one of his pursuers having discovered his resting-place, was about to dispatch him with his sword, when a fly tickled him so much in the ear that he awoke, and springing to his feet, be arrested the arm of the soldier, and put him to death.

He then fled farther into the forest, and concealed himself in a cavern: during the night, a spider wove its web across the narrow mouth of his hiding place, when a party of the enemy, who were sent in search of him, were about to enter, one of them remarked that it would be so much time lost, as he could not possibly be there.

"For the spider's web," said he, “must have been broken if he had entered the cavern." The prince, who had listened in fear and anxiety to all that had been said, was at once reminded of the foolish, or rather, wicked wish, that he formerly uttered respecting the two harmless insects which had been the means of saving his life.

The prince was truly grateful to heaven for his deliverance, and was ready to acknowledge, with deep humility, that although we could not see the use of many created things, yet he was convinced, that the Great Governor of the world, had made nothing in vain.-From the German.

LESSON XXXIII.

THE MOON.

The Moon is not a primary planet like Mercury or Venus, but a secondary one, revolving round her primary planet, the Earth, and accompanying her in her

yearly journey round the sun; secondary planets are called sat'ellites, by which we understand, small planets that revolve round larger ones.

The Moon is only two hundred and forty thousand miles distant from the earth, and if it were possible to visit her, and we were to travel at the rate of twenty miles an hour, we should reach her in about a year and a half.

The diameter of the Moon is about two thousand, two hundred miles, and as she is ascertained to have mountains and valleys, we may, perhaps, reasonably suppose that she is inhabited, and that she is so, is the opinion of many philosophers, who have devoted much of their time in making observations on the heavenly bodies.

There is no heavenly body that is distinctly visible to the naked eye, so small as the Moon, and the reason she appears so much larger than the others, is because she is so much nearer.

Although the Moon appears so different to us at different times, yet in reality she is always the same, that is, a dark globe like the earth; her appearance to us entirely depends on her situation with regard to the

sun.

When we first see the New Moon, she appears like a crescent or bow, and she gradually increases until she becomes round, when she is called Full Moon; she then begins to decrease, and thus continues until she entirely disappears; when we have no moon, the whole of her dark side is turned towards us, when she cannot be

seen.

The Moon is more mountainous than the Earth in proportion to her size, and she also appears to have large circular cavities or hollows, some of which cannot be less than three miles in depth,

Many scientific persons have supposed, that these cavities are volcanoes, and Dr. Herschel, using his powerful telescope, imagined he could see one of them in the actual state of eruption,-throwing out volumes of flame and smoke.

The New Moon is always seen in the west, near the setting sun, and rises nearly an hour later every night; the Full Moon rises opposite to that part where the sun sets, and at the same time; and twenty-nine days and a half elapse between one new moon and another.

Besides affording us light in our long winter nights, the Moon is highly useful to man in causing tides; as she moves round the Earth, she attracts, or draws the water towards her, and it follows her path in a vast wave, several feet in height, and the sea in rising, pours its waters into the channels of rivers, turning their currents upwards towards their sources, and thus enabling ships to sail up them.

Another great advantage attending tides, is, they keep the waters of the sea in constant motion, and this prevents their becoming putrid; in the Bristol Channel the tides sometimes rise more than forty feet, and in some parts of the world even more, but their average height is considerably under twenty.

These tides rise much higher about the New and Full Moon, than they do at other times, and these are called Spring Tides; the reason is, the sun and moon at these seasons, attract the waters in one way, while, when the tides are low, they attract them in opposite directions.

It was formerly supposed that the changes of the Moon had great influence on the weather, but an opinion of that kind cannot long prevail, for, from much and careful observation, compared with regular registers of the weather, it is ascertained that this is not the case.

D

It has also been thought that the changes of the Moon had considerable effect upon the insane, that is, upon those disordered in their minds; this is also found to be incorrect from the testimony of some eminent physicians, who have devoted all their energies to the cure of this dreadful malady.

LESSON XXXIV.

ALEXANDER SELKIRK,* IN THE ISLAND OF JUAN FERNANDEZ.- THE ROSE.

I am monarch of all I survey,

My right there is none to dispute;
From the centre all round to the sea,
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
O solitude! where are the charms,

That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms,
Than reign in this horrible place.

I am out of humanity's reach,

I must finish my journey alone,
Never hear the sweet music of speech,
I start at the sound of
my own.
The beasts, that roam over the plain,
My form with indifference see;
They are so unacquainted with man,
There tameness is shocking to me.

Religion what treasures untold
Reside in that heavenly word!
More precious than silver or gold,

Or all that this earth can afford;

*Alexander's being left some years on this uninhabited island, gave rise to the popular "History of Robinson Crusoe."

But the sound of the church-going bell
These valleys and rocks never heard,
Never sigh'd at the sound of a knell,
Nor smil'd when a sabbath appear'd.
Ye winds, that have made me your sport,
Convey to this desolate shore,
Some cordial, endearing report,

Of a land I shall visit no more;
My friends do they now and then send
A wish or a thought after me?
Oh! tell me I yet have a friend.
Though a friend I'm never to see.
The sea-fowl is gone to her nest,
The beast is laid down in his lair;
Even here is a season of rest,

And I to my cabin repair.
There's mercy in every place,
And mercy, encouraging thought,

Gives even affliction a grace,

And reconciles man to his lot.

Cowper.

The rose had been wash'd, just wash'd in a shower,
Which Mary to Anna convey'd;

The plentiful moisture encumber'd the flower,
And weigh'd down its beautiful head.

The cup was all fill'd, and the leaves were all wet,

And it seem'd, to a fanciful view,

To weep for the buds it had left with regret
On the flourishing bush were it grew.

I hastily seiz'd it, unfit as it was,
For a nosegay, so dripping and drown'd,
And, swinging it rudely, too rudely, alas!
I snapp'd it-it fell to the ground!