The Boy who loved his Sister.

"HURRAH! Hurrah! See how it snows, Caroline! It will be fine sledding to-morrow."

"O yes, the white flakes do fall beautifully, don't they, Harry? They look like feathers falling from the sky."

"To-morrow, Caroline, I will take my new sled to the top of Washington hill, and you shall ride on it gloriously. O, won't it be fine!" and the bright-eyed boy clapped his hands for joy.

"Yes, it will, Harry. You are very kind to think of me. I love you, brother, because you never spare any pains to make me happy." Ah, who can help loving you, sister? Don't you always give me the best of your presents? And don't you always plead for me, when I have done wrong? You are so good, Caroline, that I can't help loving you."

Thus did these lovely children talk of their affection for each other, very much to the admiration of their mother, who sat quietly sewing by the fire. As they closed their dialogue she called them to her side, and said, "It is very pleasant to see you so fond of each other, my children. You cannot think how happy I am to be the witness of your love. It is also acceptable to your Creator, whose command is, 'Little children, love one another.' As you are so kind to your sister, Harry, I will tell you a story."

"O do, mamma! do, mamma!" they both exclaimed at once. So their mother laid down her work, and began the following story.

"It happened a long time ago, that Henry I., king of England, had an only son, named William. As the king was growing old, he wished all his proud barons to acknowledge his son as their future king. So he summoned many of the English nobility to his court, and then took them, with the young prince, over to Normandy, where he was duke, that the barons and chiefs might do homage to his son. There he sat in great state, and the mailed warriors came and kissed the hand of William, promising to do him service with their good swords.

"This over, they set sail for England in several vessels. The wind was fair, and the little fleet sailed gayly out of port, with gay flags and bright streamers floating proudly in the gale. But, alas

for the prince! his sailors had made themselves drunk, and before long run the vessel on a rock, where she immediately sunk.

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Upon this the sailors put Prince William into the long boat and left the wreck. As they sailed away, he heard his sister, the Countess of Perche, crying after him to save her. Moved by her cries and by the love he bore her, he ordered the sailors to row back to the rock. They were bound to obey him, and put back; but no sooner did she reach the rock than a large number of the young nobility, who had also been left, jumped on board. She went down, and the prince, with his sister and all who sailed in his vessel, except one man, perished."

"But where was the king, mother?" inquired Harry.

"He was in another vessel, and the wind had carried her out of sight. Prince William's ship was behind all the fleet, and no one would have known how he perished if one man had not been picked from the wreck, by some fishermen, the next morning."

"Well, that was love, indeed," exclaimed Caroline. "He lost his own life to save that of his sister."

"And I would do so for you, Caroline," said Harry, as, throwing his arms round her neck, he imprinted a kiss upon her glowing cheek.

The mother was moved to tears by this display of affection in her children, and placing a hand upon the head of each, she said, "May God bless you, my children! May you always love as you do today!"

Tears.

THE lucid tear from Flavia's eye,
Down her soft cheek in pity flows;
As ether drops forsake the sky,

To cheer the blushing, drooping rose.
For, like the sun, her eyes diffuse

O'er her fair face so bright a ray,

That tears must fall like heavenly dews,
Lest the twin roses fade away.

MRS ROBINSON.

DON'T BLAME OTHERS FOR WHAT YOU DO YOURSElf. 155

Do not blame others for what you have done yourself.

CHARLES, how is this-did you turn over the inkstand?" asked his mother.

"No, Henry did it; he ran against the table and upset it."

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"I say Charles pushed me, and I could not help it," said Henry. Well, he would not give me my pen, and I was trying to get it away from him.”

"It seems, then, boys, you had a struggle, and, between you both, the inkstand was upset. But I should have been much better pleased with you, if you had each confessed your share in the accident, without blaming the other."

See how John has broke my cart!" says Thomas.

"John must have been very naughty; but how did he do it?"

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'He tripped me up, and made me fall on it, and broke it."

"Did John mean to trip you up?"

Thomas hung down his head.

"My boy, why did you not say you stumbled over John, and fell on your cart, and broke it? It would have been more honest, and honorable too."

'Mary, how did you tear your dress?" inquired her mother. 'I did not; Jane tore it."

"I did not think Jane was so bad a girl; how did she do it?" "She made me tear it, and that is just as bad."

"Certainly. How did she make you tear it?"

"She made me run against a nail, and it caught, and was torn." "But I do not quite understand how she should make you run against a nail."

She was trying to catch me, and I

"And you ran against the nail and tore your dress; was it not so? It was an accident, though I am afraid you are rather careless; and because Jane was playing with you at the time, you blame her for it. Is that a candid little girl?"

I am sorry to say, it is very common for children, when they

have caused any trifling accident, to lay the blame on their companions, though nothing can be more cowardly and ungenerous. Little readers, did you never know any instances like these?

HERE you see men and camels, and trees and tents, an account of which would be very interesting; but it is my design to tell you only of the river, which flows in their midst. At the time the Bible account of the Egyptians was given, they had not traced the Nile to its source; and their ignorance of its source is thought to have been one reason for their great veneration of the river. As but very little rain fell in Egypt, and yet the river continued to flow and periodically overflow, the people were held in mysterious wonder.

The Nile is sometimes called the river of Egypt. Through the dangerous and indefatigable labors of Mr. Bruce, an English gentleman, it has been ascertained that the permanent fountains of the

Nile are situated in the mountains of Abyssinia, and in the regions to the west and southwest of that country; and that the occasional inudations of the river are caused by the periodical rains which fall in those districts.

Look upon your maps, if you have not a distinct impression of the location and course of this river. After having watered several kingdoms, it flows far into the kingdom of Goiam. Then it winds about from the east to the north, and then falls into Egypt at the cataracts, or waterfalls, over steep rocks of the length of two hundred feet. At the bottom of these rocks the Nile returns to its usual place, and thus flows through the valley of Egypt. breadth of its channel is about a league.

The

At eight miles below Grand Cairo, it is divided into two arms, which make a triangle, whose base is at the Mediterranean Sea, and which the Greeks call the Delta, because of its figure, A. These two arms are divided into others, which discharge themselves into the Mediterranean Sea, the distance of which from the top of the Delta is about sixty miles.

The Egyptians paid divine honors to this river, and called it Jupiter Nilus. Christians admire the river, and honor Him who made it.

As I said before, very little rain ever falls in Egypt; never a sufficient quantity to fertilize the land; and were it not for the wonderful provision of this bountiful river, the country would be condemned to perpetual sterility. But as it is, the regularity of the flood, the deposite of rich soil from the water of the river, and the warmth of the climate, make it one of the most fertile countries in the world: the produce exceeds all the calculation of New England boys. It has, in consequence, been, in all ages, the granary of the east ; and has on more than one occasion, an instance of which you will find in the history of Joseph, saved the neighboring countries from starvation.

"It is what gives smooth answers to rough questions."

Right; you may go to the head."