The Boys' And Girls' Library Part 4

"Ah!" said George, "if nothing was wanting but my liking it, I should be a student to-day. But my father has no money. That is what is wanting."

"Then we will try whether we can make a student of you," said the king.

"The prince's tutor here has a friend, an excellent country curate, who takes well-disposed boys into his house to educate. To this curate I will recommend you; and will be answerable for the expenses of your education. How does the plan please you?"

The king expected that George would be very much delighted, and seize his grace with both hands. And, indeed, he began to smile at first, with much seeming pleasure, but immediately after, a troubled expression came over his face, and he looked down in silence.

"What is the matter?" said the king; "you look more like crying than being pleased with my offer, let us hear what it is?"

"Ah! sir," said George, "my father is so poor what I earn in summer by tending sheep, and in winter by spinning, is the most that he has to live on. To be sure it is little, but he cannot do without it."

"You are a good child," said the king, very kindly. "Your dutiful love for your father is more precious than the finest pearl in my casket.

What your father loses by your changing the shepherd's crook and spinning-wheel, for the book and pen, I will make up with him. Will that do?"

George was almost out of his senses for joy. He kissed the king's hand, and wet it with tears of grat.i.tude, then darted out to carry the joyful news to his father. Soon, father and son both returned, with their eyes full of tears, for they could only express their thanks by weeping. When George's education was completed, the king took him into his service, and after the king's death, he became counsellor to the prince--his successor.

His father's last days were easy and happy, by the comforts which the integrity of the poor shepherd-boy had procured him.

Michel, the firm friend, and first teacher of the prince's favourite, was appointed to the place of forester, and fulfilled all his duties well and _faithfully_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE GREAT MAN.

WRITTEN FOR VERY YOUNG READERS.

I will tell you a tale of a great man who loved _justice_.

He had two sons whom he also loved.

Now, he had himself made a law, that whoever sought to harm the peace of the country where he lived, should die.

There was a sad cabal against the peace of the country soon after the law was made:

And the great man's two dear sons were at the head of this wicked party.

Their names were in the list of bad men.

This great man loved justice more than he loved his two sons.

He, therefore, made firm his heart, and sat upon his rich throne, and gave the word that his two sons should be brought before him;

And he pa.s.sed sentence on them, as he would have done on strangers:

For, he thought, why should they not suffer for their faults?

We punish the poor and ignorant for their crimes:

So, it is just that we should punish the rich and those who know better, too.

And this great man gave orders that his sons should be beaten with rods; and that then their heads should be cut off.

And there he sat upon his seat, as judge,--pale and cold, but firm and brave.

And when all was past--when both his sons were dead, and their warm blood lay shed on the ground before him:

Then, when the _judge_ had done his _duty_, but not before, he gave way to the love of the father.

He arose and left his seat;

He went to his own house, and there wept and mourned many days.

The name of this great man was Brutus.

Think upon his name, but think more of the true love of _justice_ and judgment.

This little tale is a fact that happened at Rome.

You have heard of Rome, I dare say; and you will know more of it as you grow up.

PHILOSOPHY AT HOME.

THE AIR THERMOMETER.

It is a very good amus.e.m.e.nt for ingenious boys at home, in the long winter evenings, to construct such philosophical instruments, or perform such experiments, as are practicable, with such materials and means as are within their reach. It is true, that this may sometimes make parents or an older sister some trouble, but with proper care on the part of the young philosophers, this trouble will not be great, and parents will generally be willing to submit to it for the sake of having their children engaged in an entertaining and instructive employment. We shall, therefore, give our readers such lessons in practical philosophy, as we suppose may be of use. In this article we will show them how they may, with few materials and ordinary ingenuity, construct an _Air thermometer_.

The materials which will be wanted are these:--a gla.s.s phial,--one that is broad at the base in proportion to its height, so as to stand firm, is desirable,--a gla.s.s tube of small bore, six or eight inches long,--a cork to fit the mouth of the phial,--a little sealing-wax, a lamp, and a small pitcher of water. The work may be safely done upon the parlour-table, provided that the materials are all placed upon a large tea-tray, with an old newspaper, or a sheet of wrapping-paper spread over it. The paper will then intercept any drops of hot sealing-wax which may chance to fall, and which might otherwise injure the tray, and the tray itself will receive whatever may be spilt.

The only article of the above materials in regard to which the reader will have any difficulty, is the tube. Such a tube, however, can usually be procured at an apothecary's, at a very trifling expense. One about the dimensions of a pipe-stem will be best. In constructing the instrument, this tube is to be pa.s.sed down through the cord, which is to be placed in the neck of the phial, the lower end to go below the surface of a little water, which is to be put in the bottom of the phial.

The appearance of the instrument, when completed and fitted with a scale, as will be explained hereafter, is represented in the annexed wood-cut. In constructing the instrument, the operations, or the _manipulations_, as the philosophers call them, are,

First, to bore a hole through the cork, to receive the tube.

Second, to cement the tube into the cork.

Third, to cement the cork into the phial.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

1. The first thing is to bore a hole through the cork, and this must be just large enough to admit the gla.s.s tube.--After turning in the gimlet a little way, it should be drawn out straight, by which means the chips will be drawn out, and then it should be put in again. For a gimlet will not clear its own way in cork, as it will in wood. By drawing it out, however, in the manner above described, taking care to operate gently, so as not to split the cork, and to guide the gimlet straight through the centre of the cork, the hole may be bored without much difficulty.

If the hole is not quite large enough, it may be widened by a penknife which has a narrow blade, or it may be burnt out to a proper size with a hot knitting-needle, or a piece of iron wire. And thus the hole is bored through the cork.