that every one who had been bitten by the fiery serpents, and who looked at this brazen serpent which Moses had set up, lived.*

* An intelligent parent or teacher will seize the favourable opportunity here presented, of speaking to the child of that great salvation of which this miraculous cure was a type.

LESSON IX.

BALAAM'S ASS.

D. Mamma, I saw a boy beating a donkey when we were walking in the lane the other day. Was it not very cruel?

Mamma. Yes, my dear, it was

very cruel.

People ought al

ways to be kind to poor dumb creatures, and treat them very gently, and not strike or hurt them.

D. The donkey was only eating some thistles that grew by the side of the path; it was not at all in the boy's way.

Mamma. I think he must have been a cruel, naughty boy. If I had seen him, I should have told him how wrong it was to strike the poor creature. There is a story in the Bible, about a man who beat his ass so many times, that at last God made her speak, and ask why he did so.

D. Oh, Mamma, do tell me