The smith's hammer is not heard upon the ánvil; nor the harsh saw of the carpenter.

All men are stretched on their quiet béds; and the child sleeps upon the breast of its mother.

Darkness is spread over the skies; and darkness is upon the ground; every eye is shút, and every hand is still.

Who taketh care of all people when they are sunk in sleep, when they cannot defend themselves, nor see if danger approacheth?

There is an Eye | that never sleepeth; there is an Eye that seeth in the dark night, as well as in the bright sunshine.

When there is no light of the sun, nor of the moon, when there is no lámp in the house, nor any little star twinkling through the thick clouds; that Eye | seeth everywhere, in áll plàces, and watcheth continually over all the families of the earth.

The Eye that sleepeth nót | is God's; His hand is always stretched out over us.

He made sleep | to refresh us when we are weary. He made night, that we might sleep in quiet.

* Questions commencing with the interrogative words, Who, how, when, &c., end with the falling inflection.

As the mother moveth about the house, with her finger on her lips, and stilleth every little noise, that her infant be not distúrbed; as she draweth the curtains around its bed, and, shutteth out the light from its éyes; so GoD | draweth the curtains of darkness | around ùs; so He maketh all things to be hushed and still, that His large family | may sleep in peace.

Labourers, spent with toil, and young children, and every little, humming insect, sleep quietly; for GOD | watcheth over you!

You may sleep; for He | never sleeps: you may close your eyes, in safety; for His eye is always open to protect you.

When the darkness is passed away, and the beams of the morning strike through your eyelids, begin the day with praising GOD, who hath taken care of you through the night.

Flowers! when you open again, spread your leaves, and smell sweet to His praise!

Birds! when you awake, warble your thanks amongst the green boughs; sing to Him before you sing to your mates!

Let His praise be in our hearts dówn; let His praise be on our lips

awake.

13

when we lie

when we

LESSON XLVI.

THE OAK-TREE.

SING for the dak-tree,

The monarch of the wood;

Sing for the oak-tree,

That groweth green and good;

That groweth broad and branching,

Within the forest shade;

That groweth now,

and yet shall grow,

When we are lowly laid!

The oak-tree was an acorn once,

And fell upon the earth;
And sun and showers nourished it,
And gave the oak-tree birth.

The little sprouting oak-tree!

Two leaves it had at first,

Till sun and showers had nourished it,-

Then out the branches burst.

The little sapling dak-tree!

Its root was like a thread,

Till the kindly earth had nourished it,—
Then out it freely spread :

On this side and on that side

It grappled with the ground;

And in the ancient, rifted ròck |

Its firmest footing found.

The winds came, and the ràin fell;

The gusty tempests blew ;

All, àll | were friends to the oak-tree,
And stronger yet it grew.

The boy that saw the acorn fall,

He feeble grew and grey;

But the oak was still a thriving tree,
And strengthened every day!

Four centuries grows the oak-tree,
Nor doth its verdure fail;
Its heart is like the iron-wood,
Its bark like plated mail.
Now cut us down the oak-tree,
The monarch of the wood;

And of its timbers, stout and strong,
We'll build a vessel good!

The oak-tree of the forest

Both éast and west shall fly;

And the blessings of a thousand lands
Upon our ship shall lie!

For she shall not be a man-of-wàr,
Nor a pirate shall she be;

But a noble, Christian mèrchant-ship,
To sail upon the sea.

Then sing for the oak-tree,

The monarch of the wood;

Sing for the oak-tree,

That groweth green and good;

That groweth broad and branching,

Within the forest shade;

That groweth now, and yet shall grow,—

When we are lowly laid!

LESSON XLVII

MAKING BREAD.

THE following is Robinson Crusoe's account of his attempts to make bread. It shows how much we depend on trades. Robinson Crusoe had been shipwrecked, and was living alone, on a desert island.

"I wished to get a stone mortar to pound some corn in; for, as to a mill, I had no thought of arriving at that perfection of art, with one pair of hands. To supply this want, I was at a great loss; for, of all trades in the world, I was as poorly prepared for that of a stone-cutter, as for any trade whatever; neither had I any tools.

I spent many a day, to find out a great stone, big enough to cut hollow, and make fit for a mortar; but could find none at all, except what was in the solid rock, and which I had no way to dig or cut out; nor, indeed, were the rocks in the island of sufficient hardness; as they were all of a sandy, crumbling stone, which would neither bear the weight of a heavy pestle, nor would break the corn without filling it with sand.

So, after a great deal of time lost in searching for a stone, I gave it over, and resolved