29. Violetta gave what in Bee-land is considered a smile. "I have thought of that difficulty, and of a remedy too," said she. "I am about to bore a little hole at the end of my tunnel, to give the young bee a way of escape from its prison."

30. "And now," added Violetta, "I will detain you no longer, so much remains to be done, and time is so precious. You probably have something to collect for your hive: I am too much your friend to wish you to be idle."

31. Honeyball thanked her new acquaintance, and flew away, somewhat the wiser for her visit, and better contented with her condition in life; for she felt that not for ten pairs of purple wings would she change places with the carpenter-bee.

a DIS-TURB', trouble, annoy.

b Jos'-TLED, run against; pushed about. C FRA-GRANT, sweet-smelling; odorous. d DIM, faint; indistinct.

* KNEAD, work and mix; mould; form. MAN'-SION, dwelling; residence.

[LESSON LXXVI.

AS-SURED', declared; promised.

h DIG'-NI-FIED, stately; marked with dig-
nity.
[for.

1 "PRO-VIDE FOR," make preparations
TUN'-NEL, hole; passage.
*DE-TAIN', delay; hinder.

In the fable of Honeyball and Violetta, the habits of the hive-bee here described, and of the carpenter-bee, illustrate two opposite phases of character that are often met with elsewhere than in beeland: the one, that of the idler, preferring pleasure to duty, discontented, and to whom every labor is an irksome task; the other, industrious, contented, and happy, and shunning no toil required by duty.

The story faithfully represents the habits and the wonderful labors of the beautiful carpenter-bee, in constructing the habitation for its young. As the first laid and lowest egg hatches first, the young bee would have no way of getting out, if the mother-bee had not provided for this by boring a hole into the bottom of the nest. Who told the mother-bee that the lowest egg would hatch first? And who taught her how to provide for the escape of the young? By a peculiar instinct, each young one, as it hatches, turns its head downward, and all thus pass out by the back door of the dwelling.]

1. Methought a thrush upon a tree
Sweetly sang one day to me,
"Poet', poet', hear me, hear me !"
"Hear thee' ?" I at once replied;b
"Honest fellow, yes, with pride."
And then he poured out such a tide
Of joy, to cheer me.

2. "Happy, happy bird," said I,
"Ever would I lingere by."

"Poet', poet', hear me, hear me !"
Loud, and louder yet he sang,
Till the distant woodlands rang
With his wild and merry clangd

And all to cheer me.

a ME-THOUGHT', I thought.
b RE-PLIED', answered."

CLIN'-GER, loiter.
a CLANG, song.

[LESSON LXXVII. The sounds produced by a correct reading of the third line in each verse are in imitation of the notes of the thrush. The family of the thrushes includes our wood-thrush, the English mavis, the American robin, the mocking-bird, etc. The cut at the head of the lesson represents the mocking-bird.]

LESSON LXXVIII.

SPEAK GENTLY: KINDLY.

1. Speak gently: it is better far
To rule by love than fear:

Speak gently: let not harsh words mar
The good we might do here.

2. Speak gently: 'tis a little thing
Dropped in the heart's deep well:
The good, the joy, which it may bring,
Eternity shall tell.

3. Speak kindly to thy fellow-man',
Lest he should die while yet
Thy bitter accentsa wring his heart
And make his pale cheeks wet.

4. Speak not harshly': much of care
Every human heart must bear.
By thy childhood's gushing tears',"
By thy grief in after years',
By the anguish thou dost know',
Add not to another's woe'.

5. Speak not harshly': much of sin
Dwelleth every heart within.

*

By the wrongs thou didst not shun',
By the good thou hast not done',*
With a gentle spirit scan

The weakness of thy brother man.

6. Speak kindly to thy brother man', for he has many cares thou dost not know'; he has many sorrows thine eye has not seen'; and his heart may, even now, be breaking.

7. Oh, speak kindly to him. Perhaps a word from thee will kindle the light of joy within him,

* Earnest entreaty requires the falling inflection. See RULES IX. and X.

and make his pathway of life more pleasant. Harsh words can never recall the erring-kind

ness may.

a Ac'-CENTS, words; modulation of the

voice in speaking.

AN-GUISH, grief; agony.

SOAN, look upon; examine closely. a RE-CALL', call back.

[LESSON LXXVIII. is an exhortation to gentleness and kindness, in speech and conduct, on the principle that it is better to rule by love than by fear-that harsh words mar the good we might do, etc. We are appealed to, through the remembrance of our own sorrows, not to add, by harsh words, to another's woe; and we are exhorted, by being reminded of our own errors, not to be too severe upon the errors of others.]

1. Here is a picture of an autumn scene in the country, showing the farmer at work after he has finished his summer harvest. He now plows over

his summer-fallows,* and sows his winter wheat and winter rye-that is, wheat and rye that are to remain in the field during the winter, and be harvested the next summer. After the wheat is sown, it is covered with .earth by the use of a drag, or harrow. Wheat and rye that are sown in the spring are called spring wheat, and spring rye.

2. The fall-sown grain comes up before the winter sets in': but if there is but little snow during the winter', and if the ground freezes and thaws often', the roots of the grain are apt to be thrown out of the earth', and the grain then dies'. The farmer says it is winter-killed. Much snow, during the winter, is good for the wheat and rye, as it keeps the ground warm.

3. After the fall-sowing, comes the general gathering of the apples. And first, the winter apples must be carefully picked from the trees. They

must not be shaken off, for they would be bruised by the fall, and the bruising would cause them to decay.

4. Who can name the best kinds of winter apples'? Is not the greening a general favorite'? Is it as