NIGHT AND DAY.

A FABLE.

1. In old times, long, long ago, when Night and Day were young and foolish and had not discovered how necessary they were to each other's happiness and wellbeing, they chased each other round the world in a state of angry disdain; each thinking that he alone was doing good, and that, therefore, the other, so totally unlike himself in all respects, must be doing harm and ought to be got rid of altogether, if possible.

2. Old northern tales say that they rode, each of them, in a car with a horse to it, but the horse of Night had a frosty mane, while that of Day had a shiny one. Moreover, foam fell from Frosty-mane's bit as he went along, which dropped on the earth as dew; and Shiny-mane's mane was so radiant that it scattered light through the air at every step. And thus they drove on, bringing darkness and light over the earth in turn-each pursuing and pursued.

3. Of the two one grumbled and the other scolded the most, and it is easy to guess which did which. Night was gloomy by nature, especially when clouds hid the moon and stars, so her complaints took a serious and melancholy tone. She was really broken-hearted at the exhaustion produced all over the world by the labours and pleasures which were carried on under the light of Day, and used to receive the earth back as if it was a sick child, and she a nurse, who had a right to be angry with what had been done to it. Day, on the contrary, was amazingly cheerful, particularly when the sun shone; never troubled his head about what was to happen when his fun was over; on the contrary, thought his fun ought

to last for ever because it was pleasant, was quite vexed when it was put a stop to, and had no scruple in railing at his rival; whose only object, as it seemed to him, was to overshadow and put an end to all the happiness that was to be found.

4. "Cruel Night," he exclaimed, "what a life you lead me! How you thwart me at every turn! What trouble I have to take to keep your mischief in check! Look at the mists and shadows I must drive on one side before I can make the world bright with my beautiful light! And no sooner have I done so, than I feel your cold unwholesome breath trying to come up to me behind! But you shall never overtake me if I can help it, though I know that is what you want. You want to throw your hateful black shadow over my bright and pleasant world."

5. "I doing mischief which you have to keep in check!" groaned Night, quite confused by the accusation. "I, whose whole time is spent in trying to repair the mischief other people do: your mischief, in fact, you wasteful consumer of life and power! Every twelve hours I get back from you a half-worn-out world, and this I am expected to restore and make as good as new again, but how is it possible? Something I can do, I know. Some wear and tear I can renew and refresh, but some, alas! I cannot; and thus creep in destruction and death."

6. "Hear her," cried Day, in contempt, "taunting me with the damage I do, and the death and destruction I cause! I, the life-giver, at whose word the whole world awakes, which else might lie asleep for ever. She, the grim likeness of the death she talks about, and bringing death's twin sister in her bosom."

7. "You are Day the destroyer; I, Night the restorer," persisted Night, evading the argument. "I am Day the life-giver; you, Night the desolator," replied Day, bitterly.

"I am Night the restorer; you, Day the destroyer," re"You are to me what death is to life," "Then death is a restorer as I am," ex

peated Night. shouted Day. claimed Night.

8. And so they went on, like all other ignorant and obstinate arguers; each full of his own one idea, and taking no heed of what the other might say. How could the truth be got at by such means? Of course it could not, and of course, therefore, they persisted in their rudeness. And there were certain seasons, particularly, when they became more impertinent to each other than ever. For instance, whenever it was summer, Day's horse, Shiny-mane, got so strong and frisky that Night had much ado to keep her place at all, so closely was she pressed in the chase. Indeed, sometimes there was so little of her to be seen, that people might have doubted whether she had passed by at all, had it not been for the dew Frosty-mane scattered, and which those saw who got up early enough in the morning.

9. Oh, the boasting of Day at these times! And really he believed what he said. He really thought that it would be the greatest possible blessing if he were to go on for ever, and there were to be no Night. Perhaps he had the excuse of having heard a whisper of some old tradition to that effect; but the principal cause of the mistake was, that he thought too much about himself and too little about his neighbour. “Fortunate world,” cried he, "it must be clear to every one, now, who it is that brings blessings and does good to you and your inhabitants. Good old earth, you become more and more lovely and fruitful, the more I shorten the hours of Night and lengthen my own. We can do tolerably well without her restoring power, it would seem! If we could be rid of her altogether, therefore, what a

Paradise there would be! Then the foliage, the flowers, the fruits, the precious crops of this my special season, Would that it could remain unin

would last for ever. terrupted!"-Mrs. Gatty.

arguer, a disputer.

argument, a reason offered as proof.

disdain, scorn, contempt. evade, to escape cunningly. exhaustion, extreme fatigue. impertinent, rude, impudent.

melancholy, gloomy.

rival, one who strives with another.

shiny, diffusing light.

thwart, to cross, to oppose.
taunt, bitter reproach.

tradition, handing down of stories.

ISRAEL: PAST AND PRESENT.

1. When Israel, of the Lord beloved,
Out from the land of bondage came,
Her father's God before her moved,
An awful guide in smoke and flame.
By day, along the astonished lands
The cloudy pillar glided slow;
By night, Arabia's crimsoned sands

Returned the fiery column's glow.
2. There rose the choral hymn of praise,
And trump and timbrel answered keen;
And Zion's daughters poured their lays,
With priest's and warrior's voice between.
No portents now our foes amaze,

Forsaken Israel wanders lone;

Our fathers would not know thy ways,
And Thou hast left them to their own.

3. But, present still, though now unseen!
When brightly shines the prosperous day,
Be thoughts of Thee a cloudy screen,
To temper the deceitful ray.

And oh, when stoops on Judah's path
In shade and storm the frequent night,
Be Thou, long-suffering, slow to wrath,
A burning and a shining light!

4. Our harps we left by Babel's streams,
The tyrant's jest, the Gentile's scorn;
No censer round our altar beams,

And mute are timbrel, trump, and horn.
But Thou hast said, The blood of goat,
The flesh of rams, I will not prize;

A contrite heart, a humble thought,

Are mine accepted sacrifice.-From Ivanhoe-Scott.

Babel, another name for Babylon, to which the Jews were carried captive.

awful, to be feared or reverenced. bondage, slavery.

censer, a pan in which incense is burned.

contrite, broken.

lays, songs.

screen, that which shelters.
temper, to soften.

portent, a miraculous appear

ance.

FRUITS AND SEEDS.

1. Seeds and fruits differ greatly in different species of plants. Some are large, some are small; some are sweet, some bitter; some are brightly coloured, some are good to eat, some poisonous, some winged, some covered with bristles, some with hairs, some are smooth, some very sticky.

2. We may be sure that there are good reasons for all these differences. Seeds require, in many cases, to be protected as long as they are growing, and this is effected in a variety of ways. Thus it is curious that so many of