is, the use of implements. When the savage provides himself with a hut, or a wigwam, for shelter, or that he may store up his provisions, he does no more than is done by the rabbit, the beaver, the bee, and birds of every species. But the man cannot make any progress in this work without tools; he must provide himself with an axe even before he can lop down a tree for its timber; whereas these animals form their burrows, their cells, or their nests, with no other tools than those with which nature has provided them. In cultivating the ground, also, man can do nothing without a spade or a plough; nor can he reap what he has sown till he has shaped an implement with which to cut down his harvests. But the inferior animals provide for themselves and their young without any of these things.

Now for the second distinction. Man in all his ope

rations makes mistakes; animals make none.

Did you

ever hear of such a thing as a bird sitting disconsolate on a twig, lamenting over her half finished ling her little all

J

иши puzzw how to complete it? Or did ever see the cells of a beehive in clumsy irregular shapes, or observe any thing like a discussion in the little community as if there was a difference of opinion amongst the architects? The lower animals are even better physicians than we are; for when they are ill they will, many of them, seek out some particular herb which they do not use as food, and which possesses a medicinal quality exactly suited to the complaint; whereas the whole college of physicians will dispute for a century about the virtues of a single drug. Man undertakes nothing in which he is not more or less puzzled; he must try numberless experiments before he can bring his undertakings to any thing like perfection; even the simplest operations of domestic life are not well performed without some experience; and the term of man's life is half wasted before he has done with his mistakes, and begins to profit by his lessons.

The third distinction is, that animals make no improvements; while the knowledge, and the skill, and the success of man are perpetually on the increase. Animals, in all their operations, follow the first impulse of

nature, or that instinct which God has implanted in them. In all they do undertake, therefore, their works are more perfect and regular than those of men. But man, having been endowed with the faculty of thinking er reasoning about what he does, is enabled by patience and industry to correct the mistakes into which he at first falls, and to go on constantly improving. A bird's nest is, indeed, a perfect and beautiful structure; yet the nest of a swallow of the nineteenth century is not at all more commodious or elegant than those that were built amid the rafters of Noah's ark. But if we compare the wigwam of the savage with the temples and palaces of ancient Greece and Rome, we then shall see to what man's mistakes, rectified and improved upon, conduct him. JANE TAYLOR.

THE ELEPHANT.

10

only to man, is

THE пери--in size and strength surpasses all land-animals, and in sagacity a native both of Asia and Africa. The heig wonderful quadruped at the Cape of Good Hope is from twelve to fifteen feet. His eyes are very small in proportion to his size, but lively and full of expression: his ears are very large, long, and pendulous; but he can raise them with great ease, and make use of them as a fan, to cool himself and drive away the flies or insects. His hearing is remarkably fine; he delights in the sound of musical instruments, to which he is easily brought to move in cadence. His sense of smelling is equally delicate; and he is highly delighted with the scent of fragrant herbs. In each jaw he has four grinders, one of which sometimes measures nine inches in breadth, and weighs four pounds and a half. The texture of the skin is uneven and wrinkled, and full of deep fissures, resembling the bark of an old tree. The colour is tawny, inclining to grey. The legs of this animal are massy columns of three or four feet in circumference, and five or six in height. His feet are rounded at the bottom, divided into five toes covered with skin, so as not to be visible, and terminated in a nail or hoof of a horny sub

stance. His body is remarkably round and bulky, and nearly destitute of hair. But the trunk is the most singular and peculiar feature of this quadruped. This fleshy tube the animal can bend, contract, lengthen, and turn in every direction. It terminates in a protuberance, which stretches out on the upper side in the form of a finger. With this the animal can lift from the ground the smallest piece of money, select herbs and flowers, untie knots, and grasp any thing so firmly that no force can tear it from him. At the end of this trunk are placed the nostrils, through which he draws in water for the purpose of quenching his thirst, or of washing and cooling himself, which he performs by taking in a large quantity, and then spouting it out over his whole body as if it issued from a fountain. These quadrupeds subsist wholly on vegetables; they associate in numerous herds; and when one of them happens to discover a plentiful pasture, he instantly gives a loud signal to the rest. They do incredible damage whenever they stray into cultivated grounds, not only devouring vast quantities of food, but also destroying, by the enormous weight of their bodies, more than they eat. The inhabitants of the countries where they abound use every artifice to prevent the approach of such unwelcome visitants, making loud noises and kindling large fires round their dwellings; but, notwithstanding all these precautions, the elephants sometimes break in upon them and destroy their harvest. It is very difficult to repel them; for the whole herd advance together; and whether they attack, march, or fly, they act in concert. Although the elephant be the strongest as well as the largest of all quadrupeds, yet, in his native woods and deserts, he is by no means ferocious, and when tamed by man he is most tractable and obedient. He bends the knee for those who wish to mount upon his back, suffers himself to be harnessed, and seems to delight in the finery of his trappings. These animals are used in drawing chariots, waggons, and various sorts of machines, one elephant drawing as much as six horses, and are of great use in carrying great quantities of luggage across rivers. They can travel nearly a

hundred miles a-day, and fifty or sixty regularly, withNational School Collection.

out any violent effort.

SIN.

LET us take some views of the evil of sin.

Behold sin with regard to God. Sin is enmity against God, against his attributes, against his government. God never yet revealed a design which sin hath not withstood, nor gave a command which sin has not trampled under foot. Hence nothing is so offensive to God; and hence it is called the abominable thing which he hates. Behold sin in its effects on man. How different is man from what he was at first! But sin has made this change. Sin has stripped him of his glory, and taken the crown from his head.-Observe the soul of man,-it is sin that has debased it, defiled it, robbed it of the image, and banished it from the presence of God; it is this that has produced unruly passions, tormenting anxieties, a terrified conscience, a wounded spirit.-Observe the body of This was once immortal, without defect and without disease. But "by sin death entered into the world," and was crowned "king of terrors." And now 66 man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble." Even every comfort has its cross, and every blessing its curse. O could we witness all the pains of the diseased at this moment; all the effects of war, pestilence, and famine! what could we think of an enemy capable of producing such mischief as this!

man.

These are the effects of sin in this world.

But there

is another world that has been running parallel with this, and that will continue when this is no more. And here the effects of sin most frightfully appear.

Sin produced the worm that never dies. the fire that never shall be quenched.

Sin built hell.

Sin kindled Now, I reason

thus, and a child can understand me ;-if God can righteously threaten all this misery, he can also righteously inflict it; and if he can righteously inflict such misery, sin must deserve it; and if sin deserves it, O my God, how is it possible for us to think too highly of its guilt? JAY-Short Discourses.