Here is the shortened form of that direful order, as it was printed in English newspapers, spreading dismay through hundreds of English homes, and awakening a burst of anger against the man who had dealt the blow. "The Government of the Republic, having heard read by the Minister of Marines and Colonies a despatch from the Marine Prefect at Brest, dated this day, announcing that two English frigates had taken two French merchant vessels in the Bay of Audierne, without any previous declaration of war, and in manifest violation of the laws of nations; "First: It is prescribed to all commanders of squadrons or naval divisions of the Republic, captains of its ships and other vessels of war, to chase those of the King of England, as well as those vessels belonging to his subjects, and to attack, capture, and conduct them into the ports of the Republic; "Secondly: Commissions will be delivered in course to those French privateers for which they are demanded; "Thirdly: All the English, from the age of eighteen to sixty, or holding any commission from His Britannic Majesty, who are at present in France, shall immediately be constituted Prisoners of War, to answer for those citizens of the Republic who may have been arrested and made prisoners by the vessels or subjects of His Britannic Majesty, previous to any declaration of war. "The First Consul, "(Signed) BUONAPARTE." (_To be continued._) LESSONS FROM NATURE. BY JEAN A. OWEN, Author of "Forest, Field and Fell," etc. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Christ, the divine teacher, has taught us to go to nature for moral and spiritual lessons. "Consider the lilies of the field," He says to those who are anxious about, and careworn with the things of this life: and that old triangle of a problem with its hard points: "What shall we eat? what shall we drink? and wherewithal shall we be clothed?" does press heavily on many even of those who read our GIRL'S OWN PAPER. The fall of the sparrow, too, He tells us, is noted by His Father and ours. He bids those who are neglectful of the talents given to them, learn a lesson of the barren fig-tree. Again the rapid and marvellous development of the mustard-tree, in the mouth of the great teacher, becomes an image of the faith that He bids us have. And even when speaking of the yearning love He had for souls, He did not disdain to use the simile: "As a hen gathereth her young." And so, if the eyes are quick to note all that surrounds us, all the wonderful life, "the infinitely small" as well as "the infinitely great," and the heart makes room for love, it will be possible to learn, from the first year of our lives, until the day of our death here, lessons from nature which no man or woman has ever yet exhausted, nor ever will.