his own blood, he waived the draught of cold spring water, that was brought to quench his mortal thirst, in favor of a dying soldier.

4. St. Paul described a gentleman, when he wrote to the Philippian Christians, "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report,if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

LESSON CXXVIII.

HOW TO PRAY.

From the Bible

any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,

not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

2. As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud; and he shall hear my voice.

3. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.

4. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a

sinner.

5. And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

6. Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

LESSON CXXIX.

A

FARMER came to a neighboring lawyer, ex

pressing great concern for an accident, which, he said, had just happened. "One of your oxen," continued he, “has been gored by an unlucky bull of

mine; and I should be glad to know how I am to make you reparation."

2. "Thou art a very honest fellow," replied the lawyer, "and will not think it unreasonable that I expect one of thy oxen in return."

3. "It is no more than justice," quoth the farmer, "to be sure. But, what did I say?—I mistake. It your bull that has killed one of my oxen."

is

4. “Indeed!” says the lawyer; "that alters the case. I must inquire into the affair; and if” —

5. "And IF!" said the farmer. "The business, I find, would have been concluded without an if, had you been as ready to do justice to others as to exact it from them."

concern, sorrow.

quoth, said.

reparation, something done concluded, ended.

to make good a loss.

exact, to be determined to get.

LESSON CXXX.

crush

king-dom

a-bun-dant

strange ad-vance e-merge church cli-mate

re-li-gion

de-li-cious
im-prove-ment
civ-il-i-za-tion

EUROPE.

EUROPE

UROPE is about one-quarter as large as Asia, one-third as large as Africa, and about one-third larger than the whole United States. It is a part of the eastern continent, and is only separated from Asia by the Ural Mountains. It is separated from Africa by the Mediterranean Sea. At the Straits of

Gibraltar, the distance from Europe to Africa is but twenty-one miles.

2. But although Europe is the smallest of the four quarters of the globe, it has nearly three hundred millions of inhabitants, and is much superior to Asia, Africa, and most parts of America, in civilization. It abounds in fine cities, fine roads, good houses, useful manufactures, and most other things that are necessary to the comfort and happiness of mankind.

3. In all parts of Europe except Turkey the religion of Jesus Christ prevails. If you were to travel in Asia or Africa you would meet with no churches, or only now and then one, where the true God is worshiped. But you would see a great many mosques dedicated to the false religion of Mohammed, and a great many temples where the people bow down to idols of wood, stone, or metal.

4. But in Europe the traveler everywhere meets with churches, and these show that the people are Christians. In Europe, also, there are many colleges, academies, and schools, which prove that the people set a high value upon education. In all parts of the world where you find churches, you find that the people are more or less advanced in civilization and the arts which render mankind happy.

5. This may show to us that the Christian religion tends to make people wiser and happier; and this is rendered still more clear by the fact that in all those countries where the Christian religion is unknown, the greater part of the people are ignorant, degraded, and miserable. All false religions tend to injure

mankind; the true religion tends to the improvement of mankind. How important is it, then, that every individual should be a real Christian.

6. Greece was the first portion of Europe that was settled. About the time that Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, the Greeks began to build houses, found cities, and emerge from the savage into a more civilized state. By degrees they became the most polished people in the world.

7. Afterwards Rome, situated in Italy, became a mighty city, and the Roman people extended their empire over the greater part of Europe, and the most civilized portions of Asia and Africa. Rome was the most splendid empire that the world has ever seen. But as it crushed other kingdoms beneath its foot, so, in turn, imperial Rome was itself trampled down by the northern nations of Europe.

8. Europe may be divided into two parts, the northern and southern. In the former, the climate is about as cold as it is in our Middle and Eastern States. In the latter, it is about as warm as in the Southern States. The principal kingdoms in the northern section of Europe are Russia, Norway, Sweden, Prussia, several German States, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, France, and Great Britain.

9. Among the southern kingdoms of Europe are Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey. In these latter countries, the soil is generally fertile; and here grapes, olives, oranges, lemons, melons, and other delicious fruits are abundant.

10. Here, too, all the wants of man for food are