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Entered according to Act of Congress, in June, 1868, by J . W . Burke & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the nited States for the So. District of Georgia.
VOL. II
I THE SWITZER’S HOME.
\- * VJLu
7 @ WITZ EII LAN D be
longs to the region of
the Central Alps. The
Alpine mountains occupy more
than one-half of the surface of
the country. Switzerland al
so abounds in beautiful lakes,
among which Lake Leman, or
the Lake of Geneva, Lake Lu
cerne and Lake Constance are
famous. The climate of Swit
zerland is very variable, and
owing to its elevation, more
severe than in other countries
in the same latitude. In the
valleys, the fig and grape ripen
at the foot of ice-clad moun
tains, while near the summits
the rhododendron and the
lichen grow at the limit of the
snowy line.
In the winter, the popula
tion of the Alps inhabit vil
lages scattered over the lower
valleys. In May the cattle are
led to the lower pastures ; in
July they ascend to regions
six thousand feet above the
sea; and about the 10th of
August they pasture on the
highest mountains, whence
they descend to the valleys
about the 10th of October.
The silk worm is reared in
the valleys, and silks are wo
ven in the cities of Basle and
Zurich. Forty thousand per
sons are engaged in the silk
manufactures, and thirty thou
sand are employed in the ma
king of watches and jewelry.
Public instruction is widely
disseminated in Switzerland,
and in the Protestant cantons
Sabbath schools are numerous,
and are increasing.
There are three universities
at Basle, Berne and Zurich.
But the glory of the first nam
ed city is its “ Missions Insti
tute,” or, as we should call it,
its Missionary Seminary. Du-
MACON, GEORGIA, DECEMBER 5, 1868.
the switzeu’s home.
No. 23.
ring the fifty years of its exist
ence there have gone forth
from it more than four hun
dred missionaries, two hun
dred and eighty-one of whom
are still alive, working tiie
work of God in all zones and
climes of the world.
FUNERAL OP A EEE,
fSometimes when a
\ A-7/ pet kitten dies, or a
dog, or may be only a
little chick, the boy or girl
who dearly prized it when it
was alive calls in the aid of
one or two other boys or girls,
and gives the dead pet a sor
rowful burial down in the gar
den, or out in the orchard un
der some favorite tree. A
good many tears are shed,
perhaps,—at any rate, we re
member shedding a good many
wdien a very small boy, over
the burial of a four-footed
friend, — and the funeral is
doubtless as sad a one as older
people ever take part in. It
is not common, though, to see
animals or insects burying
their dead comrades, yet such
instances have been known.
Some gentlemen once saw two
bees coming out of a hive bear
ing the body of another bee.
The gentlemen followed them
closely, and noted the care
with which they selected a
convenient hole at the side of
a gravel walk, the tenderness
with which they committed the
body, head downward, to the
earth, and the solicitude with
which they afterward pushed
against it two little stones,
doubtless “in memoriam. ”
Their task being ended, they
paused about a minute, per
haps to drop over the grave a
sympathizing tear, when they
flew away.