ga; 
 
 DEAN'S m^ 
 
 Sllustrnhi /artjiiiig fmh. 
 
 THE BRAVE BOY, 
 
 AND THE EAGLE. 
 
 LONDON: DEAN & SON, 
 11, Ludgate Hill. 8 
 
 I 
 
THE BRAVE BOY, 
 
 THAT OBEYED GOD RATHER THAN MAM. 
 
 In a town in one of the midland counties 
 of England lived a poor boy ; his clothes 
 were almost threadbare, and his daily 
 allowance of food was often very scanty. 
 
THE BRAVE BOY. 3 
 
 He was an orphan, and having no one to 
 provide for him, he supported himself by- 
 working at a factory, where he earned five 
 shilHngs a- week. He was a very good 
 boy, and loved to read his Bible, and to 
 go to the house of God on the Sabbath 
 day. But he had an ungodly master, 
 who knowing of his wish to go to church 
 on Sunday, ordered him to work on that 
 day. However, Jem thought it his duty 
 not to obey, and accordingly spent that 
 sacred day in his usual peaceful manner. 
 
 The next morning, when he presented 
 himself at the factory, the master inquired, 
 ** Where were you yesterday ?" The boy 
 answered, ''I went to church, sir." ** Then 
 you may go to church again to-day!" 
 replied the master, angrily ; and paying 
 him what was due to him, he instantly 
 dismissed him. Jem was now without 
 any means of earning a livelihood ; but 
 he knew it was useless to despair, so he 
 began to look out for another situation. 
 
 On one of his applications, a gentleman 
 asked him the reason of his dismissal from 
 his former place. The boy replied, '' Be- 
 
 I 
 
4 
 
 THE BRAVE BOY. 
 
 cause I did not wish to go to work on 
 Sunday, sir." The merchant was much 
 pleased with this answer, and immediately 
 engaged him at the increased wages of ten 
 shillings a week. '' Godliness has the 
 promise of the hfe that now is, as well as 
 of th^t which is to come." 
 
 v^ 
 
 ^. ^m^ 
 
THE 
 
 EAGLE AND HER YOUNG ONES. 
 
 The following lively instance of animal 
 sagacity may serve to recommend to our 
 readers the advantages of perseverance : 
 
 In a remote field stood a large tulip- 
 tree, apparently of a century's growth, 
 and one of the most gigantic of this 
 species of tree. It looked like the father 
 of the surrounding forest. A single tree 
 of huge dimensions, standing alone, is a 
 sublime object. 
 
 On the top of the tree, for years, an old 
 eagle, commonly called the fishing eagle, 
 had built her nest every year, and unmo- 
 lested raised her young. As she this day 
 returned, with a large fish in her claws, 
 the workmen surrounded the tree, and by 
 yelling, and hooting, and throwing stones, 
 so scared the poor bird that she dropped 
 the fish, and they carried it off in triumph. 
 The men soon dispersed ; but Joseph sat 
 under a bush near by to watch, and to 
 bestow unavailing pity. The eaglets at 
 
THE EAGLE. 
 
 once set up a cry for food, so shrill, so 
 clear, and so clamorous, that the boy was 
 
 ■Mfimc 
 
 greatly moved. The parent bird seemed 
 to try to soothe them ; but their appetites 
 were too keen, and it was all in vain. 
 
THE EAGLE. | 
 
 She then perched herself on a hmb near 
 them, and looked down into the nest with 
 a look that seemed to say, '' I know not 
 what to do next." But her indecision waa 
 momentary. Again she poised herself, 
 uttered one or two sharp notes, as if telling 
 them to '' be still," balanced her body, 
 spread her wings, and was away again for 
 the sea. 
 
 Joseph now determined to see the result. 
 His eyes followed her till she grew small, 
 smaller, — a mere speck in the sky, and 
 then disappeared. She was gone nearly 
 two hours, about double her usual time for 
 a voya-ge, when she again returned, on a 
 slow, weary wing, flying uncommonly low, 
 in order to have a heavier atmosphere to 
 sustain her, with another fish in her 
 talons. On nearing the field, she made a 
 circuit around it, to see if her enemies were 
 there again. Finding the coast clear, she 
 once more reached her tree, drooping, 
 faint, and evidently nearly exhausted. 
 Again the eaglets set up their cry, which 
 was soon hushed by the distribution of a 
 
8 THE EAGLE. 
 
 dinner such as — save the cooking — a king 
 might admire* 
 
 ** Glorious bird !" cried the boy in 
 ecstacy and alone, *' what a spirit ! Others 
 can sing more sweetly ; others can scream 
 more loudly ; but what other bird, when 
 persecuted and yobbed — when weary — 
 when discouraged — when so far from the 
 sea — would do what thou hast done ! I 
 will learn a lesson from thee to-day. 1 
 will never forget hereafter, that when the 
 spirit is determined, it can do almost 
 anything. Others would have dropped 
 the head, and mourned over the cruelty 
 of man, and sighed over the wants of the 
 nestlings ; but thou, by at once reco- 
 vering the loss, hast forgotten all. I 
 will learn of thee, noble bird : I will 
 remember this, and I will set my mark 
 high. I will try to do something, in the 
 world ; and 1 will never yield to dis-^ 
 couragements,'* 
 
 2>im'^