5. I ask not a life for the dear ones All radiant, as others have done, But that life may have just enough shadow I would pray God to guard them from evil, But a sinner must pray for himself. 6. The twig is so easily bended, I have banished the rule and the rod; I have taught them the goodness of knowledge, They have taught me the goodness of God. My heart is a dungeon of darkness, Where I shut them from breaking a rule; My frown is sufficient correction; My love is the law of the school. 7. I shall leave the old house in the autumn, 8. I shall miss them at morn and at eve, Their song in the school and the street; I shall miss the low hum of their voices, And the tramp of their delicate feet. When the lessons and tasks are all ended, And Death says, "The school is dismissed!" May the little ones gather around me, To bid me good-night, and be kissed! C. M. Dickinson. LESSON 11. THE WONDERFUL “ONE-HOSS SHAY.". HAVE you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay, That was built in such a logical way It ran a hundred years to a day, And then, of a sudden, it- Ah, but stay, I'll tell you what happened, without delay ; — Frightening people out of their wits- 2. Seventeen hundred and fifty-five, It was on the terrible Earthquake-day 3. Now, in building of chaises, I tell you what, 4. But the Deacon swore With an "I dew vum " (as Deacons do, or an "I tell yeou") He would build one shay to beat the taown 'N' the keounty 'n' all the kentry raoun'; It should be so built that it couldn' break daown: "Fur," said the Deacon, "'t's mighty plain Thut the weakes' place mus' stan' the strain; 'N' the way t' fix it, uz I maintain, Is only jest T' make that place uz strong uz the rest." 5. So the Deacon inquired of the village folk He sent for lancewood to make the thills; And the wedges flew from between their lips, 6. Step and prop-iron, bolt and screw, That was the way he "Put her through." 7. Do! I tell you, I rather guess She was a wonder, and nothing less! Colts grew horses, beards turned gray, Children and grandchildren — where were they? 8. EIGHTEEN HUNDRED-it came, and found And then came fifty and 'FIFTY-FIVE. 9. Little of all we value here Wakes on the morn of its hundredth year, Take it. You're welcome. No extra charge.) 10. FIRST OF NOVEMBER- the Earthquake-day. There are traces of age in the one-hoss shay, A general flavor of mild decay, But nothing local, as one may say. There could n't be for the Deacon's art Had made it so like in every part, That there was n't a chance for one to start. 11. First of November, 'Fifty-five! This morning the parson takes a drive. Drawn by a rat-tailed, ewe-necked bay. 12. The parson was working his Sunday text,- Close by the meet'n'-house on the hill. First a shiver, then a thrill, Then something decidedly like a spill 13. What do you think the parson found, O. W. Holmes. LESSON 12. AIM AT ACCURATE HABITS OF THOUGHT. THINK HINKING is the exercise which strengthens the mind, and without which no progress can be made in mental cultivation. A man may read, and hear, and talk; he may devour volumes, and listen to lectures every night, and yet, if he does not think, he will make after all but little if any improvement. His head will be full of |