terials of which the nest was composed was a piece
of paper with some printed verses on it. The boy pulled it out and
found it to be a page of one of Dr. Watts' hymns, which had been
picked up in the yard by the poor bird for strengthening her nest.
The boy unfolded the paper and read:----
"Why should I deprive my neighbor
Of his goods against his will?
Hands were made for honest labor,
Not to plunder nor to steal."
The lad says, in his after years, "I never forgot the lesson presented
to me by that leaf of paper which had been fixed to the nest of the
poor sparrow." Let young people remember that when they do wrong they
will get reproved, and it may be by the means of a bird.
* * * * *
THE ECHO.
Little Charles knew nothing about an echo. As he was playing by
himself in the field, he cried out, "Ho, hop!" and immediately a voice
from the woods near by answered, "ho, hop!" Being surprised at this,
he called out, "who be you?" The voice answered, "who be you." Charles
thought this very strange, and cried out "you're a stupid fellow,"
and "stupid fellow," was the reply from the woods.
Charles began to be much displeased, and called several abusive names,
and every name he called, came back to him. "I never met with such
insolence," said he, "but I'll revenge myself;" and he ran up and down
among the trees, trying to find the supposed offender, but he could
see no one. Vexed and disappointed, he hastened home and told his
mother that a bad boy had hidden in the woods and called him all sorts
of names.
His mother smiled and shook her head. "Now you have been angry at
yourself, Charles, for you must know that you heard nothing but your
own words repeated. As you have seen your own face reflected in the
water, so you have now heard your own voice echoed." Had Charles spoke
kind words he would have heard kind words in return. It is often true
that the behavior we meet with from others, is but an echo of our own.
If we speak kind words we shall have kind words in return.
* * * * *
LIZZY AND HER DOG.
I wish to relate to you a very affecting story about a good girl who
died when she was thirteen years old. She was an interesting young
girl, and possessed great intellectual powers. She was also very fond
of the works of nature, especially of flowers, and would often say,
"How good God is to make these beautiful flowers for
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