bed, I have lost a world of time! If one year more were added to my life, I would spend it in reading David's Psalms and Paul's Epistles. If I have been honoured, said another, to do any good in my day, and to be useful to the church, to my family, and my fellow-men; If I have enjoyed any happiness in life (and my share has not been small), if I have any hope beyond the grave-and that hope I would not exchange for a thousand worlds-I owe all to the Bible.

2. Moses, who lived about 1500 years before Christ, was the inspired penman of the first five books of the Bible, and he begins his narrative with relating briefly the origin of all things. God, to whom nothing is impossible, having resolved to create the world, called into existence the materials of which it consists, and then gradually reduced them to order and beauty. He said, let there be light; and there was light. He spread forth the firmament and suspended the clouds. He treasured up the waters in the oceans and seas, and separated them from the dry ground; calling forth the vegetable tribes at the same time, and providing for