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THE CHILDREN'S FEAST.

end in ruin. Lies are generally bungling things, and are almost always sure to be detected, when they bring with them shame and punishment.

THE CHILDREN'S FEAST.

YOUNG folks seldom forget promises made to them; and it is perfectly right that they should not. I wish they were all equally careful not to forget promises which they themselves make. In our

hear him, he tried to get away, and drag the trap along with him. In the effort he escaped, leaving his leg behind. As soon as he got home, the rest began to lick his wound, and to try and cure him if they could, before the mother should return; but they forgot that she must see that he had lost his limb. They also tried to make a story ready to deceive their mother when she should come back; and it was hastily agreed to tell her, that, while she was absent, a trap last number we promised an account of had come into the hole, and bitten off the Children's Feast at the castle of their brother's leg. While they were Waldheim; made at the suggestion of talking, the mother entered, and seeing the young Governor Charles. the wounded young one in great distress, asked what was the matter. Mother," said he, “as soon as you were gone, a trap came into the hole, and snapped off my leg." The others joined in the story. Aye, aye," said the mother, "I see how it is; the trap would not have come to you, if you had not gone to the trap. Be glad that you have not all been killed by the cat, whom I have just seen on the watch.

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"As for you," said she to the one who had lost his leg, "you have got sufficiently punished for your fault. But your brothers I shall punish severely, for being disobedient to my orders, and going out when I charged them not to go; and, then, for trying to cover their fault by all joining to tell me a great falsehood."

One wilful sin generally leads to another; and it is well if sin does not

Lady Waldheim invited all the children of the villages in the valley to come to the castle the following day, at two o'clock in the afternoon. There was great joy among them as they complied with the invitation of the kind lady.

At two o'clock the doors were opened, and they entered the great yard which surrounded the castle. A long table was spread with food of various kindsbaskets filled with apples, pears, and different kinds of fruit. Small plates were placed upon the table, and by the side of every plate a glass of milk.

It was a beautiful sight to see the children all seated around the table, the girls on one side and the boys on the other. There was nothing to be seen but joyful faces, nothing to be heard but merry, happy tones. They rang the glasses, and in the sweet milk drank the health of Lady Waldheim, Charles and Emilie.

THE CHILDREN'S FEAST.

When they had finished supper, the shepherd's sons played on the cornets and trumpets. They were followed by a flock of sheep trimmed with colored riband, and adorned with flowers. The children were delighted, and exclaimed, "O, how beautiful-how beautiful."

But how much greater was their pleasure, when they heard that the sheep were to be divided, and that the children of every house were to have one. Each sheep had a number suspended about its neck, and in a large basket placed upon the table, was the same number, written upon a card. Now from every house one child must take from the basket a card, and then the trumpets were sounded, and the cornets played. until the sheep with the corresponding number was found.

A shout of happiness was heard in the whole region, and echoed back from the neighboring mountains. The children went in triumph through the village, followed by the flock of sheep, while the old shepherd arranged and kept in order the procession, and his sons made the sound of music to be heard throughout the village.

As the people heard the jubilee of the children, and saw the dressed sheep, they were greatly astonished; but when they heard that the noble governor had presented to them so valuable a token of regard, they were overwhelmed with joy. Many tears were shed, and many prayers ascended for the blessing of God upon the noble family at the castle.

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Lady Waldheim sent to every house where there was no child, one sheep; and to the good farmer who permitted Rosalie to occupy his house, ten. She did not forget the wealthy Mr. Frankenstein on the plain, who presented to Christiana the little lamb; she invited him and his wife to dine with her at the castle, on the following day. She gave him no sheep, for he already had a large number; "but," said the farmer as he left the castle, "the honor of dining with Lady Waldheim and her family, is worth more than a hundred sheep." The next morning the fathers of the village children came to the castle to express their gratitude for the valuable present they had received from the governor.

"Fellow citizens," said governor Charles, “you remember that a little lamb procured for me the dearest joy I have ever known; a lamb gave to me my mother and sister. It is our united wish that this event may never be forgotten. The right to keep sheep has hitherto belonged only to the government. From this day, you shall have the same right; therefore have your children received this present, as a small beginning, and may God prosper and bless you.'

Those who think with energy, may speak with energy; those who think and speak, may act with energy.

A pin a day, is a groat a year.

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ABOUT THE HANCOCK HOUSE.

THE HANCOCK HOUSE.

MANY a time have I been asked by visiters to Boston, where the Hancock House was. People have a great desire to see the mansion house of John Hancock, whose bold and manly hand-writing stands first on the list of those who -sixty-one years ago this month-signed the declaration of Independence. As I suppose many of the readers of Parley's Magazine have this same curiosity, I will describe the situation of the building; and then if any of them should hereafter come to Boston they will know where to find it.

The noble street on the north side of Boston Common is called Beacon street. On the north side of this street, a little west of the State House, is Hancock House. It is built of grey hewn stone, with white corners, and white facings round the doors and windows. The floor of the first story is about twelve or thirteen feet above the street. You approach it, from the street, by a very long flight of steps inserted in the green high bank, in the midst of a garden bordered with flowers and small trees. The house is 56 feet long and two stories high. It was erected just 100 years

ago.

An old house, you will say; and so it is; but there are houses in Boston nearly twice as old. It is not its age that makes it so interesting, but the fact that it was once the residence of a man so famous in the history of the revolution as Governor Hancock.

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From the upper story of the Hancock House you have a very fine view indeed. Boston Common, spread out before you as if it were a map, is the first thing. On your left, close by, is the State House, as I have already told you. A little farther south-east, at the north-east part of the common, is Park street Church; and a little farther south, by the east side of the common, St. Paul's Church and the Masonic Temple. You also see much of the city south and west of you, and much of Roxbury, Dorchester, Brookline, &c.

The engraving represents this ancient noble building very well; but if you have an opportunity, it will be far better to see it for yourselves. There is nothing like seeing for ourselves, where it can conveniently be done.

To the Sunday School Children of St. Thomas's Church, New York.

My Dear Children :-According to custom, suppose you will expect to receive something from me, as a remembrance, at the beginning of the new year. I give you, therefore, a little story, founded upon fact, which I wrote during the very cold weather of last winter. It shows how well a little boy under

stood the spirit of prayer, and as it is in easy rhyme, perhaps you will the more readily remember it. Your Friend,

THE RECTOR.

January 1st, 1837.
THE LITTLE BOY WHO PRAYED.
I knew a widow, very poor,

Who four small children had ;
The eldest was but six years old,
A gentle, modest lad.

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THE LITTLE BOY WHO PRAYED.

And very hard this widow toil'd

To feed her children four;
An honest pride the woman felt,

Though she was very poor.

To labor, she would leave her home.

For children must be fed;

And glad was she when she could buy A shilling's worth of bread.

And this was all the children had

On any day to eat.

They drank their water, ate their bread,

But never tasted meat.

One day when snow was falling fast,

And peircing was the air,

I thought that I would go and see

How these poor children were.

Ere long I reach'd their cheerless home

'Twas search'd by every breeze : When, going in, the eldest child

I saw upon his knees.

Į paus'd to listen to the boy;

He never rais'd his head,

But still went on and said-' give us
This day our daily bread.'

I waited till the child was done,
Still listening as he prayed :-
And when he rose I ask'd him, why
The Lord's Prayer he had said?
'Why sir,' said he, 'this morning soon,
When mother went away,
She wept, because, she said, she had
No bread for us to day.

She said we children now must starve,
Our father being dead;

And then I told her not to cry,
For I could get some bread.

"Our Father, sir, the prayer begins;
That made me think that He,
As we have got no father here,

Would our kind father be.

And then, you know, the pray'r, sir, too, Asks God for bread each day;

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P.

Why, how could I help knowing it? Could I put paint on my cheeks, and not know it?

T. But might not somebody have put it on your father perhaps—when you were fast asleep?

P. I think not. I should have awaked. Besides, I never heard of any body's cheeks being painted. Did you? T. Yes, I have; and seen them so. But yours, I confess, are not so. Yet they are red, and so are mine, and so

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