The large cut will show you, at a glance, all the various parts of the telegraph together. The left hand part of the cut is supposed to be the office in Boston, with the battery and signal key;" and the right hand side the office in New York, together with the recording apparatus. The distance between them is supposed to be two hundred and thirty miles. I cannot represent this great space upon one page, so you must imagine it. When it can be done, these wires are extended along upon the side of some rail-road, a representation of which you will see upon the cut.

Now observe, that it wants only the small place on the signal key to be united in order to complete this great circuit. press down the knob and instantly the

current is in motion. Quick as thought it has gone to New York, and, passing round the bar of iron, it becomes a powerful magnet and attracts the iron above it. This throws the point upon the other end of the lever upwards, and a mark is made upon the paper like this,. This mark stands for the letter e. So you see 1 have written a letter in New York, while I am myself in Boston! I depress the knob again, and for a longer time, when the same effect is produced in New York, only this time the mark is longer than before, and somewhat like the following, which stands for the letter t. Again I depress the knob, three times in succession, as fast as I can, and we shall now have in New York this character,

2

which stands for the letter s. In short, by varying the depressions upon the signal key, all the various letters of the alphabet are obtained, as well as all the figures. Between each letter of a word a short space is used, and long ones between the words themselves. Here are the signs employed for the whole alphabet. I should like to have some correspondent write me a letter by these telegraphic characters.

Many amusing anecdotes are related of the extravagant ideas which ignorant people have had respecting this great discovery. One fellow sat for nearly a whole day, watching the wires, and upon being asked what he was gazing at, replied, that he was “waiting to see a letter go by!" Another brought a sealed letter to the Bos

ton office, with five cents to pay the postage, requesting that it might be sent to New York by telegraph! However, we cannot wonder a great deal at their ignorance, for in truth the most learned men in the world know as yet but very little of the true nature of electricity; and if they could, like the fabled Rip Van Winkle, enjoy a twenty years' nap, they might be as ignorant of the progress which will, perhaps, be made in that time, as these persons now are. An individual, speaking of electricity, remarked, that Franklin caught the wild horse, but that Professor Morse, the inventor of the electrical telegraph, had put the harness on. This is true, yet there is still a great deal to be learned about this wild horse. Perhaps some of the bright eyes now resting upon this page may be the means of giving to the world further light upon this great and mysterious subject. You must all remember that Franklin was a boy once, yet diligent and constant study enabled him, alone and unaided, to bring down lightning from the clouds, and make it subservient to the will of man. His name will be remembered for ages to come, as a benefactor to his race. Aside from the satisfaction you would feel in having done your duty, is not this alone a sufficient inducement for you to study diligently, while young, such useful and instructive books as cannot but make you wiser and better? You may not receive your reward at once; your childish investigations may not immediately be crowned with success, but the reward will come, as surely as seedtime is followed by the harvest. Nor will the seeming delay impair in the least degree its value, for with it will be mingled the happy consciousness of a well spent life.

The Broken Window.

"CHARLES! watch the bird while I am gone out; don't let him fly out of the room. If you go out yourself you must not on any account go into the garden."

"Yes, father, I will mind you ;" and the father left the room, carefully closing the door after him.

These words passed between a little boy, some ten years old, and his father, in a room that contained a beautiful canary bird, which

had been purposely let out of its cage to enjoy the liberty of flying round the apartment.

After his father was gone, Charles sat down and kept his eyes on the bird. When some one came to the door he opened and shut it very quickly, so that the canary might not escape. But it happened that some street idler had thrown a stone against the window and broken one of the top squares. This had not been perceived by either Charles or his father. The bird, in its flight around the room, feeling the fresh air, flew through the opening, and, in a moment, tasted the pleasure of freedom, in a bright sunshine and fragrant air.

Charles was not to blame for the bird's escape; but he felt sorry it was gone, and was fearful that his father might not believe his story, or else, that he would suspect him to have broken the window himself. These were wrong thoughts; he ought to have had confidence enough in himself to simply state the truth to his father, and not doubt his belief in the statement. But, like many other boys, he was suspicious that his father would not take his word.

So he set out to recover the lost bird. There was a net in the house which had been used to catch birds, and, armed with this, the boy set out on his hopeless expedition.

He soon saw the canary perched upon a tree. Very softly he approached it, and began to climb the trunk; just as he was in the act of throwing his net over the bird, it flew away, and, crossing the garden wall, perched upon the branch of a cherry tree, with a look which seemed to say "Catch me if you can."

Charlie was puzzled. The bird was in the garden. He had been forbidden to enter it on any account; but the bird was there, and after a moment's hesitation in he rushed and began a grand pursuit after the lost bird. Getting excited in his efforts, he forgot all caution, and plunged across the beds and among the flowers, making great havoc, and spoiling many choice things, which his father had carefully reared. In the midst of this hot pursuit, his father stood at the garden gate, and shouted, "Charles!"

Charles halted, looked round, blushed, and approached his father. "Why are you in the garden, contrary to my wishes, Charles?"

Charles remembered his father's command, and feeling guilty, made no reply. He had been disobedient.

Charlie's disobedience was peculiar. He had broken one wish of his father through a desire to observe another. Anxious to save the canary, he had entered the garden. He ought to have carried his efforts to save the bird up to the garden gate. This, the order to watch the bird required; there he should have stopped, because the other command said "On no account go into the garden."

Little reader, learn from this story that one command of God is not to be kept at the expense of another. His commands all harmonize, and to break one on the plea of keeping another, is DISOBE

DIENCE.

The Singular Echo.

Patrick had a

I ONCE saw a story of Patrick, who heard his master tell of a very remarkable echo over the hill, in the woods. curiosity to try the echo himself, so away he went. of his excursion we will take as he gave it to his master.

The account

"I jist run over to the place ye was speakin' uv, to convarse a bit with the wonderful creathur. So said I, Hillo''

“Hillo, hillo, hillo! you noisy rascal!'

"I thocht that was very quare, sir, and I said 'Hillo,' again. "Hillo yourself,' said the hecho, 'you begun it first.'

"What are ye made uv?' said I.

"Shut your mouth,' said the hecho.

“So said I, 'Ye blathren scoundrel, if ye was flesh, like an honest man, I'd hammer ye till the mother of ye would n't know her impident son.'

And what do you think the hecho said to that, sir?

"Scamper, ye baste of a paddy,' said he, or if I catch you, I'll break ivery bone in your body.'

"An it hit me on the head with a big stone, sir, an was nigh knocking the poor brain out uv me. So I run as fast as iver I could, and praised be all the saints, I'm here to tell ye uv it sir!"