what you mean," was the simple answer. "There," said the counsel, addressing the judge, "is any thing farther necessary to show that this witness should be rejected'? She does not understand the nature of an oath."

3. "Let us see," said the judge. "Come here, my daughter." Encouraged by the kind tone and manner of the judge, the child stepped toward him, and looked confidingly up in his face with a calm, clear eye, and in a manner so artless and frank, that it went straight to the heart.

4. "Did you ever take an oath'?" inquired the judge. The little girl stepped back with a look of horror, and the red blood came up in a blush all over her face and neck, as she answered, "No, sir." She thought he intended to inquire if she had ever blasphemed !f

5. "I do not mean that," said the judge, who saw her mistake; "I mean, were you ever a witness before'?" "No, sir, I never was in court before," was the answer.

6. He handed her the Bible open. "Do you know that book, my daughter'?" She looked at it, and answered, "Yes, sir; it is the Bible." "Can you tell me what the Bible is'?" inquired the judge. "It is the word of the great God," she answered.

7. "Well," said the judge, "place your hand upon this Bible, and listen to what I say;" and he repeated, slowly and solemnly, the following oath: "Do you swear that, in the evidence which you shall give in this case, you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and that you ask God to help you'?" "I do," she replied.

8. "Now," said the judge, "you have sworn as a witness will you tell me what will befalls you if you do not tell the truth'?" "I shall be shut up in the State Prison," answered the child. 'Any thing else'?" asked the judge. "I shall never go to heaven," she replied.

9. "How do you know' this?" asked the judge again. The child took the Bible, turned rapidly to the chapter containing the commandments, and pointing to the one which reads, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor," said, "I learned that before I could read."

10. "Has any one talked with you about your being a witness in court here against this man'?" inquired the judge. "Yes, sir," she replied; "my mother heard they wanted me to be a witness, and last night she called me to her room, and asked me to tell her the Ten Commandments; and then we kneeled down together, and she prayed that I might understand how wicked it was to bear false witness against my neighbor, and that God would help me, a little child, to tell the truth. And when I came here with father she kissed me, and told me to remember the ninth commandment, and that God would hear every word that I said."

11. "Do you believe this'?" asked the judge, while a tear glistened in his eye, and his lip quivered with emotion. "Yes, sir," said the child, with a voice and manner that showed her full belief in its truth. "God bless you, my child," said the judge, "you have a good mother." "The witness is competent," he continued, turning to the prisoner's counsel. "Were I on trial for my life, and innocent of the charge against me, I would pray God for such a witness as this. Let her be examined."

12. She told her story with the simplicity of a child, as she was; but there was that in her manner and words which carried conviction of her truthfulness to every heart. The counsel for the prisoner asked her a multitude of ingenious questions; but in nothing did she vary from her first statement.

13. The truth, as spoken by that little child, was sublime. Falsehood and perjury, on the part of the prisoner, had preceded her testimony, and villainy' had made up for him a sham defense. But by her testimony falsehood was scattered like chaff. The little child, for whom a mother had prayed for strength to be given her to speak the truth as it was before God, broke the cunning devicesm of matured" villainy1 to pieces, like a potter's vessel. The strength that her mother prayed for was given her; and the sublime and terrible simplicity with which she spoke,

terrible to the prisoner and his associates, was like a reve

lation from God himself.

WIT'-NESS, one who is sworn in court to tell what he saw or heard.

b PRIS'-ON-ER, one accused of a crime. COUN'-SEL, a lawyer; an adviser.

d CON-FI'-DING-LY, with confiding trust.
• ÄRT ́-LESS, sincere; truthful.

BLAS-PHEME', to take God's name in vain.
BE-FALL', happen to.

S. H. HAMMOND.

h COM'-PE-TENT, legally qualified.
iCON-VIC-TION, full belief.
JIN-SEN'-IOUS, artful; shrewd.

PER-JU-RY, false statement under oath.
VIL'-LAIN-Y, wickedness.

m DE-VI-CES, evil plans or purposes.
" MA-TUR'ED, thoroughly planned.

[The little girl in court. Questioned by the counsel for the prisoner, etc. By the judge. Her answers. She is sworn. Further questions and answers. She is declared competent to testify. How she told her story. The effect.

This lesson beautifully illustrates the simplicity and power of truth. It is both descriptive and pathetic. What is the pathetic in writing? (See p. xiii.)]

LESSON XXVI.

THE BETTER LAND.

1. I HEAR thee speak of the better land;
Thou call'st its children a happy band:
Mother'! oh, where is that radianta shore'?
Shall we not seek it, and weep no more'?
Is it where the flower of the orange blows',
And the fire-flies glance through the myrtle boughs'?
"Not there, not there, my child!”

2. Is it where the feathery palm-trees rise,

And the date grows ripe under sunny skies'?
Or 'mid the green islands of glittering seas,
Where fragrant forests perfume the breeze,
And strange, bright birds, on their starry wings,
Bear the rich hues of all glorious things'?
"Not there, not there, my child!"

3. Is it far away in some region old,

Where the rivers wander o'er sands of gold'?
Where the burning rays of the rubyd shine,
And the diamond lights up the secret mine',
And the pearl gleams forth from the coral strand',
Is it there, sweet mother, that better land?
"Not there, not there, my child!"

4. Eye hath not seen it, my gentle boy';
Ear hath not heard its deep songs of joy';

Dreams can not picture a world so fair';
Sorrow and death may not enter there';
Time doth not breathe on its fadeless bloom;
For beyond the clouds, and beyond the tomb,
It is there, it is there, my child!

a RA-DI-ANT, sunny; beautiful and bright. FRA-GRANT, sweet-smelling; odorous. PER-FUME', fill with fragrant odors.

MRS. HEMANS.

d RU-BY, a precious stone of a red or violet color.

e CORAL STRAND, a shore abounding in corals.

[Who are represented as speaking in this lesson? Where does the child fancy this better land to be? What does he think its joys and pleasures must consist in? What is this "better land," as described in the 4th verse?]

LESSON XXVII.

WHAT WAS IT?

1. By the wide lake's margin I markeda her lie-
The wide, weird lake where the rushes sigh-
A fair young thing, with a shy, soft eye;

And I deemed that her thoughts had flown
To her home', and her brethren', and sisters dear,
As she lay there, watching the dark, deep mere,d
All motionless-all alone.

2. Then I heard a noise, as of men and boys;
And a boisterous troop' drew nigh'.
Whither now will retreat those fairy feet'?
Where hide till the storm pass by`?

One glance the wild glance of a hunted thing-
She cast behind her; she gave one spring;

And there followed a splash, and a broadening ring
On the lake where the rushes sigh.

3. She had gone from the ken of ungentle men'!
Yet scarce did I mourn for that;

For I knew she was safe in her own home then,
And, the danger past, would appear again—

For she was a water-rat!

a MARK'ED, noticed; saw.

Aunt Judy's Magazine.

d MERE, a pool or lake.

KEN, view; sight.

b WEIRD (weerd), wild and witching. DEEM'ED, thought; supposed.

UN-GEN'-TLE, harsh; rude; unkind.

[This beautiful little descriptive poem, which is rendered all the more interesting by exciting the reader's curiosity as to "What was it ?" and continuing it to the very last line, is admirably adapted for recitation.]

LESSON XXVIII.

THE FABLE OF THE WIND AND THE FLOWERS; OR, TRAINING AND RESTRAINING.

1. A CERTAIN lady had a beautiful flower-garden, which she and her little daughter had planted, and tended with care; but, as they were going to be absent from home for some little time, the lady left the garden in charge of a Gardener, with directions that he should continue the training which she had begun, that her little pets might be in perfect holiday trim when she and her little girl returned.

2. The lady and her daughter had not been long away, when one day the WIND made that garden a visit. As he looked about, he thought to himself, "What fine fun it would be to spoil all this'!" Then he planned in what manner he should carry out his evil designs. He ap