"Now," said the grinder, as he gave him a common rough stone that lay by his side, "this is a capital stone; do but manage it cleverly, and you can make an old nail cut with it.”

Hans took the stone, and went off with a light heart; his eyes sparkled with joy, and he said to himself, "I must have been born in a lucky hour; everything that I want or wish for comes to me of itself." Meantime, he began to be tired, for he had been travelling ever since daybreak; he was hungry, too, for he had given away his last penny in his joy at getting the cow. At last he could go no further, and the stone tired him terribly. He dragged himself to the side of a pond, that he might drink some water, and rest awhile; so he laid the stone carefully by his side on the bank. But as he stooped down to drink, he forgot it, pushed it a little, and down it went plump into the pond. For a while he watched it sinking in the deep clear water, then sprang up for joy, and again fell on his knees, and thanked Heaven with tears in his eyes for its kindness in taking away his only plague, the ugly heavy stone. Happy am I!" cried he

no mortal was ever so lucky as I am."

Then up he got with a

light and merry heart, and walked on, free from all his troubles, till he reached his mother's house.

Flowers.

PAKE full well, in language quaint and olden,
One who dwelleth by the castled Rhine,
When he called the flowers, so blue and golden,
Stars, that in earth's firmament do shine.

Everywhere about us are they glowing-
Some, like stars, to tell us spring is born;
Others, their blue eyes with tears o'erflowing,
Stand, like Ruth, amid the glowing corn.

And the poet, faithful and far-seeing,
Sees, alike in stars and flowers, a part
Of the self-same universal being

Which is throbbing in his brain and heart.

H. W. LONGFELLOW.

Canute's Reproof to his Courtiers.

PERSONS.

CANUTE (King of England).

OSWALD, OFFA, (Courtiers).

SCENE.―The seaside, near Southampton. The tide coming in. Canute.-Is it true, my friends, what you have so often told me, that I am the greatest of monarchs?

Ofa.-It is true, my liege; you are the most powerful of all kings.

Oswald.--We are all your slaves; we kiss the dust of your feet. Offa. Not only we, but even the elements, are your slaves. The land obeys you from shore to shore, and the sea obeys you. Canute.-Does the sea, with its loud boisterous waves obey me? Will that terrible element be still at my bidding?

Ofa.-Yes, the sea is yours; it was made to bear your ships upon its bosom, and to pour the treasures of the world at your royal feet. It is rough and boisterous to your enemies but it knows you to be its sovereign.

Canute. Is not the tide coming up?

Oswald.-Yes, my liege; you may perceive the swell already. Canute. Bring me a chair, then; set it here upon the sands. Offa.-Where the tide is coming up, my gracious lord? Canute. Yes, set it just here.

Oswald (aside).—I wonder what he is going to do!

Offa (aside).-Surely he is not so foolish as to believe us! Canute. O mighty ocean! thou art my subject; my courtiers tell me so; and it is thy bounden duty to obey me. Thus, then, I stretch my sceptre over thee, and command thee to retire. Roll back thy swelling waves, nor let them presume to wet the feet of me, thy royal master.

Oswald (aside).—I believe the sea will pay very little regard to his royal commands.

Ofa. See, how fast the tide rises!

Oswald. The next wave will come up to the chair.

Canute. Well, does the sea obey my commands? If it be my subject, it is a very rebellious subject. See how it swells, and

dashes the angry foam and salt spray over my sacred person. Base flatterers! did you think I was your dupe? Know there is only one Being whom the sea will obey. He is Sovereign of heaven and earth, King of kings, Lord of lords. It is only He who can say to the ocean, "Thus far shalt thou go and no farther; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." A king is but a man, and a man is but a worm. Shall a worm assume the power of the great God, and think the elements will obey him? Take away this crown-I will never wear it more. May kings learn to be humble from my example, and courtiers learn truth from your cisgrace!

Gulliver in Brobdingnag.

CHAPTER IX.-(Conclusion.)

HAD now been two years in this country; and about the beginning of the third, Glumdalclitch and I attended the king and queen in a progress to the south coast of the kingdom. I was carried as usual in my travelling box, which, as I have already described, was a very convenient closet of twelve feet wide.

When we came to our journey's end, the king thought proper to pass a few days at a palace he had a few miles from the sea. Glumdalclitch and I were much fatigued: I had gotten a small cold, but the poor girl was so ill as to be confined to her chamber. I longed to see the ocean, which must be the only scene of my escape, if ever it should happen. I pretended to be worse than I really was, and desired leave to take the fresh air of the sea with a page I was very fond of, and who had been sometimes trusted with me. I shall never forget with what unwillingness Glumdalclitch consented, nor the strict charge she gave to the page to be careful of me; bursting at the same time into a flood of tears, as if she had some foreboding of what was to happen.

The boy took me out in my box, about half an hour's walk from the palace, towards the rocks on the sea shore. I ordered

him to set me down, and, lifting up one of the sashes, cast many a wistful, melancholy look towards the sea. I found myself not very well, and told the page that I had a mind to take a nap in my hammock, which I hoped would do me good. I got in, and the boy shut the window close down, to keep out the cold. I soon fell asleep, and all I can conjecture is, that while I slept, the page, thinking no danger could happen, went among the rocks to look for birds' eggs; having before observed him from my window searching about and picking up one or two in the clefts. Be that as it may, I found myself suddenly awakened with a violent pull upon the ring, which was fastened at the top of my box for the convenience of carriage. I felt my box raised very high in the air, and then borne forward with great speed. I called out several times, as loud as I could raise my voice, but all to no purpose. I looked towards my window, and could see nothing but the clouds and the sky. I heard a noise just over my head like the flapping of wings, and then began to perceive the woful condition I was in; that some eagle had got the ring of my box in his beak, with an intent to let it fall on a rock, like a tortoise in a shell, and then pick out my body and devour it.

In a little time I observed the noise and flutter of wings to increase very fast, and my box was tossed up and down like a sign in a windy day. I heard several bangs and buffets, as I thought, given to the eagle (for such I am certain it must have been that held the ring of my box in his beak), and then, all on a sudden, felt myself falling perpendicularly down for above a minute, but with such incredible swiftness, that I almost lost my breath, My fall was stopped by a terrible crash, that sounded to my ears louder than the cataract of Niagara; after which I was quite in the dark for another minute, and then my box began to rise so high, that I could see light from the tops of the windows. I now perceived that I had fallen into the sea. I did then, and do now suppose, that the eagle who flew away with my box was pursued by two or three others, and forced to let me drop whilst he defended himself against the rest, who hoped to share in the prey. My box, by the weight of my body, and the goods that were in, floated about five feet deep in water, and did not sink.

How often did I then wish myself with my dear Glumdalclitch,

from whom one single hour had so far divided me! And I may say, with truth, that amidst my own misfortunes, I could not forbear lamenting my poor nurse, the grief she would suffer for my loss, the displeasure of the queen, and the ruin of her fortune. Perhaps many travellers have not been under greater difficulties and distress than I was at this time, expecting every moment to see my box dashed to pieces, or at least overset by the first violent blast or rising wave. A breach in one single pane of glass would have been immediate death, nor could anything have preserved the windows but the strong lattice wires placed on the outside against accidents in travelling. I saw the water ooze in at several crannies, although the leaks were not considerable, and I tried to stop them as well as I could. I called for help in a loud voice, and in all the languages I understood. I fastened my handkerchief to a stick I usually carried, and waved it several times in the air, so that, if any boat or ship were near, the seamen might conjecture some unhappy mortal to be shut up in the box.

Shortly after, I plainly heard a noise on the cover of my box, and found myself hoisted up by degrees three feet higher than I was before. Whereupon, I again thrust up my stick and handkerchief, calling for help till I was almost hoarse. In return to this, I heard a great shout repeated three times, giving me such transports of joy as are not to be conceived but by those who feel them. I now heard a trampling over my head, and somebody calling through the hole with a loud voice, in the English tongue, "If there be anybody below, let them speak." I answered I was an Englishman, drawn by ill fortune into the greatest calamity that ever any creature underwent, and begged to be lifted into the ship.

When I was delivered from my dungeon, the sailors asked me a thousand questions, which I had no inclination to answer. I was confounded at the sight of so many pigmies, for such I took them to be, after having so long accustomed my eyes to the monstrous objects I had left. I was so tired that I slept for some hours, but was perpetually disturbed with dreams of the place I had left, and the dangers I had escaped. I told the captain all about my residence in Brobdingnag, at which he wondered very much, and thought at first I was a madman. He asked me whether I was