clothed. The corslet is more solid than the rest of the body, and in it the four legs and the wings are fixed. Butterflies have six legs, but only make use of four; the two fore-feet are covered by the long hairs of the body, and are sometimes so much concealed that it is difficult to discover them. The eyes of butterflies have not all the same form; in some they are the larger portion of a sphere; in others they are but a small part of it, just appearing from the head; in some, also, they are small, and in others large; bút, in all of them the outer coat has a lustre, in which may be discovered all the various colours of the rainbow. It has likewise the appearance of a multiplying-glass, having a great number of sides, in the manner of a brilliant cut diamond. In this particular the eyes of the butterfly and of most other insects correspond. The wings of butterflies are different from those of any other fly: they are four in number, and though two of them be cut off the animal has the power of flying. They are, in their own substance, transparent, but owe their opacity to the beautiful dust with which they are covered. Trimmer. 19.-Canute and his Courtiers; or, Flattery Reproved. Liege, sovereign; el'e-ments, air, earth, fire and water; bois'ter-ous, furious; sov'er-eign, supreme lord; cour'tiers, frequenters of a king's palace; scep'tre, ensign of royalty; re-tire', go back. Canute. Is it true, my friends, as you have often told me, that I am the greatest of monarchs? Offa. It is true, my liege; you are the most powerful of all kings. Oswald. We are all your slaves; we kiss the dust of your feet. Offa. Not only we, but even the elements are your slaves. The land obeys you from shore to shore; and the sea obeys you. Canute. obey me? ding! Does the sea, with its loud boisterous waves, Offa. Yes, the sea is yours; it was made to bear your ships upon its bosom, and to pour the treasures of the world at your royal feet. It is boisterous to your enemies, but it knows you to be its sovereign. Canute. Is not the tide coming up? Oswald. Yes, my liege; you may perceive the swell already. Canute. Bring me a chair then; set it here upon the sands. us! Offa. Where the tide is coming up, my gracious lord? Oswald, (aside.) I wonder what he is going to do. Canute. O mighty ocean! thou art my subject; my courtiers tell me so; and it is thy duty to obey me.-Thus, then, I stretch my sceptre over thee, and command thee to retire. Roll back thy swelling waves, nor let them persume to wet the feet of me, thy royal master. Oswald, (aside.) I believe the sea will pay very little regard to his royal commands. Offa. See how fast the tide rises! Oswald. The next wave will come up to the chair. It is folly to stay; we shall be covered with salt water. Canute. Well, does the sea obey my commands? If it be my subject, it is a very rebellious subject. See how it swells, and dashes the angry foam and salt spray over my sacred person! Vile sycophants! did you think I was the dupe of your base lies? that I believed your abject flatteries? Learn, that there is but one Being whom the sea will obey. He is Sovereign of heaven and earth, King of kings, and Lord of lords. It is only He who can say to the ocean, “Thus far shalt thou go, but no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." A king is but a man; and a man is but a worm. Shall a worm assume the power of the great God, and think the elements will obey him?— May kings learn to be humble from my example, and courtiers learn truth from your disgrace! Dr. Aiken. 20.-A Greenland Winter; Or, the condition of the early Missionaries in that Country. Ex-cept', unless capio | At'mo-sphere, air atmos sphaira cre-a'ted, caused sto ex'quis-ite, piercing de-pend'ed, rested facio dis-joint'ed, separated creo quero pendeo jungo jus e-vents', things that happen venio Re-sourc'es, means; sing'u-lar, particular; shroud'ed, covered; mis'er-a-bly, wretchedly; ex-cu'sa-ble, pardonable; fan'cied, imagined; ter'rors, fears; pit'eous, mournful; lag'ging, slow. THE return of winter called for all their resources; there was then little enjoyment out of doors, and there was still less within, except constant fires were in each apartment, and warm furs round the body. The doors and windows were carefully closed; but winter, like a serpent, crept into every nook and corner of the dwelling. The cup, full of heated brandy or water, when laid on the table, was frozen in a few moments. The ice and hoar frost would sometimes spread, in the night time, from the chimney to the stove's mouth, without being thawed by the warmth of the fire. The linen was often frozen in the drawers, and the soft eiderdown bed and pillows were stiffened with frost, even while the sleepers rested on them. One of the most singular effects of the cold was the frost smoke that rose from the sea in thin volumes, as if from a furnace. This is more injurious to the hnman frame than the keenest atmosphere; for it was no sooner wafted by the wind over the land, than it created such a cutting and exquisite cold that no one could go out of the house without having his hands and feet bitten. The rising of these wreaths of smoke, from the surface of the sea, was a strange sight: the feeble moon struggling through them: no one stirred abroad at this hour; and every casement and avenue, by which light or air could enter, was shrouded. In the dim twilight of the day that followed, the daring hunter would sometimes venture forth in his sledge to seek the rein-deer. It was miserably cheerless to rise from sleep; "yet a little more folding of the hands to slumber," were words excusable here. What charm had the waking hours? How were they to be spent? The fire must be fed carefully, for their life depended on it; and the lamp never suffered to go out, for then they could neither read the few books they possessed, nor work, nor see each other's faces, the only glad sight that was left. This long night lasted for two months; it began in November, and ended with the middle of January. It was often made more painful by fancied terrors: sad sounds were often abroad in the air, caused by the meeting of masses of disjointed ice, or the splitting of the rocks with intense cold: even the piteous cry of the seal was sometimes enough to create alarm: there were noises also on the deep and the shore, for which they could not account, so that the exiles were often like the people in Egypt during the plague of darkness. No visitor came to cheer the lagging moments; no friend dropped in to tell of passing events, or share their solitary meal. There were no events to tell of: the land was sealed and covered; within each silent dwelling the undying lamp was seen to glimmer: every friend was in the distant land of Norway, around their forsaken home. specio im-pos'si-ble, impracticable posse re-spect', particular I-tal'ian, belonging to Italy; bish'op, one of the head clergy; re-mark'a-ble, distinguished; en-coun'tered, met with; re-pined', murmured; re-flect', consider; for'tu-nate, lucky; rea'son, cause. |