Then turn with all thy griefs to Heaven, There's solace for thy sorrows there, And freely shall its balm be given, If thou wilt ask in humble prayer And pray, oh, pray, whene'er ye tread, Through this dark world a thornless way; When not a cloud is seen o'erhead, Then hast thou doubly need to pray; For we are apt to love this life Too well, if naught is here of care; If we know not its scenes of strife, Our only shield from sin is prayer. A SIBERIAN WINTER. ERE is an article written by cne who has traveled in the cold northern countries, which gives an interesting description of the extreme coldness of the weather in that extreme coldness of the weather in that region. But before reading it we wish our young friends to look on their maps and see where Siberia is situated. The traveler in Siberia, during winter, is so enveloped in furs that he can scarcely move. Under the thick fur hood, which is fastened to the bearskin collar and covers the whole face, one can only draw in a little of the external air, which is so keen that it causes a very peculiar and painful feeling to the throat and lungs. The distance from one halting place to another takes about ten hours, during which time the traveler must always continue on horseback, as the cumbrous dress makes it insupportable to wade through the snow. The poor horses suffer at least as much as their riders, for, besides the general effect of the cold, they are tormented by ice forming in their nostrils and stopping their breathing. When they intimate this, by a distressed snort and a convulsive shaking of the head, the drivers relieve them by taking out the pieces of ice, to save them from being suffocated. When the icy ground is not covered www by snow, their hoofs often burst from the effects of the cold. The caravan is always surrounded by a thick cloud of vapor; it is not only living bodies which produce this effect, but even the snow smokes. These evaporations are instantly changed into millions of needles of ice, which fill the air, and cause a constant slight noise, resembling the sound of torn satin or silk. Even the reindeer seeks the forest to protect him from the intensity of the cold. Where there is no shelter to be found, the whole herd crowd together as close as possible to gain a little warmth from each other, and be seen may standing in this way quite motionless. Only the dark bird of winter, the raven, still cleaves to the icy air with slow and heavy wing, leaving behind him a long line of thin vapor, marking the track of his solitary flight. The influence of the cold extends even to inanimate nature, The thickest trunks of trees are rent asunder with a loud sound, which, in these deserts, falls on the ear like a signal shot at sea; large masses of rock are torn from their ancient sites; the ground, in the valleys, cracks and forms wide, yawning fissures from which the waters that were beneath rise, giving off a cloud of vapor, and become immediately changed into ice. "The edge of my guard bed was my seat to study in; my knapsack was my bookcase, and a board lying on my lap was my writing-desk. I had no money to buy candles or oil; in winter it was rarely that I could get any light but that of the fire, and only my turn even to that. "To buy a pen or a sheet of paper I was compelled to forego a portion of food, though in a state of starvation. I had no moment at that time that I could call my own, and I had to read and write amid the talking, singing, whistling, and brawling of at least half a score of the most thoughtless of men, and that, too, in hours of freedom from control. "And I say, if I, under circumstances like these, could encounter and overcome the task, can there be in the whole world a vouth who can find excuse for non-performance ?" ingly informed his venerable parent, who with the greatest composure addressed him as follows: "My son, you have dutifully attended to my advice, and entered into the pleasant path of virtue; but be not so proud that the nails are drawn out, for the marks where they have been still remain; so, likewise, the odium of your former misconduct will not be erased from your character, unless you continue to pursue the path of virtue, and never replunge into the pollution from which you have fortunately escaped." "BROTHER JONATHAN.” HE term "Brother Jonathan," which is applied to the people of the United States, as "John Bull" is to the English, is said to have originated as follows: General Washington placed great confidence in the good sense and pa THE WIDOW AND HER SON. dow who had a wayward son, and of a singular mode taken to reform him, which presents a warning to those youth who thought-gency, when a measure of great imlessly indulge in folly and vice: An aged widow had an only son, who repeatedly transgressed. His mother, rendered unhappy by his misconduct, tried numberless methods to reclaim him, but without effect. At last, with great difficulty, she prevailed on him when he committed a bad action, to drive a nail into the wall of his chamber; and when he had done a good act to take one out. In a short time the wall was nearly covered with the marks of his guilt. After a long time had elapsed, he began to refrain from his evil courses, and conducted himself with so much propriety that the nails gradually diminished, and were at last all drawn out. Of this circumstance he exult portance was under discussion, Washington remarked, "We must consult Brother Jonathan on the subject." The result of that consultation was favorable. From this event the use of the expression, "Brother Jonathan," became more and more common, till it finally was applied to the American army, and from thence it soon passed to the people at large. This appellation has stuck to us as closely as "John Bull" has to the English. INDUSTRY, economy, and prudence are the sure forerunners of success. They create that admirable combination of powers in one which always conduces to eventful prosperity. A THE PENGUIN. BY HENRY WILSON. MONG water birds the Penguin | with nor legs to run away. But in the appears to hold the same place that the ostrich does among land birds. The ostrich is the swiftest runner among land animals. It has wings but can not fly with them, yet they serve to waft it forward with greater speed. The Penguin is the fastest swimmer of the feathered tribes. It has short and small wings, which it uses as oars to increase its speed through the water. Like the ostrich, too, it is very difficult to be captured when in its native ele ment-water. On land the Penguin is entirely defenseless; it has neither arms to fight water it is almost beyond the reach of danger. If pursued there it instantly sinks down, leaving only its bill projecting above the water, and if the pursuit be continued it dives and comes up at so great a distance as to baffle all further attempts to capture it. This bird inhabits the South Sea islands, and the coast of South America, particularly Patagonia, hence the species found there, and probably the largest of the kind, is called the Patagonian Penguin. It is about three feet high when standing on the ground. The back of this bird is black, and the front parts are white. As may be seen by the above cut the shape of the Penguin is very singular. The feet are placed so far back, that it can not balance its body, like other birds, but is obliged to stand erect, like a man. The wings appear more like fins than appendages for flying, and they are covered with hard, stiff feathers that can hardly be called plumage. Penguins may be said to be like men, like fowls, and like fishes. Like men they walk upright; like fowls they are clothed with feathers; and in swimming they use their wings as fishes do their fins. They feed on fish, and live mostly in the water. Оссаsionally they go on the land, where they walk with the body erect. Sometimes flocks of them may be seen on the shore, at a distance, when it is said they resemble a number of children dressed in black, and wearing ASTRONOMY,-NO. 1. THE STARS, THEIR HISTORY AND LAWS. S BY CAROLINE L. PIERSON. ISTER, will you not walk with us?" said Ellen Graham to Mary, one evening, as she found her on the porch of their father's elegant mansion. "Here are some of my classmates, Eliza, Rosa, and Nancy, who were so much delighted with your instructions when you walked with us a few evenings since, and they have come with me to beg you to go again. "We have been studying the trees, plants, animals, and even the rocks, and find in them beauties we never thought of before we took that delightful walk to the spring, and you explained to us some of the wonders of the natural world, in the midst of which we live." "Girls," said Mary, "I suppose that, like many others, you are reciting lessons at school without looking about and reading in the great book of nature the most wonderful lessons, and applying the knowledge which your books give to solving her mysteries. In fact you have studied as though you were learning of things which you never saw. "I am glad that our conversation at the spring has awakened in you a desire to study nature, and if you continue to feel an interest, I shall be happy to turn over many leaves with you in this great book. "I propose that we take our own home, and considering this a miniature world, study its natural history in all the various departments. Thus you will be enabled to apply the prin ciples you find in your books of philosophy, and natural science, to the world around. Then every rock, tree, brook, and shrub will seem to speak an intelligible language to your souls. "It is too late to walk now, for the stars are already twinkling and the frost is sparkling in the grass; so we will confine ourselves to the porch this evening. But if you choose, we can wander for a while in the 'garden of Deity, blossomed with stars,' and study those shining bodies whose laws and phenomena are intimately connected with our earth, and may properly be introduced into our natural history. "In studying geography you all I learned your latitude and longitude, but perhaps you did not know that it is to observations on the heavens we owe this knowledge. By applying your mathematics you will soon be able to tell the exact latitude and longitude of this house, and calculate the times for the rising and setting of the sun, moon, and stars for every day in the year." "Why, sister," said Ellen, "I have always looked in the almanac for these things, and never once thought that I could find them out for myself. I thought that it was a kind of magical guess-work, but now I understand that we all, by study, may become magicians enough to make an almanac, if we choose. "As for the stars, I have looked at them with a strange kind of fear and wonder. When a little child, my old nurse taught me they were holes in the sky to let the glory of heaven, which was above, shine through. Then again I thought they were angels' eyes, which were closed in the day because the sun was so bright, but at night they opened them and winked as they look ed down upon us. I have since learned that these stars are worlds, and have observed that we do not always see the same ones. So, sister Mary, prepared to be interested in your instructions." "Girls, len might say. In reality, they have been shining all day as brightly as they do now, but we did not see them because the light of the sun was so much greater. The stars are always shining, and as soon as the sun goes out of sight at any place they appear. 66 The atmosphere has the property of reflecting the light in all directions, and could we find a place where we were not exposed to this reflection, we could see them as well as at night. "One time a man in London, while looking up a tall chimney in the day, saw the stars distinctly. Curiosity to understand this strange sight led him to study, and in time he became a great astronomer. Persons who have entered deep wells have observed the same, and being ignorant of the cause have in great fright come to the upper air to see what calamity had thus suddenly brought on the night. "As the earth turns over every twenty-four hours, there has been in succession starlight, and sunlight around its whole circumference. As we are sitting on the porch, the parlor lamp shines brightly through the window, and we can see the stars over our heads and in the east. 66 Now, were we to take a ball, and on it place a little being as large as a fly, and commence turning the ball toward the east, the lamp would seem to sink in the west, while the stars would rise in the east, and pass over its head. The fly would probably think that all these bright bodies were moving around his little ball. This will not seem a strangé conclusion for the silly fly, when we remember that many of the ancient philosophers thought that all the worlds we see in the heavens moved around our earth every twenty-four hours. They also thought that the earth was flat and stood on the back of some huge animal, but what held the animal they never could tell. |