through it he received a supply of fresh air, and after a while his friends contrived to convey food to him, and even to speak to him. Of course he was in utter darkness; but he was enabled, in a curious manner, to keep a reckoning of time.

8. A large fly was shut up with him, and kept him company all the time that he remained there. When he heard it buzzing about, he knew that it was day; and when the fly was silent, he knew that it was night. The fly boarded as well as lodged with him; he was as careful as he could be not to interrupt it while taking its share of his meal; when he touched it, it would fly away, buzzing, as if offended, but soon return again. He often said, afterwards, that the company of this fly had been a great consolation to him.

9. More skilful persons than the poor laborers of the village were soon engaged in the attempt to liberate the unfortunato workman. The municipal authorities of Lyons procured the assistance of a band of military miners, who, under the direction of experienced officers, began to form a subterranean passage for the purpose of relieving him. Prayers for his safety were daily offered up in the churches of Lyons, and the most intense interest prevailed.

10. It was found necessary to erect a bărricade, and station a guard of soldiers round the scene of the accident, to keep off the flocking crowd from the neighborhood, all eager to obtain news, and see what was being done.

CXIII. DUFAVEL'S ADVENTURE IN THE WELL.

PART TWO.

1. THE cavity at the bottom of the well, over which the wooden rafters had so providentially formed a sort of roof, was at first about seven feet in height; but, owing to the sand constantly running through, and pressing down the roof from above, by the third day the space became so small, that the poor man could no longer stand, or even sit upright, but was crushed upon the ground in a peculiarly painful manner, his legs doubled

under him, and his head pressed on one side against his lef shoulder.

2. His arms, however, were free, and he used his knife to cut away such parts of the wood-work as particularly incommoded him, and to widen the hole which the passage of the rope had made. Through this hole, by means of a small bottle, soup and wine were let down to him; and, after a few days, a narrow bag to receive and bring to the surface the constantly accumulating sand.

3. Of course, any pressure from above would have forced in the temporary roof: consequently, nothing could be attempted in the way of removing the mass of sand that had fallen in. They dared not to touch the surface above; but they contrived, by means of a tube, to converse with him. He inquired after his wife and child, and sent word to them to be of good cheer and here for the best; at this time he had been a week in the well.

4. The miners worked night and day, but such was the reacherous nature of the soil that neither pickaxe nor shovel could be used. The foremost miner worked upon his knees, inserting cautiously a flat piece of wood into the ground, and afterwards gathering up with his hands, and passing to those behind him, the sand which he thus disturbed.

5. On the twelfth day they calculated that they were only twelve inches from the imprisoned man; and yet it took them two days longer to reach him. Every minute the ground was giving way; and it sometimes took many hours to repair the damage that a single moment had produced. They had to use the utmost caution, lest, when an opening was made, the sand should fall and suffocate him.

6. At length, about two o'clock in the morning, they made small opening into the well, just above his shoulders. The poor man shouted for joy, and was able with his knife to assist in extricating himself. He was carefully conveyed along the horizontal gallery, and wrapped in blankets before he was drawn into the open air. Several medical men were in attendance, one af whom had him conveyed to his house and put to bed.

7. We will not attempt to describe Dufavel s happy meeting

with his wife and child. In the evening he was so well that the doctor consented to his being conveyed to his own home; and he was accordingly transported thither in a litter, attended by a great concourse of happy and thankful spectators.

From the French.

CXIV. ON OBJECTIONS TO REFORM.

EI

1. I DEFY the most determined enemy of popular influence either now or a little time from now, to prevent a reform in Parliament. Proud lipsust swallow bitter potions. They tell you, gentlemen, that you have grown rich and powerful with these rotten boroughs, and that it would be madness to part with them, or to alter a constitution which had produced such happy effects.

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2. There happens, gentlemen, to live near my parsonage a laboring man, of very superior character and understanding to his fellow-laborers, and who has made such good use of that superiority, that he has saved what is, for his station in life, a very considerable sum of money; and if his existence is extended to the common period, he will die rich.

3. It happens, however, that he is, and long has been, troubled with violent stomach'ic pains, for which he has hitherto obtained no relief, and which really are the bane and torment of his life. Now, if my excellent laborer were to send for a physician, and to consult him respecting this malady, would it not be very singular language if our doctor were to say to him,

Have you Have you

4. "My good friend, you surely will not be so rash as to attempt to get rid of these pains in your stomach? not grown rich with these pains in your stomach? not risen under them from poverty to prosperity? Has not your situation, since you were first attacked, been improving every year? You surely will not be so foolish and so indiscreet as to part with the pains in your stomach ?"

5. Why, what would be the answer of the rustic to this nonsensical monition? "Monster of rhubarb," he would say, "I um not rich in consequence1 of the pains in my stomach, but in spite of the pains in my stomach; and I should have been ten

times richer, and fifty times happier, if I had never had any pains in my stomach at all."

you

6. Gentlemen, these rotten boroughs are your pains in the stomach; and would have been a much richer and greater people, if you had never had them at all. Your wealth and your power have been owing, not to the debased and corrupted parts of the House of Commons, but to the many independent and honorable members whom it has always contained within its walls. REV. SYDNEY SMITH.

CXV. THE GRAIN OF SEED.

1. Two wanderers journeyed together through a certain country. As they were resting one day at an inn, they suddenly heard the tolling of bells and a cry of "Fire!" in the village. One of the two men rose hastily, threw down his staff and bundle, and was going to offer his assistance. But the other detained him, saying: "Why should we tarry here? Are there not hands enough to help? What have we to do with strangers?"

2. The other took no notice of him, but ran to the burning house; then his companion followed slowly, looking on at a distance. In front of the house that was on fire stood a woman stupefied with terror, and crying, "My children! my children!'

3. When the stranger heard this, he rushed into the burning house, with the beams and rafters crashing. and the flames hissing around him. The people exclaimed: "He is lost! What madness in him to venture into such a fiery furnace '"

4. But when they waited a little while, behold, he came forth, his hair and clothes singed, carrying two children in his arms, and he took them to their mother. She clasped the children to her bosom, and fell at the stranger's feet. He raised her, and comforted her; in the mean time the house fell.

5. When the stranger and his companion returned to the inn, the latter said, "Who bade thee undertake such a daring enterprise?" The other answered and said, "He who bids me put the grain of sced into the earth, that it may die and bring forth new fruit."

6. "But how," said the other, "if the burning house had buried thee?" Then his companion smiled and said, “In that evcnt, I should have been myself the buried seed."

From the German of Krummacher.

CXVI. - OUR OBLIGATION TO LIVE.

1. Thou wouldst cease to live: but I should like to know if thou hast yet begun with life. What! wast thou placed on the earth to do nothing there? Does not Heaven impose on thee, with life, a duty to be fulfilled? If thou hast achieved thy day's toil before evening, take thy rest for the remainder of the day; thou art free to do so; but let us see thy work.

2. What answer hast thou ready for the Almighty Judge when he shall ask thee for thy reckoning? Unhappy man! show me the just one who can pretend to have lived long enough; let me learn from him in what manner life must have been bōrne to give us a right to abandon it.

3. Thou reckonest the ills of humanity, and thou sayest, “Life is an evil." Look around thee, and search in the order of things for benefits which are not mingled with evils. Is that a reason to say that there is no good in the world? and can you confound what is evil by nature with that which is subject to evil by accident?

4. Man's passive life is nothing-it merely concerns a body from which he will soon be delivered; but his active and moral life, which must influence his whole being, consists in the exercise of his will. Life is an evil to the wicked man in prosperity, and a good to the upright man in misfortune; for it is not its transient alteration, but its affinity with its object, which renders it either beneficial or injurious.

5. Thou art weary of life, and thou sayest, "Life is an evil.' Sooner or later thou shalt be comforted, and shalt say, "Life is a good." This will be more truly spoken, without being better argued; for nothing will have changed but thyself. Change thyself, then, from to-day; and since the evil lies in the peccant disposition of thy soul, correct thy disordered desires, and do not burn down thy house to escape from keeping it in order.