LESSON IV.

THE DOC.

There is no animal which so well deserves to be called the friend of man as the dog; he seems to be able to understand our wishes, to suit himself to our habits, to obey our commands, to delight in our society, and even to take pleasure in being our servant.

The sagacity of the dog is wonderful; the naturalist Ray mentions a dog in Rome, that knew all the streets and houses to which he had to guide his poor blind master, and when money was thrown from a window, he would pick it up, and put it into his master's hat, and if bread were cast down, he would not eat it, unless it was given from the hand of the poor beggar.

A French writer mentions a dog which would carry a letter tied to his collar, from his master to a friend; after it was taken from his neck, he would go into the kitchen and get some food, and when satisfied, he would go to the parlour window, and bark occasionally, until an answer was fastened on him, and he then returned home.

In Si-be'-ri-a, when the summer comes, the dogs used in drawing sledges, are turned away to shift for themselves; but as soon as winter is near, they come back of their own accord, and offer themselves to their old masters, although they have experienced nothing from them, but hard work and scanty fare.

The attachment of the dog to man is of great service, especially in savage countries, where his assistance against other beasts is invaluable; his fidelity to his trust, may be seen among us daily, in the instance of carriers' dogs, which defend the property left under

their care, with a firmness over which nothing can prevail.

The love which the dog bears to man, is shown in the readines with which he plunges into the water, to save a drowning person. There was, some time ago, a Newfoundland dog at Paris, which was so anxious to perform this task, that his zeal became troublesome, for whenever he saw any one bathing in the river Seine, he at once leaped in, and dragged out the unwilling swimmer.

One would imagine that dogs were able to count the days of the week, for there was one that always used to leave his home on Saturday night, and not return until Monday, to avoid being chained up on Sunday; a dog will also find his way on a road to which he is a total stranger, for one was sent from London to Scotland by sea, and he soon after escaped, and made his way back to London by land.

Such are a few of the habits and qualities of this noble animal, which sets an example of faithfulness and gratitude that may be profitable even to man, and he must indeed have a hard heart that can ill use a companion which never thinks of self, is never weary gratifying his master's wishes, and seeks no reward beyond his praise.

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LESSON V.

PHILIP AND ARTHUR.

"Is not Philip very stupid," said little Arthur Smith to his father, who had been just talking to him, "only think, he is fifteen years old, and he can neither read nor write."

"Very likely he cannot," answered the father; "his parents are poor people, and they could not afford to send him to school, for as soon as he was old enough he was sent, first to watch the pigs, then the sheep, and at last to take care of the cows, that he might earn something to help his father and mother.

"Now he is groom in the stable, and makes himself useful in a variety of ways; he also not only earns his own food and clothes, but some money besides, which, I have reason to believe, he regularly sends to his parents in the country.

"Ignorant in many things, Philip may very possibly be, and I dare say he will never become a great scholar, but stupid he certainly is not, my son, those only are stupid who do not learn anything well, but Philip understands his business perfectly, and is a very good servant."

Arthur did not dispute this, but he still thought that Philip was stupid to be fifteen years of age, and not to know how to read and write, while he himself was only eleven, and he could not only do these things well, but he could cipher, and had a knowledge of history, geography, and French.

Some time after this, Philip had to thresh out some wheat, he therefore opened the sheaves, and spread them smoothly on the barn floor, and took the flail, and began to beat out the grain from the straw, and never once hit himself, he knew so well how to handle it.

Arthur thought this was easy enough, and seizing the flail, he also tried to thresh, but the first thing he did, was to give himself a severe blow on the head with the swinging flail.

Another time Arthur saw Philip ploughing in the field; that, he thought, was easily done, and he could do it he knew, and he persuaded Philip to let him take his place and try.

Soon the boy who rode the horse called out "no, no, my little man, that will not do! Give it up to Philip who understands it better," and Arthur walked away much ashamed.

At another time, Philip was sifting some meal through a large sieve; Arthur thought that that was very easy to do, but on taking hold of the sieve, he held it so awkwardly, that he shook the fine flour over with the bran, and Philip said, laughing, "my little man you do not understand that either."

Then Arthur began to think that Philip was not so stupid after all, for he knew how to do a great many useful things that he himself knew nothing about. From the German.

LESSON VI.

ASTRONOMY.

The term Astronomy is derived from two Greek words, Aster, a star, and Nomos, a law, therefore it may be defined as, "The science which gives us a knowledge of the heavenly bodies, namely, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the comets."

Perhaps, there is no subject more interesting to the enquiring mind than this science, the motions of the heavenly bodies have attracted the attention of man, from the earliest ages of the world, and the ancient philosophers, with the view of reducing this study to a system, endeavoured to arrange the stars into clusters, or fanciful groups, resembling beasts, fishes, and other objects.

These groups they called Constellations, thus, the constellation, or sign, known as "the Lion," is a cluster or group of stars, supposed to have some resemblance to that animal.

The ancients had very mistaken notions with regard to the earth, and the heavenly bodies; they believed that the former was an immense plain, lying at rest in the centre, or middle, of the universe, and that the heavens revolved or moved round it, carrying with them the sun, the moon, and the stars.

These mistaken views prevailed till nearly four hundred years ago, when Co-per'-ni-cus, a distinguished philosopher of Polish Prussia, introduced the theory of the Solar System, which places the sun in the centre, having a number of planets, or globes like the earth, moving round his body, at various distances.

This theory is now found to be correct, and it has been adopted by all the civilized nations of the earth.

The word planet is derived from a Greek word, signifying a wanderer, therefore the planets may be considered wandering stars, because they do not always keep in the same situation, with regard to other stars.

The planets are dark bodies, or worlds, somewhat resembling the earth on which we live, and the reason they appear bright to us, is their reflecting, or throwing back, the light they receive from the sun.

Sometimes, on a fine evening, when in a certain position, we see the windows, nearly opposite the sun, appear almost as bright as the sun himself, that is, the glass throws back his brightness, and this may, in some measure, explain to us the reason why a planet, with a dark body, has the appearance of a bright star.

The planets shine with a mild moon-like light, and they are easily distinguished from the fixed stars, which shine with an intense twinkling lustre.