14 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



US is true, and will make us wiser and better 

 if we take care not to forget it. And so 

 Uncle Philip, as it is Saturday afternoon, and 

 it is too warm to play, we all agreed that we 

 would come and ask you to talk to us about 

 some of the things that we ought to know, 

 to be as wise and as learned as you are." 



" Ah, boys, I hope you will live to know a 

 great deal more than I can teach you. When 

 I was a boy, it was not so eaisy to learn as it 

 is now ; there were not so many schools, and 

 people did not think so much about giving 

 their children a good education, and more 

 than all this, there were not a quarter so 

 many good books written and printed for 

 young folks as there are now. But seat your- 

 selves here in the shade, and I will try to think 

 of something useful to talk about, with you." 



"Oh thank you, thank you, kind Uncle 

 Philip ; that will be a great deal better than 

 running about in the hot sunshine ; this great 

 tree will serve as a large umbrella for us all, 

 and here we shall be as happy as so many 

 little kings." 



" I like that name you have given to the 

 tree under which we are sitting ; it is indeed 

 a natural umbrella, and shelters us from the 



