7. THE SEA-SHORE.

If you go to the shore of the sea, you will see a fishingboat, and many pretty things. You may pick up stones which you have never seen before, and fine shells. Some of them are strangely formed. You will see, also, little plants growing on the rocks, and in the small pools. You may sit down and watch the sea, and think how good God has been to make all these things for you.

8. COMFORT.

A carpenter, who was dying, said to his wife, who was shedding tears at his bed-side: 'Thou seest, my good Frances, I am fast going; and when I am departed for ever, thou wilt do well to marry our first journeyman, James, as he is a good fellow, and our business, thou knowest, requires a steady man.' 'Alas!' said the disconsolate wife, 'how very strange, I was thinking of it myself!'

9. WHEN TO GIVE.

'I am rich enough,' says Pope to Swift, and can give away a hundred pounds a year. I would not crawl upon the earth without doing a little good. I will enjoy the pleasure of what I give by giving it whilst I am alive, and can see another enjoy it. When I die I should be ashamed to leave enough for a monument, if a wanting friend was above ground.' That speech of Pope is enough to immortalise him, independently of his philosophic verse.

IO. BRAVERY.

The Arabs who make war against the French in Africa, usually cut off the heads of their prisoners, and carry them to their tents as trophies. One day a Kabyle came to his chief, shouting and showing with delight a human hand which he had stuck on his sabre. Fool!' said the chief, 'why did you not bring your enemy's head?' 'I could not,' replied the brave Arab. And why not?' asked the chief. 'Because he had none when I found him stretched on the sand.'

II. JEAN BART.

The celebrated fisherman of Dunkirk, Jean Bart, became at first a privateer, and was one of the most daring and best sailors in the French navy. On account of his courage and his skill, he was elevated to the rank of commodore of a royal squadron. King Louis XIV. announced his promotion to him in the following terms: 'Jean Bart, I have made you a commodore.' 'Sire, you have done right,' replied the honest sailor with simplicity.

12. COLIGNY.

Gaspard de Coligny, Admiral of France, was one of the most remarkable.men of his time. His name has gained a mournful celebrity in the pages of history, as that of the greatest martyr in the massacre of St. Bartholomew. He embraced the doctrines of Calvin, and by his austere manners and the purity of his life, illustrated the doctrines which he embraced. In his youth he was the gay companion of the Duke of Guise. But the two friends, separated by opinion and by interest, were changed into mortal foes.-Prescott.

13. THE DYING LADY.

A well-known lady, who was very selfish, became suddenly ill and found that she was dying. The idea of dying alone was so horrible to her, that she took her servant's hand, and exclaimed several times, 'Die with me! Oh ! my dear Mary, die with me!'

14. THE HEROIC INDIANS.

Some Indians, taken in battle near the Cordilleras, were very fine men, above six feet high, and all under thirty years of age. In order to force them to reveal what they knew about their countrymen's position, they were placed in a line. The two first refused to answer the questions which were put to them, and were instantly shot. The third, when his turn came, refused likewise to betray his tribe, and simply said, 'Fire! I am a man and can die.'-Darwin's Voyage of H.M.S. 'Beagle'

15. COURTLY ACADEMICIANS.

Louis XIV., whom his courtiers and some historians after them have called the great king, told the members of a scientific society in France that they should elect his son, the Duc de Maine, a member. The president bowed and said, ‘There is unhappily no vacancy just now, but every one of us is ready to die, rather than your majesty should be disappointed.'—The Kaleidoscope.

16. Two FCURS DO NOT ALWAYS MAKE EIGHT.

The manager of a country theatre being asked to give to the public the play of Henry the Eighth, said he could not do that, but he would play the Two Parts of Henry the Fourth, which he supposed would amount to the same thing.—The Laughing Philosopher.

17. QUEENS AND PRINCES.

Elizabeth, the Queen of England, once said: 'It is very singular that every person who is taller than I am looks too tall, and that every person who is shorter than I am looks too short.' *

In 1830, Charles X., King of France, tried to break the constitution of the country by a royal decree. The Parisians revolted and fought against the troops. The King's minister, Prince Polignac, was informed by the great astronomer, Arago, that the regiments of the line turned against the Government and were going over to the people. He exclaimed, in a great rage, 'Well, then, we must also fire on the soldiers.'

*

The Duchesse de Maine once frankly said: 'I am very fond of company, for I listen to no one, and every one listens to me.'

*

'Alas! we do a great deal too much for the sake of the newspapers,' said Prince Eugène, after having gained a useless victory.-Catherine Sinclair.

18. A GOOD RETORT.

A celebrated physician said to Lord Eldon's brother, Sir William Scott: You know after forty a man is always either

a fool or a physician.' The baronet archly replied, in an insinuating voice: Perhaps he may be both, doctor.'-Lord

Brougham.

19. DO KINGS DIE?

When Louis XV., a very bad king of France, was a child and learned to read, he one day opened a book in which the death of some king was related. Quite astonished, he turned to his tutor and asked him: 'How is this? Do kings really die, sir?' 'Sometimes, my prince, sometimes,' answered the servile courtier.

20. THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Mr. Popham, when he was Speaker, and the House had sat long without doing anything, had an audience of Queen Elizabeth, who asked him : 'Now, Mr. Speaker, what has passed in the House of Commons?' He answered, 'What has passed, your Majesty?—seven weeks?'-Bacon.

21. THE DYING STATESMAN.

When Lord Holland was dying, George Selwyn called at Holland House and left his card. It was carried to the dying statesman. He looked at it for a moment, and then said: If Mr. Selwyn calls again, tell him to come up; 'if I am alive, I shall be delighted to see him; and if I am dead, he would like to see me.'-Selwyn's Memoirs.

22. KINGS AND MINISTERS.

'I am the State,' said the absolute king of France, Louis XIV.

'You dogs,' exclaimed Frederick II. of Prussia, at Kolin, when the battle was lost and the few soldiers who remained refused to charge again; 'you dogs! do you wish to live eternally?'

*

Prince Kaunitz, the Austrian minister, arrived at Innspruck, where the Grand Duke Leopold was to celebrate his marriage. The illustrious Glück told him that the singers who were to perform in the opera were perfect. 'Well,' said the minister,

'play the opera now, directly.' 'What? without an audience?' exclaimed the astonished composer. 'Quality, sir,' replied the proud statesman, 'is more than quantity; I, quite alone, am an audience.'

23. THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.

The Duchess of Marlborough quarrelled with her granddaughter, Lady Anne Egerton. Afterwards she took the lady's picture, blackened the face, and wrote on the frame: 'She is much blacker within.' This blackened picture was placed in her room, where all her visitors could see it.

One day her husband offended her; immediately she cut off her beautiful and long hair, to vex him.

When she was very ill, she lay long in bed without speaking. The physicians said she must be blistered, or she would die. Suddenly she called out, ‘I won't be blistered, and I won't die.'-Mrs. Thomson.

24. THREE CROWNS.

Queen Caroline, wife of George II., desiring to shut up St. James' Park, and convert it into a garden for the palace, asked Sir Robert Walpole what he thought would be the expense of the alteration. 'Oh, madam,' said he, 'a trifle.' 'A trifle, Sir Robert! I know it must be expensive, but I wish you would tell me as near as you can guess.' 'why, madam, I believe it would cost you three crowns.' 'I will think no more of it then,' said the queen.

25. TWO PREACHERS.

The great preacher, Robert Hall, was very agreeable and playful in conversation with his friends. One day, when he had preached an excellent charity-sermon, he showed much vivacity at dinner. 'Brother Hall,' said another clergyman, who was present, you surprise me; how can you be so frivolous after having preached so serious a sermon?' Hall quietly answered, 'Brother X., I keep my non-sense for the dinner table, while you tell yours in the pulpit.'