LIVELY LECTURES. OLD HUMPHREY'S

LIVELY LECTURES

AXD

CHEERFUL C rfAPTERS.

L-O ND ON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY; Instituted I 799. 56, P .\.TERNOSTER ROW; 65, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD; AND 164, PICCADILLY.

CONTENTS. ..

PAQR LECTURE ON A CANDLE 5 LECTURE ON A TEA-KETTLE 13 LECTURE ON SMOKY CHIMNEYS 22 LECTURE ON ECHOES 30 LECTURE ON BLACK A.ND WHITE 38 LECTURE ON THE PAPYRUS 46 TRADES CARRIED ON BY BIRDS, BEASTS, AND INSECTS 54 HOW MUCH ARE YOU IN DEBT? 60 FIREWORKS 68 'l'RY THE OTHER WAY 76 VILLAGE IDOLS 81 THE SHINING H OUR 90

®Ih Jttntptrrt!J'~ LIVELY LECTURES

AND CHEERFUL CHAPTERS.

LECTURE ON A CANDLE.

"PLEASE, Uncle Humphrey, you told me that you would, some time, give me a little lecture on a candle." "Well, Edwin, the promised lecture shall now be given, and let me tell you th.at ui~T object in making you well acquainted with common things, is to accustom you to reflect on the things around you. I will not lose time in asking you questions which, 6 OLD HUMPHREY'S after all, I might have to answer myself; but proceed at once to give you as much in­ formation as I can ab-out a candle." " Thank you, uncle. The other day you were speaking about 'the division of labour/ so we may as well divide it now. You shall do, if you please, all the talking, and I will do all the listening." " A most unequal division, certainly; but we will not quarrel about it. A candle, to speak of it in the plainest way that I can, is a twisted cotton or linen wick, covered over with tallow, or wax, or spermaceti. At one time there were no better candles than strips of wood, or skewers, dipped in fat ; but these must have burned away very fast." "What a sight it would be, to see a party in the parlour, with the room lit up with skewers dipped in fat ! " "True, Edwin; but, when greasy skewer!! were nsed for candles, tere were ·not many .,. l LIVELY LECTURES, 7 parlmu parties. Common candles- are made by dipping the wicks repeatedly into hot tallow. Mould candles are made by passing the wick up a metallic mould, and then pouring in hot tallow. Wax candles are formed by softening wax in warm water, spreading it flat, and then rolling it round a wick. The candles are afterwards rolled between two fl.at boards, and mad~ smooth. Spermaceti candles are made of a waxy substance, obtained from the whale of the southern seas ; and some candles are formed from cocoa-nut oil. I hardly need tell you that the use of a candle is to give light in the absence of the sun ; but now I must proceed to a few particulars, requiring a . ltttle more thought on your part than what I li~ve aheady told you." " I will do all I can to understand." " Though you may know that wax is obtained from bees, that oil is obtained from ani.rnal and ,egebble ubstances, and that 8 OLD H1J.MPHREY':S

tallow is the melted fat of animals ; you may not know that oil, tallow, and wax arc principally composed of carbon, (charcoal, lamp-black, or coke,) and hydrogen gas (one of the principal ingredients in water). The heat of the wick, when light~d, brings out from the tallow the carbon and hydro­ gen ; and the hydrogen mixing with the oxygen (another gas) of the air, produces flame. A little thought will make this much plainer to you." "But where does the tallow go, as the candle buTns ; for it all goes away without anybody seeing it P" "The heat of the flame melts the tallow, which then rises up through the fine tubes of the wick, and is eaten up by the flame, or, more properly, changed or dissolved. The reason why the flame of a candle is hot, is, because it liberates or sets free the _latent heat of the air and the tallow. By latent heat, 1 mean heat that is not perceivable. LIVELY LECTURES. 9

If you take two cold flint stones, and strike them together, you liberate the latent heat · of the stones and the air, and a spark is visible." "How very curious that there should be­ heat, though we cannot feel it!'' '' The flame of a candle is a very curious object: the lower part of it is of a violet, or blue colour, occasioned by the hydrogen gas; the upper, where the combustion or ~ame is perfect, is yellow ; and the inside of the :flame is hollow; or, rather, it is com­ posed of vapour not in a state of combus­ tion. If the candle were large enough, and · you were to convey through a metal tube a bank of England note into the hollow in the middle of the flame, it would not be burned." " I should never expect to see it again." "The flame of a candle points upwards, because the surrounding air, being heated, rises rapidly, and takes the :flame up with A 2 10 01,D FfUl\fl!HREY' S it. ·The upper part of the flame, being more lively, and lighter than the other part, cannot resist the pressure of the surrounding air; it is therefore pressed, or pinched up, into its taper form." " I cannot make out how you discover all these things.'' "A little ·reading, observation, and re­ flection soon puts us into possession of a great deal of knowledge. There is some philosophy even in puffing out a candle, for if you blow it g~mtly, you rather feed the flame than otherwise, by driving fresh air into it : but if you blow it sufficiently to separate the flame from the wick, it goes out for want of support, or supply." "That never entered my head before." " When you put an extinguisher over a candle, the flame soons burns the oxygen within it, and when that is done the flame goes out for want of more. If you use an 0xtinguisher made of paper, it is just the LIVELY LECTURES. 11 same, for the flame will go out and not burn it." "I should have thought it would have burned it directly." " The smoke of a candle is composed of the small particles that fly off without being perfectly consumed. The reason why a candle requires snuffing is because the heat of the flame is not great enough to hurn the wick. If you leave a common candle burn­ ing for some time without snuffing it, there i soon a sort of black cauliflower appear­ ance at the top of it, occasioned by im­ perfectly burned particles that have not been carried off into the atmosphere in the shape of smoke." "Oh, there is one thing I wanted to ask you. The other night ~fary stuck a pin through a rushlight, and the flame went out when it came to the pin: what was the reason?'' " The pin being metal, and a good con- 12 OLD HUMPHREY'S ductor of heat, robbed the wick of the heat of the :flame; that was the reason. One of our great writers has very prettily said, How far the little candle throws his beams ! So shines a good deed in a naughty world. And now I must leave you by yourself, that you may think over what I have told you about candles."

_,,..- ~, LlY:ELY LECTURES. 13

LECTURE ON A TEA-KETTLE.

--8¢8:-

"UNCLE Hu::\IPHREY, you have given me a lectluo on the candle, I ·wish you would now give me one on the tea-kettle. I have just been into the kitchen, and seen Mary making the water boil in the kettle, ready for tea." "Willingly, Edwin; nor do I think that you have chosen a bad subject, though it may at first appear to be an odd one. There will be, too, this advantage in such a lecture, that, as I can give it you while we have our tea, we shall always have the tea-kettle before u . You will have no objection, I dare say, to my beginning directly." 14- OLD HUMPHREY'S

"No; that is just what I should like." " The tea-kettle now simmering by the fire is an article of very general usefulness ; but, though every one is familiar with its appearance and use, very few, in compa­ rison, at all understand the several points, or particulars, it presents to a thoughtful mind." " ::Mention as many of them as you can, uncle." "First, then, the material of which it is made. It is required to endure the heat of the fire, and is therefore formed of a hard metal that will not melt. Then, as to its size; for, though kettles are made of all sizes, the most useful one holds a consider­ able quantity of water to supply the tea­ table. Nor is its shape unimportant; for the water in it must be boiled without being tainted by the smoke, and the kettle must be easy to fill, pleasant to handle, and con­ ...-enientl-y formed to uour out the water n LIVELY LEGTUR.ES. 15

"' Not one of these thing.s· have I eveT thought of before." " Every one knows, that" before the water boils, it simmers; but how few know what simmering or boiling is, an-d what occasions it." "I do not, I am sure." "The simmering of a tea-kettle is a slight shaking, or trembling, on the surface of the water ; and it is occasioned by the particles of water low down in the kettle being turned into steam by the heat. of the fire. -This steam shoots up in bubbles, which burst before they come to the top of the water ; for the upper water, being colder than the lower water, condenses the steam bubbles into water again : myriads of small bubbles bursting in this way occasion the simmer­ ing." "But what is the difference between sim­ mering and boiling ? ·, "In simmering, as I told: you, the steam- 16 OLD HUMPHREY'S bubbles burst before they come to the surfac·e; but, in boiling, the water is too hot to con­ dense the steam-bubbles, they therefore all rise to the surface." "But why does not the water make the same noise in boiling as in simmering ? " "Because in boiling it is turned into steam, and finds a vent through the spout: I will try to explain it to you. Suppose a number of people were in a house, and you among them, when a fire broke out in the cellar, what should you do ? " "Do! why get out of the house directly." "No doubt you would be willing to do so ; but what if the door happened to be fastened on the outside ? )) "Oh, then I would get through the win­ dow." "Suppose there were no windows, or that they had been all bricked up ? " "In such a case, rather than stop in the house, I would try to get up the chimney." LIVELY LECT'URES, 17

"Exactly so; and this is the case with the steam ; for as the door, or opening to the kettle, is closed by the lid, it rushes up the chimney or spout of the kettle, and makes its escape." "Vlell, that is very plain. Is steam always as white as when it comes out of the spout of the kettle ? " "Steam is of no colour, for it is invisible. What we see, is the steam when the colder air has condensed it into vapour, or mist. It is the same with our breath in cold weather; for though it is not usually visible, we then see it very distinctly, as it comes from our mouths." "Thank you, for making it so plain to me. But there is another thing that I want to know. As soon as the water boils in a tea-kettle, it runs over, if the lid is loose; what is it that makes the water run over? JJ "Water consists of small particles, which, like air, expand when heated. If, therefore, 18 OLD HUMPHREY'S the kettk be full when the particles are of their natural size, it can no longer contajn them when they are rendered larger by heat. No wonder, "then, that the kettle should boiJ over." "Very true. The other day, when sitting by the fire, the loose lid of the tea-1rnHlc made a rattling noise, but I could not fiIHl out what was the cause. How it did puzzle me! I was obliged to give it up at la i; but I made up my mind to ask you all about it." "This rattling noise is more frequently made by the lid of a pot, or boiler, than by the lid of a tea-kettle, and for this · reason­ the pot, or boiler, has no spout to let off the steam. The steam, in struggling to get ou1, lifts up the lid; but losing a little of its power by the colder air, it is no longer able to sustain it. The lid then falls down of its own weight. Again the steam lifts it up, a.nd once more it comes down ; and so long LIYELY LECTURES. 19

as this battle between the steam and the loose lid continues, so long is the rattling noise heard. "A boy named James Watt sat quietly by the fire one evening, doing nothing but watch the tea-kettle lid 'dance,' as it vrns moved up and down by the steam fr0111 the boiling water. He did not say anything, but he was thinking how much power there must be in steam if it could move the heavy lid. He kept thinking about it; and years and years after, when he was a man, he made important improvements on the stea.m­ engine, that can do as much work as a great many horses, just by the steam of boiling water moving wheels and rods, that move machinery in their turn. So when you see steam-mills, steam-boats, and railroad cars, you may consider how much we are indebted to the man who thought about a tea-kettle lid." " I do won

LECTURE ON SMOKY CHIMNEYS. -~- " You said, Uncle Humphey, that one of these days you would give me another lecture, and that it should be on smoky chimneys?" " I did, EdVirin ; and if you can render any good reason why I should do it now, you shall at once have my lecture." " Then I will give you two reasons : you said, yesterday, that we should always fulfil our promise.s as soon as possible ; and that what we can do to-day ought not to be put off till to-morrow." "There is also another reason ; your sister Mary is now with us, and she, whilst knit­ ting, can listen to what we are talking about. LIVELY LECTURES. 23

Yon shall not wait another minute, for I will begin now; only let me just ask you, if you know what smoke is, and why it goes up the chimney at all ? " "Oh, smoke is-is-smoke; and it goes up the chimney because the chimney is made for it to go up." " Your answer is far from being the best th~t might be given, and the latter part of it reminds me of a boy who, when asked what was the use of flies, said, to be food for spiders; and when asked for what purpose spiders were made, replied, why t ec.1.t up the flies, to be sure." " Then you must please to tell me, uncl0, i 1 1stead of asking me questions." " Perhaps that will be the better mode. Smoke, then, is formed of very small parti­ cles of coal, which, though separated from the larger lumps by combustion or flame, are not consumed; and the reason why smoke goes up the chimney is, that the air passing 24 OLD HUMPHREY'S

into and over the fire, becoming lighter by being heated, ascends and carries the smoke up the chimney." "It seems very simple and plain, when we know it." " So do most things, however they may have puzzled us before. As the smoke as­ cends it meets with resistance from the colder air, and the different currents, and thus it is turned round and round; but I must tell you why some chimneys smoke." "Yes; I want to know what makes them smoke, and how they are to be cured." "A chimney is very apt to smoke if it is damp, no fire having been used in the grate for some time; or, when it is cracked and out of repair ; or, when it is too wide at the bottom; or, when the :flue or funnel, the part through which the smoke passes, is very short; or when the top of tho chimney has higher objects near it; or when there are two fires in the same room, the one LIVELY LECTURES. 25 robbing the other of the air; or in gusty weather: but a frequent cause why chimneys smoke is, because the room in which the fire is burning is not sufficiently supplied with fresh air." "If you had been a builder, you could harcliy know more about chimneys. But you have not made it plain to me why a chimney smokes in all these cases." "I will tell you. Remember, it is the heated air that takes the smoke up the chimney, and the hotter it is the more rapidly it ascends. If, then, the chimney be damp, the heated air is so much chilled that it will not carry up the smoke. It is the same when there is a hole or a crack in the chimney, or when the chimney is too wide at the bottom." "Why does the chimney smoke when the flue is short?" " The higher the smoke ascends when the flue is hot, the faster it goes; therefore, the 26 OLD HUMPHREY'S higher the flue the fiercer the draught. When the flue is short the fire is sluggish, the smoke never acquires its full speed, and the wind and the rain have more influence over a short funnel than they have over a long one." "I can tell why the chimney smokes in gusty weather ; it is because the wind blows the smoke down again : but I do not know why a chimney smokes for want of fresh air.. " " Listen. If you take a spadeful of earth from the garden, you leave a hole: but if you take a pitcher of water from a pond, you do. not leave a hole; because the sur­ rounding water runs into the void space and fills it up. It is just the same with air; the moment a part is taken away, that moment other air supplies its place. Do you not see, then, that if the heated air goes up the chimney, the fresh air, if the room is not otherwise supplied, will come LIVELY LECTURES. 27 down the chimney to supply its place, and in coming down it will, of course, bring down the ~moke with it." "I understand it better now; but ho~ is a smoky chimney to be cured ? '' "In the same way that a doctor cures· his patient. He first finds out his disease, and then prescribes medicine according to the case : if a chimney be only damp, the fire of itself will soon cure it: if it be out of condition, it must be repaired : if too wide at the bottom, it must be somewhat en­ closed ; and if too short, it must be built up higher." " But suppose there is not air enough to supply the fire, what can be done then?" "If sufficient air does not come into the room through the key-hole, and under and above the door, the best of all modes is, I believe, to have a pipe carried under the floor, with one end open to the air outside the house, and the other end opening by 28 OLD HUMPHREY'S

the hearth near the fender ; fresh air will thus be supplied, without occasioning a draught through the room. There are few smoky chimneys that might not be cured by a prudent application of these rules. I will finish my lecture by telling you a story. Abel Grove had a smoky chimney: it made him cross, his wife cross, and their lodger cross ; so that little comfort was to be found in the cottage, night or day. 'Put a slate or two at the top of your chimney, if you want to cure it,' said a slater. 'Slates will never do,' said a glazier, 'there must be a whirligig in the window.' 'Neither slates nor whirligigs will keep your chimney from smoking,' said a bricklayer, 'you must have it bricked up closer at the bottom.' Poor Abel was so puzzled by these different opinions that what to do he did not know. ' Listen to me, Abel,' said old Abraham Ireland, 'try the slate plan first, for that is the easiest and the cheapest; the whirligig next, and if both fail, it will be time enough LIVELY LECTURES. 29 to employ the bricklayer.' Abel had a slate or two put on his chimney, and it mended the draught a Jittle ; he had a whirligig fixed in his window, and that mended tbe draught more ; but when the bricklayer had somewhat enclosed the fire-place, the smoky chimney was thoroughly cured. Abel was again good-tempered, his wife was good­ tempered, and the lodger was good-tempered, and the cottage was one of the most comfort­ able habitations in the village. It is a ·wise course in a difficulty to listen to advice, to turn it over in our minds, and, if it appears good, to act upon it, not rashly, but pru­ dently. This mode of proceeding may be put in practice on a hundred occasions; for it will lighten a care and lessen a trouble quite as well as it will cure a smoky chimney.'' " Thank you, uncle, thank you. I will try to remember the lecture, and I feel sure that I shall not soon forget your tale of the smoky chimney." 30 OLD HUJ.VIPHREY's

LEUTURE ON ECHOES.

"UNCLE HUMPHREY, Mary and I have been on the high hill opposite the Common, and halfway up .the hill as you turn round towards the rocks. When you call out, there is such a beautiful echo!" "Yes, Edwin, I have heard it myself; and not only is the echo interesting, but the Dwarf Holes too. I have thought more than once of taking you with me, that we might explore them together." " That I should like very much indeed ; but there is something that I want you to do now. Will you please to give me a litt.fo lecture on echoes?" LIVELY LEC1I'URES. 31 " On echoes ! Let me se~. You should have given me notice, that I might have revived my memory a little. However, I will do my best." "I am not afrai

8t.ll. echo, becau.se the sound that enter~ them strikes fully against the rock at the end of them, and cannot escape. Ca:verns, and hillsl and icebergs, an.d large buildings­ such as castles and churches-are the mos1 celebrated. £or echoes." "But how is it, uncle, that, when we talk in a room, we do not hear an echo ; for the sourrd must then go right against the walls?" " True ; but to produce an echo the air must be put in motion with some force; and then I ought to explain to you that sound travels so swiftly (as much, and indeed more than a dozen miles a minute) that, unless you are at a distance from the object which occasions the echo, the original sound and the echo mingle together at the same moment, so that you hear but one sound. Unless you are at least sixty-five feet from the obj ect that gives the echo, you cannot hear it." "How very curious! What is the rea- LIYELY LECTURES. son that, in some places, there are several echoes?" "Beca1:1se the sound beaten back from one object strikes fully against another; but every succeeding echo becomes fainter and fainter as the air is less agitated." " I shall be sure to go again to the hill opposite the Dwarf Holes." "I have heard very fine echoes near the lake of Bala in ,Vales, and among the rocks of Nant Frangon, and the ivy-hung walls of Old Tintern Abbey, as well as in Scotland. It is said that there is an echo near l\filan, in Italy, that will repeat a cry fifty-six times ; and, if a gun is fired, it sounds just like the running fire of a company of soldiers at their exercise." " That must be something like an echo ! Fifty-si...-x: times over! " " There are few echoes that affect the mind more than those produced by the. wa,es of the mighty deep dashing against 36 OLD I-IUMPHREY' S the hollow rocks that resist their further progress. These echoes seem to repeat the language of ocean waves, as though they would say, '-Great is the Lord, and worthy tc be praised. The sea is his, and he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.' "It is related that, near the ancient fortress of Dunsta:ffnage, in Scotland, once the abode of Scottish kings, there is a rock at no great distance from the ruins of a small chapel, once used by the soldiers of the garrison. On this rock a traveller was once standing, when he heard, as he thought, from the old ruined chapel, the solemn sound of prai.e and prayer in Gaelic, the language of the Highlanders of Scotland ; but though he went to the building, and examined every part of it, no person was there to be found, This much amazed him. What voice disturbs tho calm of e,o, Where nought but ruined walls appear? -Can fancy thus the sense deceiv0, Or are they mortal tones I hear ? LIVELY LECTURES. 37

"..cifterwards, however, he discovered that the sounds came from a pious pedlar, who was sitting behind the very rock on which he had been standing. The sound had been beaten back by the old walls of the chapelr and thus caused the echo. But I must now conclude my lecture. Oh, that more echoes gave back the praise of the Redeemer ! May England loud her hallelujahs raise, And grateful nations echo back foe praise." OLD HUMPHREY'S

A SHORT LECTURE ON BLACK .A.ND WHITE.

"UNCLE, I want to puzzle you."

,!'" Do you, Edwin ? I am very much obliged to you ; but ·suppose, instead of your puz~~g me, I were to try to puzzle you : would~not that do quite as well ? " "No; for I should not be half so likely to find out your puzzle as you would be to find out mine." "Well, then, if you think so, propose your puzzle." " I pas~ed yesterday by the side of the pond, where the people were sliding and skating, and the landscape was covered with LIVELY LECTURES. 39

snow ; but to-day there was a· thaw, and the snow had all melted away in the churchyard, but not on tlie two flat stones near the yew­ tree, for there it lay an inch deep. Please to tell me, if you can, why the snow did not. melt on the gravestones." "Simply because the stones are or a lighter colour than the ground.'-' " But what difference could tb.at make? Surely one colour cannot be warmer than another?" "Dark colours absorb heat more readily than light colours, and therefore are wanner. The following scale will let you know the order in which colours are colder: black, violet, indigo, blue, green, red, yellow, and white. Black is the warmest, and white the coldest colour." " How very odd ! But all dark-coloured things are not warmer than those that are lighter." "Certainly not. A red-hot poker is 40 OLD HUMPHREY'S warmer than a black piece of coal, but that is owing to other causes than its colour. All substances and colours -vary, among other things, in these three particulars : some re­ flect heat more than others-that is, they throw it back; some absorb it more than others-that is} they receive it, and do not soon part with it; and some are good con­ ductors of heat-that is, they receive it readily, and gi-ve it away readily." "But how do you know that black 1s warmer than white? A black piece of cloth feels to me no warmer than a white piece." " There are endless differences in things which are not set forth in a sufficient degree for us either to see, hear, smell, taste, or feel them. Though you may not feel any dif­ ference between cloth of opposite colour., yet if two pieces of cloth, the one black and the other white, are laid on snow, in a ljttle time the snow under the black cloth will be LIVELY LECTURES.

melted: while the snow under the other will remain a much longer time unchanged. The reason of this is, the black cloth receives the heat of the sun in a greater degree than the white cloth, a.nd thereby melts the snow." '' I see now: the white cloth and the white gravestone act in the same manner." "Exactly so : as the white tombstone absorbs so little heat, it remains too cold to thaw the frost or the snow on its surface." "How hot negroes must be in their country; for they are black all over." "No doubt they are hot enough beneath the beams of an .African sun; but if their kins were white instead of black, it would be worse for them." "Why, you said, uncle, that black was the hottest colour, and white the coldest." "I did, Edwin; but I said too, that black absorbs heat, and white does not. The black, er colouring matter, is not in, but under tho outer coat of the skin ; so that, by absorbing B2 ,

42 OLD HUMPHREY'S

heat, it conveys it beneath the skin, pro­ ducing sensible heat and perspiration, and thereby defending it from being scorched. White will not absorb heat; the hot sun, therefore, rests on the surface of the skin and scorches it." "How very curious!'' "If a negro's eyes were not black, they would receive the sun's rays without ab. orb­ ing them, so that when much exposed blind­ ness would follow." "How very good God is to the negro ! " '' He ' is good to all : and his tender mer- cios are over all his works.' (Ps. cxlv. 9.) "When glittering suns are shining bright, When.all the world is wrapped in night, In summer, winter, spring, and fall, The Lord is good and kind to all.

"Perhaps, Edwin, I can make you under­ stand how heat acts on black and white in another way. Black kid gloves tire not LIVELY LECTURES. 43

pleasant to wear in summer, for they absorb the heat of the sun, and hold it, and they will not allow the heat of the hand to escape : for these reasons they are too hot for summer wear." "My summer gloves are thread, and not kid." " Yes ; they are made of Lisle thread, and are of a grey colour. They do not absorb the heat of the sun, but they do absorb per­ spiration, and thus conduct away the heat of the hand." " A black glove, then, is warmer than a white one." "It is ; but if you were to wear white gloYes in burning hot weather, it would be a mistake." "Why, uncle? If white is colder than black, I should think that a white glove would be the very thing in hot weather." " If, when the sun has great power, you \fe:rc to put a black glove on one hand. and 44 OLD HUMPHREY'S a white glove on the other, the hand in the black glove would feel the hotter, but the hand in the white glove would be scorched the most." " For what reason? I should have thought the hand that felt the hottest would have been the most scorched." " The black glove holds the heat more than the white one, and thereby defends the hand. 'l'he white glove, by not holcling the heat so readily, allows it to foll upon the skin and scorch it." "I wish I knew as much as you do, undo : it must be very pleasant to understand the reason of everything. I will try to re­ member all that you have told me. Dark colours take in the heat readier than the light ones, and are on that account warmer. A negro's skin is not blistered, because the black colour conducts the heat of the sun under it. Negro's eyes, if they were not black, would be very likely to go blind. Light-coloured thread gloves arc cool be- LIVELY LECTlJRES. 45

cause they do not absorb heat, and because they take up perspiration ; and a black glove feels hotter than a white one in a burning sun, but it defends the hand better from being scorched, because it holds the heat instead of letting it go to the skin." "You seem to have paid attention, Edwin, to most of the points that I touched upon; but one of them, I fear, you have forgotten." "Have I? Is it about the colours, the tombstone, the negro, the cloth, or the gloves?" "Neither, Edwin. It is t~e goodness of God, not only to the negro, but to all things beneath his care." '' Oh yes, uncle. I ought not to have forgotten that." "The more we know of him, the more reason shall we have to praise him. On earth below, in heaven above, We read a. record of his love : His won drous works nnd holy word Proclaim the goodness of the Lord.'' 46 OLD HUMPHREY'S

LECTURE ON THE PAPYRUS.

·" LooK, uncle, look!" cried Edwin, running into the study one day, upon his return from school. "We have had our examination this morning, and see what I have brought home as a reward." Uncle Humphrey looked up, and saw in his nephew's hand a book nicely bound, with gilt edges; and on the back of it he read, in letters of gold, "The Traveller; or, Wan­ ders of Nature and Art." "I do love a book!" said Edwin, watch­ ing his uncle while he turned over the leaves and glanced at the contents of his prize. " And that seems to be so ,ery en- LIVELY LECTURES. 47 tertaining ; for I could not help peeping into it now and then as I came along th.e street.'' "It is a happy thing for. you, my boy," said h.is uncle, " that you live in times when books are numerous, and easy to be ob­ tained. Four hundred years ago, when the art of printing was only just discovered, a book was a treasure indeed/' " Ah ! I am glad I was not born in those days," answered Edwin. "How many dull hours I must pass, if there were no books ; for, even if it were good for me, I con.Id not always be at play. I am sure I am much obliged to Gutenberg and Faust, who were the :first inventors of printing, and about whom I was reading the other day." "True," said his uncle; "nor must yim forget your obligations to your own country­ man, William Caxton, who set up the fir t printing-press in England, as long ago as the reign of King Edward the Fourth. 48 OLD HUMPHREY'S

Again, as knowleclge and skill of different kinds are required for the perfection of book­ making, I think you owe something to the pa.per-manufacturer, the ink-maker, the binder, and to the author who furnishes your book with its contents." "Well,'' said Edwin, smiling, "I thank them with all my heart for the pains they have taken to please me. And I am glad you happened to mention paper, uncle, for it reminds me of something which puzzled me on the day that you took me to the paper­ mills. I had not an opportunity of asking you to explain it at the time, and afterwards it went out of my head. You said that paper, like ours, was quite unkno-wn to people in ancient times; and I cannot make out how they could contrive to write without paper, or something of the kind." "vVithout paper!" repeated Uncle Hum­ phrey; "did my words convey such a meaning? Think again." LIVELY LECTURES 49

Edwin reflected for a moment. "You said paper li'ke ours-I did not think of that. So, then, I suppose they had some of a dif­ ferent kind.') "Yes : the paper that we use is made from linen rags, and was unknown in the early ages, though its manufacture has now been carried on throughout Europe during some hundreds of years. There were, how­ ever, many other substances from which paper was formerly made; such as the inner bark of trees, and their leaves, especially those of the palm-tree: but the most ancient paper was that of Egypt, which is known to have been in use for centuries before the birth of our Saviour. This kind of paper was probably that upon which Alexander the Great and the Roman emperors wrote; for it formed an extensive branch of commerce with the Egyptians, and was sent by them to France, Italy, and other European coun­ tries. The only material employed for the 50 OLD HUMPHREY'S

Egyptian paper was a kind of reed which grew on the banks of the Nile, and in the marshy grounds that were caused by the yearly overflowing of the river. It was called the papyrus ; from which name the word paper is derived." "A reed, did you say, uncle? How very strange ! They must have been clever people-those Egyptians ! How high did it grow, I wonder?" "To the height of eight or ten feet; or eve1 higher, according to the statement of Bruce, a famous traveller, who wrote a very interesting account of this reed, which he had often seen along the borders of the N ilc. He had a book in his possession with leaves of the papyrus, the binding also being maclc from the woody part of the plant." " How I should like to have such a book ! But you have not told me from what part of the papyrus the Egyptians made their · paper" LIVELY LECTURES. 51

"It was from the stalk, which they divided, with a kind of needle, into thin strips, like pieces of ribbon. Having cut these strips to the length which was desired for the paper, they la.id them upon a smooth table ; other pieces were placed across them, and when the whole had been moistened with water from the Nile, a weight was put upon it, and it was left to dry in the sun." "What a strange method!" said Edwin. "No doubt the Egyptians greatly valued their papyrus." "They had good reason to do so," replied his uncle, "for it had many uses besides that which I have mentioned. The root was large and strong ; very firm and hard, like wood; and you may imagine that it Trnuld be serviceable for many purposes. From the stems, compactly woven together, the boats of the Eg;yptians were made; and ves­ sels of papyrus are mentioned in the Scrip­ ture , though another word is user:l to describe 52 OLD HU:\:lPHREY'S

them. Perhaps you will be able to guess that other word, when I tell you that in a. little boat of papyrus, among the flags on the brink of the Nile, a tender infant was once found by an Egyptian princess." "Oh, uncle! surely you must mean little ::Nioses in the ark of bulrushes! Was the ark really made of the papyrus?" " Yes ; tho papyrus is many ti.mos spoken of in Scripture by the name of bulru b : other writers also describe the Egyptian ships and vessels of the Nile as being made of this valuable substance. Let us turn to the eighteenth chapter of Isaiah," continued uncle Humphrey, putting his hand upon a Bible which lay beside him. (( Here "\Ye find it written, 'Woe to the land shado~.vi11g with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia : that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters.'" (' Thank you, dear uncle, for this informa- LTVELY LECTURES. 53 tion ;" said Edwin. "I shall try to remem­ ber all that you have told me about the papyrus." "Remember, also," said his uncle, "that as the means of acquiring knowledge are 11,ow o:ffered to you on every side ; as the important discoveries which have been made ha"""e removed the difficulties there were in former times in the path of learning,-so you should seek with all diligence to im­ prove. Above all, you should praise God for the precious gift of his own most holy YV orcl; and pray, that as it is now sent to the cast and to the west, to the north and to the south, carrying in its pages the tiding1, of sa l"""ation to all the world-that it may be known, and read, and bolie,ecl, tmtil the Redeemer shall be glorified by every people beneath the sun, and the earth be ' filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters coyer the sea.'" 54 OLD HUMPHREY>S

TRADES CARRIED ON BY BIRDS, BEASTS, AND INSECTS.

" PLEASE to tell me something to amuse me, uncle, will you ? for I am so tired." "But if you are so tired, Edwin, what likelihood is there of your listening to me with attention?" " Oh, I will not lose a word. I should never be tired of hearing you talk." ",Veil, if I am to talk to amuse you, it must be about something entertaining. Sup­ pose I tell you of the trades which are car­ ried on by the lower creatures?" "Trades! Why how can_ they carry on LIVELY LECTURES. 55

any trade? Do you mean to say that beasts and birds, and such like, carry on trade ? " "You shall hear. The fox is a dealer in poultry, and a wholesale dealer too; as the farmers and farmers' wives know to their cost.n "That is true, certainly." "Not satisfied with ducklings and chickens, he must needs push on his trade among the full-grown cocks and hens; and many a good fat goose is conveyed to his storehouse in the woods.

A wily trader in his way Is Reynard, both by night and day. " The otter and the heron are fishermen, though they make use of neither a line nor a net. It is not very often that we catch sight of the otter, for he carries on bis trade for the most part under the water; but the heron is frequently seen, standing with his long thin legs in the shallow part of the 56 OLD IIUMPHREY'ti river, suddenly plunging his lengthy bill below the surface, and bringing up a fish. You cannot deny that the heron and the otter are like good fishermen." " No, that I cannot ; but never should I have thought of it, if you had not told me.'' "Ants are day-labourers, and very indus­ trious too in their calling : they al ways seem in earnest at their work. Catch them asleep in the daytime if you can. They set us an example of industry. Ants freely work without disguise: Their ways consider, and be wise." " Go on, uncle ; I am not half so tired as I was." u You seem all attention, certainly, Edwin. The swallow is a fly-catcher; ancl the number that he catches in a day would quite astonish you. Often have you seen him skimming along the surface of the brook and the pond." "Ye , that I have; an

On feathery wing they freely rove, .A.nd wake with harmony the grove.

"The firefly and the glowworm are lamp- 5.8 OLD HUMPHREY'S

lighters. Fireflies are not seen 1n -this country ; but, abroad, they light up the air just as the glowworms do the grassy and flowery banks in country places here." " Yes ; I have seen them. I shall not forget the lamp-lighters." " The bee is a professor of geometry ; for he constructs his cells so scientifically, that the least possible amount of material is formed into the largest spaces with the least waste of room. Not all the mathematicians at the University could improve the con­ struction of his cells." "The bee is much more clever than I thought he was." " The caterpillar is a silk-spinner, and far before all other silk-spinners in creation. For the richest dresses that we see, we are indebted to the silkworm. With what won­ derful properties has it pleased our Heavenly Father to endow the lower creatures ! " " I sha.11 be made wiser to-day, uncle, than I have ever been before." LIVELY LECTURES~ 59

" The mole is an engineer, and forms a tunnel quite as well as if he had been in­ structed by the most clever men of science. The nautilus is a navigator, hoisting and taking in his sails as he floats along the water, and casting anchor at his pleasure. The jackal is a hunter, and the monkey the best rope-dancer in the world." - " Well done, uncle ; you have amused me, indeed. I could listen an hour longer with­ out being tiTed." " .And now, as you are learning all you can as a scholar, let me advise you to set up at once the trade or calling of a school­ master, by teaching with humility and kind­ ness those around you who may happen to know less than yourself. We all should be carrying on the calling of a schoolmaster, teaching others by precept and example, Without a rod, or angry word, To love and glorify the Lord." 60 OI,D HUMPHREY'S

HOW lVIUOH ARE YOU IN DEBT?

ONE day little Edwin came into my count­ ing-house just as I was putting up my books -the day-book, the journal, and the great ledger; so I playfully put the ln.tter lightly on his head. Edwin cried out to have it taken off again, for that was more than he could bear. No sooner was the great ledger put up in its proper place than tho following conversation was carried on:- " How much money you must owe people, uncle; or what a great deal they mu t owe you, for such a big book to be wanted as that to keep the accounts in. Why it is big enough to put down thousands and. thousands.'' LIVELY LECTURES. 61

'' It is hardly fau· to judge by the size of my books, Edwin; for_ different people have different plans of book-keeping. I know .:;ome people who are very deeply in debt, and yet they keep no books at all." " Indeed ! that must be a very bad plan. W ell ! nobody owes me anything, and I owe no one a penny in the world." " I am not quite sure of that ; indeed, when I said there were people deeply in clebt who kept no books, I meant to include you among them.'' " '\Vhat, 1mcle, do you think I am in debt ? I paid my sister the shilling she lent me, and now I owe no one a single farthing." "A great deal of mischief is done in the world by bad book-keeping, and I am rather afraid that Edwin has fallen into some sad rn.istakes. "'What if, after all you have said, I should find out that you are over head and cats in debt? What would you say then?" "I see that you are joking; but nobody 62 OLD HUMPHREY'S can make it 011t that I am in debt, for I o-wo no one anything." " That being the case, you can have no objection to my inquiring a little into your affairs." "Not at all, uncle ; you may ask me what questions you please. Say what you like, you will not bring me in debt." " Very well ! We will see. Take your place there beside me, while I play the part of an accountant. I might bring in your father's account for seven years' food, cloth­ ing, lodging, and education : for which he :tnight fairly charge you a few hunclxed pounds, but I will pass this by." "Oh! I never thought of such thing.·." ".And for that very reason it is my duty to think of them in examining your affairs; for, as I told you before, I am afraid you have committed mistakes. Your two prin­ cipal creditors are your earthly father and your Heavenly Father. What you owe to \ , · LIVELY LECTURES. 63 the former is not worthy of being mentioned in comparison of what you are ·indebted_to the latter. If your eaTthly father make any wrong charge you can correct him." {c I begin to see that I shall soon be puz­ zled." "You are indebted to your Heavenly Father for life, with all your senses of seeing, hear­ ing, feeling, tasting, and smelling. Now, te3:-l me truly, would you part with these for a thousand pounds ? " cc No, uncle ! Nor for ten thousand ! " cc That being the case, we shall not do you any great injustice in charging your account with ten thousand. Next comes your under­ standing-including reason, thought, judg­ ment, memory, fancy, and all other powers of the mind. We may venture, perhaps, to make tha same charge as before." " If you go on in this way I shall owe more than the richest man in the world has in his iron chest." 64 OLD HUMPHREY'~

"Gently, Edwin, gently! I have but just begun the account of your debts, and have a very long list to go through. No doubt. you set some value on the faculty of speech. I hardly think that you would willingly be dumb for a trifle." " Dumb ! No, not for all the money in the world!" "Then this item will swell up your debt g1.·eatly. But what shall we put down for your health? For what sum would you part with health, and agree to be racked with pain, and bed-ridden all your days?" "Uncle! I never heard of such a thing; health is above all price. n "Then we must put down a high price in your account. What shall we say for friends? I will put as low a sum as you like; but you must remember that your mamma, papa, and your ister, are included." "Put down just as much as you please, uncle; for you cannot· make it more than they are worth to me." LIVELY LECTURES. 65

" I hardly know what to charge you for your Bible, though when we consider that 'all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,' we must not estimate it lightly." "What a debt you have brought in against me!" " There cannot be many wise and good men in the world, who do not put a very high value on God's holy day. If I charge you with three hundred Sabbaths, with all their sermons and prayers, and all their quietude and peace, they will amount to no small sum." " You forget nothing, uncle ; you bring everything into my account." "I ought to do so in rendering a just ac­ count; but what say you will be a proper charge for a throne of grace, and the hope of glory through Him who died on the cross, the only true and sufficient sacrifice for sin? C 66 OLD HUMPHREY'S

Why, Edwin, if you had a thousand worlds to give in payment, it would be as nothing compared with a Saviour's love." "I believe so, uncle: what a debt you have brought against me! There is no need for you to put down anything more ; for, instead of owing nothing, I seem now to owe every­ thing." "But, if I leave off here, the balance will be greatly against you ; for you will be like the servant who owed his Lord a sum of ten thousand talents, and he had not wherewith to pay it. Let me see how the account stands as far as we have proceeded. You are indebted for life, understanding, speech, health, friends, the Bible, some hundreds of Sabbaths, a throne of grace, and the hope of glory through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, worth more, as you acknowledge, than a thousand wodds, and to pay it you have not ten thousand farthings." "I see now that you are right; and that LIVELY LEC".rURES. 67

1nany are very deeply in debt, though they keep no books at all. You will never again hear me say that I owe nothing." "I hope not, Edwin; I heartily hope not: for "'\\e are every one of us in debt, beyond ouT power of payment, and all that we can do is to acknowledge the goodness, forbear­ ance, and love of our Heavenly-Father. Very suifable to our situation is the language of the hymn:-

Oh ! to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrain'd to be; Let that grace now, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to thee ! Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, Seal it from thy courts above." 68 OLD HUMPHREY'S

FIREWORKS.

IT was the £.fth of November, and a dark and gusty night, when the boys from the school assembled round the £.re which they had made on the waste ground. Having obtained leave from their master to have a £.re, they had begged faggots and logs of wood from the farmers near, and had fixed a pole in the ground that they might let off their £.re­ works to advantage. Hardly ever are boys happier than when engaged in letting off £.reworks ; though this is an amusement that requires great care. Many a haystack and barn have been burned down, through careles ness in letting· off £.reworks; but on this occasion, Jacob Moore, a steady, careful, wise old man, who LIVELY LECTURES. 69 lived in the village, and who was a favourite with the young people, was with them; not only to see that no mischief was done, but also to help them in their amusement. The wood was nice and dry, the fire flared up beautifully, and the darkness only made the fire and the bright light the more plea­ sant. Many a beaming face was gathered round the blazing pile. Fearful, aged, and infhm people would much rather sit within doors, with curtains drawn and_shutters closed, by the warm fir.e, than venture into the open air on a blustering night to stand round a bonfire; but what would a boy say, were we to try to persuade him to remain in the house. "Oh!" he would say, "jt is the fifth of November ! it is the fifth of November ! " and gladly would he sally forth in spite of cold, or fog, or da.rkness. Away he ""ould go, on this noisiest night of the whole year, to join his companions gathered round the burning pile. The wind 70 OLD HUMPHREY'S might blow the smoke in his face, ancl black smuts might fall upon him; but what would he care for smarting eyes and a begrimed countenance? The curling up of the bright flame, and the glittering sparkles from the burning log, would make him more than amends. It was just so with the young people from the school; for they were as happy as a bon­ fire ancl pleasant pastime could make them. At one time a cracker was held to a piece of burning wood, and then flung into the dark­ ness at a distance, where it burst, and bounced, and flashed in its zj gzag course, half a dozen times, to the great delight of ihc boys. Then a squib was lighted and thrown into the air, where it mounted up hissing like a .-erpent, and sparkling in its course, till it burst with a loud report. Then a wheel was fastened to the pole by means of a large pin, and soon it was seen turning rapicliy round, :flinging out fiery LIVELY LECTURES. 71 sparkles, changing its colour, and bursting out afresh when it seemed to be altogether spent. Oh, it was a happy night, that fifth of November ; but for all that, it ·could not la t so long as the noisy group wished it to last. The time came when the £.reworks had been let off, and the fire was getting low. There is, after every noisy joy, a sort of unpleasant stillness ; and though the boys kept up their spirits as well as they could, now and then striking the red logs of wood, that a flare-up of sparkles might follow, they would have been sadly at a loss had it not been for old Jacob Moore, who much amused them by describing the £.reworks that he had seen and heard of in his day. He began by saying he had no great love for £.reworks, as they were dangerous anct. expensive sport, and there were better way& of boys enjoying themselves, than by squibs and crackers. Many accidents, he told them, had occurred through wild and careless con­ duct. He, however, went on to tell them of 72 OLD HUMPHREY'S a grand display of fireworks at which he was present, when peace was proclaimed in Lon­ don, nearly forty years ago. " Oh ! " said he, "you would have been delighted, boys, to see the rockets rushing into the air, a dozen of them together, and mounting up seemingly to the very skies by streams of fire, leaving bright trains behind them, until they burst up above, :flinging out a cluster of sparkling stars, and pouring down a shower of golden rain. " Then there were Roman candles of a large size, pouring out coloured fire, and throwing about red, purple, yellow, and green stars ; and golden flower pots, maroons to imitate cannon, Bengal lights, making the whole place as bright as if the sun were shining at noonday. There were, too, bal­ loons throwing glittering shells, and foun­ tains of different coloured fires, and Katharine wheels of surprising beauty; but the last firework was the best of all." LIVELY LECTURES. 73 The young people here gathered closer round Jacob Moore, as he went on in his description. " The last :firework was made to imitate a burning mountain. First came the black smoke, then the bright flames, then the hot burning lava fl.owed down the mountain side, and lastly, the glowing stones and cinders were shot up high into the air. What with the cinders, the fl.owing lava, the blue. and red flame, and the black smoke, it was an astonishing sight." Before the party broke up, old Jacob Moore delighted the young ,people, by telling them of a grand display of fireworks, of which he had lately read, which took place among the Chinese. "The Chinese are famous," said Jacob, "for fireworks; on a late occasion they had a fine collection. They displayed a vine arbour which burned vi'ithout consuming­ the trunk, branches, leaves, grapes, burned in their proper colours. After this had de- e 2 74 OLD HUMPHREY'S

lighted the spectators, another piece was begun. A dozen cylinders discharged an immense number of rockets, which foTmed themselves into stars, serpents, and flying dragons. This magnificent scene was followe{l by a grand discharge on all sides of a shower of fire, with which was intermixed globe­ shaped lanterns, with sentences written on them. Then ascended a display of fireworks in th.e shape of pillars formed of rings of light, which seemed for a moment to turn night into day. At last the grand display took place; the Chinese dragon appeared in all his glory, surroimded by ten thousand winged creatures, standards, and banners, and suddenly upon his back appeared the figure of the emperor in blue lights. These successively changed to y8llow, and lastly to the most intense white. A roar of ten thousand reports now shook the air-a canopy of green arose over the figure of the em­ peror, from the midst of which a volcano of rockets was shot aloft." LIVELY LECTURES • 75

.All the assembled group thought the Chinese must be a very clever people. "Why, yes!" said old Jacob, looking grav~, "no doubt they are clever in many things; but, for all this, they are greatly to be pitied, for they bow down to idols, and believe not in the Saviour. The only way to salvation," he continued, "is by faith in Jesus Christ, who died for sinners on the cross ; but of this the poor Chinese know nothing. Oh what a thing it would be, even if they knew less than they do about fireworks, if they were acquainted with the grace and the goodness of God ! Do not forget to pray that yolu eyes and your hearts may be opened to holy things, and that yOlu names may be written in the book of life." The bonfire was nearly out asJacob finished his remarks, so he spread about the few re­ maining pieces of glowing wood that they might soon be extinguished, and walked away with the youthful throng. 76 OLD HUl\lPHHEY'8

TRY THE OTHER vVAY.

~~ "TRY the other way, Peter," said Uncle Humphrey, to a servant man who had a letter to deliver, cc for you see the house is a strange house to you, and the front door may ans-wer better than the back. The nearest way is not always the best way in going through the world. I once, to save a little tin1e, made straight for the back door of a farm­ house, but, before I reached it, the house-dog from a kennel whic·h I had not seen, reached me, tearing my trousers and stocking with his teeth. Try the other way, Peter." A little prudent thought is necessary al all times, but especially when we arc m situations which are new to us. LIYELY LECTURES. 77 " Cannot I take a short cut through this narrow alley?" asked a porter with a heavy load on his shoulder. " You can," replied Uncle Humphrey, "but if I were you I would try the other way, for I am not quite sure that you can get out at the other end. I once went that way, and got half a bucket of dirty water thrown over my clothes by a woman who was washing her house. 'Beg pardon,' said she, and then slammed to the door. After all, I found a gate at the end of the alley, with a padlock on it ; so, if I were you, I would try the other way." The experience of one often saves another from much disappointment and vexation ; how willingly, then, should we listen to tho experience of such as are wiser than our­ selves. He who will walk in by-paths must expect, now and then, to meet with dis­ a ppoin tmen t. "Try the other way," said Uncle Hum· phrey, to one who was brutally beating his 78 OLD HU~IPHREY'S horse, because he would not pass a black and white post which somewhat scared him. "It is a case where kindness will answer better than cruelty. Get off your horse, soothe his Tuffied temper, pat him on the neck instead of lashing his sides, lead him gently to the post, going to it yourself first to give him confidence. Do this, and you will have but little trouble with him. Nothing can be clearer than this, that you are going wrong now; do try the other way." It becomes us all to practise kindness to man and beast, for we have much need of it ourselves. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." (Matt. v. 7.) "I cannot make out how it is," said one who was rich, and striving with all his heart to get Ticher; "do what I will, I cannot sleep at night. Why, often and often, I hear the clock strike almost every hour, from the time I go to bed till the time I get up in the mornmg. I eat well and drink well, LIVELY LECTURES. 79 why should I not sleep well? I must go to the doctor about it.'! "Ha,rdly do I think that_necessary," said Uncle Humphrey; "I would try another way. Strive after contentment instead of hankering after money, and you will sleep well enough, I have no doubt; but he who will, at any rate, be rich, must make up his mind to hear the church clock strike in the night, for God's Word says, 'The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much : but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.'" (Eccles. v. 12.) The servant-man going round to the back: of the house to deliver his letteT ; the porter taking ashort cut through the-narrow alley; the cruel rider lashing his a:ffrighted horse ; and the rich man about to consult his doctor because he could not sleep at night, are o:mly a few of the many instances in which people would act wisely in trying the other way. One thing is certain, that though we may 80 OLD HUMPHREY'S err in a thousand ways, we shall commit no error in fearing the Lord and keeping his commandments, for- Whether the path be dark or light, The distance short or long ; This is the way that guides us right, And cannot lead us wrong. LIVELY LECTURES. 81

VILLAGE IDOLS.

Ow Hannah Price, who lived in the little cottage at the entrance of the village, had a tortoiseshell cat, of which she was so fond that it seemed to occupy half her time. Not content with feeding her cat with the daintiest bits she could get for her, she put a red collar round her neck, and placed a cushion for her to lie on before the firs_ To such a ridiculous length did old Hannah carry her fondness, that she never could be happy when her favourite was out of her sight. She wasted her time in attending to her, and pinched herself in her food to pamper her appetite. The blacksmith said that if the cat had been a Christian, old 82 OLD HUMPHRE'Y'S

Hannah would not have paid it half so much attention. Hannah Price's cat was her idol. Richard Parker, the wheelwright, by the village green, had a pointer dog, and such another dog, in his opinion, was not to be found in the world. To speak the truth, Parker's pointer was a fine fellow; broad in the chest, strong in the limbs, and with n skin snowy white marked with liver-coloured blotches ; he was just the clog to have his picture taken; but for all this Richard Parker acted but a silly part in being so fond of him. When Parker was within doors the clog was within doors; and when he was out of the house, his pointer was out too. Wherever Parker went, the dog went. Many an hour were they roving about together by the brook side, or in the fields, or on the com­ mon, when Richard ought to have been busily occupied in his business. Many of the vil­ lagns said he paid more attention to his dog LIVELY LECTURES. 83

than he did to his wife and children. Richard Parker thought it a foolish thing for Hannah Price to be so fond of her tortoiseshell cat ; but he saw no folly in his being equally fond of his pointer. Parker's dog was his idol. Miss Timmins, at the Tan House, had a pet parrot that her sailor brother had brought her from the Brazils. The bird had certainly very beautiful plumage, but the squalling that it made from morning to night was anything but agreeable. The parrot had been taught by her mi~tress to repeat a few sentences, and "Poor Poll !" "How do you do?" "What o'clock is it?" and "I can't get out ! " were heard every hour of the day, and almost every minute of the hour, from breakfast to tea time. Miss Timmins l©itered away most of her mornings with her bird. She could find time to teach it to talk, but she could not find time to visit her sick neighbours. She wondered much that Richard Parker should idle away 84 OLD HU:\IPHREY'S his time with his dog, but she did not won­ der at all that she herself should squanclcr still more time on her pet parrot. :Madam Bolton, at the High Grange, had an excellent garden, and being very fond of flowers, no expense was spared by her in their cultivation. It was really beautiful to hear her talk, and then she would wind up her remarks with a text of Scripture. "Even wild flowers," she would say, "are entitled to our best attention. ' Consider the lilies, how they grow : they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.'" The worst of all this was, that while she talked much about the clothing of the lilies, she did very little towards the clothing of the poor. She expended a great deal more money on tulip roots than she did in charity. Madam Bolton was heard many times to exclaim against :Miss Timmins for her foolish fondness for LIVELY LECTURES. 85 her parrot, but no one ever heard her once exclaim. against her undue partiality for her garden. Squire Brindley, at the Hall, who ·was very rich, took it into his head to new pew the church, and put up new tablets in the chancel. Comfortable seats are doubtless very desirable, and the ten commandments can hardly be too plain to our eyes, or too deeply graven on our hearts; but the evil of it was this, that Squire Brinclley was pu.ffec! up with pride by what he had done. It woula. be hard to say whether or not he had ever read the words-

Who builds a church to God, and not to fame, Will neyer mark the marble with his name.

But if he had, he -was not at all disposed to heed them, for though he did not have his name graven on marble, he had it printed in letters of gold in the very front of the singing gallery, with an account of the church having d6 OLD HUMPHREY'S been new pewfld, and the chancel furnished with comJnandment tablets, at his sole ex­ pense .. Wherever he went he was sounding his own trumpet, and boasting of his own good deeds. He often expressed his surprise that Madam Bolton should be so proud of her garden; but it never occurred to him that his own pride on account of what he had done to the church was equally great, and even still more censurable. But are there no Hannah Prices, Richard Parkers, Miss Timminses, Madam Boltons, and Squire Brindleye, in the town and city, as well as in the country? None who cling fondly to follies, or who allow favourite pur­ suits to engross their time and resources, which ought to be devoted to more worthy objects? So far from this, I am afraid that they are to be found everywhere. What say you, my young readers; are there none such to be seen among you ? On those tablets that Squire Brindley set LIYELY LECTURES. 87 up in the chancel of the church, the first commandment was, "Thou shalt have none other gods but me;" but, nnrnin

the midst of them all, " f ear Goel, ancl keep his commandments." There are some young people who think that every idol must resemble the golden image set up by Nebuchadnezzar, or be something like Baal, or Dagon, or ~1:oloch, of old times; but this is a mistake, as you may gather from the yjllage idols of which I ha,e told you. Give your hearts to God, and say to him, with humility and sincerity- Try mo and cleanse me, Lord, in every part, And len., e no idol in this erring heart. 90 OLD IIUi\IPHRE~S

THE SHINING HOUR.

"Improve each shining hour." IF I am to improve every shining hour, I have quite enough to do, for every hour when the sun is in the sky may be said to be a shining hour ; yes: and when the moon and stars shine too : so that whoever will be idle, I must be as busy as a bee. It is a shining hour when the sun rises, for I have seen it many a time. .At first there is only a little light in the east, but it grows brighter by degrees, till the sun appears and gilds heaven and earth with glory. The birds begin to sing, the breeze gently waves the top branches of the trees, and the hill and the valley seem to rcj oice. Ll VELY LECTURES. 91

The rising sun, with glory bright, Bids me in duty's paths delight. It is a shining hour when the sun is in the middle of the sky, throwing his bright beams directly down upon everything. You cannot look at him, he is so bright. Yes, that is a shining hour, for you are glad to get into the shade out of the glare. The mid-clay sun drinks up the vapours, infuses life through tho creation, calls forth myriads of insects to come forth and be happy. It makes the hay, opens the :flowers, ripens the fruit and the grain, and sets forth the power, the wisdom, and goodness of God. The sun in his mid­ day mightis is indeed a glorious orb. And Oh may we, in our homeward way, · Shine more and more to perfect dav. It is a shining hour whon the sun sets, for then ho seems bigger than he was before, and makes the clouds look so glorious, that you might almo t weep with joy to behold 92 OLD IIID,IPHREY'S the sight. "\Vhat sunsets have I seen! what glowing skies of yellow, red, ancl blue! No picture in the world is fit to compare with it. We are apt to think that when the sun sets, he has done his day's work, whereas he has only gone to bid the other side of the world reJOlCe. The fading day and setting sun, · Declare how swift my moments run. It is a shining hour when the moon and stars are in the sky, and all things are quiet and peaceful. Then is the time for calm reflection. We ca.n look up without the sun blinding our eyes, and pleasantly trace the snow-white silvery clouds as they gently glide ac:ross the sky. How good is God to give us such shining hours ! " The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work." When moon and stars are in the sky, Then let my thoughts beyond them fly. The hour of prayer is a shining hour, for LIVELY LECTURES. 93 then we seem to be nearer to God than at · other times. It is a high and a holy thing to be permitted to talk with God ; to come into the presence of the Saviour, to confess our sins, to thank him for his goodness and his grace, and to tell him of all our wants, that he may relieve them and take us under his almighty care. The shining hour of pray.er should indeed be improved, for heart­ felt prayer makes us calm, and strengthens us for duty; therefore we" ought always to pray and not to faint." I think one of 1:b.e best prayers we can offer is this: "Lord, teach us to pray." 0 Lord, my heart and soul prepare, To seek thy face with praise and prayer. Sabbath hours are all shining ones, espe­ cialJ.y those which are passed in God's house, listening to his holy word and learning his holy will. We are then reminded that we are sinner , and directed to the Saviour, "the Lumb of God which taketh away the 94 OLD HUMPHREY'S LIVELY LECTURES. sin of the world." Surely the shining hours of the Sabbath should be improved. Oh, may the day of sacred rest Be always prized and always bless'd. What a shining hour that will be, when the great multitude that no man can num­ ber shall stand before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and holding palms in their hands! It will be so bright and shining that the sun and the moon and the stars will not be wanted. I have said much about shining_ hours, and if what I have said should lead us to improve them more, this will be a shining hour to us both. And with this ,vish on his tongue, Old Humphrey bids you farewell. NEW SERIES OF FOURPENNY BOOKS FOR 'THE YOUNG. BY OLD HUMPHREY. Illitstrated with Ooloiwed Engravings.

I. OLD HUMPHREY'S EVERY-DAY TALE,,. 2. OLD HUMPHREY'S LIVELY LECTURES Al\TD CHEERFUL CHAPTERS. 3. OLD HUMPHREY'S SKETCH-BOOK. 4. OLD HUMPHREY'S TRUE THINGS ANV NEW THINGS. 5. OLD HUMPHREY'S RIPE FRUIT FOR YOUTHFUL GATHERERS. G. OLD HU_ iPHREY'S PORTFOLIO; OR SKETCHES IN PROSE AND VERSE. 7. OLD HUMPHREY'S PLEASA...llfr PAGES. 8. OLD HUMPHREY'S TALES FOR ALL TIMES. 9. OLD HUMI'HREY'S JOTTINGS ABOUT HO11~ AND FOREIGN PARTS. 10. OLD HUMPHREY'S RURAL RAMBLES AND PASTORAL PICTURES. 11. OLD HUMPHREY'S FIRESIDE TALES. 12. OLD HUMPHREY'S BUNDLE OF STORIES. FORTIETH THOUSAND.

WITH

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Steel-plate Portrait. Small royal. ls. 6d. cloth boards; 2s. extra boards, gilt edges.

'' This record of a good man's life and labours will be hailed by thousands as a welcome addition to their libraries. It will well repay perusal." - Church of England Sunday-sclwol Quarterly. '' The Memoir is, from beginning to end, every way, ' Old Humphrey' in spirit, matter and tendency, -­ amusing, lively, and touching. We do not, we need not, recommend the book ; it is above the necessity of any sueh assistance."-Christian Witness. " The Memoir is really, in every respect, wo1thy of the good old man ; and a more precious compliment cannot be paid to it. It will soon find its way into all corners of the land." -Christian Journal of the Presby­ terian Church. "There are few volumes for which we can as confi­ dently predict a wide circulation, or that indeed deserve it in the same degree. "-Gentleman's Magazine.

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