little captives, and you will see them

through all their changes.

grow and go

12. If you walk out early enough you may find the eggs or spawn. Any time during the month of June you will find tadpoles; but the sooner you go the more pleasure you will have in watching the development of the little animals. Your fathers and mothers will enjoy watching them almost as much as you will.

13. When your tadpoles have become frogs, put them into the pail, and go again out to the pond, and set your captives free. After doing all of this, I am sure that you will never forget how tadpoles become frogs.

VI. POLITENESS IN CHILDREN.

1. How few children think it worth while to be polite to their playmates and intimate friends! By politeness, I do not mean a great deal of bowing and courtesying, but that delicate attention to the comfort of those around us that springs from a kind, generous heart.

2. This habit is acquired, not by attending "schools for manners," but by learning, very early, to yield our own little preferences and privileges to those around us, denying ourselves a thousand little gratifications for the purpose of making others happy.

3. How many children enter a room without a respectful notice of those who are older than themselves. I have seen them come in on a cold winter day, and draw their chairs before the fire in such a way that those who were sitting back could hardly feel the warmth of it, and this without any apology for such a breach of politeness. 4. Sometimes they interrupt those in the room, who are engaged in conversation, by asking some foolish

question, instead of waiting, as they should, until an opportunity is given them to speak. Then they are impolite to their playmates, and to their sisters and brothers. Instead of cheerfully assisting when their help is needed, they leave them to help themselves.

5. All this is not only an evidence of thoughtlessness and rudeness, but of selfishness, also. Such children are unwilling to deny themselves, in any way, in order to promote the comfort of those around them. Others may wait for an opportunity to speak,- others may suffer for an hour in a cold room, but they must not suffer any inconvenience whatever. Is not this selfishness?

6. Again, some boys think it beneath them to be polite to a sister,-- I feel sad when I see such a boy,but there are many who think differently. I recollect that I used to meet a fine, manly lad, last winter, drawing his little sister to school on a sled. Her rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes bore testimony that his politeness was not thrown away upon her. She would pat his cheek with her hand, and call him her kind brother.

7. He would frequently meet boys of his acquaintance, who would urge him to leave his sister, and go with them to play. He would answer them, "Yes, when I have taken little Emma to school." I never saw him impatient when he was walking with her because she could not keep up with him; and he never would run away and leave her. Do you not think that boy was a good brother and a good son?

8. He was always kind and polite to his sister, and to all. Do you think he will forget to be polite as he grows older? No, for it will become a habit with him; and these little attentions, which cost him nothing, and are so gratifying to those who receive them, will gain him many a friend.

9. Think of this, my young friends, when you are

tempted to be rude and selfish, or unkind to those about you; think how many friends your kind acts may gain, and how happy they will make those who receive them; and remember that you lose nothing by being polite.

10. Often, while you are denying yourself some little privileges in your efforts to make others happy, remember that you are laying up a rich fund of pure enjoyment for yourself-far richer and purer than all that you have sacrificed.

11. Finally, be polite and self-denying at home. Be polite and self-denying towards your parents, and your brothers and sisters. Home is the true place to cultivate good manners. It is worth more than all the "schools for manners" that have ever been established. When you retire to sleep, bid your parents, your brothers and sisters, and all, a kind "good night." And when you meet them again the next day, greet them with a pleasant "good morning."

12. If any one does a favor for you, thank him for it. When you are helped at the table, thank those who help you. When you wish any thing handed to you, do not say, "Give me some bread," or "Hand me the salt;" but ask pleasantly and respectfully, "Will you please to give me some bread?" or, "Please to pass me the salt?"

13. It is these little things that make persons polite. It is the little acts of self-denial that make a happy home, and, at the same time, they render each one happy who practices them.

Every sower must one day reap

Fruit from the seed he has sown.
How carefully, then, it becomes us to keep
A watchful eye on the seed, and seek

To sow what is good, that we may not weep
To receive our own!

VII.-LITTLE THINGS.

THOUGHTS.

A thought is but a little thing,
That nobody can sce;

Yet a real joy or sorrowing

That thought may come to be.

WORDS.

A word! O, what can well be less!
And yet by every one

There comes sweet peace or bitterness,
And good or ill is done.

ACTIONS.

An action! All the little deeds

That ripple through the day,
What right or wrong from each proceeds
Before they pass away!

VIII. THE NESTS OF BIRDS.

1. How curious is the structure of the nest of the goldfinch or chaffinch! The inside of it is lined with cotton and fine silken threads, and the outside can not be sufficiently admired, though it is composed only of various species of fine moss, with which the whole surface of the nest is interwoven, and covered with the utmost art.

2. In some nests, hair, wool, and rushes, are ingeniously interwoven. In some, all the parts are firmly fastened by a thread, which the birds make of hemp, wool, hair, or more commonly of spiders' webs. Other birds, as the blackbird, after they have constructed their nest, plaster the inside with mortar, which cements the

whole together; they then stick upon it, while quite wet, some sort of moss to give it the necessary degree of warmth.

3. The nests of swallows are of a very different construction from those of other birds. They require neither wood, nor hay, nor threads; they make a kind of mortar, with which they form a neat, secure and comfortable habitation, for themselves and their family. To moisten the dust of which they build their nests, they dip their breasts in water, and shake the drops from their wet feathers upon it.

4. But the nests most worthy of admiration are those of birds which, like the oriole, suspend them with great art from the branches of trees, to secure them from the depredations of animals and insects. In general, every species of bird has its peculiar mode of building.

5. Some construct their nests in houses, and others in trees; these among the grass, and those on the ground; but always in the way that is best adapted to their security, the rearing of their young, or other objects connected with the preservation and welfare of their species.

6. It is distressing to reflect how many poor birds, who have worked so laboriously and ingeniously to construct their pretty little houses, will have to mourn over the cruel dispositions of some wicked children, who have robbed them of their nests and eggs, or taken away their young ones.

7. What would be your feelings, young friends, were some wicked men to pull down your houses, or take you away from your kind parents, and force you to swallow food you dislike, or starve? Recollect, then, that these little birds are in the same situation when deprived of their mothers, and cruelly sported with by ungrateful children.