sap carries a great deal of water with it; and part of this water, as was stated in a previous lesson, escapes into the air from the pores on the surface of the leaves. The descending sap, thus robbed of part of its water, at the same time receives from the air the materials out of which all the hard wood of the tree is formed.

17. THE SLEEP AND DEATH OF PLANTS.

WHEN the cold weather comes some plants die and require to be raised again from the seed, while others only go to sleep for the winter.

In winter the branches of a tree are all bare, the sap is all still in the pipes, and the mouths in the little roots have stopped their busy work. The buds all over the tree are asleep in their winter cradles, and the wind rocks them to and fro, but never wakes them. They lie still and quiet till the return of spring; and then, after their long winter sleep, they set to work again, to produce leaves, and flowers, and fruit, as before.

The leaves that fall and the plants that die are not lost-they decay and become part of the earth again; and thus the dead plants and leaves of one year are useful in producing the plants and leaves of the years that follow. How wonderful is this! In summer what a world of varied beauty we see in the trees and flowers! but when autumn comes the leaves and flowers in all their loveliness fade and fall, and the snow of winter covers them as with a winding-sheet. Is it possible that all this beauty which we thus see buried can be revived again? Will the green grass again appear? will the bare trees and shrubs again

be covered with leaves and blossoms? and will the flowers again spring up to delight us with their loveliness? Yes! We have seen God do all this, year after year, with the sunshine, and the rain, and the dew of spring; and He will do it again, for He has said that "seed-time and harvest shall not cease."

Behold the emblem of thy state
In flow'rs that bloom and die,
Or in the shadow's fleeting form,
That mocks the gazer's eye.

Determin'd are the days that fly
Successive o'er thy head;
The number'd hour is on the wing
That lays thee with the dead.

Great God! afflict not in thy wrath
The short allotted span,

That bounds the few and weary days

Of pilgrimage to man.

All nature dies, and lives again :

The flow'r that paints the field,

The trees that crown the mountain's brow,
And boughs and blossoms yield,

Resign the honours of their form
At Winter's stormy blast,
And leave the naked leafless plain

A desolated waste.

Yet soon reviving plants and flow'rs

Anew shall deck the plain;

The woods shall hear the voice of Spring,
And flourish green again.

But man forsakes this earthly scene,
Ah! never to return:

Shall any foll'wing spring revive
The ashes of the urn?

The mighty flood that rolls along
Its torrents to the main,
Can ne'er recall its waters lost
From that abyss again.

So days, and years, and ages past,
Descending down to night,
Can henceforth never more return
Back to the gates of light;

And man, when laid in lonesome grave,
Shall sleep in Death's dark gloom,
Until th' eternal morning wake
The slumbers of the tomb.

O may the grave become to me
The bed of peaceful rest,

Whence I shall gladly rise at length,

And mingle with the blest!

Cheer'd by this hope, with patient mind,
I'll wait Heav'n's high decree,
Till the appointed period come,
When death shall set me free.

SPELLING LESSONS

TO PART L.

Teachers are strongly recommended to accustom their pupils to divide each word into syllables, and to pronounce each syllable slowly and distinctly before spelling the word; thus:-Mi-cro-scope, Up-hol-ster-er. The advantage of this system will soon be discovered by those who have not hitherto tried it.

Car-ol, a song of joy; to carol, to Dan-de-li-on, a plant with a yellow

Full-blown, spread out; fully ex- Re-past', a meal.

In-cludes' in grains, poetically, for Mes-sen-ger, one who bears a mes

Wreath, to cover with a wreath or Drow-sy, sleepy.