not have been somewhat uncivil of Solomon to
_blow, blow_, with his great pair of bellows, full in the queen of
Sheba's face?
_H----._ (doubting.) Yes, yes. Well, then he might have sent for a
telescope, or a magnifying glass, and looked through it; and then he
could have seen which were the real flowers, and which were
artificial.
_Father._ Well, B----, and what do you say?
_B----._ (eleven years old.) He might have waited till the queen moved
the flowers, and then, if he listened, he might hear the rustling of
the artificial ones.
_Father._ S----, have you any thing more to say?
_S----_ repeated the same thing that B---- had said; his attention was
dissipated by hearing the other children speak. During this pause,
whilst S---- was trying to collect his thoughts, Mrs. E---- whispered
to somebody near her, and accidentally said the word _animals_ loud
enough to be overheard.
_Father._ Well, H----, you look as if you had something to say?
_H----._ Father, I heard my mother say something, and _that_ made me
think of the rest.
Mrs. E---- shook hands with H----, and praised him for this instance
of integrity. H---- then said that "he supposed Solomon thought of
some _animal_ which would feed upon flowers, and sent it to the two
nosegays; and then the animal would stay upon the real flowers."
_Father._ What animal?
_H----._ A fly.
_Father._ Think again.
_H----._ A bee.
_Father._ Yes.
The story says that Solomon, seeing some bees hover about the window,
ordered the window to be thrown open, and watched upon which wreath of
flowers the bee settled.
August 1st, 1796. S---- (nine years old) when he was reading in Ovid
the fable of Perseus and Andromeda, said that he wondered that Perseus
fought with the monster; he wondered that Perseus did not turn him
into stone at once with his Gorgon shield. We believe that S---- saw
that his father was pleased with this observation. A few days
afterwards somebody in the family recollected Mr. E----'s having said,
that when he was a boy he thought Perseus a simpleton for not making
use of the Gorgon's head to turn the monster into stone. We were not
sure whether S---- had heard Mr. E---- say this or not; Mr. E----
asked him whether he recollected to have heard any such thing. S----
answered, without hesitation, that he did remember it.
When children have formed habits of speaking truth, and when we see
that these habits are grown quite easy to them, we
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