Which of the men from the ships first set foot upon this new discovered land? Columbus, richly dressed, holding a sword in his hand. Were the Indians kind to them? They were kind and hospitable. What did they think of Columbus? They thought he and his ships came from the skies; they supposed the sails were wings. What other islands did Columbus find? Cuba and Hispaniola. Did Columbus and his companions have any trouble while sailing homewards? A violent storm came upon them which seemed likely to overwhelm them in the ocean. What did Columbus seem most to fear? He feared if they were lost, it never would be known that they had found land. What did he do? He wrote on paper, that they had found the land for which they looked; he then covered the paper with oiled silk and wax, to prevent the water from spoiling it, and put it into a tight cask, which would sail on the water, and threw it into the ocean, hoping it might be found by some one, who would read it, and tell it to the world. Did God protect them through the storm, and permit them to return to their own country in safety? He did; and when they arrived, the people received them with shouts of joy, and with praise to God. Did Columbus venture to cross the ocean more than once? He crossed the ocean four times, and the third time he found this continent, which is called America. Why was not this continent named for the person who first discovered it? A gentleman whose name was Americus Vespucius, soon after came to this new continent, to search for gold; when he went home, he made a book which told the story of his voyage, and said he was the person who first found the continent. Was this false story believed? The book was so pleasing, as to be read by a great many people, who soon began to call the new continent America, in honor of Americus Vespucius. So it was named, not for the person who first found it, but for the person who made the book, which told the false story. Questions. What is the country we live in called? Where does the congress meet? How many states are there? Does each state choose its own governor? What public building must there be in a capital town? What use is made of a state house? What use is made of a state's prison? Who is the governor? How is the state divided? What is a county? Is there a shire town in each county? What public building is there usually in each town? What is the use of a school house? What is the use of taverns and hotels? What is a city? Do you live in a town or city? What are the three largest cities in the United States? How many people are there in New York: How many in Philadelphia? How many in Boston? How many people in common towns? What country do negroes come from? Why are they brought to this country? What is a slave? Is it right to steal a little boy from his parents, and bring him over the wide ocean and make him a slave? Do our government try to prevent it? Have the good people carried some of them back? They have, and wish to carry many more, money to pay their passage. but have not How much money will pay for carrying one back Twenty dollars. Should you not like to pay 20 dollars to have one of those poor negroes carried home, who were stolen from their dear friends, brought here and sold for slaves? Would men make slaves of them, if they minded the golden rule? LESSONS IN ASTRONOMY. Lesson 1.-SUN. WHAT do you see when you look up? The blue sky. What is the blue sky called? Celestial hemisphere. What do you see in the hemisphere? The sun. How does the sun appear? It looks like a ball of fire. What does the sun appear to do? It comes in sight beyond the hills in the east, and moves slowly along over to the west, and there goes out of sight, behind the western hills. T. The sun does not go round the earth as it appears to, but the earth turns its different sides to the sun. The earth turns from west to east; so when it turns this side to the sun, we first see it east of us, then it is morning, and the earth continues to turn till it turns us who live on this side of it, away from the sun, and then it is night; but as the earth is always turning, we soon come to the light of the sun again. How large is the sun? 880,000 miles in diameter. It is more than one million times as large as the earth. If it is so much larger than this great earth, why does it appear so small to us? Because it is at a great distance. How far off is the sun? Ninety-five millions of miles. Of what use is the sun to us? It gives us light and heat, which we could not live without; its heat causes the plants to grow, and its light gives them their beautiful colors. How fast does light move? 200,000 miles in a second. What does the bible compare to the sun? Jesus Christ is called the sun of righteousness. Why is he called so? As the sun sheds a brilliant light all over the earth, Jesus Christ sheds a more glorious light, upon all those who love him. T. The sun is like a vast globe of fire. It does not move round the earth as it appears, but the earth and other planets are constantly moving in great circles round the sun. Lesson II.-PLANETS. What is a planet? It is a globe which is in itself dark, and receives its light from the sun. How many planets are there known to revolve round the sun? Eleven. What are the circles which the planets move in round the sun called? The orbits of the planets. What are the names of the planets? Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, Jupiter, Saturn, Herschel. Teacher. You see, dear children, that this beautiful earth, is not the only place where God displays his wonderful works; there are ten other planets, some of them much larger than the earth, constantly moving round the sun. These planets may be other worlds with people unknown to us. What is the place of the earth among the planets? It is the third from the sun. What is the diameter of the earth? through it, from one side to the other. It is the measure How long is the diameter of the earth? Nearly 8000 miles. What is the circumference of the earth? It is the measure round the middle. How many miles is the circumference? More than 24,000 miles. How far is the earth from the sun? Ninety-five millions of miles. In what time does the light come from the sun to the earth? Light is eight minutes and fifteen seconds coming from the sun to the earth. How long is the earth in going quite round the sun? 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes, and 12 seconds. How fast does the earth go? Sixty thousand miles in one hour. How far does it go in one minute? What is this journey of the earth round the sun called? Annual motion. What does the annual motion of the earth make? It makes the seasons, spring, summer, autumn, winter. Teacher. The earth's moving round the sun does this, because the earth is not on a parallel line, but it is on an oblique line; so that in moving round the sun during a part of its course, the north end of the earth comes to the sun, then it is summer at the north. The other part of the way the south end will come to the sun, then it is winter at the north, and summer at the south. So that the earth has two winters and two summers in one year. Has the earth any other motion? It is constantly turning round, as a wheel turns.、 How long time is the earth in turning once round? About twenty-four hours. What is this turning round of the earth called? Diurnal motion. What does the diurnal motion of the earth make? It makes day and night. What is the use of day and night? The day is for labor, the night is for sleep. What does day and night teach you? The wisdom and goodness of God. How does it teach you this? We could not live without sleep, and we could not live if it was always night. Can you not sleep in the time of light? We cannot sleep quietly while the people around us are at work. Night is the best time to sleep. Now darkness shades the distant hill, |