promising a large recompense for whoever apprehended a thief, and brought him to justice. The three brothers determined to draw lots, which of them should personate the thief, and be brought before a magistrate, in order that the others might obtain the reward.

The lot fell upon the youngest, who confessed to a crime of which he was not guilty, and his brothers received the money. The anxiety visible in their countenances, and the tears which involuntarily forced themselves into their eyes, struck the magistrate, who ordered his servant to follow and watch them. They returned to their mother, and threw the money into her lap; but, when she learned how it had been obtained, she refused to touch this 'price of blood.'

This being told the judge, he sent for the prisoner, and again interrogated him concerning the supposed robbery; but he still persisted that he was guilty. Struck with the filial affection and fortitude of the youth, the magistrate laid the case before the sovereign, who sent for the three brothers and their mother, loaded them with favors, and gave an annuity of five hundred crowns to the two eldest, and fifteen hundred to the youngest.

LESSON ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTIETH.

Sunday.

O day most calm, most bright!
The fruit of this, the next world's bud!
The endorsement of supreme delight,
Writ by a friend, and with his blood!
The couch of time; care's balm and bay:-
The week were dark, but for thy light;
Thy torch doth show the way.

Sundays the pillars are

On which heaven's palace arched lies:

The other days fill up the spare
And hollow room with vanities.

They are the fruitful bed and borders,
In God's rich garden; that is bare,

Which parts their ranks and orders.

The sundays of man's life,
Threaded together on time's string,
Make bracelets to adorn the wife
Of the eternal, glorious King.
On sunday, heaven's gate stands ope;
Blessings are plentiful and rife;
More plentiful than hope.

LESSON ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIRST.

Major Andre.

John Andre, aid-de-camp to Sir Henry Clinton, and adjutant general of the British army in America, during the revolution, was born in England, in 1741 He was, in early life, a merchant's clerk, but obtained a commission in the army, at the age of seventeen Possessing an active and enterprising disposition, and the most amiable and accomplished manners, he soon conciliated the esteem and friendship of his superior officers, and rose to the rank of major.

After Arnold had intimated to the British, in 1780, his intention of delivering up West Point to them, Major Andre was elected as the person to whom the maturing of Arnold's treason, and the arrangement for its execution, should be committed. A correspondence was for some time carried on between them, under a mercantile disguise, and the feigned names of Gustavus and Anderson; and, at length, to facilitate their communications, the Vulture sloop of war moved up the North river, and took a station convenient for the purpose, but so near as to excite suspicion.

An interview was agreed on; and, in the night of Sept. 21, 1780, he was taken in a boat, which was despatched for the purpose, and carried to the beach without the posts of both armies, under a pass for John Anderson. He met General Arnold at the house of a Mr. Smith. While the conference was yet unfinished, daylight approached; and, to avoid the danger of discovery, it was proposed, that he should remain concealed till the succeeding night.

He desired that he might not be carried within the American posts, but the promise made to him by Arnold to respect this objection was not observed. He was carried within them, contrary to his wishes, and against his knowledge. He continued with Arnold the succeeding day, and when, on the following night, he proposed to return to the Vulture, the boatmen refused to carry him, because she had, during the day, shifted her station, in consequence of a gun having been moved to the shore and brought to bear upon her.

This embarrassing circumstance reduced him to the necessity of endeavoring to reach New York by land. Yielding with reluctance to the urgent representations of Arnold, he laid aside his regimentals, which he had hitherto worn under his surtout, and put on a plain suit of clothes; and, receiving a pass from the American general, authorizing him, under the feigned name of John Anderson, to proceed on the public service to the White Plains, or lower, if he thought proper, he set out on his return.

He had passed all the guards and posts on the road, without suspicion, and was proceeding to New York in perfect security, when, on the twenty-third of September, one of the three militia men, who were employed, with others, in scouting parties between the lines of the two armies, springing suddenly from his covert in the road, seized the reins of his bridle, and stopped his horse.

Instead of producing his pass, Andre, with a want of self-possession which can be attributed only to a kind of providence, asked the man hastily where he belonged; and, being answered, "to below," replied immediately, " and so do I." He then declared himself to be a British officer, on urgent business, and begged that he might not be detained. The other two militia men coming up at this moment, he discovered his mistake; but it was too late to repair it.

He offered a purse of gold, and a valuable watch, to which he added the most tempting promises of ample reward, and permanent provision from the government, if they would permit him to escape; but his offers were rejected without hesitation. The names of the militia men who apprehended Andre, were John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Vanevert; who, immediately after searching, carried him before their commander, Colonel Jamison.

On the 29th of September, 1780, General Washington appointed a board of fourteen general officers, part of whom were General Greene, the Marquis de la Fayette, and Baron de Steuben, with the assistance of the judge advocate, John Lawrence. After the most mature deliberation, they pronounced Major Andre a spy from the enemy, and that, agreeably to the laws of nations, he ought to suffer death.

When his sentence was announced to him, he remarked, that, since it was his lot to die, as there was a choice in the mode, which would make a material difference in his feelings, he would be happy, if it were possible to be indulged with a professional death: but the indulgence of being shot, rather than hanged, was not granted, because it was considered contrary to the custom of war.

When he was led out to the place of execution, he bowed familiarly to all those with whom he had been acquainted during his confinement; a smile of complacency expressed the serene fortitude of his mind.

Soon

Upon seeing the preparations at the spot, he asked, with some emc on, "Must I die in this manner?" He was told it was unavoidable. "I am reconciled to my fate," said he, "but not to the mode.' after, however, recollecting himself, he added, "It will be but a momentary pang;" and, springing upon the cart, performed the last office to himself, with a composure that excited the admiration, and melted the hearts of all the spectators.

Being told that the fatal moment was at hand, and asked if he had any thing to say, he answered, "Nothing but to request that you will witness to the world that I die like a brave man." Thus died Major Andre, universally esteemed and regretted.

Paternal Affection.

How mildly beams a father's face!

How true and tender his embrace!

Heaven blends the hearts of sire and son;
Their kindred souls are joined in one;
No stay is like a father's arm;
No eye so quick to guard from harm;
And more the heart his counsels move,
Than pleasure's voice or woman's love.

Hath fickle passion wronged thy youth?
Cling to his side whose love is truth;
Have friends thy innocence beguiled?
Guileless a father guides his child;
Or hast thou vainly wandered far,
To search for truth's directing star?
Return, and claim thy sire's embrace;
His bosom be thy resting place.