eighty-eight yards in length, In an account which has been written of Mr. Brindley, it is said that the grandeur of his plans drew crowds of astonished and delighted visitors from all quarters to witness them. One who came to see him while the great tunnel was being formed, says: pronounces "Gentlemen come to view our eighth wonder of the world, the subterranean navigation, which is cutting by the great Mr. Brindley, who handles rocks as easily as you would plum-pies, and makes the four elements subservient to his will. Every mind is filled with wonder at the things he to be practicable. He has cut a mile through bogs, which he binds up, embanking them with stones, which he gets out of the other parts of the navigation. On the side of the hill Yelden, he has a pump, which is worked by water, and a stove, the fire of which sucks through a pipe the damps that would annoy the men who are cutting towards the centre of the hill. The clay he cuts out serves for brick to arch the subterraneous part, which we heartily wish to see finished to Welden Ferry, when we shall be able to send coals and pots to London, and to different parts of the globe." MERSEY CANAL, many others were formed in different parts of the kingdom; and in most of the works Brindley assisted with enthusiasm. Thus, as long as he lived, he spent an active and useful life. He was indeed too active: he "multiplied his labours, wasted his strength, and shortened his life." He died in Staffordshire, in the 56th year of his age, on 27th September, 1832. The life of Brindley was short, but it was always pleasant, because it was useful. While he lived, he had one of the pleasures which great men often feel-he saw others learning from him; he saw many trying to imitate him; he saw them succeed in doing greater things than they had ever dreamt could possibly be done. Such a result of his labours will always be a great joy to a good man. Cannot you imagine that it was very pleasant for him sometimes to sit down and think? "Yes," he might say to himself, "I have done a great deed; I have shown the world an improvement." But he might think again, and find more pleasure still. He might say to himself, "I see that my own plans will bring forth fruit a hundredfold; for not only myself, but future generations, can thus be of service to their country." And such has been the case. The people were aroused, and began to do even more than other nations had done. about seventy years, nearly Besides the great TRENT AND three thousand miles of canal In were made, which, before the invention of the steam-engine, were of the greatest serviceincreasing the wealth and importance of England. Children! may you not be as useful as Thomas Brindley? Would you not like to do some great good, and teach it to others? There are hundreds of ways of being useful even without inventing new plans. Say to yourself, "I will do so." Plan something good to do in your lifetime-and, do it! "I CAN'T." BY W. O. BOURNE. NEVER say "I can't," my dear; When such words as those I hear, Boys and girls that nimbly play, They can jump and run away, Skip and toss and play their pranks; Never mind how hard the task, Find some one who knows and ask, Never say it. CHAPTER II. THE PARTS OF A PLANT-THE STEM. L. THAT is a nice cane you have in your hand, Willie! Are you going out riding? W. No, I have been out to buy it for our lesson; it is the stem of an ENDOGEN-at least that is what papa calls it. What is an endogen, papa? W. Certainly, it is not an exogen. You see neither pith, nor medullary rays, nor circular layers of wood. Ion. No; it has not such a regular appearance as the exogen stem. P. That is true; for it consists of bundles of fibres arranged irregularly instead of in circles-the centre, instead of being hard, is soft. L. And it has large holes in the centre; I suppose that they are the vessels for the sap to pass through. P. The course of the sap in this kind of stem is not so well known as that of the exogens. But you may know this, that the sap as it descends to form new wood does not descend by the bark; it descends through the vessels in the centre, and thus it is that the centre is always soft. Instead of settling in the centre and forming "heart-wood," the sap hardens the outside part of the stem; it fills up all the pores, and it forms fibres which interlace together; thus the wood increases inside. Ion. Then of course the outside part must stretch! P. It does, to some extent. But it cannot stretch much, and it becomes very hard, even harder than the heart-wood of the exogen stems, especially in the lower part near the root. Some stems are hard enough to resist the blow of a hatchet. L. And when the stem cannot stretch any more, does it get filled up with the new wood that is made every year? P. Yes, that is the case; and when the trunk becomes thus solid, there are no spaces for the sap to pass up and downtherefore it dies. Sometimes Nature provides a remedy by splitting the hard outside of the stem. Men have tried the same experiment. A palm, which had begun to languish, was restored by splitting down the outside with a hatchet. Ion. Then the palm-tree is an endogen, as well as the cane. P. Yes; the palm family, the grasses, and corn-plants, are all exogens-bamboos, and all canes and reeds; the sugarcane is another; the lily, the asparagus, the hyacinth, and the iris. The palms are the most important of the endogens, and are found in the tropics; indeed the endogens belong principally to the tropics, as I have before told you. W. You told us, papa, that the endogens have no branches. I have never seen any branches on the plants you mentionedon a hyacinth, a lily, an iris, or a corn-plant; they all grow up with a straight stalk, and have a bunch of flowers at the top. P. They have no branches because of the hardness of their outside casing. New branches are produced by buds; but no buds could penetrate the sides of an exogen stem. The stems, however, have one bud at the top. From this proceeds the bunch of flowers you speak of; and in the palm-trees the splendid crown of leaves also grows from this bud. We must not close our lesson on stems without noticing their many different forms. You have, I dare say, seen creeping stems growing in different directions: some twine round other plants, working in the direction of a corkscrew, such as the scarlet-runner, convolvolus, bind-weed, passionflower, and hop; the runners of strawberries are another form of stem; the root-stock of the fern and others is a stem which keeps close to the earth, sending down roots at short intervals. 1. The stem of a plant is that part which grows upward, in the air, toward the light. 2. The principal functions of the stem are-1st, to elevate the leaves, flowers, and fruit, in a position where they may be easily influenced by the light, heat, and air; and, 2ndly, to convey the sap up and down between the root and the leaves. 3. There are two principal kinds of stems. Those which grow by adding to their outside are called EXOGENS; their principal parts are the pith, medullary sheath, medullary rays, circular layers of wood, sap, heart-wood, sap-wood, and bark; all of these have important functions. 4. There are other plants with stems growing from withinthey are called ENDOGENS; their parts are less regular than those of the Exogens, and they have no side branches. 5. There are also CREEPING STEMS, and UNDERGROUND STEMS, such as the bind-weed, the strawberry-runner, root-stocks, the stem of couch-grass, &c. THE TUDORS. HENRY VII. AND HENRY VIII. P. BEFORE we write our les- | with turnips, oil-cake, &c., was son on Henry VII., let us have a peep into the social history of the nation, and record one or two events worth noticing. The feudal system was, as I said, dying away; therefore the domestic habits of the old barons are a subject of interest. In the household book of the Earl of Northumberland, we find that the family rose at 6, dined at 10, supped at 4; and at 9 o'clock the castle-gates were all shut for the night. No one might go in or out after that time. The next morning mass was said at 6, so that all the servants must rise early. The total number of the earl's family, including master and all servants, was 166; but on an average about 57 strangers were reckoned upon every day-thus making the total 223 persons. The whole annual expense for the household was £1,118 17s. 8d. The meat, drink, and firing cost nearly £800. For washing, I am sorry to say, that only 40s. per annum was allowed, and that was principally for the linen of the chapel. I wonder what the sanitary reformers of these days would have said to that family! The family only ate fresh meat from Midsummer to Michaelmas, living on salt meat during the other six months. This, as I have before told you, was because the art of feeding cattle in the winter not known. Indeed the turnip was little cultivated in that period: during the times of war and trouble it had almost been forgotten. On "flesh days," half a chine of mutton, or a chine of beef, was boiled. SO The commerce of England, which Henry promoted much, was also interesting. The most important part of trade was transacted at fairs. Many lasted for a long timethat of St. Giles Hill at WINCHESTER, which you know was a most important city in former times, lasted sixteen days. The tents of the fair were laid out in regular streets, and looked like a busy city. It is said, "The king, the bishops, and great barons, sent their agents, or else went in person to this fair-where they would buy jewels, clothes, furniture, liquors, spices, cattle, coins, indeed almost anything including men and women sometimes-for it is well known that slaves of both sexes were publicly sold in England about the end of the 14th century.' In the present day, a fair is still held at Winchester, on St. Giles Hill, every year. It is called the Cheese fair; immense piles of cheese may be seen there. One important step taken by Henry to encourage foreign commerce, was to stop the practice of impressment. • Wade's British History. Ac |