one of the first in Spain to appreciate the project of Columbus, and aided him with his purse when he was poor and unknown at Palos. He afterwards enabled him to procure and fit out his ships; and, finally, he embarked in the expedition with his brothers and friends, staking life, property, everything upon the event.

The Idiot Boy.

PART III.

H, reader, how that I might tell
What Johnny and his horse are doing—
What they've been doing all this time-
Oh, could I put it into rhyme,

Á most delightful tale pursuing.

Perhaps, and no unlikely thought,
He with his pony now doth roam
The cliffs and peaks, so high that are,
To lay his hands upon a star,

And in his pocket bring it home.
Perhaps he's turned himself about,
His face unto his horse's tail;
And still and mute, in wonder lost,
All silent as a horseman ghost,

He travels slowly down the vale.
And now, perhaps, is hunting sheep-
A fierce and dreadful hunter he.
Yon valley, now so trim and green,
In five months' time, should he be seen,
A desert wilderness will be.

Who's yon, that near the waterfall,

Which thunders down with headlong force,
Beneath the moon, yet shining fair,
As careless as if nothing were,

Sits upright on a feeding horse?

Unto his horse, there feeding free,

He seems, I think, the reins to give ;
Of moon or stars he takes no heed,
Of such we in romances read:
'Tis Johnny! Johnny, as I livé.

66

And that's the very pony, too.

1:

Where is she? Where is Betty Foy?
She hardly can sustain her fears;
The roaring waterfall she hears,
And cannot find her Idiot Boy.
She looks again—her arms are up—

She screams-she cannot move for joy—
She darts as with a torrent's force-
She almost has o'erturned the horse-
And fast she holds her Idiot Boy.
And Johnny burrs and laughs aloud -
Whether in cunning or in joy
I cannot tell; but while he laughs
Betty a drunken pleasure quaffs
To hear again her Idiot Boy.

She pats the pony-where or when
She knows not. Happy Betty Foy!
The little pony glad may be,

But he is milder far than she

You hardly can perceive his joy.

Oh, Johnny, never mind the doctor;

You've done your best, and that is all." She took the reins when this was said, And gently turned the pony's head From the loud waterfall.

The pony, Betty, and the boy

Wind slowly through the woody dale;
And who is she betimes abroad,
That hobbles up the steep rough road?
Who is it but old Susan Gale?

Long time lay Susan lost in thought,
And many dreadful fears beset her,
Both for her messenger and nurse;
And as her mind grew worse and worse
Her body it grew better.

"Alas! what has become of them?

These fears can never be endured

I'll to the wood." The word scarce said
Did Susan rise up from her bed,

As if by magic cured.

Away she goes uphill and down,

And to the wood at length is come; She spies her friends, she shouts a greeting. Oh, me! it is a merry meeting

As ever was in Christendom.

And while they all were travelling home,
Cried Betty," Tell us, Johnny, do,
Where all this long night you have been,
What you have heard, what you have seen;
And, Johnny, mind you tell us true."

Now Johnny all night long had heard
The owls in tuneful concert strive;
No doubt, too, he the moon had seen,
For in the moonlight he had been
From eight o'clock till five.

And thus to Betty's question he

Made answer, like a traveller bold,
(His very words I give to you):
"The cocks did crow to-whoo, to-whoo,
And the sun did shine so cold!"
Thus answered Johnny in his glory,
And that was all his travel's story.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

Abraham and the Fire-worshipper.

HEN Abraham sat at his tent door, according to his custom, waiting to entertain strangers, he espied an old man stopping leaning upon his staff, weary with age and travel, coming towards him, who was a hundred years of age. He received him kindly, washed his feet, provided supper, and caused him to sit down; but observing that the old man ate and prayed not, asked him why he did not worship the God of Heaven? The old man told him that he worshipped the fire only, and acknowledged no other god. At which answer Abraham grew so zealously angry that he thrust the old man out of his tent, and exposed him to all the evils of the night in an unguarded condition. When the old man was gone, God called Abraham, and asked him where the stranger was? He replied, "I thrust him away because he did not worship Thee." God answered him,

"I have suffered him these hundred years, though he dishonoured Me, and couldst thou not endure him one night when he gave thee no trouble?" Upon this, saith the story, Abraham fetched him back again, and gave him hospitable entertainment and wise instruction.

BISHOP JEREMY TAYLOR.

Hercules and the Carter: a Fable.

S a clownish fellow was driving his cart along a deep miry lane, the wheels stuck so fast in the clay that the horses could not draw them out. Upon this he fell a bawling and praying to Hercules to come and help him. Hercules, looking down from a cloud, bade him not lie there, like an idle rascal as he was, but get up and whip his horses stoutly, and clap his shoulder to the wheel; adding, that this was the only way for him to obtain assistance.

He that prolongs his meals, and sacrifices his time, as well as his other conveniences, to his luxury, how quickly does he outset his pleasure! And, then, how is all the following time bestowed upon ceremony and surfeit; until, at length, after a long fatigue of eating and drinking, and babbling, he concludes the great work of dining genteely, and so makes a shift to rise from table that he may lie down upon his bed; where, after he has slept himself into some use of himself, by much ado he staggers to his table again, and there acts over the same brutish scene; so that he passes over his life in a dozed condition between sleeping and waking, with a kind of drowsiness and confusion upon his senses; with what pleasure it can be is hard to conceive. All that is of it dwells upon the tip of his tongue, and within the compass of his palate. A worthy prize for a man to purchase with the loss of his time, his reason, and himself.-Dr. South.

Young Scholars' Compositions.

A DAY AT

ALDERLEY

EDGE.

ON the 9th of August, 1873, was held the annual trip to Alderley Edge in connection with R. Longdon, Esq.'s, Adult Schools, of Manchester and Wheelock. The scholars and a number of friends from each place met at Alderley station, and formed a procession, which bent its way to Alderley Edge, headed by the Wheelock Fife and Drum Band. We had a long way to walk before we reached our destination. After some time we reached a farmhouse occupied by Mr. Phillips, and entered a field near the house; and having had a short rest we climbed up the hill, and had much difficulty in reaching the top, but we were well rewarded for our trouble by the splendid view which we gained from the summit of the hill. It was a clear day, and I had the pleasure of viewing the country through a telescope. I saw a number of tall chimneys of the lofty manufactories of Stockport, and a ridge of hills which formed the horizon, both of which could not be discerned very clearly by the naked eye. We next went and visited the copper works and the mine, but did not stay long there, for we began to feel rather hungry. We then returned to the field, and had a very good tea, which was provided by Mr. Longdon. After tea various amusing sports were carried on ; the band played for dancing, while some were amusing themselves at football, others playing at cricket, and others racing up and down the hill. After this was a bag race, which greatly amused the spectators. We then went back to the station, and were not long before we started off for home, which we reached somewhere about ten o'clock p.m., having enjoyed a very pleasant day at Alderley.

GEORGE BOREHAM, aged 13.

Wheelock Adult School, Sandbach, Cheshire.—I hereby certify that the above is the entire work of George Boreham. JAMES LYCETT.

[This writer tries to put into his sentences more than they will well bear. The sentence beginning "After some time" is too long. It would have been better if there had been a full stop at "house" in the phrase "near the house." A few lines later, "neither of which could be discerned," would be better than "both of which could not be discerned." The great thing in writing is to give people a clear idea of what we mean. A young writer should especially avoid long sentences. -ED. Y. S.]

ON June 6th last an association of Sunday-school teachers to which I belong took a visit to Buxton. Each gave seven-and-sixpence to the funds. We started from Hanley by the 7.50 a.m. train to Etruria,