Slow Movement.

4. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

No, no! Ring out, ye bells, ring out and shout!
For the pearly gates they have entered in,

And they no more shall sin,

Ring out, ye bells, ring! ring!

FIFTH READER.

LESSON I.

THE VALUE OF BOOKS.

1. There are so many wise and good things written in books, that every one should early endeavor to cultivate a taste for reading. There are many thousands of books; and all that is written in them is either about the world which God has made, or about the thoughts and sayings of His creatures on whom He has bestowed the power to think and to speak.

2. Some books describe the earth itself, with its land and water; or the air and clouds; or the sun, the moon, and the stars, which shine so beautifully in the sky. Some tell us about the things that grow out of the ground, the many millions of plants, from little mosses and slender blades of grass, up to great trees and forests. Some also contain accounts of living things, such as worms, flies, fishes, birds, and four-footed beasts; and some, which are the most numerous, are about men and their doings.

3. These books about men are the most important to us; for men are the most wonderful of God's creatures in this world, since they alone are able to know and to love Him, and to try of their own accord to do His will. Besides, we ourselves are human beings, and may learn from such books what we ought to think, and do, and try to be.

4. Some of them describe what sort of people have lived in

olden times, and in other countries. By reading these, we know what is the difference between our own nation and the famous nations which lived and flourished in the early periods of the world's history. Such were the Egyptians, who built the Pyramids, the most stupendous buildings of stone ever constructed by men; and the Babylonians,* who had a city with huge walls, built of bricks, and furnished with a hundred brazen gates.

5. They tell us also of the Jews, to whom the commands. of God were given; of the Greeks, who knew best how to make fine statues and buildings, and to write books; of the old Romans, that wonderful people who lived in the ancient city of Rome, how skillful they were in war, and how well they could govern the nations which they subdued.

6. It is from books, also, that we may learn what kind of men lived in our own country before it was peopled with emigrants from Europe, or even with the wild Indians whom they found here; of the Aztecs, who lived in Mexico and Peru, and their curious customs and wonderful civilization; and something also of the singular mounds in various parts of our country, built by a people the memory of whom has passed away.

7. We may also learn what kind of men lived, in olden times, in the northern parts of Europe and Asia, and how they passed to the south and west, overturning civilized nations in their course, and founding the present nations of Europe; how some of these people came to live in England, and planted there a mighty kingdom lasting to our own time, and spreading its power and influence through every part of the world.

8. And we shall see, too, how the gospel has been sent to

*The Babylonians were the inhabitants of Babylonia, a country in Western Asia, now a part of Asiatic Turkey. The city of Babylon was situated on the Euphrates River.

nearly every part of the earth, to make the people wiser and more peaceful, and more noble in their minds. Besides learning all these things, we should try to learn from books what are the best and wisest thoughts, and the most beautiful words; and how men are able to lead right lives, and to do a great deal to make the world better. If we try to be better for all we read, as well as wiser, we shall find books a great help towards goodness as well as knowledge.

treat.

John Sterling. (Adapted.)

ANALYSIS.-Why all should cultivate a taste for reading. Of what books The different things they describe. Which books are the most important, and why. What we may learn of different nations and people, -- the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Jews, the Greeks, and the Romans. What we may learn in regard to our own country. What in regard to Europe. What about the gospel. What else we should try to learn from books. they may benefit us.

How

LESSON II.

THE DISPUTE OF THE SCHOOL-BOOKS.

1. One evening, as I was seated in my room busily engaged in poring over my history lesson, which I thought was unusually long and tedious, and which I had been trying for some time to commit to memory, I suddenly heard, as I thought, a confused noise among my pile of school-books, that I had laid carelessly on the table. I looked up at them; and, lo! it seemed as if they were all earnestly disputing which should be considered the most useful and important.

*

2. When my attention was first drawn to them, History had the floor, and was setting forth his claims in a very boasting "I am," said he, "the most useful book; for I give

manner.

*Had the floor, that is, had the right to speak.

an account of the creation of the world, and of our first parents in the Garden of Eden. Who could give any knowledge of past ages, were it not for me? What else contains a record of the warrior's fame, of the statesman's renown, and of all the great deeds in ages past? On the pages of History there are also written the great events and achievements that have taken place for the past few years

3. "Stop, stop, vain boaster!" exclaimed Geography. “I think I can claim supremacy even over thee, great as are thy pretensions! Who would have known that there was a world, were it not for my pages? I describe the countries and their productions; tell where different bodies of water lie, and even tell what nations inhabit various portions of the earth. Were it not for me, it would not be known even that the earth is round

4. "Enough, enough, friend Geography!" exclaimed Natural Philosophy. "We acknowledge your importance; but, my friends, were it not for me, who would understand why the apple falls to the ground, instead of rising in the sky? Who could understand the law of gravitation,* or the other laws that govern the earth? Who could tell how steam is made the servant of man; or how news is made to flash along the telegraph wire; or how "

5. Before he could complete the sentence, up sprang a little blue-covered Spelling-Book. Cease this contention!" it exclaimed. "Know ye not that I am the greatest among you? Were it not for these twenty-six letters, not one of you would ever have had an existence. Your pages would all have been blank paper, without a line or a word printed upon it. To me you owe all your greatness; without me, you are nothing."

*The law, discovered by Sir Isaac Newton, that all bodies attract each other in direct proportion to the quantity of matter which they contain, and inversely as the square of their distance from each other; that is, a body at twice the distance exerts only one fourth the force.