cedar-tree that is in Lebanon, even to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall."

Sarah. Are there not several methods by which flowers have been arranged in a scientific order; and is not the Linnæn system that which is generally adopted?

Papa. Linnæus was an enthusiast in this study. He traveled most extensively to search out the productions of Flora. He had to encounter the hardships of poverty, and numberless privations, but, by dint of unwearied perseverance, he completely succeeded ; and is among the few whose names will live as long, we might almost say, as the earth is adorned with flowers.

John. Where and when was Linnæus born, and what are the peculiar features of his plan for arranging the varieties of plants and flowers?

Papa. Linnæus was born in Sweden, in the year 1717. The exercise he took, in pursuit of his favorite object, gave him an extraordinary share of health, till 1774. In that year he was attacked with a fit of apoplexy, which obliged him to relinquish the most laborious part of his professional duties, and he died in 1778. His plan of arrangement was to classify all plants by their sexual appearances; that is, by the number, the relative length, the connection, and the relative position of the stamens and pistils; which two organs are the essential parts of a flower, by which the seed is perfected, the species continued, and multiplied.

Sarah. I have been dissecting one of my pet flowers, the Primrose, and was pleased to observe how easily I found all the various parts, just as my botanical work describes flowers of this class.

Papa. Then you are prepared to give us a scientific description of this delicate and beautiful flower, from your own experience in dissecting it, and in your own language?

Sarah. This flower belongs to the fifth class, because it has five stamens; it is of the first order, having but one pistil; the corolla is funnel-shaped-sometimes of a white or variegated color. In England the plant blossoms very early, and is of a beautiful yellow color; it is inclosed in a deep calyx or sheath, at the bottom of which is plainly seen the germ at the lower end of

the pistil, in which is encased the seed, which becomes mature, as the flower fades and drops off from the stalk. The polyanthus, paigle, and cowslip are other beautiful specimens of flowers in the same division. Henry Kirke White has a beautiful little poetic piece upon this vernal flower, in which he speaks of it as a

"Mild offspring of a dark and sullen sire!

Whose modest form, so delicately fine,

Was nurs'd in whirling storms,

And cradled in the winds."

Mamma. As it is now growing late, and the damp of the evening is falling, we must, for the present, postpone this interesting subject, and will shortly resume it. In the mean time, I hope all of you will study this science, and not let the summer months pass away without increasing your knowledge of this extensive and beautiful department of the works of our great and benevolent Creator.

Original.

GEORGE AND HIS TEACHER.

BY REV. F. C. WOODWORTH.

In a small country village, not more than a hundred miles from Boston, there lived a boy, whom we will call George. I ought to tell you, perhaps, that he would not be likely to answer to this name. But never mind that. The name will answer our present purpose quite as well as the real one, which it would hardly be decorous to introduce in this story. George had a verye xcellent Sabbathschool teacher. That is saying a good deal, I know; for there are a multitude, of both sexes, engaged in instructing children in the Sabbath-school, who are entirely unfitted for such a task. George's teacher was a devotedly pious man. He was not one of those who put on a sort of religious mantle for particular times and occasions, and take it off again when they are engaged in the common affairs of life. He always exhibited a conscientious, Christian spirit. No matter where one met him, or when; it was

easy to see his heart was in the right place. Besides this, though I scarcely know whether it resulted from his natural disposition, or from habit, or from the intimate communion he enjoyed with God-he was an uncommonly kind and amiable man. It was almost impossible for any one to irritate him. Indeed, his good-nature and uniformly cheerful temper had passed into a proverb in the village. His class in the Sabbath-school consisted of some six or eight boys, the eldest of whom was not more than twelve years of age. Among them all there was none more capable of getting his lessons well, and of making rapid progress in the study of the Bible, than George. But, for all that, he was the worst scholar in the class-the worst, I am sorry to say, in every respect. His lessons were not only badly learned, but he gave his teacher trouble in a great many other ways. Sometimes he would come into the class very late. Sometimes he took it into his head to stay away altogether for one Sabbath, when he might just as well have been present as not. Then he often grieved his teacher by his inattention and levity.

"Was George under good government at home?" I hear some of you inquire. Why, yes, his parents were pretty faithful in the management of their children, I think; and, to tell the truth, George was not what might have been called a very bad, willful, headstrong boy. He was mischievous, frolicksome, thoughtless. He deserved a good deal of censure, no doubt; but he did not pass for a vicious boy, and perhaps he ought not to have passed for one. Be that as it may, however, his mischief cost his teacher a great deal of pain. It seemed to that good man—and with some reason, I am sure that George's conduct was disrespectful toward him; and he grieved over it on that account. But there was one thought which grieved him still more. It was, that his divine Master was dishonored and slighted by this pupil.

One Sabbath, after spending a longer time than usual in his closet, praying that God would bless his labors in the Sabbathschool, and teach those dear children by his Holy Spirit, he met his class, and talked to them very affectionately and earnestly, of God, and Christ, and heaven. His heart was full. Tears rolled down his cheeks, as he spoke of the love of the Redeemer, and

urged his pupils to accept of him as their Saviour. Still George was not moved. He was as indifferent as ever. Why was it? Not because he was a hard-hearted boy-simply, I suppose, because he was thoughtless. Alas! what anguish this thoughtlessness cost him! At some remark which the teacher made, George interrupted him, and asked some frivolous question, which every one saw was only designed to make the boys laugh. This was not the first time George had done such a thing, and he deserved a severe reprimand for it. But his teacher simply said, "George, I am afraid the time will come when you will look back upon the hours spent in this Sabbath-school class with regret."

These words seemed almost prophetic, but a day or two after they were uttered. Before this class met again, their teacher had gone to his eternal rest. While engaged in his labors as a carpenter, during the week, he fell from the roof of a house to the ground, and never spoke again.

Oh, how bitterly did George repent of his behavior in the Sabbathschool, when he heard of this painful event! For months, he could scarcely help thinking, almost all the time, of the disrespect he had shown that excellent man. Those thoughts robbed him of his peace, by day and by night. Years have gone by. George is now a man, and, as he humbly hopes, has been adopted into the family of God; but even now, as he told me but a day or two since, his bosom feels the keenest sorrow, when he thinks of the manner in which he treated that devoted teacher.

Dear children, there is a lesson in this story about George. I need not point it out to you. You see plainly enough what it is. Will you try and profit by it?

WHY DON'T THEY GET READY?" Mamma," said a little child to her mother, "my Sunday-school teacher tells me that this world is only a place, in which God lets us live a while, that we may prepare for a better world. But, mother, I do not see anybody preparing. I see you are preparing to go into the country, and Aunt Eliza is preparing to go with you! Why do not people try to get ready to go to another world?"

THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS.

THIS tabernacle was erected by Moses, at the command of Jehovah, in the Arabian desert, or wilderness, The Hebrew word from which the word tabernacle is derived, means a place of meeting. Hence the old-fashioned word meeting-house. Here Moses met Jehovah, and here Jehovah met his assembled people, and bestowed upon them those peculiar manifestations of his grace and glory, which in all succeeding ages he has delighted to exhibit toward the assemblies of his people, when they have met to worship Him.

This tabernacle was to be erected by the voluntary contributions of the Israelites. The tabernacle was so constructed that it was carried about with them in all their migrations, until after the conquest of Canaan, when it remained more or less stationary in Palestine.

VOL. XVIII.NO. VI.-11