and there I was woven into a piece of cloth. I was then folded up, and lay quiet for some time.”

Indeed," said Edward, "I think you required a little rest after going through so many changes."

"Soon after," resumed the voice, "I was bought by a tailor, and lay on the shelf of his shop, when one day you and your papa came in and asked to see some cloth to make you a coat. I was taken down and unfolded on the counter with several other pieces, and, if you remember, you chose me on account of my beautiful

colour."

"So I did," said Edward; ઃઃ but you are not so bright a blue now as you were then."

"if

"Something the worse for wear," replied the coat; you stain me and cover me with dust, that is your fault, not mine. But to conclude my story; the tailor took out his enormous scissors, which reminded me of the shears that had cut me from the sheep, and cut me into the shape of a coat. I was then sewed up by some journeymen, who sat cross-legged on a table; and when I was finished, I was sent to you; and, ever since, I have had the honour of covering the back of a human being, instead of that of a sheep.

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Edward was much entertained with the story of the coat. But these bright buttons," said he, "are not made of wool; have you nothing to say about them?”

They were perfect strangers to me, till they were sewn on," said the coat; "I know nothing about them, they must speak for themselves."

Mrs. Marcet.

Upon this, the whole row of little buttons raised their sharp voices at once, which sounded like the jingling of so many little bells. This made such a confused noise, that Edward could not distinguish a word they said. He therefore, in an imperative tone, commanded silence; and, laying hold of one of them with his finger and thumb, he said, "Come, Mr Button, let me hear the story from you, while all the rest remain quiet." Pleased by this preference, the face of the button shone brighter than usual, and in a small, shrill, but distinct voice, he began thus ::

"We lay for a long time under ground; not bright and shining as you now see us, but mixed up with dirt and rubbish. How long we remained there it is impossible for me to say; for as it was always dark, there was no telling day from night, nor any means of counting weeks and years."

"But could not you hear the church-clock strike?" said Edward; "that would have told you how time passed." "if we had had ears

"Oh! no," replied the button;

we could not have heard, so deep were we buried in the bowels of the earth."

"Oh dear! how dismal that must have been !" exclaimed Edward.

"Not for us, who neither thought nor felt," replied the button. "Well after having lain there for ages perhaps, all at once there was an opening made in the ground, and men came down where we lay, and dug us up; they talked about a fine vein of copper. 'I am glad we have reached it at last,' said they, it will repay us all our labour.' They then put us into a basket, and we were taken up above ground, and into daylight. The glare of light was so strong to us, who had been so long in utter darkness, that I thought it would almost have blinded us. Well after that we were put into a fiery furnace."

"I am sure you must have been glad then that you could not feel," said Edward; "and were you burnt to ashes?"

"Oh! no," replied the button; "copper is a metal, and metals will not burn; but we were melted; and, as the earth and rubbish which were mixed with us do not melt, we ran out through some holes that were made on purpose for us to escape from our dirty companions, who were not fit society for us. We were

then imprisoned in moulds, where we were left to cool and become solid again. Men then came with hammers, and beat us till we became quite flat. Every time they struck us, we hallooed out as loud as we could, and our cries resounded to a great distance; but they went on all the same."

"What!" exclaimed Edward; "had you voices to out?"

cry

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No," replied the button; "but do you not know that if you strike against metal it rings or resounds? The sound of a bell is nothing but the metal tongue

striking against the inside of the bell; and you know what a noise it makes.".

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Well," continued the button, "after we had been beaten into flat sheets, we were sent to the turner's, who cut us into little bits, and then placed us, one after the other, into a strange kind of machine, called a lathe he held us there while he turned a wheel with his foot so fast that it would have made one giddy."

"That is, if you had had a head," said Edward laughing.

"When I was taken out of the lathe, I was quite surprised to see what a pretty round shape I had. I wondered what was to be done to me next; for, as there was nothing by which I could be sewn on to a coat, I did not think that I was to be made into a button, but supposed I was intended for a piece of money."

"Yes; a round flat button is something like a half-penny," said Edward; "but you were much too small for that."

"Yes; and I soon found that I was to be a button, for they fastened a tail to me, and rubbed me for a great length of time till I became very bright. I was then stuck with the rest of us on a sheet of thick white paper."

"Oh! I remember," cried Edward; “you were all stuck on the paper, when the tailor showed you to papa and me, and you looked quite beautiful." Edward then listened in expectation of the button continuing his story, but it was ended, and his voice was gone!

Mrs. Marcet.

H

"Please to tell me something to amuse me, uncle, will you? for I am so tired."

"But if you are so tired, Henry, what likelihood is there of your listening to me with attention ?"

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Oh, I will not lose a word. I should never be tired of hearing you talk."

"Well, if I am to talk to amuse you, it must be about something entertaining. Suppose I tell you of the trades which are carried on by the lower animals."

"Trades! Why, how can they carry on any trade? Do you mean to say that beasts, and birds, and suchlike, carry on trade ?"

"You shall hear:"

"The otter and the heron are fishermen, though they neither make use of a line or of a net. It is not very often that we catch sight of the otter, for he carries on his trade, for the most part, under water; but the heron is frequently seen, standing with his long thin legs in the shallow part of the river, suddenly plunging his long bill below the surface, and